When talking about automation in the data center we think about the use of tools and processes to coordinate and execute on activities with hopes to reduce complexity, errors, labor, and costs while increasing productivity. To further automation goals, we have to consider outside influences to the data...

Data center automation (DCA) is designed to deliver value back to the business through increased levels of service and flexibility to meet business needs and demands. With increasing complexity within the data center, including but not limited to: a growing number of applications, bare metal and virtual...

Most of the country thinks CSI stands for "Crime Scene Investigation," as popularized on TV. In a convoluted sort of way, the acronym means something similar in ITIL® v3. This is a stretch, but bear with me. In v3, CSI stands for Continual Service Improvement and it is the fifth volume of the...

I'd like to make a quick point. There are times when I find the discussions surrounding ITIL® v3 popularity to be superfluous. That's because whether or not people are "for" ITIL v3, if they want to work for successful organizations, they have probably already put several aspects of...

Those of you struggling with bringing IT and business alignment to life through your ITIL ® initiative may be surprised to learn that your salvation may lie in a free download. Even with the improved use of organizational charts and metrics in ITIL v3, some practitioners have commented that the linkage...

As CMDB experts go, I have a lot of experience, starting with implementations a decade ago when ITIL was almost unknown in North America. Still, a question posed to me at CA's recent customer-focused Development Buddy Summit sent me to the books -- the ITIL® books that is -- hunting for an answer...

The IT Skeptic recently wrote a blog entitled “ Perhaps one day Service Management will become a universal discipline: ITIL 4? ” It starts, “Who left the IT in itSMF? What a shame we have kept our focus narrow.” Some of you may be thinking that’s absurd, of course there should be an “IT” in “itSMF.”...

As I traveled to the Sultanate of Oman for the Asia-Pacific Computer Audit, Control and Security (CACS) Conference hosted by ISACA, an air travel incident presented a painful reminder of the importance of having a contingency plan. The beautiful city of Oman has only a small number of incoming flights...

Should IT managers become acquainted with formal project management methodologies? I was recently asked this question in an interview for an Insurance Networking News article entitled " IT Project Management Keeps the Business on Track ." I answered yes, of course. But that is just tip the...

In the December 20, 2007 issue of CIO Insight , Allan E. Alter published a research article entitled " CIOs Rank Their Top Priorities for 2008 ." 250 CIOs were surveyed about their top priorities for 2008, resulting in three lists of top ten priorities for business, management and technology...