Process Documentation: Bring It On!

Process frameworks and standards are a guiding light in helping you define processes and assess their maturity, but they won’t lead you to the process Promised Land! These frameworks and standards provide little guidance with regard to process definition, and without defined and documented...
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016

Damage Control for Service Management: A Primer on Problem Management

When I ask my clients about their problem management processes, I often get a curious response: “We don’t really have the time to focus on problems because we’re so busy putting out fires. Once we knock down the fires that flare up, we’ll be able to devote some time to problem management.” A...
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016

Ups and Downs: Trends in the Value of Professional Certification

A decade ago, the value of IT certification was straightforward: if support professionals received one, it benefited them, in the pocketbook as well as on the organization chart. However, today, the straight line between certification and a better career has bent. Consequently, techies need to...
Date Published - Last Updated February 28, 2018

Project Management and ITSM: A Match Made in Heaven

The role of IT is rapidly changing, with many organizations seeking to transform the manner in which they design, develop, and manage the provisioning of IT services to customers. In Ten Steps to ITSM Success, we touched on the importance of applying project management principles and...
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016

Fast Lane: Security at the Speed of Agility

Corporations want to be quick to market and adaptable to constant change. They want to generate feedback, reduce support calls, and increase velocity. Unfortunately, this is often achieved at the expense of sound security.
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016

Lockdown: BYOD and Mobile Device Security

Securing personal devices requires an in-depth knowledge of not only the unique aspects of mobile devices but also the unique approaches to securing mobile devices that aren’t owned by company. Multiple platforms and multiple mobile device management (MDM) solutions only complicate the BYOD...
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016

Security and Facilities Control: Support Considerations

There’s an information security maxim that states, “There’s no security without physical security.” Buildings and infrastructure (other than specifically IT infrastructure) are usually the domain of a department other than IT, but the technology used to monitor and secure facilities of all types...
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016

Seeing Stars: Hollywood and the Keys to Continuous Improvement

Organizations often rush to kick-start improvement efforts without first completing a thorough analysis. All too often, improvement exercises are either reactive—knee-jerk responses to what others have done—or conceived in response to the passionate advocacy of a charismatic (and usually senior)...
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016

"Houston, We Have a Problem": The Service Center War Room

IT provides services to the business, and ITSM enables IT to react accordingly when those services don’t perform as designed. It’s important that IT and the business are on the same page when it comes to key events, and that they approach those events with the same sense of urgency. This...
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016

Want Better Solutions? Think Differently!

In service management, we come up with solutions and solve problems on a regular basis. It’s part of the job, and we are quite good at it. There are times, however, when a new problem arises and the usual solutions simply don’t work. The problem could be ...
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016