To ITIL® V3 and Beyond: Travels with Rob Stroud

ITIL v3 – You’re doing it whether you know it or not

Robert Stroud — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:36:00 GMT

I'd like to make a quick point. There are times when I find the discussions surrounding ITIL® v3 popularity to be superfluous. That's because whether or not people are "for" ITIL v3, if they want to work for successful organizations, they have probably already put several aspects of ITIL v3 into practice -- whether they realize it or not. I recently...

COBIT and ITIL – Better Together

Robert Stroud — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:25:00 GMT

Those of you struggling with bringing IT and business alignment to life through your ITIL® initiative may be surprised to learn that your salvation may lie in a free download. Even with the improved use of organizational charts and metrics in ITIL v3, some practitioners have commented that the linkage to a sound maturity process is still lacking. This is where COBIT, which is...

Is the “IT” Label Limiting?

Robert Stroud — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:55:00 GMT

The IT Skeptic recently wrote a blog entitled “Perhaps one day Service Management will become a universal discipline: ITIL 4?” It starts, “Who left the IT in itSMF? What a shame we have kept our focus narrow.” Some of you may be thinking that’s absurd, of course there should be an “IT” in “itSMF.” But I can tell you that as part of the COBIT v4.1 discussions, we seriously considered the...

IT Governance: Taking it from the Top

Robert Stroud — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:47:00 GMT

In a recent blog posting, I suggested that you take a look at the IT Governance Institute's recently released IT Governance Global Status Report. IT Business Edge interviewed me on the survey results contained in the report. You may be interested in the article entitled "IT Governance: Taking it from the Top." The author, Ann All, also discussed our interview in her...

ITGI’s IT Governance Global Status Report

Robert Stroud — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:50:00 GMT

The IT Governance Institute just released its IT Governance Global Status Report, which can be found on the ITGI home page. The report analyzes survey responses from almost 750 CIOs and CEOs on a variety of ITG issues. It contains a myriad of nuggets that will be great blog fodder for months to come. But, assuming that as a reader of my blog, you are an IT professional, and not...

Remember the Human Element

Robert Stroud — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:21:00 GMT

As I traveled to the Sultanate of Oman for the Asia-Pacific Computer Audit, Control and Security (CACS) Conference hosted by ISACA, an air travel incident presented a painful reminder of the importance of having a contingency plan. The beautiful city of Oman has only a small number of incoming flights each day, so I allowed for a seemingly ample 36 hours to make sure I'd be...

CMDB and Provisioning

Robert Stroud — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:50:00 GMT

Of course I was delighted when CA CMDB r11.1 received a gold award in SearchDataCenter.com's Data Center Products of the Year 2007. I did think that the title of the award category, "CMDB and provisioning," was quite interesting, especially after just coming off of some itSMF USA planning meetings where we discussed, among other topics, the continued and growing...

Meet me in Oman

Robert Stroud — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:10:00 GMT

For those of you interested in taking the title of my blog literally ("Travels with Rob Stroud"), I invite you to meet me in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, at the Shangri-La, Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa on January 21 and 22. I'll be delivering the keynote at the Asia-Pacific Computer Audit, Control and Security (CACS) Conference hosted by ISACA. With more than 65,000...

ITIL and Security

Robert Stroud — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:35:00 GMT

The commingling of ITIL® and security has drawn increased attention at the conferences I've attended recently. No doubt security is a hot topic, fueled by highly publicized security exposures. Though ITIL v3 formally introduces the security concept of Access Management to ITIL for the first time, ITIL processes have dealt with security issues for several...

Welcome to New itSMF USA Directors

Robert Stroud — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:19:00 GMT

I'd like to welcome Kirk Holmes of Holms and Associates, Inc., Sallie Kennedy of Kennedy & Kennedy, Inc., and Lisa Schlaf of Econ Global Services to the itSMF USA board. You can read the press release here. I've been involved with the itSMF USA since 2001. Currently, as a director, I serve as the chair of the events committee, which runs the annual itSMF Fusion...

Change: Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Robert Stroud — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:57:00 GMT

Poor change. Bad enough that people resist change, but, in IT, change is unjustly accused of causing problems and may be unable to defend itself of the charge. I'll explain. I spoke with an IT exec from a retail organization recently about the absolute importance it places on the holiday shopping season. During this period of high transaction volume, his IT department has a...

Bringing ITIL Home for the Holidays

Robert Stroud — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:17:00 GMT

I've decided to use the upcoming holiday season to launch an ITIL initiative in my home. With all the time I spend evangelizing on ITIL, it is only natural that it has crossed over from my business life to my personal life. My idea was prompted by a conversation I had with an energy sector executive. Our discussion covered the increasing reliance of business on technology....

Proving CMDB Value through “Scenario Planning”

Robert Stroud — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:05:00 GMT

I recently spoke at a number of very well attended CMDB seminars. Without fail, I was asked the following question, either during my talk, or afterwards during the accompanying networking events: How can I implement a CMDB and show value quickly? I subscribe to a notion that my blogging colleague Marv Waschke recently wrote about in his Iterating on IT Service blog posting entitled...

Promoting the CMDB to CMS

Robert Stroud — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:29:00 GMT

IT tools with sticking power sometimes outgrow their original names and graduate to become "Management Systems." Anti-virus tools became Security Management Systems. Network monitors became Performance Management Systems. Consider the CMDB. Is it time for the CMDB to become a Configuration Management System (CMS)? Let me put a stake in the ground and say, "it depends."...

CMDB Survey Results

Robert Stroud — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:58:00 GMT

In my travels and in this blog I have noted the widespread interest I've encountered in the CMDB. Though there is not a lot of quantifiable data available on CMDB use, my own observations are validated in a survey conducted by Freeform Dynamics. My webcast on the survey, co-hosted by Martin Atherton of Freeform Dynamics, is available as a replay and is one of the most highly...