Cloud computing has fundamentally shifted the way that IT interacts with the departments and business units that we service.  We have the choice to consume the supporting solutions that we use to manage our service and portfolio environments in software as a service or managed service form factors.  We can provision many of our "services" in an internal cloud environment, and IT faces increased competition from external cloud vendors that sell services into these same departments and business units...often without our knowledge.  In short, service and portfolio management professionals face unheralded new challenges from this fundamental shift.

As many of you are aware, CA World has been going on this week.  At the conference the service and portfolio management focus area addresses the issues above.  The track area addressed "incorporating cloud into your service and portfolio management practice" and covered a set of topics that pertain to how organizations are adapting their service management environments and their project and portfolio solutions.  Attendees have heard how the standards and their peers are leveraging solutions that are delivered in an "as a service" environment and internal cloud environments.  They also learned how the IT role is changing to incorporate a broader eco-system of capabilities from both internal and external sources.

Some highlights of the track included:

• How is the ITIL standard that many organizations utilize as their primary operational framework for service and portfolio management adapting to incorporate "cloud"?  Experts from Pink Elephant and CA Technologies' own ITIL Ninja took this on in a couple of great sessions:  Floating through the Clouds with ITIL Ninja and a Pink Elephant and I Can't Believe My Customers are Cheating on Me with a Cloud.
• Sessions that addressed how CA Technologies solutions help you manage your service catalog, your contractual SLAs and your project portfolio.
• Examples of how companies are incorporating cloud based delivery methods into their operational environment and ROI benefits that they have realized as a result.
• Thought-leading approaches to governing SLAs with your outsourced vendors:  both traditional and cloud based.

If you missed any of these or other sessions found on the Agenda Builder at CAWorld.com and are interested in learning more, let us know by commenting on this blog.