How to assemble all the ITSM reference library you need for $211

Blog entry submitted by skeptic on Mon, 2008-10-06 09:19. [nid:1182]
in

With seemingly everyone gouging the ITIL user these days, is there an alternative for those of us who can't just (or just can't) get the boss to pay the exorbitant prices? You bet.


For those of you out there who are a bit cash strapped like me, here is the formula for building a formidable body of low-cost knowledge:

  • download COBIT. While you are there get Val IT too. Both free
  • join ISACA and start downloading dozens of content-rich books and papers. US $130.00 for fifteen months membership (until Dec 31, 2009)
  • If you don't have $130, then go to the ISACA site anyway. They give away bucket-loads of free IP. (Don't waste your time on the itSMF site or APMG's "ITIL Official Site" or OGC's hilariously named "Knowledge Centre" - they give away SFA)
  • download MOF. Free
  • buy the cumbersomely-named IT Service Management - An Introduction based on ISO 20000 and ITIL V3 from itSMF's ITSM Library and you will have the whole of ISO20000, pretty much, plus gobs of ITIL, for much less than the price of the actual standard. $81 on Amazon
  • Download itSMF's "Littler ITIL" book An Introductory Overview of ITIL® V3 so you can talk the ITIL talk. Free
  • Use Google search for those rare occasions when you need to look up or quote something specific from the "holy books" of ITIL

Total cost $211 for an awesome body of knowledge spanning ITIL, COBIT, ISO20000 and MOF - all that you need to work or consult in the ITSM industry.

Any other tips from readers?

Note: these links were current as of September 2008 - check for new versions.

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Comments

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v3 Glossary and acronyms

Submitted by JamesFinister on Mon, 2008-10-06 09:54.

http://www.itsmf.co.uk/BestPractice/ITILV3Glossary.aspx

I thought about that

Submitted by skeptic on Tue, 2008-10-07 02:59.

I thought about that. I suppose it is worth having though i find the definitions in isolation not terribly useful - I guess that is why it is free ;-D

All I ever comment is...

Submitted by alexjones on Tue, 2008-10-07 08:40.

to refer people to FITS http://www.becta.org.uk/fits/index.cfm

So why not again now...
It's easy to follow, fairly simple and written straightforwardly. You can download it all as pdfs for £0.

Alex Jones

Quite useful

Submitted by JamesFinister on Tue, 2008-10-07 14:22.

I've found it quite useful, though it would help if the definitions were more definitive.

Perhaps we need an ITIL/ITSM catechism.

Q: What is the right and proper aim of ITSM?
A: The right and proper end of ITSM is.....

We could also have the 39 Articles of the Frustrated Service Manager

Don't forget NGOSS/SID

Submitted by ShaneDeay (not verified) on Tue, 2008-10-07 21:16.

Let’s not forget NGOSS/SID from the TeleManagement Forum. Any such catechism should begin with a reminder that ITSM does not equal ITPM. Most of the ITSM community is so focused on process improvement and process automation that they have forgotten what ITSM means... Service Management (not Process Management).

The Resource Facing Services that so many in the IT industry eat, breath and sleep, are not the end game (unless you happen to be a pure play service provider). For most organizations to be successful at ITSM, to achieve real Business-IT alignment, to know which ITSM projects are worth winning, and objectively allocate scarce resources, one must understand the linkages between Customer Facing and Resource Facing Services and assess the real business value of those services.

Hence V3's Focus on Service

Submitted by mstjohns on Tue, 2008-10-07 23:58.

Shane,

I agree - the real value in V3 is the major shift to Service or as I like to call it Business Capability thinking - this is seen in the Service Strategy & Service Design books.

This realization by internal IT service provider organizations that they need to act/behave/think as if they are an external SP - winning their corporate business teams business everyday.

Not sure what NGOSS/SID is could you expand?

NGOSS/SID

Submitted by ShaneDeay (not verified) on Fri, 2008-10-10 21:50.

The following article does an excellent job of framing up NGOSS/SID and how it can be leveraged to define services, and service hierarchies, along the lines of CFSs and RFSs.

http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/11700_3722116_1

This Service Definition activity is the first of four steps in IT Service Value Management (ref: www.nabsm.org).

IT-SVM does a great job of integrating the plethora of management methodologies, standards and best practices referenced by ITIL v3 (including NGOSS/SID) into a repeatable, easy to use, methodology that senior management can leverage for objectively allocating resources.

How one can get cheap ITIL training

Submitted by Mateusz (not verified) on Sun, 2008-10-12 10:48.

I've been inspired by your post, and I've written one about how to get ITIL training almost for free (actually, from $17 to $99 it depends on country where you live).

Please look at:
http://pmit.pl/en/it-management/itil/itil-training-for-free-almost/

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