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September 2011 - Posts

Time and relevance matter in this agile world!

Published: September 29 2011, 09:36 PM | no comments
by Robert Stroud

Sitting in the hotel on Monday evening I was on a conference call and suddenly the wireless network would not connect. Embarrassingly, on a conference call with my peers I could not collaborate and I realized at that moment that I “expect” connectivity anywhere, anyplace and anytime.

This is not only true of wireless access, but also of access to IT enabled business services such as Internet Banking, booking a flight or even ordering and viewing the football on Sunday (I’m not American, so no helmets :-)).   After calling hotel reception and eventually getting through to the service provider, I was told that the access required a technician onsite and that it would be several days before it could be scheduled and as access when I am remote is critical I left the hotel and checked into another, lost revenue for the hotel.  Internet in the hotel reminds me of the complex IT supply chains that we now have to support.  This mandates that we are to communicate, collaborate and resolve service outages in real or near real time and more importantly effectively communicate with the community. It’s especially important that we ensure we communicate the correct things to the correct people at the correct time.   Speaking recently to a contact at a large manufacturing organization, he mentioned that he has outsourced the decision making for additional capability to the business. Using its monitoring capability, it identifies when capacity thresholds are being approached and escalates to the business manager who can approve or decline the request in real time on her mobile device and all the interactions are logged for audit purposes. This leads to an automated capacity increase process when approved.  As the power is with the business they make the decisions and feel empowered and the consumption of technology to deliver business value can be justified at the monthly cost review.

 

This is one of the anecdotes that I will reference in my session at the “2011 Relevance Revolution” event in Chicago October 6 and 7. In my session “IT Service Management in the Cloud,” I will be talking about the trends in the industry including virtualization, cloud, BYOT, big data and the changing IT organizational structures, the changing role for service management and tips and techniques in this rapidly evolving world.  For more information on the xMatters 2011 Relevance Revolution event, check the xMatters website.

Connect Four image used under Creative Commons License courtesy of amateria70.

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By: Robert Stroud
Robert Stroud serves as VP and as Service Management, Cloud Computing and Governance Evangelist at CA Technologies. Robert also serves as an International vice president of ISACA, is part of the Framework committee and was the former chair of the COBIT Steering Committee. Robert also serves on the itSMF...
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Agile or Waterfall? Without metrics neither are of value

Published: September 28 2011, 08:53 AM | 2 Comment(s)
by Robert Stroud

Recently I have been speaking with a number of large global enterprises that are focused on the acceleration of innovation to move their businesses forward. One of the techniques being leveraged is Agile development which delivers business value to constituents more frequently.

For those looking for a simple definition of Agile development methodology compared to Waterfall, I share the one that was recently shared with me: "Waterfall is requirements bound and Agile is time bound". In layman's terms, in Waterfall you deliver the solution when all the requirements have been satisfied and in Agile the functionality delivered is what you can deliver within the timeframe that you operate. I have heard others more pessimistically describe Agile as failing faster, against the backdrop of failing slower with traditional project management methodologies. The reality is both have their place based on the organizational strategy, business segment and compliance requirements. And what is germane to both is that if you don't have success metrics in place you obviously will not succeed and if your metrics don't drive decisions then those are of little value.

I remember recently talking to the CIO of a financial services organization and he told me that his project management organization measured their entire book of projects exceptionally well, all at the individual project level whether agile or waterfall. Project metrics included; on-time, within budget, number of defects, correctly resourced and so on. Yet although the majority of projects succeeded at the individual project level, the organization continued to experience timeframes being missed, budgets exceeded, scope creep continuing and an inability to kill bad initiatives.

The reality here that many of us measure on the individual level, with good visibility at the project level but do not see the complete picture at the portfolio level and this is where focus needs to be placed.

To place focus at the portfolio level we need to establish a series of metrics that drive the behavior at this level and must link to the business value derived, including metrics such as:   

  • Increase of revenue attributable to the portfolio
  • New markets and expansion of customer base
  • Cost reductions attributable to the portfolio
  • Positive impact in net present value (NPV) of the portfolio
  • Quantifiable "return on investment"
  • Internal rate of return (IRR) of the portfolio
  • Business risk reduced

These metrics are all linked to the business value derived from the use of technology to positively impact the business. By measuring the contribution of IT to the business, you change the discussion from one of cost cutting to one of organization value creation and innovation. Now isn't that a better discussion than "where you I cut ten dollars of cost?"

Measuring tape image used under Creative Commons License courtesy of sarahluv.

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By: Robert Stroud
Robert Stroud serves as VP and as Service Management, Cloud Computing and Governance Evangelist at CA Technologies. Robert also serves as an International vice president of ISACA, is part of the Framework committee and was the former chair of the COBIT Steering Committee. Robert also serves on the itSMF...
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Something for everyone at Fusion 11

Published: September 23 2011, 02:47 PM | no comments
by Leanne Agurkis

For everyone attending Fusion 11, I wanted to give a quick summary of what CA Technologies, the only Diamond sponsor at the show, will be featuring at the event, which takes place Sept. 25-28 at the Gaylord National Hotel in National Harbor, Md.

You will find CA Technologies in booth 418 where we'll be demonstrating our innovative solutions:

  • CA Service Catalog
  • CA IT Asset Management
  • CA Business Service Insight
  • CA Service Desk, CA Open Space and xMatters IT support engine
  • CA Automation Suite for Clouds

Nimsoft also will be exhibiting at the conference in booth 311 where it will showcase the latest in IT management as a service with Nimsoft Service Desk.

In addition, we have several team members speaking at the event. Erik Hille will present: "Calm Before the Storm: Why Getting your SLAs in Order Today will Save You Tomorrow," on Monday, Sept. 26 from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET. During that session he will discuss how organizations can manage the composition and performance of the composite business services that increasingly - and sometimes without IT's knowledge - include cloud-based services as well as internal services.

Randal Locke and Tim Rochte will present: "Cloudy With a Chance of Service Management" during the same break-out period, Monday, Sept. 26 from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET. They will highlight what's in store with regard to service management and cloud and the process enablement to come in the not-so-distant future.

If you're at Fusion 11, you also can stop by the CA Technologies booth and enter to win a Samsung tablet computer, or join the CA Technologies speed boat "racing team" for a chance to win a radio controlled speed boat! See you there!

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By: Leanne Agurkis
Leanne Agurkis has spent 20 years in the communications field working in the areas of public relations, internal communications, and publishing. She has worked on the CA business for six years as both a consultant and now a full-time employee supporting CA’s Security & Compliance business which includes...
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The Emperor's New Framework or my visit with the ITSMWP ROW Podcast

Published: September 22 2011, 09:45 AM | no comments
by Robert Stroud

I was recently extremely honored to spend an hour with a number of folks who are described as "an Analyst, a ITSM Guru and a Service Desk Monkey" recording the "ITSMWP Rest of the World (ROW)" podcast.  The topic of the podcast (and I say topic loosely) was COBIT 5 and I found myself searching constantly for the mute button as we discussed topics from the news of the day including the ITIL 2011 launch to the upcoming release of COBIT 5, and ending on the behavior of the poodles. 

To find out more, click here to be linked to the podcast!  

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By: Robert Stroud
Robert Stroud serves as VP and as Service Management, Cloud Computing and Governance Evangelist at CA Technologies. Robert also serves as an International vice president of ISACA, is part of the Framework committee and was the former chair of the COBIT Steering Committee. Robert also serves on the itSMF...
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Failing quickly does not equate to agility!

Published: September 21 2011, 11:22 AM | no comments
by Robert Stroud

This past weekend I contributed my time and energy with 9 other global ISACA experts on the development of our position and contributions to the emerging governance standards as part of the ISO liaison taskforce. The taskforce was established to focus on various ISO standards including ISO\IEC 38500 ICT Governance, ISO\IEC 20000 Service Management and the ISO\IEC 27000 series of security standards. Our ISACA involvement in International Standards has been increasing in line with the global adoption of standards and the importance our members are placing on them (more on the outcome of the meetings soon).

One of the key discussion points surrounded governance, its evolving definition and how to effectively collaborate and communicate within the general community.  Within ISACA, and especially in the development of COBIT 5, we have become aware of the growing concerns regarding risk and value, expressed not in IT terms but in business terms. This is a clear reminder that both public and private enterprises fundamentally exist to deliver value to their stakeholders. To deliver value an organization must operate with a risk and value posture that is acceptable to the enterprise and leverages resources appropriately (i.e. "smart" spending and saving), especially in this agile world.

Interestingly the topic of agility seems to be cropping up at many recent conferences, but what most are really talking about is the idea of failing quickly.  I asked one of these speakers this week "how do you know you are failing and when to stop the initiative" and they immediately dodged the question and commenced discussion about the number of initiatives they had launched.   

Now, we need to be agile, we need to drive value, but this is not an excuse to circumvent an effective decision making process  In this agile world, timely decision-making is at a premium - which means, quick reactions to change are essential. Decision-making accountabilities must be shared among many people - and when accountability must be shared, governance should also come into play. Successful enterprises ensure they have implemented an efficient and overarching system of governance that facilitates the achievement of their desired outcomes, both at the enterprise level and at each level within the enterprise.

I speak with governance professionals globally, and even for those of us in the field, ‘governance' still continues to be a misunderstood term, particularly with confusion around the definitions of governance and management. I was recently reminded of the "Taking Governance Forward" website launched late last year. It's meant to be a forum for the communication, education, debate and contributions to governance.

This initiative, led by the IT Governance Institute, is designed to help clarify the complexities of governance by delivering a platform for discussion and collaboration to help advance enterprise governance. The website provides significant education and guidance through practical tools, including the innovative "governance on a page" concept offering clear guidance for implementing effective governance.

Features include:

  • Discussion forums
  • Wikis
  • Common agreed-to definitions
  • Mapping details
  • Diagrams to illustrate the concepts

Don't get me wrong, agility is critical in this evolving business environment and what we need to do is evolve our governance processes to be relevant, efficient and effective. This requires an understanding of governance coupled with your contributions to take it forward. 

Let me use this opportunity to encourage you to check out the Taking Governance Forward website and to get involved in driving governance! 

Taking Governance Forward website:  http://www.takinggovernanceforward.org/.

 

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By: Robert Stroud
Robert Stroud serves as VP and as Service Management, Cloud Computing and Governance Evangelist at CA Technologies. Robert also serves as an International vice president of ISACA, is part of the Framework committee and was the former chair of the COBIT Steering Committee. Robert also serves on the itSMF...
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