Blogs that appear below are published on the Optimal Service Management web site.
Many IT organizations have heroes that save the day when they are in trouble, but is this really what they need?
Last week, AXELOS announced their new ITIL Practitioner qualification. Here are my thoughts on whether we need another ITIL exam.
There was a discussion of “major problem reviews” on the Facebook back2ITSM group last week. Lots of questions were asked, and the Facebook format really didn't allow me to explain my viewpoint...
Service level agreements (SLAs) should help to improve services, by making sure that both the service provider and their customer are very clear about responsibilities and expectations. Unfortunately, many SLAs have very poorly thought out targets, and these can often result in the service provider behaving in ways that are the exact opposite of what the customer wants.
2014 was the first full year that I’ve worked as an independent consultant, trainer and author, and it’s been a very busy year...
Here's a list of all the blogs and white papers I've published since the end of 2013, so you can find articles that you might be looking for.
I was involved in a discussion about ITSM assessments on Twitter recently. It all started with a discussion about the value of an ITSM self-assessment, but I coudn't get my thoughts into 140 characters, so I decided to write this blog instead.
I’ve been hearing a lot about DevOps lately, but it always seems to be about Internet startups. Here are some thoughts on how the rest of us can get value from DevOps ideas.
When we think about IT service management (ITSM) processes, we usually think about how we can standardise everything we do, to ensure that we use our resources efficiently and that everyone does everything that is needed. Maybe there's a better way...
In a previous blog I wrote about how to use an assessment to identify improvement opportunities and populate a CSI register. This month I look at other ways you can identify improvement opportunities, and how you should manage the CSI register...
I delivered a presentation on Metrics and measurement at the Service Desk Institute conference in the UK. To my surprise, the most lively discussion topics were more about how well the service desk communicates with end users, than about metrics.
If you define an incident as "... interruption to an IT service..." then you're not really focussing on customers. One of my clients has a much more business-focussed definition, and this drives completely different behaviours...
Delivering services isn’t something that is unique to IT. We know good service when we receive it, and so do our customers. If you focus on service levels and processes your customers will never see you as more than an internal cost centre; if you focus on outcomes and customer experience instead then you can become a valued partner.