analysts

Abolish the CAB at your peril

skeptic — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:53:45 -0700

There seems to be a fashion for analysts to make rash revolutionary statements. I reckon it is in their KPIs. The normally-temperate Glenn O'Donnell said: "Abolish the CAB!". That is - to put it mildly - a bit rash.

Dev needs to understand what Ops is for

skeptic — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 18:10:16 -0700

A recent blog post made me angry. This is one cause of the Dev-Ops divide: ignorance of what the other side does. I expect some of that in the trade, down at the coalface amongst Dev and Ops practitioners. I don't expect it from Forrester analysts.

Hornbill ITIL State of the Nation survey: Viewer discretion advised

skeptic — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:21:48 -0600

Hornbill has released an ITIL State of the Nation survey [registration required]. I think it is a good report, relative to the usual Crap Factoids we see. It doesn't try to get all worked up about any one number. Sadly I think it still suffers from all the flaws we see in these industry "research" reports. It does however point to one interesting result: ITIL V3 doesn't seem to be taking the world by storm.

CMDB federation - making a dead elephant dance

skeptic — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:10:40 -0600

The analysts can beat the drums all they like - they won't make the CMDB dead elephant dance [I'm in training for the World Mixed-Metaphor Championship]. I've talked before about how the analysts are in a symbiotic relationship with the vendor industry: they have to talk new ideas up so as to have some change to write about. Never has this been more clearly illustrated than around CMDB. For one wonderful moment I thought an analyst was going to be skeptical about CMDB but then he beat the drum, or perhaps flogged the dead elephant [there I got another one in!]

Those who would promote CMDB should promote CMDB

skeptic — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:14:50 -0600

Much of what we read about CMDB is actually singing the praises of asset management, network discovery or other simpler technologies. Other benefits attributed to CMDB actually come from process improvement and do not depend on the technology at all. When all you want to sell is a hammer...

EMA CMDB research: where's the wave?

skeptic — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:57:40 -0600

Recent "research" (in the analyst sense of the word) from EMA shows that even amongst those who say they are working on a CMDB [which other numbers indicate is 10%-30% of the ITIL population], those with functional CMDBs remain a minority. This confirms our recent assertion that CMS and SKMS and CMDB represent best practice blue sky. There is nothing "generally accepted" about CMDB practice: about 2%-5% of IT shops I reckon. In true market-hyping fashion Dennis Drogseth of EMA is fond of referring to the "CMDB tidal wave". Based on their own numbers I gotta ask: where's the wave Dennis?

BMC's own CMDB figures - The IT Skeptic

skeptic — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:17:15 -0600

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".

a back-of-an-envelope re-analysis of Forrester and BMC's own CMDB research

skeptic — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:23:24 -0600

This post has been podcast.

[Updated June 2009: the paper, entitled "The Total Economic Impact of the BMC Atrium CMDB Solution" is here.]

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".

Crap Factoid Alert: CMDB savings of more than $1 million per year

skeptic — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:31:38 -0600

This post has been podcast.
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. [Update: the IT Skeptic's own assessment of the numbers here.]

IT analysts produce crap factoids - The IT Skeptic

skeptic — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 04:05:48 -0600

This is a podcast of the original article IT analysts produce crap - what to look for in analyst "research"