A podcast from the IT Skeptic on ITIL - an Introduction

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A podcast of the original article from the IT Skeptic: Is ITIL another Y2K?

A podcast of the original article from the IT Skeptic: ITIL the Cult

We have seen that the ITIL movement has distinct overtones of a fad. What about a cult?

A podcast of the original article from the IT Skeptic: The Emperor has no clothes. Where is the evidence for the benefits of ITIL? There isn’t any. Not the kind of hard empirical evidence that would stand up in, say, clinical trials.

A podcast of the original article from the IT Skeptic: If IT ain't broke don't fix it

Perhaps the saddest sight in the ITIL world is organisations that adopt ITIL processes when the old ones were working OK. Don’t tell me it doesn’t happen.

This is a podcast of the original article from the IT Skeptic: "Debasement of concepts by IT vendors and analysts" by the IT Skeptic.

The persistent erosion of meaning in IT terminology is a damaging practice endemic across vendors and analysts.

A podcast of the original article from the IT Skeptic: ITIL’s dead elephant: CMDB can't be done
CMDB can’t be done. Not as ITIL defines it. At least not with a justifiable return on the investment of doing it - it is such an enormous undertaking that any organisation attempting it is going to burn money on an irresponsible scale. The truth about CMDB is no secret. It is a “dead elephant”: a great putrescence in the corner of the room that everyone studiously ignores, stepping around it and ignoring the stench, because life will be so much simpler if they do not acknowledge the obvious.

This is a podcast of the original blog post by the IT Skeptic

...the kind of platitudinous claptrap peddled by vendors and their analyst sycophants to lull people into adopting their lunatic ideas (and buying their products and consulting). Make it sound easy, obvious and do-able....They see CMDB is too hard, so they are trying to come up with methodological approaches that will lessen the problem, by breaking off bits and calling that a good-enough CMDB. But they are addressing the symptom not the problem.

A podcast of the original article from the IT Skeptic: Is ITIL Dead in the Water?
In five years time most organisations will consider ISO/IEC 20000 certification as a normal part of operating: a minimum benchmark. The horse has bolted with ISO/IEC 20000: the world sees it as “the ITIL standard” but OGC and itSMF have zero control of it.

A podcast of the original article from the IT Skeptic: Living without CMDB
CMDB is positioned as the key underpinning foundation to ITIL:

A podcast of the original article from the IT Skeptic: The software analyst industry needs a code of practice.

In my country, the broadcast industry and the advertising industry both adhere to a voluntary code of practice to police the more extreme behaviours of their members.

A podcast of the original article ITIL's CMDB can't be done, no-how

Continuing our discussion of CMDB, let me reinforce two points: ITIL's CMDB can't be done, no-howLet me reinforce two points please: (1) CMDB can't be done because of the data and regardless of the implementation and (2) I'm talking about CMDB as specified by the ITIL books, not any old database. It can't be done."

A podcast of the original article: The key to living without CMDB is process maturity level

Yes you can do without CMDB, so long as you are aiming at not too high a maturity level, say 3. The trick is to remember that you don't adopt a process, you improve it. If we aspire to a moderate level of maturity, then yes we can do without a CMDB. Plenty of people do.

This is a podcast of the original article: "When you don't run IT as a business, the inevitable results: bad business decisions".

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A podcast of the original article "Should you do ITIL certification training with ITIL version 3 looming?"

A recent patent application appears to indicate that Microsoft is applying to patent CMDB. This issue is not attracting the outrage that it ought to.

A podcast of the original article. In preparation for the release of Microsoft Service Manager (previously known as “Service Desk”), Microsoft made a surprise joint announcement today with IBM.

A podcast of the original article: Book Review - "IT Service Management from Hell! Based on Not-ITIL®".

A Review of "IT Service Management from Hell! Based on Not-ITIL®" by Brian Johnson and Paul Wilkinson, editor Annelise Savill

IT Service Management from Hell is a silly book. And along the way it makes some serious points. A balanced view of anything is far healthier than blind obedience. Give this book to your staff to lighten the mood and stimulate discussion around ITIL.

A podcast of the original article Don't fall for the demo: an asset database with bells and whistles is not a CMDB

A podcast of the original articles The way OGC and APMG stand back without any response is completely unacceptable and

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A podcast of the original article Sharon Taylor's five common myths about ITIL Version 3.

This is a podcast of the original article The king's method of writing a new decree: how OGC does ITIL V3

A podcast of the original article How badly is ITIL damaged by vendor influence? What needs fixing?

A podcast of the original articles Financial transparency of the itSMF: let's have some and itSMF global members/sponsors: dropping your pants is not a good business model

The IT Skeptic estimates itSMF International, the "not-for-profit" governing body separate from the 40+ local chapters but owned by the members, turns over somewhere approaching a million dollars annually. They do this without any public reporting of their finances, as far as I can tell.

A podcast of the original articles Announcing the IT Skeptic's BOKKED: the Body of Knowledge Known Error Database, for ITIL et al and Where to officially report ITIL book errors: "behind a locked door marked BEWARE OF THE LEOPARD"

ITIL Version 3 makes a big ask of the ITSM industry. It will be fascinating to watch how it shakes out. The scope of ITIL is an order of magnitude wider now: how many individuals and organisations will have the knowledge and skills to step up to the new requirements?

This is a podcast of the original article.

OK I'll bite. One of the nice folk at Evergreen, Jill Landers, posted "Top 10 reasons to implement a CMDB". I'll do the right thing and not quote it in full here so you need to go read that first. Then you can enjoy my "Top 10 reasons NOT to implement CMDB"

A podcast of the original article ITIL Version 2.5: Will we see hybrids?

ITIL Version 3 tells us how to run, whilst ITIL version 2 tells us how to walk. Many sites are only ready to learn to walk, so what then to do about the good ideas introduced in Version 3? Do we add a little 3 to the mix? or will that only cause confusion?

Keep an eye on Lean. It is the next big thing (fad or real change?). I always watch what is coming across from manufacturing to IT because - in the service management area at least - that is the trend: manufacturing teaches us.

This is a podcast of the original article ITIL's biggest hole: where is the meta-lifecycle?

ITIL3 now describes the lifecycle of a service, and does an excellent job of it. But where is the guidance on how to implement the ITIL process machinery to manage that service through its lifecycle? Where is the lifecycle of the lifecycle, as it were - the meta-lifecycle?

A podcast of the original article

I would like to trial ITIL versus a placebo.

Instead of using ITIL as the framework or guidance for process improvement in IT production, I would use a placebo body of knowledge.

A podcast of the original article ITIL is the hitchhiker's guide, COBIT is the encyclopaedia
As the IT Skeptic digs (happily) deeper into COBIT, I ponder the difference between COBIT and ITIL. In my simple layman's mind, ITIL is the hitchhiker's guide, COBIT is the encyclopaedia, rather like the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the Encyclopedia Galactica.

A podcast of the original article

The IT Skeptic is pleased to announce our annual New Year's awards, inaugurated last year. These awards are presented to deserving figures and organisations in the IT industry in general and the ITSM industry in particular.

A podcast of the original post

OGC is celebrating the first year of ITIL V3. What do we have to show after a year? I'm underwhelmed.

A podcast of the original post The people who determine the future of ITIL training, qualifications and certification
Now that OGC have outsourced ITIL certification and trainer accreditation to APMG, a private for-profit company, let us look at the people who influence the shape of ITIL V3's slowly emerging qualifications system.

An extra-long 28-minute podcast of the series of posts on Big Uncle

Big Uncle is a name for the concept of “benevolent security”. Privacy is a dated concept, disappearing fast. People get all tied in a knot over this, but the consequences are only as bad as we let them be. Like any technology, there will be evil applications and there will be good ones. There are upsides which the IT Skeptic investigates.

A podcast of the original article An IT Skeptic book review: Foundations of ITSM based on ITIL V3

Can the five core ITIL V3 books be compressed into one without significant loss of content? Yes it would seem so

A podcast of the original postITIL V3: where's the portal?
Long ago in a time far away, OGC promised an ITIL Live™ Portal to augment the impending new ITIL V3. "It's coming..."

A podcast of the original article itSMFUSA declares who it thinks was Julie Linden
So itSMFUSA believes James Prunty is Julie Linden. I look forward to seeing the outcome of this suit as I would love to know the truth of this. Whether a lawsuit will ever reveal the truth is another question.

A podcast of the original blog post Crap Factoid Alert: CMDB savings of more than $1 million per year .

This is a CATEGORY 1 Crap Factoid alert from Chokey the Chimp at the IT Skeptic's Crap Factoid Warning Service. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Be on EXTREME danger alert for CF "CMDB savings of more than $1 million per year". BMC and Forrester are shovelling it.

A podcast of the original post a back-of-an-envelope re-analysis of Forrester and BMC's own CMDB research

Several readers argue well that ROI is not the right measure for a CMDB, but nevertheless management want to know what they get for their money, and BMC's own research suggests "not much".