Randy Young ::: Adopting and Adapting

ITIL v3 CMDB Redefined

2007-06-14T21:22:10Z

In case you haven't followed the ITIL v3 news, the concepts of a CMDB have been "corrected". No longer is the definition so rigid as to say a single database for a CMDB. There are many trusted sources for configuration information within a company and the goal is to federate those up to a "knowledge management" system.

Hank Marquis has an excellent article in the DITY newsletter describing the changes.

MOF Self Assessment tool updated to 2.0

2007-04-25T00:15:14Z

Have not posted in quite awhile due to some responsibility changes. I am hoping to be posting a little more regularly now that things have settled.

In case you missed it, Microsoft has updated the MOF Self Assessment tool.

Tool Overview

The Microsoft Operations Framework Self-Assessment Tool is based on the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) and IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practices. It guides you through the development of a detailed problem-and-impact analysis of a targeted IT service or operational process. This tool is designed to enable you to:

•	Better understand the effectiveness of the IT services and processes in your organization.
•	Define a specific problem or opportunity regarding your IT services and/or processes
•	Identify a variety of follow-up actions based on information you provide.

Once you complete a 15- to 20-minute assessment, you receive a detailed report including the assessment data, a problem statement, a summary of impacts on the organization, and a customized next-step list of recommendations to help remediate the identified problem.

Great Site for ITIL Introductions

2006-09-11T23:42:00Z

Came across the http://www.itilpeople.com/ site today and it is a good way to start if you are unfamiliar with ITIL concepts and want to learn more.

On this site are links to concepts, training, products, forums, and more.

Some great training on IT Governance, Risk, and Portfolio Mgmt

2006-06-16T00:54:48Z

I had the great pleasure of attending training this week at the MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research (CISR). I attended the summer session at CISR which comprised classes on:

IT Portfolios and Business Agility
Enterprise Architecture as Strategy
IT Risk and Oversight
IT Governance and Leadership
IT-Enabled Change: The Human Dimension

For those with an IT governance focus, these classes are a must. It is by far the best training, from an IT mgmt perspective, that I have attended. The classes were very well structured with pertinent and dynamic guest speakers including:

Jeff Sampler, Oxford University
Rob Cohen, Vice President of Information Systems & Chief Information Officer, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
James Cash, Board Member, GE, Microsoft, Wal-Mart
Pat Hewlett, Chief Information Officer, Exxon Mobil
Omar Baig, Senior Information Officer, International Finance Corporation
Martin Curley, Director, IT Innovation, Intel Corporation
John Petrey, Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer, TD Banknorth
John Cross, Former Group CIO, British Petroleum

In addition to the guest speakers, there is a wealth of information presented by:

Peter Weill, Director, CISR & Senior Research Scientist
Jeanne Ross, Principle Research Scientist
George Westerman, Research Scientist

Kudos to Peter, Jeanne, and George. They provided some excellent information that I highly recommend. I will be summarizing and posting more on specific learnings in future posts.

New book available soon on the Solutions Framework

2006-06-09T21:04:49Z

Mike Turner has an MS Press book coming out soon on the Microsoft Solutions Framework. I encourage you all to get a copy when it is available. Mike has long been an expert on MSF and his learnings will provide some great insight into understanding and adopting the framework.

“Get the hands-on guidance you need to understand how to work with the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF), Version 4. MSF is a deliberate and disciplined approach to technology projects based on a defined set of principles, models, disciplines, concepts, guidelines, and proven practices from Microsoft. MSF has a long history of helping teams and organizations become more successful in delivering business-driven technology solutions to their customers.”

ITIL books spark IT improvement

2006-04-21T03:58:46Z

Pretty good article here on ITIL adoption and MOF implementation. To quote from the article:

“In February 2004, Microsoft consultants descended on ACC’s operations center for a one-week assessment of help-desk procedures for managing problems, changes, configurations and upgrades. The Microsoft team then issued a report, 10 percent of which was a snapshot of observations and 90 percent of which offered recommendations the command could act on. Center officials immediately started implementing the recommendations, and their work continues. Among the improvements:

IT managers are better able to identify and prioritize resources for the most critical IT infrastructure problems.
Managers can track relationships between system changes and network availability.
A formalized process now exists for requesting, analyzing and approving configuration changes.

What can MOF do for you?

A great stop for ITIL-MOF internet resources

2006-03-17T21:28:28Z

Tony put up a great list of ITIL and MOF links in a recent post. If you have others that aren’t listed, please let one of us know.

You can find the list by clicking here.

MOF Continuous Improvement Roadmap now available for download

2006-02-22T02:25:43Z

One of the common results to a service improvement project is the stagnation that takes place after the initial assessment, design, and implementation. A “version 1” is typically realized but once the process changes are in place, the ball gets dropped and a repetitive assessment never takes place.

The goal of the MOF Continuous Improvement Roadmap (CIR) is to make this continuous improvement actionable and achievable to help ensure that you are successful with process changes to IT operations.

In addition, the MOF CIR assists IT service management staff by identifying areas of improvement based on business value, impact on IT personnel, and the ability to gain a “quick win” versus a long term improvement project. Once these areas have been identified, then the CIR prescribes concise direction for focusing your service improvement efforts where they can benefit you the most.

The MOF CIR is based on the best practice guidance contained in MOF version 3, and is positioned for compatibility with future releases of MOF and the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). It has three distinct components:

1. MOF Service Management Assessment

2. MOF Service Improvement Program (SIP)

3. MOF Service Management Guidance

Technical details on Desired Configuration Monitoring

2006-02-10T20:20:26Z

If you are currently using the free Desired Configuration Monitoring (DCM) solution for SMS 2003 or are evaluating this functionality, there is a great blog on MSDN which digs into the technical details of this software.

In case you are unfamiliar with DCM, this solution will allow you to automate the validation of configuration management data that you are collecting with SMS. DCM also ties into Service Monitoring and Control by utilizing MOM to alert on any “out of compliance” items.

From the documentation, “Desired Configuration Monitoring (DCM) enables you to author desired configuration manifests, and to monitor and report on compliance of your computers against a desired configuration. DCM strengthens the Microsoft systems management platform by checking for undesired configuration changes across multiple configuration sources.”

American ITIL expanding into goverment IT

2006-02-09T22:23:20Z

Just came across a great article at www.govtech.net on ITIL adoption in the US. The author, Chad Vander Veen, delves into why this has taken off so much in the US the last few years, the expanded adoption in government IT, and where things are going in v3.0.

It mentions that some in government circles “are finding that ITIL is renewing the focus on serving customers needs. The consolidation movement sweeping the nation would be utterly pointless if it didn't improve the functions of an organization. And in government, the primary function is serving the public.”

If you are new to ITIL and why this is becoming such a hot topic, this article is a good starting point.