So I get up this morning and put on my blue shirt and dark suit thinking “damn, I look pretty good.”. Lo and behold just about everyone else is wearing blue. Not all the same shade, but pretty close. So much for originality.
I’m on the road to Louisville, Kentucky to attend itsmf Fusion 10. I plan to post some updates through Twitter (see the twitter bar on the right) and I’ll maybe even post a few pictures and articles while I shlep around the conference – and yes, shlep is a technical term. If you’re going to be in Looeyville too, feel free to send a message to itilandme on Twitter and who knows, maybe we’ll run into each other.
When I started this blog I somehow thought it was a great idea to use the domain “itilandme” to highlight that it’s purpose is to focus on the ITIL framework. As much as I love ITIL and enjoy learning more and more each day, I’ve definitely read enough blogs and articles to know that ITIL is not the gospel when it comes to IT Service Management. It’s definitely the most in-depth framework out there and I still plan on obtaining my V3 Expert accreditation, but in a practical sense I’ve learned that it’s best to use any framework/methodology/technique to get IT to achieve its goals and the goals of the business. I definitely don’t intend to knock ITIL and I still hold the belief that it’s core function is to improve IT Services (which is why I hate posts that state the CMDB is the heart of ITIL http://www.itskeptic.org/heart-itil-service-catalogue), but ITIL has deficiencies that a different set of processes and knowledge can help overcome. At the same time I’m sure ITIL compensates for the shortcomings of other methodologies out there. At the end of the day ITIL, MOF, Lean, ITIL-lite, etc., all are meant to bring value out of the use of technology, and that’s what I care about the most.
I was just listening to the itSMF podcast and the topic of marketing and getting the business to understand the value of I.T. services reminded me of a simple, yet important lesson I learned in life. For a while (during my “what do I want to do for a living” period) I worked for my father-in-law at the family business. Without going into too much detail I’ll give a brief description of my father-in-law’s life: He came from a foreign country with no money, learned a specific skill and started his own business, became a respected lecturer and member of the professional community and now drives a Mercedes that’s worth more than my house. In essence, my father-in-law built a life following the textbook definition of an American dream. One vital lesson that I learned while working at his business is the importance of the bottom line and how much money was made that day. The reason for this importance was simple; no money = no business. This is a critical factor when it comes to operating in the I.T. world. Even more important than (dare I say) adopting a culture conducive for providing customer service or improving processes. The reason for this crucial thought is simple; the business understands money. In fact, just about everyone understands money. Heck, even time = money. So why do I keep reading and hearing people press the importance of I.T. and its impact on the business? Isn’t this something that everyone should just know? I guess not, because if everyone did have the “bottom line” mindset then experts wouldn’t be blogging, lecturing, videocasting, podcasting, etc., etc. about making sure the business knows the value of I.T.
I certainly don’t intend to undermine customer service or say that money is the most important thing in the world, but it really is the simplest form of value that anyone can understand. So instead of Service Management being about providing value, maybe the definition of Service Management should be changed to providing the best value.
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