Real World ITIL Blog - Service Catalog

Wonder Twins Powers Activate? In form of a Service Catalog? In form of a CMDB (Part 7)

info.nospam@nospam.evergreensys.com (DonCasson) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:18:00 -1000

So what’s up? How are things going? I hope everyone had a good holiday full of quality family time and turkey. Such is life-all holidays must come to end, and we all have to get back to work.

So when last we chatted, we were discussing some benefits of undertaking a strategy to construct a service catalog and CMDB in a joint effort. The first benefit that I mentioned was the ability to identify the composition of a service, which includes Hardware, Software, Manpower Governance, Standards, etc. Let me elaborate. One of the biggest challenges for IT is to gain a universal understanding of what a service is. You might laugh but a common reaction when first trying to define a service is skepticism and uncertainty. A common feeling is that if the item can not be shoved in a rack or is not the latest flashy piece of technology, it is worthless or a waste of money. The reality is that IT functions in the realm of the tangible. So there is not the typical warm-heart welcome when someone brings up the concept of a ’service’.

So how does one get around this?

By defining a service with the items within the CMDB, individuals can better solidify relationships and the composition of a given service. This allows items that were not tangible to become tangible and have identity. In addition this provides an additional (service) layer to be integrated with the CMDB structure from day one, which provides IT with a very powerful data structure that includes a complete set of views (including business, customer and IT).

Any questions?

Well until next time; remember to use your powers for good.

Also, check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

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Servicecenter’s New Service Catalog Looks Nice

info.nospam@nospam.evergreensys.com (ScottBraden) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:17:00 -1000

In the past few weeks I’ve been getting my first close look at HP / Peregrine software’s ServiceCenter Service Catalog module in the 6.2 release that’s just out, and frankly it’s changing my standard opinion about Service Catalog tools, and “ITIL software” in general.

My old stock answer to “which software should I use for ITIL?” is that you could “do” ITIL with almost any of the toolsets out there advertising. I’ve personally worked with Remedy, Peregrine, Mercury, some of IBM’s Tivoli stuff, some of CA’s products, plus other niche or point products like NewScale. And the painful honest truth was, you still had to do a bunch of “make your own” integration and customization to make any or all of these products really work in an ITIL environment.

But, with HP’s acquisition of Peregrine and Mercury, things are already looking much better. The 6.2 ServiceCenter suite has a really strong, “straight out of the box” Service Catalog module that allows easy configuration for your unique set of IT Services and Products (and doesn’t require Admin skills to build the Services and Products), it’s tightly integrated with other modules like Service Management, Incident Management and Change Management, and frankly I haven’t been able to find a big hole in the product at all.

So, I’m usually very reluctant to talk glowingly about any software vendor’s product, because I know from painful experience that they all have holes and quirks and time-consuming workarounds. And I’m sure that’s true with the new ServiceCenter suite. But, I haven’t found any yet.

It’s looking like I may be managing a project to use ServiceCenter 6.2 ServiceCatalog soon, so watch this space and I’ll keep you posted.

Also, check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

Till next time, keep up the good work.

Scott Braden

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Wonder Twins Powers Activate? In form of a Service Catalog? In form of a CMDB (Part 8)

info.nospam@nospam.evergreensys.com (ScottBraden) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:17:00 -1000

Okay, so last time we had a chance to chat, I made the statement that running CMDB and Service Catalog projects can increase the acceptance of operating in a service-oriented fashion. If you recall, my reasoning was largely due to how foreign a service concept is to IT. So I proposed that by building a data model that integrates the service catalog and CMDB, one can establish a familiar reference point for IT which brings the adoption rate into acceptable portions.

In addition to creating an approach for adoption, you can now create an environment of continuous momentum as the Service Catalog and CMDB projects feed off each other. On one side the CMDB gains enterprise-level exposure and identity of importance. Alternatively, the Service Catalog goes from a simple document that requires continuous maintenance to a credible, customer-facing vehicle for IT to use to manage business relationships with its customers.

So does it sound good? Is there any interest in the challenge? Let me know your thoughts? I would love to help out. Take care, and until next time, keep up the good work.

Also, don’t forget to register for Evergreen’s change management webinar and learn how to Take Change Management from Firefighting to Fire Prevention

Check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

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Why Are SLAs So Hard to Build?

info.nospam@nospam.evergreensys.com (ScottBraden) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:16:00 -1000

I had a frustrating conversation with one client I’ve worked with quite a bit in the past, who wants to have us back to help them build a Service Catalog, including Service Level Agreements, OLA’s, and a bunch of other related things. One of those things is a web-based IT request portal for security and application access that automates the multiple approvals, keeps everything auditable so the compliance folks are happy and reduces everyone’s workload.

As you might guess, this is not a small task, so our friend is playing the budget game. Since it’s December now, they don’t know how much money they’ll get for 2007, nor do they know which competing projects will get delayed, or reduced, or enlarged or accelerated.

I asked him, “wait a minute, you’re the guys that are planning all this stuff, and you don’t know which ones are going to get done until that month rolls around?” Well… yes, and here’s why - their money for big projects comes from the business, so IT is the “doers” but they are not the “controllers.”

If the business decides that project C is suddenly more important than project A, then IT has to re-shuffle dollars and resources.

“So Scott,” he said, “it’s not us that’s out of control - the business can’t stick to their own plans and budgets.”

Hmmmm… and if we can’t count on our masters - the business - to stick to plans and timelines… how do we expect to force them to live with SLA’s that we come up with, that are (too often) based on nothing more solid than “we’ve always done it that way.”

So at the heart of it, where ITIL and especially Service Level Management (and the related topic of The Business Perspective) are taking us, is a real heart-to-heart sit down talk with our bosses to say, “hey chief, we know we can do a better job, but we’re gonna need you to help us out by defining some agreements and sticking to them.”

If the idea of saying that to your CEO or other senior VP’s makes you nervous… it should.

Also, check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

Till next time, keep up the good work.

Scott Braden

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Which Comes First: The Change and Configuration Egg or the Service Catalog/Service Level Management Chicken?

info.nospam@nospam.evergreensys.com (ScottBraden) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:10:00 -1000

Which comes first, Change and Configuration, or Service Catalog and Service Level Management?

This is a trick question. I’ll give you the answer later. And it’s also the actual decision we’re facing right now as Phase 1 of this client’s ITSM initiative wraps up and Phase 2 planning is in full gear. Based on the current state assessment, I personally think the most business value “bang for the buck” is in improvements to Change and Configuration Management.

But there are some important reasons why SLM and Service Catalog are important too. Those reasons are key Directors in the organization, who have a vote in the budgeting decision for Phase 2. And they also have specific objectives of their own that they want to get completed as soon as possible.

Our project sponsor understands all of this, and agrees that from the ITIL perspective, and more importantly from the business value point of view, Change and Configuration should be tackled next. But he also understands that “The other Directors understand why Change and Configuration Management are important, but they don’t see why they need to be addressed first. However, what they do understand is why their Service Level Management and Service Catalog goals are immediately important.”

So, the answer to the trick question is this. The one that comes first is the one that the customer wants and is willing and able to fund. Ultimately, business value is in the eye of the beholder.

As a consultant, it’s my duty to help the client understand their options clearly, as well as the costs, trade-offs and expected benefits associated with each option. But it’s up to the customer to say “Ok, I understand, we’re starting with plan B.”

Also, check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

Don’t forget to register for Evergreen’s change management webinar: Take Change Management from Firefighting to Fire Prevention

Keep up the good work,

Scott Braden

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Wonder Twins Powers Activate? In form of a Service Catalog? In form of a CMDB (Part 5)

info.nospam@nospam.evergreensys.com (DonCasson) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 01:28:00 -1000

Hey all! I am back. I wanted to chat for a spell about another point that I brought up in Part 2 of my wonder twins powers series. If you remember, and I do not know how one could forget, but just in case the thoughts of Thanksgiving dinner have made our discussion slip your mind, I will refresh your memory. I was pontificating on the benefits of establishing a service catalog and the value of spearheading a CMDB effort simultaneously. Does this refresh your memory? Cool.

So why do this? What are the benefits? Thank goodness you asked.

The reason that this is the bee’s knees is related to the day after the service catalog is deployed. What happens?

The second has to do with addressing the management of a service catalog structure. So after you rip out your hair and the wounds heal from the effort of developing a service catalog structure, you finally have done what seemed impossible - you have a document titled service catalog (Fans Cheer). I apologize if I am a being cynical. Please believe me when I say, I know the amount of effort it takes to build such a document. I definitely have the scars to prove it. So what happens next? How does a business obtain real, hard-dollar value?

The reality is the next day, or the next month, components within a service begin to change and when that happens the nice document that took such a long time to create is sadly out of date. Ouch? I know this is painful. While the document is not a waste of time, the thinking that has to go into creating a service catalog document is good work, it just falls to the hands of progress. To avoid this situation, a service catalog needs to be integrated with the source that contains all its pieces. This will provide the catalog components to adopt changes as they occur. Does this make sense? Let me know if not. As always, I would love to chat about this some more. Well until next time; remember to use your powers for good.

Also, check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

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Wonder Twins Powers Activate? In form of a Service Catalog? In form of a CMDB (Part 6)

info.nospam@nospam.evergreensys.com (DonCasson) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 01:26:00 -1000

Yes the holidays are an exciting time, and so is having a chat about how to increase the value of IT by building a structure to become the Chuck Norris of IT. While I joke with an infamous Chuck Norris reference, because the reality is no one can be that cool. I would say investing in a comprehensive structure that addresses the establishment of a Service Catalog and CMDB. Why would I say this?

Well, establishing the Service Catalog and CMDB will provide the appropriate degree of change to generate the traction needed to start the IT transformation process and become an agent of change. While each on their own do have merit, I would say that the strength and challenge is in the integration. I can tell you from my experience that those from the Configuration Management camp are of a different mindset than those from the Service Level Management contingent. Getting these teams to collaborate provides some attention but when you think of the benefits, the end can justify the means. The benefits that first come to mind are as follows:

Ability to identify the composition of a service that includes Hardware, Software, Manpower Governance, Standards, etc.
Reduction of Service Catalog Maintenance.
Assembling the change in thinking about IT from Products to Service (internally and externally).
Gaining an awareness of what IT does.

Is there any thing I am missing or any questions?

If not, I would love to dig into these points a bit and chat away. Unfortunately, this will have to wait until next time. I have to get on to attending to some things before the holiday. Well until next time; remember to use your powers for good.

Also, check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

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A short commentary on the relationship between IT Asset Management, CMDB and Service Catalog development

info.nospam@nospam.evergreensys.com (ScottBraden) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 01:23:00 -1000

I’m currently working with a client to help improve their processes using ITIL as a guide and benchmark. We started with a maturity assessment and used the results to identify major gaps (as defined by business value, not ITIL’s textbook). Serve Desk and Incident Management were two of the key foundation areas for improvement, so we started there first.

If you’ve worked with ITIL much, you know it didn’t take long for challenges to show up. Specifically, one of the key requirements of a good Service Desk is enforcing the defined SLAs and OLAs - as defined by the Service Catalog. Well- this client doesn’t have a Service Catalog. Not yet, anyway. So we had a long series of conversations about “What is a Service Catalog?” and “How can we define a Service Catalog that supports the business?”

The key, I believe, is to look at everything from the business’s perspective. The CEO of the company wants to receive a relatively few services from IT. Things like email, internet and core application availability. As a shortcut to finding out which services are really key, take a look at your disaster recovery plan. The services they you restore first are, by definition, most critical. So you could start with your highest priority services (as viewed by the customer) to define your basic Service Catalog.

Of course, there’s a lot more to it- like SLAs and OLAs and Underpinning Contracts. And now we get to the catch: How can you define realistic SLAs if you don’t understand all the underlying infrastructure that supports a service?

Let’s take email for example. From the business perspective, it’s simple - they want to be able to instantly, always send and receive email. Behind the scenes, that requires a wealth of infrastructure and resources - servers, applications, spam filters, firewalls, network gear, ISPs, administrators and on and on. How hard would it be for you to complete this list for your environment - and keep it complete and accurate at all times?

Pretty hard, I suspect, if you’re like most medium and large IT shops. The rate of change is simply too high, there are too many people involved and there is no single place where the information is stored. Now you see why the CMDB is a critical underlying requirement for true, solid SLAs and OLAs and, ultimately, a real Service Catalog.

Sure, you could do what many shops do and simply ‘declare’ some SLAs that you know you can meet. But what does that accomplish? For one thing, it’s only a matter of time until the CIO or CFO or CEO starts asking, “How much would we save if we reduced our availability SLA for email from less than 15 minutes per outage to less than 60 minutes per outage?”

Here’s why that’s important: the business will always seek to optimize its investments in IT, and as service providers, it’s our responsibility to have good data and solutions to help them do that. If you don’t have this information, you’re guessing. Executives don’t like guessing.

Also, check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

Till next time, keep up the good work.

Scott Braden

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Wonder Twins Powers Activate? In form of a Service Catalog? In form of a CMDB (Part 4)

info.nospam@nospam.evergreensys.com (DonCasson) — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 01:30:00 -1000

Hey there everyone?. It is ‘I’. I wanted to take some time and to elaborate on the points that were mentioned in Part 2. If you recall, I discussed my belief that the value of implementing a service catalog can be extended by establishing a CMDB in parallel. I am sure some of you had thoughts of this being the beginning of my pitch to sell you a time share in some tropical island location, but I assure you this is not the case. No, my reasoning has only been founded through the pain and suffering of being limited on what can be delivered within the context of a service catalog project.

The first benefit of such an approach is to increase the rate of adoption of a service catalog. Adoption of a service catalog is quite a challenge. It is like convincing a two year old that they need to eat their vegetables. It is a really tough sell. To understand the reason you first need to understand the customer you are trying to sell the change to. Your average IT good-doer has been exposed to an ever-changing environment from the day they started in IT. So to get jazzed up about a change in strategy, it will take a bit more than a fancy stress ball or mouse pad. IT good-doers are really good at determining whether a change is real or fake. As a result, implementing a catalog needs to be presented as something of substance and value or it will fail. For this reason, it is essential that it does not get perceived as just a static documentation that comes with the penalty of requiring updating. A service catalog needs to be integrated into process and part of how IT does work. This can be establishing by properly aligning it with the operational structure of the CMDB. This design, while requiring additional resources, will add to the value equation to increase adoption and provide the results the management needs to maintain momentum.

As always, please let me know your thoughts and comments. I am interested in comparing notes to see what challenges you have come across. Well until next, take care.

Also, check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

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Wonder Twin Powers Activate? In form of a Service Catalog? In form of a CMDB?

info.nospam@nospam.evergreensys.com (DonCasson) — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 01:15:00 -1000

Greetings and Salutations, fellow bloggers; it is I once again. Recently I have been spending a considerable amount of time helping organizations think about establishing Service Level Management within the context of ITSM process improvement projects. It is increasingly apparent that to derive real value from a Service Catalog, one cannot focus on this tower of knowledge independently. There needs to be equal focus in establishing the CMDB (which is the other needed knowledge tower). This is largely due to the significant dependencies that a catalog has on a CMDB.

Why do I say this? The reason for this is due to the dependencies that a Service Catalog has upon a related CMDB. Without a CMDB (in place or at least in some significant state), true Service Level Management (including a value-providing Service Catalog) cannot be reached. A catalog needs the support of a CMDB to provide its true value to the organization. While an initial catalog is developed as an independent knowledge tower, the maintenance and development of such a structure becomes a resource burden, and when those resources are challenged, the structure often ends up abandoned. The true value of a catalog can be found only when it is integrated with the CMDB and is employed as part of the operational fabric of the organization.

This is not to say that the approach should change to anything but iterative. It is just acknowledging that the value of a catalog is contingent on the maturity of the CMDB structure. Consequently, if the desired goal is to implement a catalog to return real value to the organization, it is imperative to coordinate the development of both towers of knowledge: catalog and CMDB.

Thoughts?

Also, check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

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