Fusion Conference 2011 is Almost Here!

It is hard to believe that the Fusion conference is just a week away at the Gaylord National in Washington, DC. There are several innovations this year that promise to make it a standout event including the partnership between itSMF and HDI.  This relationship is particularly significant as it represents an evolving trend of unification within the industry. 

The agenda this year places a stronger emphasis on topics such as the Service Catalog, governance and organizational change management.  The tracks offer opportunities for a variety of roles, sectors and areas of interest:

• The People Factor
• Business Services and IT Processes
• Service Operations
• Service Catalog and Portfolio Management
• IT Governance and Security
• The Executive View
• The Government View
• The Beginner’s View

ITSM Academy is presenting at two sessions.  Michael Cardinal, a Senior Instructor, will be delivering Session 303: Effective Questioning for ITSM on Monday, September 26^th at 3:00 p.m.   Asking the right questions at the right time to the right audience is a learned skill and Mike will be offering practical techniques for becoming a proficient questioner. 

I am very excited to be discussing the value of having two distinct but related Service Catalogs in Session 605: The Best of Both Worlds: Creating a Business Service Catalog and Technical Service Catalog on Tuesday, September 27^th at 2:45 p.m.     Too many organizations struggle with the proper scope of service definition (either too technical or not technical enough) and I will be presenting ITIL's very flexible and practical solution.

Looking forward to seeing you there.  Please stop by our booth 720 to say hello.

New Foundation Processes - Design Coordination and Transition Planning and Support

Two of the new processes we are covering in ITIL 2011 Foundation are Design Coordination and Transition Planning and Support.

These processes have very similar activities, and those activities can be compared to the role of a conductor for an orchestra. The conductor is responsible for:

• Interpreting the piece – these processes determine the strategy for the associated lifecycle stage
• Deciding on tempos – these processes determine the rigor and therefore speed associated with performing the stage activities
• Basically getting every musician in the orchestra on the same page with every single note of the piece(s) they will be performing – these processes ensure that all of the functions and processes engaged in a lifecycle stage are on the same page with every single new service or change to an existing service that they are handling

Thanks to one of our brilliant instructors for the analogy!