The IT Skeptic - service

Use verbs to describe services

skeptic — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 21:25:24 +0000

A service is not an object, a thing, or *shudder* a technology.
A service is an action, an activity, and the people who perform or deliver it.

A service is active not passive.

So consider using verbs to describe your services:

Service Management Truths #SMTruths

skeptic — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 21:07:30 +0000

Recently i started a hashtag on Twitter #SMTruths to track reflections on the profound fundamentals of service management, the enduring truths that underly all the more complex ideas we lay on top.

Loving the customer

skeptic — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 23:40:24 +0000

Treat the managers of organisations with a little respect when they choose to set their customer service levels where they do. It's a bit patronising to assume they are fools and you know more about customer service than they do. If they fail in their business strategy because of poor customer service, THEN you can dance around saying "I told you so". I don't see Comcast or Microsoft going broke because of their customer service.

The Service Management Office

skeptic — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 21:59:58 +0000

A Service Management Office (SMO) is an emerging idea in ITSM which I think is a very good one. It is directly analogous to a Project Management Office. I mapped out the deliverables of a Service Management Office recently, and thought I'd share.

How embarrassing for CSC

skeptic — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:54:16 +0000

There is some appallingly bad information on the internet about ITSM. But you don't expect to see it in an article from a TechWeb magazine and you don't expect to see it from CSC. This is awful.

A case study in bad customer service

skeptic — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 03:29:11 +0000

We all have our horror stories of customer service. Few people have as many as me - I seem to have a hex on transacting any business with any entity. I like to say I am lucky in the big things in life so I pay for it with bad luck in the little things. When I couldn't stand the instability of ADSL internet connection any more (since I run webinars etc from home), I decided to be an early adopter of New Zealand's Ultra Fast Broadband (i.e. optical fibre) rollout. It didn't go well. Along the way just about every service sin was committed.

Service Assurance and the pursuit of the elusive service view

skeptic — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:22:51 +0000

I learned a new (for me) buzzword recently when a journalist asked me about "Service Assurance". Sounds like a new spin on an old idea: the single view of a service. This is yet another techno-geek wet dream.

ITIL 2011 persists with the dangerous concept of supporting services

skeptic — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:43:55 +0000

Not only has ITIL V3.1 2011 not fixed the problems with business-vs-technical services, they have gone the wrong way and reinforced the problem. I will fight to the death to say there is no such thing as internal supporting "services", because I care about ITSM.

Don't run IT as a business, run it as part of the business

skeptic — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:10:44 +0000

"Run IT as a business". What a mantra. It is of course rubbish. You run business as a business.

Who does the service desk serve?

skeptic — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:56:08 +0000

Who does the service desk serve? That comes back to what the support service is there for.

About the ITIL Service Owner

skeptic — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 08:27:16 +0000

There's a lot of rubbish on the Web about ITIL (not on this blog of course). Take Service Owner. Actually there's a lot of rubbish in ITIL about Service Owner, or rather a lot of ambiguity and not a little outright contradiction. So it's hard to blame other web authors. But really, look at this:

There is only one service catalogue

skeptic — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 10:04:32 +0000

Technical vs Business service catalogue: we had a go at this argument previously but I am discussing it again over on LinkedIn and I have - I hope - a clearer way of stating the position. The popular perception of a Technical Service Catalogue is that it described different service entities than a Business Service Catalogue. That's just plain wrong. It gives IT staff entirely the wrong attitudes and mindset. So here is my shot at a definitive statement of position on Technical vs Business Service Catalogue. For any organisational unit, for the services that are the outputs across the boundary of that unit, there is only one service catalogue ...and only one set of services.

is ITSM the best perspective on everything IT?

skeptic — Tue, 25 May 2010 07:36:48 +0000

There is more to IT than services. Service Management may be the topic du jour but ITSM can't consider itself the primary gateway into governance, development, acquisition, architecture, projects or HR, to name just a few other IT functions. It may have a perspective on them but not the main one. Or then again, maybe it is it a sufficient model for managing all of IT.

Why does IT have to do the business's job?

skeptic — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:00:00 +0000

One of the reasons IT is sinking under the burden of our work is all the projects and new services we are dealing with. This shouldn't be IT's job.

Do we overcook services? ITIL out of line

skeptic — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:59:04 +0000

It seems to me that the technoid's obsession with over-analysing and chasing perfection - what I call ETF: Excessive Technical Fastidiousness - is often applied to the definition of services.

The true scope of service management and ITIL

skeptic — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:45:30 +0000

Service management is IT. It is a way of describing how to do IT - all of it. When it comes to the scope of service management in general and ITIL in particular, the IT Skeptic has had a change of mind. In the past I accused ITIL V3 of having aspirations beyond its station, of trying to take on areas where it has no business going, such as strategy, applications and security. I don't think so any more: now I just think ITIL did it half-heartedly, too anaemically to be taken seriously by areas of IT outside of IT Operations. But Service Management definitely should go there.

Excellent customer service: weapon or burden?

skeptic — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:22:23 +0000

How often is excellent customer service a competitive weapon and how often is it just an unnecessary cost burden on the organisation?

Say it ain't so!! ITIL V3 Incident and Problem processes do not determine the affected service

skeptic — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:15:17 +0000

This BOKKE (body of knowledge known error) has been posted for a day or so, hundreds of views. I was sure someone would say "no you idiot, service impact analysis is right here" but not one. It seems to be true.

What is a service?

skeptic — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:53:11 +0000

The word “service” certainly gets some exercise. ITIL v3 says “A service is a means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve, but without the ownership of specific costs and risks.”

This impenetrable bit of consultant-babble does not help those who are trying to grasp the fundamental concept.

Awful support conversations

skeptic — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:20:21 +0000

I'm thinking to collect awful support conversations. Do people like reading these for amusement? Should we start a collection? Please let me know - comment below. Personally I find it astonishing just how bad support can be - it never fails to amaze me (again)...