Tuesday, July 31, 2007

ITIL v2 to v3 Foundation Bridging course details

Perhaps the most anticipated ITIL program is the Foundation program that will upgrade current v2 certified staff to v3.

Details have now been officially released. The course will be a one day program, WITH a 20 question, 30 minute mock exam at the end of the day. The pass mark for the exam will be 13 correct answers.

So, all those pages you've read from others who said there would be no exam were incorrect.

The 1 day program will cover the differences in v2 to v3 at an awareness level. For example the Service Knowledge Management System (SKMS) is a new concept for version 3, but it covers the CMDB and Known Error data base (KEDB) which are v2 concepts. In service transition the Service V model is a new concept and must be explained in full.

Exams for the Foundation Bridging program will be available in the last week of August 2007. You will have to have passed and show evidence of your ITIL v2 Foundation certificate to attend the program.

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Thursday, July 26, 2007

The Service V Model or the Left to Right Swim Lane model.. or.. ?

There has been great internal debate regarding the direction of flow for the Service V model.

Some say it follows the actual V path, down and up... others say it's chronigically correct to go from left to right, back to left...

Let me explain - the Service V model is a concept defined in the Service Transition volume of the new ITIL v3. The model is (meant to be) a clear and logical model of the steps to take in order to deliver a Service Package.

A Service Package is a concept of what can be delivered to a customer for them to use (we may otherwise refer to it as a 'service' or application).

Now the confusion lies in the steps that have to be followed on the V model. My opinion is that it is down the left hand side and back up the right hand side. The confusion comes from the number on the picture. 1a on the left, 1b on the right, 2a on the left, 2b on the right... there is absoultely no text to explain the direction of travel and perhaps the authors assumed that everyone would automatically know.

However, by adding connecting arrows and the numbering system used all it has done has caused confusion and (sometimes heated) debate.

My complaint is not with the Service V model, as a concept I think it is valid. My issue is that all of these books contain confusing diagrams that are not properly explained. A book is meant to leave you educated, aware and entertained... I'm afraid that too many pages in the new core of ITIL v3 leave me confused, confused and confused.

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Saturday, July 21, 2007

EXIN - Knocks one out of the park!

Exin have released full details of their Service Quality Management track of programs. Terms such as SQMF, ITSMA, SQMA and how the program hangs together can now be explained.

The track is based predominantly around ISO 20000, but also recognizes the close connections to the ITIL framework.

First the program becomes a lot clearer when you remember that Exin - long time IT Service Management certification gurus have developed new programs that extend upon the long respected ITIL Framework. They have developed two programs in that area. IT Service Managment Foundation (ITSMF) and IT Service Management Advanced (ITSMA). The Exin programs focus beyond the theory of ITIL, by encouraging training vendors to consider implementation and application issues.

Then came ISO 20000 and EXIN recognized the logical flow on for ITIL into this international standard and developed two new programs.

Service Quality Management Foundation (SQMF), based on ISO 20000, but includes Terms and Vocabulary from ISO 9000. This program looks at the theory of ISO 20000 and until recently required a participant to have passed the IT Service Management Foudnation (ITSMF) exam - BUT in July 2007 this pre-requisite was removed.

Most recently Exin have launched the Service Quality Management Advanced (SQMA) program. This program does in fact have TWO pre-requisites. The Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management) AND the Service Quality Management Foundation (SQMF).

The syllabus of SQMA is designed to teach the "HOW" regarding the practical application of Quality Management, especially related to ISO/IEC 20000, and also on certification and auditing based upon ISO/IEC 20000. So while SQMF focuses on theory - which has to be learnt - the focus of the Advanced Certificate will be on managing, organizing, optimizing and evaluating quality systems based upon ISO/IEC 20000.

All in all the program is now a solid alternative for those people looking to lift themeselves beyond the ITIL theory and into a world of standards based Quality Management.

Guidance:

If you are currently ITIL Foundation certified (v2 or v3) learn the SQMF material and pass that exam. Then you can automatically qualify to take the SQMA course (as your ITIL Foundation certificate will be recognized as equivalent to the IT Service Management Foundation certificate.



If we look first at the Service Quality Management Advanced (SQMA) program then a lot of other programs can be explained.

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Monday, July 9, 2007

Random Red Dot or a Freudian Slip

exAs near as I can make out the ITIL Exam centre for Australia is located in the North Western sector of Western Australia.

Well that is according to the map on the home page of the official ITIL Web site. That is where the red dot is placed in that huge mass of land.

Now, in an interesting twist, the location of the red dot is smack bang in the middle of Lake Dissapointment !

Lake Disappointment is a huge inland salt lake, devoid of life, but I'm sure a mighty impressive place to visit.

It's true, head to Google Earth 23°30′S, 122°50′E.

Yes, I know the red dot indicates that testing takes place in the country and that the placement was purely coincidental..... or was it? ;-)

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Change is in the air... (times2)

Well the dust hasn't even settled and OGC is at it again.

Our mighty powers - the Office of Government Commerce - have announced the "Refresh requirements for Prince2".

OGC has announced the requirement for a "cyclical update" on Prince2 and M_o_R (Management of Risk), as well as programme management (MSP).

Citing the last major piece of work on Prince2 happened in 2002 (minor updates in 2005) the statement indicates that the main outcomes expected for the project are:

1. Updated to reflect evolutions in Project Management
2. More accessible framework (less 'red-tape').

I'm sorry, but this reeks of another money grab that will be forced upon an unsuspecting audience. Watch for new publications, new certifications, new just about everything.

I pity the poor folks that are ITIL and Prince2 champions.

EVOLUTIONS in Project Management... what evolutions... I remember a saying.. "THERE ARE NO NEW FUNDAMENTALS".

The cave men hunted in packs - it was a project. Telling me that there are some evolutions in project management is like saying "we're designing new concepts for living well". There are no new concepts for living well; eat healthy, take some exercise and rest.. sure there are a few more basics, but not many.

There are no new concepts, no new fundamentals that cannot be mapped towards something that already exists in some form.

It is seriously getting time to look at alternatives that -although not guaranteed to be static - have a higher degree of difficulty to change. International standards spring to mind.

ISO 20000, Exin's SQMF program; could all be potential ways to save what little hair IT professionals may have as they face this new onslaught of seemingly unprovoked change.

The OGC press release states the input from "public consultation" as one of the drivers for change. Please give me the details of this "public consultation" I would be fascinated to do the numbers on this "public consultation".

Was there a marked increase in complaints and issues with what existed?

Surely, to undertake such a massive operation would require "significant" challenges to what was current; and then an even "more significant" public consultation. I am talking in the region of thousands of people to be consulted in the hundreds of thousands that would have an interest.

What were those numbers? OR - as I suspect is it all a bit immaterial - the change is going to happen, new books, new certification schemes; all the things that pry open the IT budgets of the many organizations that have adopted Prince2.

It's another victory for the bean counters; but one that must have people starting to think about the pattern that is emerging.

I guess, when you have the market cornered for defacto standards then you can do what you want. However, as mentioned earlier, this may be simply the excuse that IT professionals have been looking for to move to national or international standards (e.g. ISO 9000, ISO 200000, ISO 27001, etc.)

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Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Latest from Exin...

Things are really heating up in the battle of Examination Institutes (EIs). Exin have outlined their plans for the future and while ITIL and the relationship with APMG features, it is certainly not dominant.

Exin have for many years offered a variety of certification programs, but the latest news from them can be seen as a focussed effort to break away from relying too heavily on ITIL.

First bit of news. In the past if you wanted to take the Exin Service Quality Management Foundation (SQMF) exam, (which is Exins answer to the itSMF ISO20000 program) - you first had to pass the ITIL Foundation exam.

That requirement is now gone. So now anyone can take the globally recognized ISO 20000 Foundation certification exam - very good news and well done to Exin. This move demonstrates that understanding ISO 20000 does not require ITIL theory knowledge, but Exin still state the ITIL understanding will help or the participant should have some good working experience in IT; but it is no longer a pre-requisite for taking the exam.

Secondly in the ISO 20000 field, Exin have published the long awaited second level - Service Quality Management Advanced (SQMA) syllabus and certification.

Pilots for this program were held in the Netherlands (makes sense as this is Exin's Head Office location) and Australia (also makes sense as the Aussies are big adopters of new initiatives and proud to lead the way !!).

Exin state that the SQMA program will involve theory elements, but also practical work assignments. However, it yet another attempt to completely confuse the market the way that Exin are describing their program leaves me trying to work out how to position it all.

Yes, there are explanations, but the fact sheet on the Exin Service Quality Management program ISO/IEC 20000 is a combination of both ITIL and ISO 20000 certification.

Here is an example of where the confusion comes from.

Exin "The ISO/IEC 20000 SQM Foundation program is targeted at a ....."

Exin "Exin's SQM program consists of two Foundation exams: Foundation in IT Service Management (based on ITIL) (ITILF) and SQM Foundation (SQMF)."

Deeper reading and analysis uncovers the strategy.

Exin are looking to create a certification for ISO 20000 consultants, based on ITIL and ISO 20000 certification. This could be seen as competition to the APM Groups Diploma in IT Service Management, as the complete Exin track is 4 courses...

1. ITIL Foundation (ITILF)
2. ISO 20000 Foundation (SQMF)
3. ITIL Managers
4. ISO 20000 Advanced (SQMA)

Either way Exin are putting up alternatives and this can only be a good thing for the marketplace.

So, in summary - you can now take an ISO 20000 Foundation certificate without having to first take the ITIL Foundation course and exam.

Next, Exin have announced end dates on all their single practitioner exams.

In effect, all the single practitioner Exin courses are now defunct. So for those vendors that invested heavily in the development of material and the accreditation; well perhaps that work can be used as part of developing the Clustered courses that Exin bought in several years ago.

It would appear that all the single practitioner exams will disappear effective immediate EXCEPT Serice Level Management and Security Management (both expire 1 January 2008).

Next on the "Exin news" is the statement that Exin will offer the APMG ITIL v3 Foundation exam. We knew this was going to happen, but interestinly, and in an even more apparent move to stamp their mark on the ITIL certification world, the certificate issued will be an APMG certificate.

Now perhaps this is by agreement between Exin and APMG or perhaps APMG have dictated that all ITIL Foundation certificates will carry the APMG stamp - but the days of Exin certifications for ITIL Foundation are at an end. I wonder if this is the case for ISEB as well?

Exin take great pains to point out that passing the APMG exam - whereever it is taken is recognized and acts as a starting point for the "broader IT Service Management certification program".

So, the wheels are turning in what was always going to be an interesting few months.

Exin's decision to broaden the availability of the ISO 20000 certification (SQMF) can only be seen as a good thing and APMG have no way to prevent that from happening. However, it would appear that the move by Exin is a clever one in terms of starting to give the marketplace a different path to travel when it comes to certification.

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ITIL v3; Headaches for some

Online IT Service Management tools over recent years had a simple model to follow. Map the services offered to 10 processes.

The marketing team must now be running around madly looking for ways to spin their offerings into ITIL v3 compliant status.

The whole issue of compliance when it comes to tools is something that I've had a problem with for some time.

Firstly, the lack of an "ITIL compliant" stamp on a tool must not lead to its removal from the list of potential solutions for an IT organization. Don't lose the potential ideal solution for your company by making ITIL compliance a mandatory item on your checklist.

Make it mandatory that the solution be flexible enough to be adopted to the idiosyncrasies of your organization. This way the review panel knows they are reviewing true potential solutions and not just ones that have an additional logo.

The second reason I have a problem with the whole ITIL compliance process for tools is that I wish I had thought of it!! This is of course contradictory to my first reason.

From a commercial aspect the folks who put the process together have a monopoly and from all reports they make a tidy sum for initial checks, ongoing checks, etc. You just have to applaud the foresight of such a move.

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Sunday, July 1, 2007

The Mysterious Ticking Noise...

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape
Snape, Snape, Severus Snape
Dumbledore....

The search for the mysterious ticking noise has extended into the Service Management world.
Anyone have any ideas on what PPM stands for in the image of Financial Management, Enterprise Value - Service Strategy (section 5.1.1).

Now without checking you'd assume Project Planning Methodology or "Parts Per Million" of assumption that each abbreviation is expanded in full - somewhere.

But not - PPM...it isn't explained in the text, it's not even in the ITIL v3 Glossary.

Will someone please tell me what it stands for in this context, so that I can chalk up another TLA!!

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What is missing from this list.. ?

Interesting page on the APM Group web site regarding Consulting Accreditation.


It is an overview of the Accredited Consultant service that is offered by the
APMG. The registered consultant services offered...



  • "Project Management" is there (certification scheme managed by APMG)
  • "Management of risk" is there (certification scheme managed by APMG)
  • ??? is not there (certification scheme managed by APMG)

Doesn't take a genius to see the "hint" of a pattern emerging here. I don't think it will be too long, before we hear about "ITIL Registered Consultants".

Judging by the numbers of Project Management Registered Consultants, APMG will have to come up with a compelling reason to follow that track.

At the time of writing only 12 names exist on the Registered Consultants list - it would be interesting for those of us in the ITSM world to hear from any of those 12 about the program they have to follow and the benefits (and why are the numbers so low... is the scheme new?).


I am not anti-registration, but it would seem to be a tough sell in a market as mature as IT Service Management. I am putting myself in the shoes of a potential client and wondering what beneifts I get if I employ a "registered consultant" instead of a "damm good one". Will there be some guarantee of quality, will there be a "no cut costs, no pay for services policy" - somehow I doubt it.


Document your thoughts in reply as this is going to be an interesting one to watch.

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The Famous Five Run Away Together

The nice folks at OGC must have had a giggle when they choose the cover designs for all the new ITIL v3 material.

On more than one occasion a passer-by has commented on the cover design for the "Vendor pre-release briefing" - "That's marijuana!!" one rather eldery woman commented.

It was of course my civic duty to enquire about her knowledge on such a topic - however, no answer was forthcoming as she tripped off to another destination.

But then I had a look at the covers of the "Famous Five" books that are flooding the market faster than a free iPhone giveaway competition.

X-ray images of Peas and Poppies, sea shells and starfish - there is a definite hint that the team were out to have a bit of laugh in choosing the designs.

I think the term "Famous Five" is very apt for the books. Those of us lucky enough to have grown up on the stories of Enid Blyton we will fondly remember Julian, Anne, Dick, George and Timmy the dog.

Just like "Five Run Away Together" we can understand our intrepid authors looking forward to their usual holiday at George' s home and tucking into Aunt Fanny's and Joanna the cook's delicious food !!

I'm just thinking that the designers of the covers for the new material were tucking into something a little bit more powerful when the concept was discussed. At least we're talking about it, so in that regard it's a great success.

Authoring over 700 books in her career we thank our modern day Enid B. (aka Sharon Taylor) who held those rascally authors at just 5 books.

;-)

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