Tag: Perry Rotella

Fresh Links Sundae – February 3, 2013 Edition

Fresh Links Sundae encapsulates information I have come across during the past week. They maybe ITSM related or not entirely. Often they are from the people whose work resonates with me, and I hope you will find them at least thought-provoking or something of value.

In a four-part series, Bob Lewis talks about managing up and suggests effective tactics to consider. The art of reverse delegation; Managing up, part 2: Getting your manager past consensus; Managing up, part 3: Dealing with an authoritarian boss; Managing up, part 4: A great way to build consensus (IS Survivor Publishing)

Not matter what services your organization provides, Stephen Mann advocates it’s never been more important to build strong customer relationships and gives suggestions on where to focus your effort. Is Your IT Service Desk Customer Experience Up To Scratch? (Forrester Blogs)

With the right data and proper analysis, Jonathan Ginter believes you can actually fix many application delivery problems by deploying six suggested tactics. Monitoring 101 – 6 Steps that Can Fix Poor Application Delivery; Monitoring 101: The 2 Pillars of Performance (BMC Communities: Blog: DevOps)

With the increasing use of external infrastructure in cloud form, Robert Stroud explains why it is crucial to integrate the “cloud CI” into the CMDB and do it in an automated fashion in order to be effective. Is the “ITIL” CMDB Still Relevant in Cloud Era? (CA Technologies)

Sometimes the phrase of “Best Practice” can sound like blue sky thinking or even theoretical. Rob England discusses what the word “Practice” means to him, and how the word conveys powerful uses and meanings in the ITSM context. In Praise of Practice (The IT Skeptic)

In many organizations today, IT costs are often buried in the corporate expense line and simply appear as administrative expenses. Perry Rotella outlines the key changes IT leaders can implement to effectively identify costs and gain recognition for IT as a critical driver of business development. Check, Please: Paying for IT (Forbes)

With the changing nature of work and the opportunities created by these changes, Andrew Horne talks about how IT leaders should rethink how they support collaboration, information management and mobility. Three Ways IT Can Drive Employee Productivity (CEB IT Blog)

Reflecting from her recent air travel experience, Melanie Karunaratne talks about the importance of customer experience in IT being the sum of the total engagement that a customer has with an organization. Delivering a Service versus Servicing your Customer (LANDesk Blog)

Advocating that living with meaning is the exploration of the fullness of human possibility, Umair Haque poses thought-provoking questions for all of us to explore within. How to Have a Year that Matters (Harvard Business Review)

In pursuit of reliable, predictable operations, Seth Godin believes the airports have largely ignored the human elements of air travel and outlines the lessons that organizations can learn from when interacting with their own customers. Eleven things organizations can learn from airports (Seth’s Blog)

Fresh Links Sundae – October 7, 2012 Edition

Fresh Links Sundae encapsulates information I have come across during the past week. They maybe ITSM related or not entirely. Often they are from the people whose work resonates with me, and I hope you will find something of value.

I started out my career as a systems administrator, and I believe the really good sys admins/DBAs tend to be both paranoid and lazy at the same time. While the laziness aspect has to do with automation, Chris Foot discusses the paranoid aspect of the behaviors with a two-part blog. The Art of Being a Successful DBA – Paranoid DBA Best Practices, Part I (Remote DBA Experts)

Although technical qualification maybe an important consideration when hiring good service desk staff, Kirstie Magowan explains that life skills and personality attributes are just as important to consider as ever. Who is your next hire for the service desk? (Common Sense and Service Management)

If you are working on putting together a Relationship Management process for your organization, Alicia Choo posted a sample operating procedure document and a few other support documents that may help in your endeavor. My take on ITSM and IT Governance: Relationship Management (Choofca’s Brain Dump)

Business and application development teams sometimes blame IT operations for so many frustrations, Martin Perlin outlines why IT operations cannot seem to catch a break and what can be done to reverse the trend. IT Operations Suffers from An Undeserved Bad Reputation (Evolven Blog)

Trying to assess what are some of the causes for failure behind ITSM implementations, Larry Cooper argues that instituting ITSM practice solely for the sake of implementing ITIL is a wrong approach and what to do about it. The problem with ITSM is ITIL (ITSM Portal)

Using an example analysis though a CFO’s perspective, Perry Rotella suggests what CIOs can do to make their contributions more easily understood and relevant to his C-level colleagues. Think Like a CFO to Gain C-Suite Credibility (Forbes)

In this blog entry, Laura Brandenburg explains how business analysts approach requirements specifications, what a hiring manager is looking for, and finally how can a BA determine what her real capabilities in creating requirements specifications. How to Present Yourself as Capable of Doing Requirements Specifications (Bridging the Gap)

Leveraging from a recent training class taught by Marieke McCloskey, Andrew Dlugan outlines Marieke’s tips for designing and delivering training courses. 28 Tips for Designing Training Courses: Case Study (Six Minutes)

Seeing the trading of meaning for money as a toxic trade-off, Umair Haque encourages us to enrich ourselves more with meaning in life rather than purely with simple monetary wealth. Making the Choice Between Money and Meaning (Harvard Business Review)

After watching the most recent broadcast of the Ryder Cup, Mark Horstman discusses his impression of the sportsmanship displayed (or lack of) during the recent golf match. Ryder Cup Disappointment (Manager Tools)

Fresh Links Sundae – September 30, 2012 Edition

Estimating projects accurately and keeping project execution on track can present major challenges for many organizations. Bob Lewis makes several suggestions on how to effectively manage your project portfolio. The ins and outs of IT project portfolio management (Advice Line)

If you are working on putting together a Supplier Management process for your organization, Alicia Choo posted a sample operating procedure document and a few other support documents that may help in your endeavor. My take on ITSM and IT Governance: Supplier Management (Choofca’s Brain Dump)

The word “warranty” can carry different meanings for different organizations when working with the service providers. Benjamin Whitehead talks about the essential elements to consider when defining warranty with service providers. What can be considered ‘warranty’ for a managed IT service? (ITSM Portal)

Considering the critical role intellectual property (IP) plays in an organization’s competitive advantage, Perry Rotella advocates that CIOs should step up and lead the protection of the organization’s IP. What Good is Innovation if It’s Not Protected? (Forbes)

After publishing his weekly career management newsletter for the last 10 years, Nick Corcodilos lists four top Q&As his readers have cited among their favorites from the past editions. 10th Anniversary Special: 4 Top Answers from The Archive (Ask The Headhunter)

Referring to an article on The New York Times, Bob Sutton reflects his viewpoints of how leaders can leverage hierarchy and respect to enhance performance and well-being among the people he leads. Rare Wisdom from Citrix CEO Mark Templeton about Hierarchy and Respect (Work Matters)

Drawing parallels between Texas Hold’em and job searches, Laura Brandenburg provides suggestions on how to stay in the game long enough so you will eventually find a winning hand. Agonizing Over Your Resume? Go All In! (Bridging the Gap)

When it comes to identifying interpersonal challenges in successful people, Marshall Goldsmith explains why the higher you go, the more your problems are behavioral. People Skills (Marshall Goldsmith Personal Blog)

While it is important for organizations to develop, disseminate, and support codes of conduct, Bret Simmons advocates that it is just as wise to design systems that attract, retain, and promote those people who live and work above the code. Above The Code (Positive Organizational Behavior)

When it comes to managing our own careers, Gianpiero Petriglieri, associate professor at INSEAD, explains in this video what we can all learn from artists. The Art of Career Development (Harvard Business Review)

Fresh Links Sundae – September 2, 2012 Edition

Fresh Links Sundae encapsulates some pieces of information I have come across during the past week. They maybe ITSM related or not entirely. Often they are from the people whose work resonates with me, and I hope you will find something of value.

I am a fan of the DevOps concept, and I freely admit it. Robert Stroud gives his observations and suggests potential projects that could be suitable for embracing DevOps. DevOps, fad, reality or simply the death of ITIL (CA on Service Management)

While most system monitoring systems focus on watching performance and availability anomalies, Sasha Gilenson suggests that neglecting change and configuration monitoring can also result in just as much as suffering. Monitoring Sucks (and What We Can Do About It) (Evolven Blog)

Coming back from the LEADit 2012 conference, Aprill Allen explains why the approach of collaboration is more practical to than the practice of knowing and controlling everything. The Future is Practical (Knowledge Bird)

Using examples from his firm, Perry Rotella describes what strategy an IT leader can leverage to track and to incorporate emerging technologies for facilitating business growth. To Claim the Role of Chief Innovation Officer, Think about IT Differently (Forbes)

While a merger can be a tremendous change management event, Patrick Gray suggests what IT leaders should do to successfully manage the transition. IT leaders: How to survive a merger (TechRepublic)

Modeling a complex business process can sometimes result in participants being stuck on an analysis exercise and unable to move forward. Laura Brandenburg shows us the ways to get ourselves unstuck when that happens. 5 Ways to End Analysis Paralysis on Your Next Business Process Model (Bridging the Gap)

Considering failure can be a great teaching tool, Jeff Haden describes one type of failure that should also be embraced. Most Important Failure You Haven’t Embraced (Inc.com)

With the availability of the social media platforms, Ted Rubin explains how advertising activities differs from the marketing ones and how social media is facilitating both sets of activities. Is Social Blurring the Lines between Advertising and Marketing? (Straight Talk)

Learning from the recent episode where United Airlines mishandled the travel of an unaccompanied minor, Bob Sutton discusses his thoughts on the different levels of organizational accountability. There is also a follow-up post on this topic. Felt Accountability: Some Emerging Thoughts (Work Matters)

Businesses continue to change, and changes often result in loss or casualty somewhere within the organization. It is always refreshing to see something that is a straight talk without the usual corporate double-speak and fluff. PopCap Update from John Vechey (Blog Ride!)

Fresh Links Sundae – July 8, 2012 Edition

Taking a customer point of view, Stephen Mann discussed 12 areas where the service desk should consider for delivering outstanding customer service. 12 Pieces Of Advice For IT Service Desks – From A Customer! (Forrester Blogs)

Presented at the recent OVUM conference on ITSM in London, Barclay Rae showed us some solid, practical tips on how to get your ITSM effort off the ground and running. Tips for ITSM Goodness (Barclay Rae Website)

If you are working on putting together a monitoring or event management practice, Alicia Choo posted a couple of sample documents that may help in your endeavor. My take on ITSM and IT Governance: Event Management (Choofca’s Brain Dump)

With the recent service outage of the Royal Bank of Scotland and a few other banking institutions, Ros Satar tried to piece together a coherent view of this major incident and what we can learn from it. The RBS Glitch – A Wake Up Call? (The ITSM Review)

With technology often being the center of innovation, Perry Rotella talked about how IT organizations, large and small, can create environments that encourage innovation and agility to facilitate growth. CIO = Chief INNOVATION Officer (IT Transforming Business)

With the competing views of IT talent shortage vs. personnel glut, Robert Cringely discussed why this is such a difficult labor issue in IT. IT class warfare — It’s not just IBM (I, Cringely)

Because not everyone share one single viewpoint, Seth Godin explained why tailoring your messages to different audience bases is important for getting your points across. Superman, Batman and worldviews (Seth’s Blog)

Even though both strategies may sound similar, Jeff Hayden explained why one strategy will come out way ahead over the long run. Business Strategy: Be an Opportunist or Opportunistic? (Owner’s Manual)

Concerned about the over-consumption of information by our minds with the social web technologies, Anna Farmery gave suggestions on keeping our minds fit. Exercises for the Obese Mind (The Engaging Brand)

With pay for performance a common practice these days, Bob Sutton discussed why one particular practice, the forced-ranking system, can sometimes create unnecessary internal competitions and stifle cooperation. Dysfunctional Internal Competition at Microsoft: We’ve seen the enemy, and it is us! (Work Matters)