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Posted by admin on Jul 30, 2008
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ITIL:
Posted by Douglas Christian on Jul 29, 2008
In a recent Help Desk industry newsletter Douglas Christian, IssueTrak COO tried to dispell some of the myths about ITIL. Here is the first part of his article…
ITIL stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library and represents a collection of best practices aimed at delivering business value from IT service management. According to the UK’s Office of Government Commerce, ITIL is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management worldwide. That being said, there is still a lot of confusion around ITIL. I often hear from companies that are looking to purchase an ITIL certified application so that their company can comply with the ITIL standard. This statement contains two widely held myths.
The Truth About ITIL
Because ITIL is a best practice, and not a standard, compliance is not an attainable goal. The best one can hope for is to implement processes that are consistent with ITIL best practices. Service management standards do exist. ISO/IEC 20000 is an international standard on IT service management. ITIL is closely aligned with this standard and can be used to help companies that wish to comply with the ISO/IEC 20000 standard.
Applying Best Practices
ITIL offers certification for individuals who wish to demonstrate their knowledge in the various aspects of ITIL. A number of us at IssueTrak are ITIL certified. ITIL does not offer a certification for applications. There are third parties that attempt to verify that an application will support one or more ITIL best practices. This third party verification is often misrepresented as ITIL certification. ITIL is meant to be adapted to meet the needs of your business. Because each ITIL implementation will look a little different, flexibility is an important consideration when evaluating an application to support an ITIL implementation.
At IssueTrak, we focus on ease of use, and flexibility. Because of this IssueTrak works great for tracking issues of all kinds. We don’t mind if they are called incidents, problems, or change requests.
Creating Value
If you are trying to get more value from your IT service management function, ITIL is a great place to start. ITIL covers a lot of ground and is best tackled in pieces. Where you start is up to you. A logical starting point for me is incident management, problem management and change management. The return on investment for these processes can be high. They are easily measured and can be used to build momentum before tackling the heavy lifting in processes like configuration management, capacity management, and SLA management.
Implementing an application isn’t enough to get you to an ITIL end state. A successful IT service management strategy hinges on the effective application of people, processes, and tools. (In that order) Start with sharp people and invest in them so they have a solid understanding of both their technical responsibilities and the business you are in. A systems administrator should understand the impact of taking down the order entry system for maintenance at the end of a quarter.
Next, take a look at your processes. An effective process accomplishes the end goal in a way that can be measured. The measurement allows for improvement. Common measurements include speed, accuracy, customer satisfaction and cost. ITIL won’t lay out a process for you to follow, but it will provide a description of what the process should accomplish and the key performance indicators to watch along the way. The processes should be tailored to meet your business. Molding your business to meet a cookie cutter process might be tempting but could have negative side effects.
Once you have the right people and effective processes in place, it is time to consider a tool to help you execute that process. The tool you chose should enable your processes without getting in the way. It should be flexible, powerful and easy to use. Also, look for reporting features that make it easy to track and report on your progress. IssueTrak has been designed with these ideas in mind and is a great place to start your search.
ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark, and a Registered Community Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce, and is Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. IT Infrastructure Library® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce. –>