The Microsoft evil genius of docx format

Submitted by skeptic on Sun, 2008-12-14 05:23

I'm sure I'm not the first to reflect on the evil genius of .docx document format but I feel the need to vent a little spleen. Only the Evil Empire of MickeySoft could be this twisted.

The ITSM community should ponder this for two reasons: (1) just how much do we trust Microsoft's 'free' MOF 4.0? (2) ITIL's inability to play nicely with COBIT or other de-facto standards might result in eventual convergence or it might not - watch the scrap between OOXML and ODF for clues.

APMG has our full support

Submitted by skeptic on Tue, 2008-12-09 18:48

I remember seeing an Aussie comedy TV show once (The Games as I recall?) where it suggested that a public statement by the Prime Minister that "So-and-so has our full support" meant they would be out within days. This memory came to me as I wondered why it was necessary for Keith Aldis, CEO itSMF, to come out with a press release to tell the world that “Real progress is being made in the development and implementation of ITIL V3 qualifications". A year and a half after go-live one would bloody hope so.

Windows Vista - the sick slug

Submitted by skeptic on Tue, 2008-12-09 02:13

Windows Vista makes the claim of "faster boot times". Faster than what? tectonics?

Deming cycle diagram the wrong way round

Submitted by skeptic on Mon, 2008-12-08 08:26

Here is an amusing thing: all those diagrams of the Deming Cycle turn the wrong way.

itSMF International website adrift

Submitted by skeptic on Sun, 2008-12-07 06:51

Is the itSMF International website adrift again?

Setting the target goal for service management initiatives

Submitted by skeptic on Thu, 2008-12-04 23:05

When we want to know how to, say, measure a service desk, we can find quite exact guidance everywhere. But it seems to me the depth and specificity (specifity? specificness?) and usefulness of advice is inversely proportional to the importance of the question. Consider the most important question we need answered in a service management initiative.

Real ITSM user priority

Submitted by skeptic on Mon, 2008-12-01 07:48

As we said before, Real ITSM does things differently to, say, ITIL. Readers may recall that Real Priority (also known as Care Factor) is measured by the number of metaphorical fans that are being hit by effluent: it starts at zero and goes up. More conventionally, Real ITSM also tracks a separate User Priority (also known as the Dummy Factor, for the number of dummies being spat).

Crap Factoid Alerts: Strong Commitment to ITIL3, 72% trained, 94% planning, 89% predictable costs....

Submitted by skeptic on Thu, 2008-11-27 19:24

An ITIL V3 report from Sunrise Software is rich in crap factoids, since the report itself suffers from all the methodological deficiencies we have described before. Mercifully this one may not get much airtime so we rate the risk Medium.

repeatable process

Submitted by skeptic on Wed, 2008-11-26 19:46

Past discussions on this blog have suggested that a process fixation such as ITIL's engenders an inflexibility and ponderousness in an organisation. Whilst I am a process fan, there is an important point to be addressed here about how ITIL relates to nimbleness and adaptability.

The IT Skeptic's Rogues Gallery

Submitted by skeptic on Sun, 2008-11-23 22:49

Readers of this website can be assumed to have a certain non-conformist spirit and at least a modicum of independent thought, so "Rogues Gallery" is an appropriate name for images of readers. Send us your photo wearing an IT Skeptic T-shirt or cap, or waving an IT Skeptic coffee mug Wally-fashion, and you can join the Rogues Gallery of IT Skeptics.

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