======================================================================== THE ADVICE LINE: BOB LEWIS http://www.infoworld.com ======================================================================== Wednesday, October 13, 2004
LATEST WEBLOG ENTRIES ======================================================================== * ITIL get you for sure * I'm back ... ADVERTISEMENT -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Grand Central's Linthicum and InfoWorld's Dickerson Discuss SOA's Service Oriented Architectures promise increased IT efficiency, better response times, new business models, and enable cross-company platform agnosticism. Nevertheless, there are also significant inhibitors. Where do you begin? This webcast from InfoWorld and Grand Central Communications not only provides tips and trends on SOA's, but also provides a framework for building an SOA at your organization. Register and view now at: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=947B97:2B910B2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ITIL GET YOU FOR SURE ======================================================================== Posted October 13, 3:09 AM Pacific Time Dear Bob ... What's your take on ITIL as the new "process" management answer for IT in the 2000's? In some ways, such as evaluation, it seems rather - vacuous. Or like a Brit acquaintance of mine likes to say of the British themselves - too cynical for his tastes (and that's why he lives in the states). - Cautious Dear Cautious ... >From what I know about ITIL, it's pretty good. I'd go so far to say that any big IT shop with a sizeable data center should use it as the starting point for its data center processes and procedures. It isn't the answer, but it's very good as an answer, and much better than starting from scratch. I do have a few issues with it, though. First, as others have pointed out, ITIL doesn't include an assessment process. That isn't fatal by any means - assessment processes are full employment for consultants (not that this is a bad thing, of course). Since it's a set of processes, I don't see this flaw to be all that serious. As a manager, you're either following ITIL or you aren't. The bigger issue I have with it is that it's a pure process model, and process models are inherently incomplete. Our own IT performance model includes 140 linked factors, and while more of them are process factors than any other category, the process factors don't even reach a majority. More significantly, IT leaders can't directly institute processes - trying to do so is like (as George Burns said in a different context) trying to play pool with a rope. So ITIL also falls short as an implementation model. But that doesn't make it wrong or poorly constructed (the process elements of our model bear a strong and not accidental resemblance to ITIL). It makes it incomplete. Definitely worth learning a lot about if you're in this business; definitely not a Bible to be accepted without careful evaluation for suitability to your particular circumstances. - Bob ... For the full story: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=947B93:2B910B2 I'M BACK ... ======================================================================== Posted October 12, 3:53 PM Pacific Time Here's some advice for anyone who operates a home business: Keep a spare. Not a blank spare, but one that's fully configured. Every time you install software on your main system, install it on your spare as well. Then, keep everything you can synchronized so your data and any application customization you rely on exists in two places at once. If you work in desktop support in a large organization, there are parallels: Encourage users with laptops to make use of offline folders so everything is automatically backed up (and give everyone gobs of storage through the miracle of cheap Network Attached Storage). And keep enough pre-configured spares on hand so that anyone who loses a system can get a replacement immediately. As you have probably guessed, I'm speaking from the voice of very recent experience. I've been out of commission for a week - and my apologies for not having posted in that time. The technology InfoWorld uses for its weblogs requires a client-side installation that can only run on one system at a time. My system died - the Geek Squad tells me the hard drive went bad - and even though most of my data was backed up to my Linux server, I still had to buy a new laptop, install everything (I'm nearly done) configure it the way I'm used to, and so on. I figure I lost two days to this. Which wouldn't have been a problem if I weren't in the middle of a spike in workload. But of course, this all happened at the least convenient time. No surprise there. The point is this (there is a point - honest!): Just because it's a home business doesn't make it any less of a business. I'd been too frugal. I was able to limp along using my Linux server, browser-based e-mail and so on. But that was limping along. It was good enough, but my own business recovery plan wasn't as good as what I'd expect from a client, when it should have been better. After all, they have dis-economies of scale I don't have to worry ... For the full story: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=947B92:2B910B2 Bob Lewis is president of IT Catalysts, Inc., http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=947B98:2B910B2 , an independent consultancy specializing in IT effectiveness and strategic alignment. Contact him at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Advertisement - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Have you ever wished you could give every manager in your IT organization a practical toolkit of leadership techniques, the way you can for database administrators or developers? You can. That's exactly what I've engineered my IT leadership seminar to accomplish. If you're interested, visit http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=947B94:2B910B2 - Bob Lewis ======================================================================== ADVERTISE ======================================================================== For information on advertising, contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] UNSUBSCRIBE/MANAGE NEWSLETTERS ======================================================================== To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your e-mail address for any of InfoWorld's e-mail newsletters, go to: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=947B91:2B910B2 To subscribe to InfoWorld.com, or InfoWorld Print, or both, or to renew or correct a problem with any InfoWorld subscription, go to http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=947B96:2B910B2 To view InfoWorld's privacy policy, visit: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=947B95:2B910B2 Copyright (C) 2004 InfoWorld Media Group, 501 Second St., San Francisco, CA 94107 This message was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
