Dear beloved readers (both of you),
I have a confession to make. As much as I’ve attempted to try and live the life that I preach, I failed in one facet that I hold in high regard. I haven’t been 100% completely transparent in my ITSM dealings with software and service suppliers. The reason for this is simple; I’ve always felt that I should keep my blog “vendor neutral” and never show favouritism towards one vendor over another. My reasons for such agnostic tendencies are few but simple. First, I live in a constant state of fear since it’s these same vendors that have resources and reputations that can ruin my professional aspirations. Second, I can only write blog posts about the software I work with on a daily basis, so obviously there will only be a few vendors that ever get mentioned on this site. Third, and probably the most important, I really think it’s hilarious to use asterisks to reference a company in the name of “vendor neutrality” when everyone knows who I’m writing about anyway (an idea I lifted from Howard Stern). To be fair, I’m just a small fish in a rather large and complex ITSM pond and when I started writing over a year ago, I honestly had no idea where I was going with this blog site. Actually, I still don’t have any idea where it’s headed, but that’s not the point.
I will most definitely state that my point of view is that of someone in the ITSM trenches: The “regular” process nerd in the next cubicle that has the ITIL library in his desk drawer, lots of grey and thinning hair from process meetings, a well used coffee mug with the permanent coffee coating on the inside, and a never-ending hunger to improve the way IT works and to make the most out of the (very) few resources we have available. In essence, I’m a practitioner that lives outside of the glamoured world of vendors and consultants and doesn’t see a single cent from any endorsement (positive or negative).
Will I always be successful at being transparent? Probably not, but I can at least promise to try. With that notion out of the way, I’ll do away with asterisks and from this point forward I decree S***-***w shall be written as ServiceNow. I will be a little sad as many people have commented that they think it’s funny I remain “vendor neutral,” but yet I do a pretty bad job of hiding it. What these same colleagues don’t know is that I’ve always been neutral towards the vendor community and have simply stated the facts (as close as my point-of-view allows).
To the vendors out there: I promise to remain as true to our dealings as possible. If I have reason to say why your software or services are fantastic, I’ll say it. If I have a valid reason to be disappointed in our dealings, I’ll state that as well. If I also think it’s absurd that you’re still handing out demo software on CD’s, you can bet your boots you’ll be getting a mention. On the other hand, if you ever contact me to “set things right,” I’ll be more then happy to listen, have a dialogue, and write-up a nice little post about the encounter and give kudos for trying to improve your product or service. In my point of view, when it comes to IT, nothing is perfect, but we should always strive for perfection anyway (which is a great basis for Continual Service Improvement).
Who knows, I’m sure I’ll eventually sell-out and this site will be plastered with advertisements and biased posts. Until then, I plan to keep the faith… power to the people…damn the man…up the revolution…(you get the idea)…
Michael
Started working in IT in 1999 as a support desk analyst as a way to help pay for food during college. Studied Electrical Engineering for two years before realizing biochemistry was more fun than differential equations, and so ultimately graduated with a Biology degree in 2006. Having (reluctantly) failed at getting accepted into dental school, embraced working in IT and has gone broke becoming an ITIL Expert. Likes to jog, sing camp songs, quote Mel Brooks movie lines and make dumb jokes and loves working for an Israeli tech company where December 25th is a regular work day.
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