tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22497715156588590962024-03-05T22:46:26.756+01:00ITSM PerfectionIT Service Management concepts presented in concise articles. Find out more about ITIL and other methodologies.Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-65923178616008021932011-11-14T08:00:00.000+01:002011-11-14T08:00:11.148+01:00How to Agree an SLA when There Is No Customer<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubDc1Wn-hRXF3__KFOuhVwvR5_Sz0xFp43KDuSVb5S7pLeBIpam54c33ov8pb5pMwlShJCWx9ItPhvCbdcE2FIcEciWTzNVXGMPdGR5iRIDLQhyeiDGsSQicMFCCqEW2LNqn1-aZaXdA/s1600/2282881973_462815e98b_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubDc1Wn-hRXF3__KFOuhVwvR5_Sz0xFp43KDuSVb5S7pLeBIpam54c33ov8pb5pMwlShJCWx9ItPhvCbdcE2FIcEciWTzNVXGMPdGR5iRIDLQhyeiDGsSQicMFCCqEW2LNqn1-aZaXdA/s1600/2282881973_462815e98b_o.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Credit: Andy Roberts Photos<br>
on Flickr.com</td></tr>
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There are situations, when it is difficult to agree an SLA because... there is nobody to talk to. There seems to be no ownership of the subject on the business side. Everyone uses the service, but nobody really feels he or she is the customer. Just users everywhere; no decision-making power. They seem to have varied and undocumented expectations and they rightfully complain when they are not met. How to <a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/11/10-reasons-why-sla-implementations-fail.html">avoid failure</a>?<br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/11/how-to-agree-sla-when-there-is-no.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-58147183361920380862011-11-11T08:00:00.000+01:002011-11-11T08:00:01.888+01:0010 Reasons Why SLA Implementations FailThere comes a time where you want to take your IT maturity to the next level. So you take the challenge and decide to set up service level agreements with your business customers. Let's see what you and your partners should NOT do if you want to succeed.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih2enlEFGeC7MwTFqwpJrBV6WWGu8kqxDjLSiWKw5zIWW2z6qQP9X6LFinycYtTQLgmkzS2qwG2yLjOaLWv0X8PF8M6bfrE_ZMemqYYSAcFFB85v5p8DYUbkNjCyRpaOOGEnYQFxuM1Cc/s1600/Fotolia_1107473_XS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih2enlEFGeC7MwTFqwpJrBV6WWGu8kqxDjLSiWKw5zIWW2z6qQP9X6LFinycYtTQLgmkzS2qwG2yLjOaLWv0X8PF8M6bfrE_ZMemqYYSAcFFB85v5p8DYUbkNjCyRpaOOGEnYQFxuM1Cc/s320/Fotolia_1107473_XS.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: © TheThirdMan - Fotolia.com</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/11/10-reasons-why-sla-implementations-fail.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-34731288402146628242011-11-07T08:00:00.000+01:002011-11-08T00:10:37.746+01:00IT Support - Small Team EditionOne of the challenges of small IT teams, is how to cope with end user support, while continuing the main activities of the team. It applies to any small team. The challenges might be slightly different for internal IT teams and small IT businesses, but the key questions remain. Who should take care of it? How should the responsibility be assigned?<br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/11/it-support-small-team-edition.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-57571738253563736902011-11-04T08:00:00.000+01:002011-11-08T22:12:09.488+01:00How to Support Customers of IT Startups<div>
Starting up a successful IT company is a dream of many. There are plenty of successful initiatives out there and many more will follow. The day the offer gets out on the market is critical. The customers, especially the early adopters, need to be served exceptionally. Today, let's focus specifically on B2B products and services and discuss how to set up a customer service function in a small, startup company.<br>
</div><a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/11/how-to-support-customers-of-it-startups.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-69045268933902510382011-11-03T08:00:00.000+01:002011-11-03T08:00:07.926+01:00IT Mission StatementWhat is the purpose of having IT in the company? We all know it needs to be there, but why specifically? Is it to provide technology and fix it when it breaks? Some CEOs may think so. It is, however, a very limited perception. The mission of IT is much broader than that.<br>
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The concept of a service, so familiar to ITIL practitioners, is very handy for the purpose of creating IT mission statement. IT nowadays does not provide technology, but services. Email is a service, so is videoconferencing or sales system provision. But is it enough?<br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/11/it-mission-statement.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-76528334441469600622011-06-30T08:00:00.058+02:002011-11-02T21:50:18.816+01:00Pitfalls of KPI ReportingAh yes, KPI reporting. We all love it, don't we? Well, it doesn't really matter if we do -- we have to do it. Everyone in the business of IT Service Management is measured by a set of KPIs. People's performance is measured this way, process efficiency as well. There are some common pitfalls of reporting that you should be aware of and try to avoid.<br>
<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/pitfalls-of-kpi-reporting.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-20083703305766799802011-06-29T08:00:00.003+02:002011-11-16T23:08:37.136+01:00IT Comic: Requirement Verification<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1aHeGb4adatsAMFXQDR5h1ZFW4TmIxR8WzzO9F1pfrYZdKax6-Xf27DTSQSAeb8X61CLbkbtndnB6jZp65Jsyp0ZacSiPtYK1ZtrcGGLJXST514BZm4zCE9fvElUvj4sRFktLhpk-3mc/s1600/IT-Comic-2011-06-29-S.png" imageanchor="1" rel="" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1aHeGb4adatsAMFXQDR5h1ZFW4TmIxR8WzzO9F1pfrYZdKax6-Xf27DTSQSAeb8X61CLbkbtndnB6jZp65Jsyp0ZacSiPtYK1ZtrcGGLJXST514BZm4zCE9fvElUvj4sRFktLhpk-3mc/s320/IT-Comic-2011-06-29-S.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: Anna Chęć</td></tr>
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Finding out about the true requirements is good... but not at the end of the project.Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-72759038085686235222011-06-28T08:00:00.014+02:002011-11-03T00:23:56.841+01:00Are You Struggling with ITIL?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">According to Forrester, many organizations which adopt ITIL "stick with the common/core processes, never moving from these reactive processes to the more value-adding proactive processes." Are you in one of those organizations?<br />
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Forrester also states, that "many organizations say that they 'do' ITIL v3 when all they 'do' is a subset of the ITIL v2 processes and have bought Service Catalog technology and/or sent staff on an ITIL v3 course." Sounds familiar?<br />
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Adopting ITIL is more like a continuous improvement, rather than a project that has an end. If you take this mindset, than you avoid a lot of issues. Hopefully, your organization will not "run out of steam." Sure, you need to have projects to handle certain aspects of it, but keep in mind that there will always be a next project you should undertake. Just like hardware replacement projects, which you have to do regularly to keep your business running effectively.<br />
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In one of my previous articles, I advocated a <a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/keeping-itsm-simple.html">simple approach to ITSM</a>. It is very much about ITIL adoption. However, that does not mean you should stop at implementing the core processes only. That's a good start, but you need to keep going. Only then you will see the true benefits of creating a professional Service Management organization.<br />
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The Forrester facts I have quoted come from Forrester's Stephen Mann's blog. Check out his <a href="http://blogs.forrester.com/stephen_mann/11-06-21-getting_started_with_itil_the_30_minute_version">full article</a> about getting started with ITIL.</span>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-55084866152965999062011-06-27T08:00:00.000+02:002011-11-02T21:50:18.762+01:00Dealing with Many Incidents EffectivelyFew organizations have the luxury of dealing with a handful of incidents at a time. Most of the time, there are many incidents going on at the time. As if that wasn't enough, many of them are of high priority. How should your unfortunate Service Desk Agent deal with all of them?<br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/dealing-with-many-incidents-effectively.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-14069439958281138522011-06-23T08:00:00.012+02:002011-06-23T08:00:09.868+02:00Don't Neglect Your Professional DevelopmentDo you develop professionally? Do you take you time to hone your skills? I don't mean an occasional, company-funded training, which you forget one week later. I mean a serious approach to improving yourself. Let's see why you should do it, and how you go about it.<br>
<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/dont-neglect-your-professional.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-91075797831518908142011-06-22T08:00:00.011+02:002011-11-02T21:49:50.676+01:00Rejecting Changes GracefullyThe process of reviewing changes can be painful at times. Some of the changes will be approved, but others will need to be rejected. When to reject? And how to do it properly?<br>
<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/rejecting-changes-gracefully.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-912175355921323262011-06-21T08:00:00.024+02:002011-11-02T21:49:50.682+01:00Change Acceptance CriteriaDo you know what is one of the best ways to hold a chaotic and useless <a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/change-management-with-no-cab-meetings.html">CAB meeting</a>? Lack of change acceptance criteria. Without them, you will either squabble over one change throughout the entire meeting, or accept all of the changes in 5 minutes and leave. Both ways are bad.<br>
<div></div><a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/change-acceptance-criteria.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-79193604009518529632011-06-20T08:00:00.137+02:002011-11-02T21:50:18.827+01:00Effective Incident ClassificationIT departments dealing with high volume of incidents will encounter a very specific challenge. It might be difficult to perform efficient incident trending without optimal classification scheme.<br>
<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/effective-incident-classification.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-23858904343156524232011-06-19T08:00:00.016+02:002011-11-16T23:10:02.713+01:00IT Comic: Incident Acceptance<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGsqMGn_STJXPJj7DifMQ7Oef3QhYoSmL1f6CZeEjQ7ARJN21YQOqjODLlew1ZrPd7kC4L6jo2B9jux5P_oeSv2AcLl-NP13CY042eXOP9A4cw1_HB_0G8vxwApeUk_1pfQMR_NzB6Z4/s1600/IT-Comic-2011-06-19-S.png" imageanchor="1" rel="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGsqMGn_STJXPJj7DifMQ7Oef3QhYoSmL1f6CZeEjQ7ARJN21YQOqjODLlew1ZrPd7kC4L6jo2B9jux5P_oeSv2AcLl-NP13CY042eXOP9A4cw1_HB_0G8vxwApeUk_1pfQMR_NzB6Z4/s400/IT-Comic-2011-06-19-S.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: Anna Chęć</td></tr>
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If you see that an incident ticket is not accepted, following up might be a good idea...Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-69174225863359118382011-06-17T08:00:00.003+02:002011-06-18T23:03:38.000+02:00Top 5 Causes of Shadow IT GrowthIn order to <a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/shadow-it-service-transition.html">deal with Shadow IT</a> effectively, it is essential to understand where it comes from. Why do your users avoid the IT department and take care of technology themselves? Let's see the top 5 reasons.<br>
<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/top-5-causes-of-shadow-it-growth.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-68767115392299511012011-06-16T08:00:00.041+02:002011-11-02T21:50:18.790+01:00Event Management Good Practices<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">ITIL v3 has introduced events. Even though some time has passed, a distinction between events and incidents can still cause a heated debate. In this post, I will attempt to show you how you can benefit from incorporating properly into your ITSM processes.</span><br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/event-management-good-practices.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-69906141360388269502011-06-15T08:00:00.000+02:002011-06-18T23:03:30.680+02:00Shadow IT Service TransitionRecently, I received a request to give some tips on Service Transition when dealing with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_IT">Shadow IT</a>. Essentially, there are situations, where an IT system is not supported by the company's IT. Why that happens is a subject for another discussion. In this post, let's examine what to do about it.<br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/shadow-it-service-transition.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-37581412185667497942011-06-14T08:00:00.016+02:002011-11-02T21:49:50.610+01:00Keeping ITSM Simple<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">As you may have noticed, posts on this blog advocate a simple approach to IT Service Management. There is a reason for it. ITIL and other methodologies have been developed to help us remain in control of our complex reality and improve the value provided by IT. However, these methodologies are complex themselves, and if you try to implement them in a big bang, you will fail.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br>
</div><a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/keeping-itsm-simple.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-63410259096692639142011-06-13T08:00:00.020+02:002011-11-02T21:50:18.778+01:00Can OLAs Harm Service Levels?As process maturity in your IT organization increases, you will deliver better service to your users. When you get to the point of signing Operational Level Agreements among various IT teams, you would expect things to improve. However, it is not always the case.<br>
<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/can-olas-harm-service-levels.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-2704228914787037262011-06-12T08:00:00.046+02:002011-11-16T23:10:14.808+01:00IT Comic: Incident Priority Setting<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7lwAmPYhV2OGo9DxLnGI-8OLB0tKKjOzaMUgdWuxpGZBJD6f9IVas20Iuy9ZCwn_SHQrhnbw8T-Fiobw_VRQGHVTi4cOeRRNP0DbwaNjlBJGAx7AgwVU3I2SdNs0VnS5W4INS-jX5SU/s1600/ITComic-2011-06-12-s.png" imageanchor="1" rel="" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7lwAmPYhV2OGo9DxLnGI-8OLB0tKKjOzaMUgdWuxpGZBJD6f9IVas20Iuy9ZCwn_SHQrhnbw8T-Fiobw_VRQGHVTi4cOeRRNP0DbwaNjlBJGAx7AgwVU3I2SdNs0VnS5W4INS-jX5SU/s320/ITComic-2011-06-12-s.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: Anna Chęć</td></tr>
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In the IT Service Management world, we need to ensure that incident priority is captured properly or it may turn into management escalation...<br />
<br />Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-52127116333384622762011-06-10T08:00:00.024+02:002011-11-02T21:49:50.631+01:00How to Create an SLA in 7 Easy StepsYou might be wondering about an easy way to improve satisfaction of your users from the services you deliver. Well, you need to match their expectations and your ability do deliver. You can do it by creating a Service Level Agreement (SLA).<br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/how-to-create-sla-in-7-easy-steps.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-9049584707209659712011-06-09T08:00:00.145+02:002011-06-10T21:34:01.068+02:00The Future of Cloud ITSM SolutionsA very interesting announcement appeared on the Internet yesterday. Read Write Enterprise blog <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2011/06/customer-service-api.php">reported</a> creation of a new API for Customer Service Applications, called <a href="http://networkedhelpdesk.org/">NetworkedHelpDesk.org</a>. It caused a surge of enthusiasm on Twitter and led <a href="http://twitter.com//PiotrChec">me</a> to tweet it as well. Why is it good?<br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/future-of-cloud-itsm-solutions.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-10996816052319319542011-06-08T08:00:00.002+02:002011-11-02T21:50:18.715+01:00Change Management with No CAB Meetings?We are all bombarded with meetings. Often most of the day is packed with them and we barely have the time to do some "real" work. Isn't there a way of getting the required approvals through email, or specialized web workflow in your ITSM software? Yes, there is.<br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/change-management-with-no-cab-meetings.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-16051815146638803872011-06-07T08:00:00.029+02:002011-11-02T21:49:50.594+01:00Does ITIL Certificate Make You Successful?Something about ITIL certification has been bothering me for a while. Being certified is a good indication of our knowledge of the theory. We have memorized all those terms and are able to cite them. We know the answer to case study questions. We know what answers are expected and how we should organize the processes on paper.<br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/does-itil-certificate-make-you.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2249771515658859096.post-69164038932316697012011-06-06T08:00:00.003+02:002011-11-02T21:49:50.660+01:00How to Get the Business to Join CABYou might wonder why would it be problematic to get the business to join CAB meetings. After all, you talk about changes they want done. They should be interested in being part of CAB and see that the changes get approved, right? Wrong!<br>
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<a href="http://www.itsmperfection.com/2011/06/how-to-get-business-to-join-cab.html#more">Read more »</a>Piotr Chęćhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620770099058188737noreply@blogger.com0