ITIL Blog - Featuring ITIL Training and Online ITIL Resources

ITIL Implementation Strategies - Free 62 Page PDF - Update

As you know I recently completed an interview via Teleseminar with Randy Steinberg who gave us nearly two hours of ITIL Implementation Strategies and tips.

Well, over 100 ITIL experts, practitioners and newbies were on the call and the response has been amazing.

You can access the full Teleseminar Audio file and other bonus items, like a complete Chapter from Randy's book, "Implementing ITIL", over at:-
http://www.AskTheServiceExpert.com 

But there's a key item that's still listed as "coming soon" and that's the full call transcript covering all the answers to the 12 questions.

Why's it taken so long?

Well, you may be interested to learn that when you talk about ITIL for nearly two hours it generates 62 pages of text.

I wanted to make sure that all this text was carefully edited and presented in a way that's easy to absorb - there's a lot of content packed in there - so I've taken the last two days to edit it fully for you!

It's very nearly ready to upload to the download area now.

I've also created plenty of bookmarks within the PDF file so you can move around the document quickly and access only the answers that you really need to - although I do recommend that you read it all end-to-end at least once.

Anyway, whilst the last few layout changes are being made, why not access the PDF bookmark summary below - just to whet the appetite.

Download ITIL-Implementation-Strategies-Call-Summary.pdf 

ITIL Implementation Proposal: Justifying the ITIL Project

Understanding how to sell ITIL to the CIO or Board is an interesting challenge that most of us have (or will) face in the early stages of our ITIL implementation prgrammes.

Many IT Service Organizations will create a Business Case, Value Case or Proposal to Implement.

An excellent example of such a proposal comes from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand).

This sample report is well written and structured and should assist you in getting started quickly with your own ITIL Implementation proposals.

The report content includes:-
1.0 Executive Overview
2.0 Introduction
3.0 Reasons for Examining this Approach
4.0 Initially Identified Requirements for Change
5.0 Scope
6.0 Objectives
7.0 Project Structure
8.0 Project Deliverables
8.1 Service Desk
8.2 Incident Management
8.3 Configuration Management
8.4 Problem Management
8.5 Change Management
8.6 Release Management
8.7 Service Level Management
9.0 Project Organisational Structure
9.1 ITIL Implementation Project Manager
9.2 Service Management Project Team (ITSM)
9.3 Implementation Teams
9.4 Steering Group
9.5 Reference Groups
9.6 Reporting Lines
10.0 Key Challenges to the Implementation
11.0 Communications Strategy and Change Management
12.0 Resource Requirements
12.1 Human Resources
12.2 Helpdesk Telephone System
12.3 Software

I imagine that even if the specific contents don't really match-up to your own commercial organizations; the titles, headings, layout and benefits bullets are very credible.

Access the Sample Proposal HERE.

For detailed advice, strategies and guidance on ITIL Implementation visit:- www.AskTheServiceExpert.com

Learn More About ITIL Version Three.

Are you interested in learning more about ITIL Version Three?

Great, because I've recently blogged a lot about what probably amounts to the biggest ever change we'll see with ITIL in recent years.

ITIL Version Three Resources:-

ITIL Version Three Overview & Perspectives.

A Powerpoint Slide Deck covering my own personal view on what the changes and additions are with ITIL V3. After watching Sharon Taylor's presentation in January, I decided to ensure that the main themese and messages from her presentation were available to a world wide audience. This is a good introduction to ITIL V3.

ITIL Version Three Authors - Who Are They?

Critical to the very heart of ITIL Version 3 will be the knowledge, expertise and writing capability of the five pairs of authors that are writing the forthcoming five new texts including: Service Design, Service Introduction, Service Operations, Continual Service Improvement and Service Strategies. I have put together a unique Powerpoint slide deck providing some background on each author, their photo and who they've worked for recently. Access the Profiles HERE.

ITIL Version Three - Official OGC Refresh Calendar:-

You can visit the official refresh calendar to view the latest items that are due from the ITIL Resfresh team. This calendar is now managed by the itSMF. Visit HERE.

Need to know more about ITIL V3 Refresh?

If you want to find the latest white papers, reports and news from sites other than the OGC, you can research them at this new search engine that's got ITIL and IT Service Management actually hardwired into the search code. Plus, there's handy search categories like 'White Paper' and 'Article'. Visit IT Service Today.

Keep Updated!

Simply type in you Email address into the ITIL'ize Me! box on this Blog - I will shoot you a quick Email evertime something relevant on ITIL and in particular ITIL Version Three pops up!

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ITIL Implementation Strategies - Free Access To ALL Resources!

The ITIL Implementation Strategies Teleseminar took place yesterday and I was extremely pleased with how everything went! Randy Steinberg, my guest for the call, packed tons of great content into the call - covering your top 12 most burning questions.

I would like to acknowledge Randy for his sterling contribution to this event and also thank everyone who sent in their most burning question.

We had so many questions, I had to group them into categories (12 in total) to ensure that we got through the content in the allotted 2 hours.

The 12 questions Randy covered in detail were:-

Q1. How can you best 'sell' ITIL to the board / Senior Management and persuade them that ITIL is the right thing to do in the first place?

Q2. How do you obtain buy-in for ITIL and overcome objections from anti-process colleagues?

Q3. How do you define and measure the ROI of ITIL in order to prove its value?

Q4. How do you maintain momentum and buy-in as the ITIL Implementation programme proceeds?

Q5. What 'soft skills' are required to implement ITIL?

Q6. How do you go about implementing ITIL at the very beginning - from scratch? What are the very fist steps I should take?

Q7. After alert monitoring, alert management and the helpdesk - where should I commence my ITIL implementation programme?

Q8. What are the main reasons why ITIL implementations fail? How can you overcome these reasons?

Q9. Can ITIL be used with other methodologies - such as CoBIT and Six Sigma? If so, how?

Q10. How do you implement ITIL in small (or not-for-profit) Organizations?

Q11. Where do you start to begin implementing the CMDB?

Q12. Where do you start to begin implementing a Service Catalog?

Randy answered all these question in detail - and then some!

I have made all the following materials freely available to you:-

- Audio Download of the Teleseminar (listen to it on your iPOD!)

- Teleseminar Executive Summary Notes (key bullets of each answer)

- Online Resource Guide (over 20 accompanying links to PDF's)

Plus, coming soon, I have the additional materials:-

- Full transcript of the Teleseminar (professionally edited)

- Mystery bonus items (you'll have to stay tuned!)

Randy also gave away two quality bonus items:-

- The Complete PDF of Chapter Three of his book, "Implementing ITIL", which provides a strategic view of all the key stages of ITIL implementation programmes.

- An ITIL'ized version of the DICE Model (Excel spreadsheet and PDf guide) which helps you to understand the overall chances of success that your ITIL Implementation projects currently face - and how you can improve your chances of success.

To access all of the above material and keep up to date with the release of the mystery bonus resources - you only have to visit:-

Ask The Service Expert

Once you have registered, you will have full and complete access as and when the materials become available.

We really want to hear your feedback!

Tell us what you think of the resources that we provided for you and the Teleseminar in general! Please visit:-

Ask the Service Expert Mini-Blog

The Raw Essentials of ITIL - In About 30 Minutes!

Do you need to quickly and effectively learn the raw essentials of ITIL - but perhaps only have 30 minutes to do it in? Quite a challenge - but it can be done.

Matthew Kayes and Kory Smith of Sietel Leeds and Associates have put together an excellent 108 page FREE presentation covering the essentials of ITIL.

This is quite a feat - they should be congratulated for combining several volumes of text into one quality presentation pack.

I believe this pack will be invaluable in providing you with a great basis for communicating ITIL to senior executives in your organisation, or perhaps for helping you to shape your thoughts on how to create your own presentation to other Service Teams.

The FREE 108 page presentation (pdf format) contains:-

- What is ITIL?
- Who is using ITIL?
- Integrated Process Workflow
- ITIL Goals
- Overview, goals and benefits of each ITIL Process
- ITIL Components
- ITIL Exam Essentials
- The Structure of ITIL
- ITIL in a Continual Service Improvement Environment
- Overview of Service Support Processes
- Overview of Service Delivery Processes
- FREE sample ITIL Exam Questions
- ITIL Security Management
- ITIL Financial Management
- ITIL Operations Assessment

Access the Pack at Foundation Success HERE.

Implementing ITIL: Project Success Prediction Model

I've just finished wrapping up the preparations for tomorrow nights free two hour Teleseminar on ITIL Implementation Strategies with Randy Steinberg.

I am going to announce the bonus materials live on the call - but wanted to give you a sneak preview of one bonus via the IT Service Blog.

Randy has adapted the Boston Consulting Groups "DICE" model and applied it to ITIL Implementation Projects.

This is a high level tool for predicting the overall success of an organizational change (in this case ITIL implementation) effort. It reinforces what needs to be in place to make that kind of a project successful.

While simple in nature, the results have been actually correlated from a study by the Boston Consulting Group over many projects. A reference to the Harvard Business Review article that describes this in much more detail is included with the documentation.

Randy has prepared a simple excel spreadsheet that you can adapt for your own organization, along with notes on how best to use the DICE model.

I can't reveal too much more here - so if you want to learn more - please register for the Teleseminar tomorrow.

If you can't make the Teleseminar - register anyway to gain access to the free bonus materials, audio files of the complete call and specially edited call transcript.

Register Here

Foundation Success is Relaunched: Free Advice and Tips for Passing the ITIL Foundation Exam

I've decided to re-launch Foundation Success - the mini Blog that's specifically focussed on helping ITIL Foundation students with their studies.

The mini Blog has a limited number of posts (so far) but there's plenty more to follow!

The #1 goal is to provide fast, easy to absorb hints and tips on all aspects of the ITIL Foundation Course, including:- 

- ITIL Foundation Certification

- ITIL Foundation Exam FAQ's

- Sample ITIL Foundation Questions (and Answers!)

- Tips, hints and strategies

- Multiple Choice Secrets

- Links to Study Guides

If you know anyone who is studying for their ITIL Foundation (and let's face it - we probably ALL do!) please feel free to direct them to Foundation Success.

Access Foundation Success Here.

ITIL Implementation Strategies: Real World Advice - For Free

In two days time I'm going to interview someone who's as passionate about ITIL as I am. Someone who's going to share with you proven, real world advice on how best to Implement ITIL.

His name is Randy Steinberg and after talking with Randy several times whilst collaborating on this interview - it's clear he wants to share as much content as possible during our two hours together.

So much content - that's it's going to be difficult to keep to the two hour timeframe.

We're going to cover as many of your questions as possible.

It's not going to be the usual 'run of the mill' interview - I want to do my job properly and extract as much value as possible.

I've set-up a special Teleseminar for this interview and I'm going to get the call professionally recorded and the transcript made available for you.

You can download and listen to the call later on your iPOD or MP3 player.

But that's not all.

I've persuaded Randy to provide you with free access to special bonus materials too.

The only way to access these materials is to register.

If you have not already registered - Please visit Ask The Service Expert for details.

There are just a few final seats still available.

*Even if you can't make the call in person - you can still access all the recordings and bonus materials if you register today*

Free: ITIL Implementation Strategies Teleseminar.

As a regular visitor to the IT Service Blog - I'd like to invite you to a very special free 2 hour Teleseminar on ITIL Implementation Strategies.

I've collaborated with Randy Steinberg, author of "Implementing ITIL: Adapting Your Organization To The Coming Revolution in IT Service Management", to create a content packed, thought provoking two hours.

We'll be covering off ITIL Implementation strategies, approaches and tips as well as details of where you can access helpful resources online. We are also going to answer your top most asked questions about ITIL Implementations.

It promises to be an exciting session - can you join us?

- Date: Wednesday 10th May, 2006.

- Time: US: 5pm (EST), UK: 10pm (BST), Rest of Europe: 11pm (CEST).

You can sign-up here:-

www.AskTheServiceExpert.com

Fair Warning! Seats are filling up fast since I offered this invite to my 'inner circle' of fellow ITIL practitioners (who signed up via this page) 2 days ago - so it's on a first come basis.

Some Notes to Help:-

- The call is 2 hours in duration.

- Toll-free numbers are available for most countries.

- Where Toll-Free is not available, then a dial in to the UK (London) is available. However in this case calls will be charged at your local operators International rate to the UK.

- If you can't make the actual Teleseminar - register anyway - because you will get access to the Audio MP3 files and other bonus materials.

Want to learn more?

I've also created a mini blog that has further details of the Teleseminar. This will also get updated over the coming days.

Visit:-

http://itservicetoday.blogs.com/ask_the_service_expert/

I look forward to talking with you very soon!

ITIL Maturity Benchmark Study - Committment, Barriers and Focus Required for Effective ITIL Adoption.

In Q1 2006 Evergreen conducted an ITIL Maturity Benchmark Study at the 10th International IT Service Management Conference, hosted by Pink Elephant. One hundred twenty seven (127) IT managers, directors and executives from 108 companies, organizations and institutions participated in the survey, designed to:-

• Gauge the degree of commitment to enterprise ITIL.based on timing, funding and key business drivers.

• Analyze the barriers to effective ITIL adoption—the business challenges that hamper efforts to advance toward enterprise process execution.

• Assess current operational maturity levels—considering the nature of focus on ITIL, maturity of processes, breadth of vision and technology directions.

• Focus areas for 2006—primary ITIL directions for the year ahead.

A very broad range of industries were represented, with the highest participation from individuals in the Manufacturing (15 percent), Financial Services (14.2 percent) and Services (14.2 percent) sectors.

Key Findings: -

• 54 percent of respondents have budgeted and approved ITIL projects within the next six months.

• An unprecedented 77 percent of respondents point to Service Quality as the top business driver of their ITIL efforts, with IT/Business Alignment a very strong second at 58 percent.

• 72 percent of respondents claim the biggest barrier to ITIL adoption in their business is organizational resistance. At a very distant second, 34 percent are not sure where to start.

• Effective planning was surprisingly low, with only 32 percent having a published ITIL strategy.

• ITIL is quickly becoming visible at the enterprise IT level with 36 percent of respondents working on re-engineering enterprise IT service delivery and 29 percent planning to leverage all ITIL discipline areas.

• HP/Peregrine and BMC/Remedy are the leading choices for ITIL technology platforms, accounting for 60 percent of the market.

• Most ITIL programs exist in a potentially dangerous vacuum. While 95 percent selected ITIL as a framework they are using to improve IT operations, less than 20 percent showed awareness of the Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies (CobiT®) or the Capability Maturity Model® (CMMi).

This excellent eight paper provides an analysis of the overall market trends shaping the future direction of ITIL based on survey data and our experience consulting in large, complex organizations.

Further Resources: -

Download the FULL paper HERE. (2 minute registration required).

Click ITIL SURVEYS in Categories for other ITIL based survey results.