Service Management Fusion Conference 2014

As we ring in September, we also ring in the start of the fall conference season.

It's hard to believe but the itSMF/HDI Fusion 2014 conference is next month!   

As always, members of the ITSM crew will be among the many experienced service management professionals sharing insight, knowledge and experiences at the event.

Donna Knapp will be co-presenting with Anthony Orr at a Breakfast Briefing: How to Pass Your MALC Exam on Monday, October 20th at 7:30 am

I will be leading Session 606: Practical Problem Management: The Courage to Ask Why on Tuesday, October 21 at 2:45 PM.

I will also be participating in Session 704: Expert Focus on Practical DevOps with Brandon Gillis of Bank of NY Mellon on Wednesday, October 22 at 9:00 am.

You can register for Fusion14 at https://www.servicemanagementfusion.com/purchase.

Hope to see you there.

The ITSM Academy guide to surviving Fusion 2012

Since 2004, the ITSM Academy team as been sponsoring and attending the itSMF Conferences.  After all the years, we know a thing or two about navigating the event and ensuring all of our bags arrive on time (great stories about past mishaps, if you want to stop by and hear them!) 
 

It’s our hope that this quick and easy guide to Fusion will help facilitate a more enjoyable experience.

• Things to Pack
• Transportation
• Accommodations
• Things to do in the Area

What should I pack?

Here at the Academy, we make it easier on ourselves, and all attend as a cohesive, color coordinating crew.  

With the average temperature in Dallas in October at 79 degrees (perfect!), what do you need?  Comfortable traveling clothes and shoes, business casual for the days and something nice for the evening – you expect these.  But what should you bring besides the essential clothing items?

• Business Cards
• Refillable Water Bottle
• Comfortable Tote Bag
• Sweater – it can be cold in there!
• Aspirin/Ibuprofen
• Granola Bars 
• Foot Rejuvenating Cream
• Fuzzy Socks

Another tip from our team, after a rough day on your feet, apply a liberal coating of foot cream, slip on the fuzzy socks and turn in for the night. This can make the difference between a good day and a bad day at conference. 

Getting around the area

For travel to and from the airport, the Gaylord does not provide free shuttle service. They do provide a few options on their site for transportation to and from DFW International and Love Field. [see here] 

The Gaylord is within a short distance of many dining and activity options in Grapevine, but none within walking distance. 

 

To reach these, you might consider renting a car or taking advantage of some of the transportation at the hotel. 

Where do you want to stay?

The Gaylord is a beautiful hotel, with many on location facilities, such as restaurants, bars and shopping. It may be too big and noisy for some, or just not the right fit for others. Great Wolf Lodge is a similar option, that might be more appealing to those traveling with families and children. In the near vicinity, there are a few other options, Embassy Suites, Hyatt Place, Homewood suites, Spring Hill Suites and others are located nearer the Grapevine Mills Mall. 

Things to do in the Area

Once Fusion gets up and running, they will keep your schedule pretty jammed packed.  Depending on when you arrive / depart you may have time to do some fun things in the area: 

• Wine tastings! Grapevine celebrates the love of wine each year with a grape festival where the local vineyards offer tastings of their latest wines. Many of the vineyards offer tours and walk-in tastings for those who really want to get to the source of their favorite red or white.
• Grapevine Mills Mall is a shopping Mecca. Tons of stores, restaurants, Lego Land and Sea Life which is an aquarium complete with a shark tunnel.
• For the outdoor lovers, go to the Bass Pro Shop and enjoy a taste of nature indoors. The store features a waterfall and natural catfish pool, as well as a duck pond and rustic café if you need a break from shopping for your next bicycle.

Hope to see you at Fusion!

If you haven’t registered yet, you can still use our discount code: VFUSION12 [register here]

 

Be sure to visit us on the floor at Fusion in booth 626. You can follow us on twitter under the hashtag #ITSMCrew, join us for some interactive games and enter drawings for free seats to our public classroom.

 

Follow @ITSMAcademy or the team members on Twitter.

ITSM Academy at Fusion 2010 in Louisville, KY

I am thrilled to announce that ITSM Academy has been selected to deliver multiple educational sessions at the itSMF Fusion 2010 conference.  While the unfortunate flooding in Nashville necessitated a venue change to Louisville, KY, the program and conference dates (September 18-22) are the same.

Donna Knapp will be delivering FROM HELP DESK TO SERVICE DESK: USING ITIL® BEST PRACTICES as pre-conference training course on Saturday, September 18 and Sunday September 19.  This highly interactive course is designed to assist organizations in evolving from a Help Desk into a true best practice Service Desk.  Donna Knapp has over twenty five years experience in the IT industry  and is the author of two college textbooks on Service Desk and Customer Service best practices. 

On Sunday, September 19, from 12:30 to 2:30,  Michael Cardinal will be leading a free pre-conference workshop, PUTTING THE PRO IN PROCESS DESIGN.   This session describes techniques for developing, reengineering and improving processes, while managing the associated culture change. Attendees will also learn how to build a "custom framework" by drawing on guidance from multiple ITSM frameworks and standards such as ITIL, ISO/IEC 20000, MOF, Six Sigma and Cobit.  In addition to being a Certified Process Design Engineer (CPDE) instructor, Mike has over 10 years of practical ITSM experience.

On Monday, September, 20th at 10:00 am, I will present on the tricky topic of  ROCK N' ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND RESOURCES.  Regardless of size, budget or structure, many organizations struggle with fitting and managing the numerous ITSM roles and responsibilities within their current environment.  While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, I will provide practical guidance and explore different types of scenarios and models.  This session will be highly interactive with lots of audience participation.

Fusion 2010 in Louisville promises to be the best itSMF conference yet.  To learn more and register, go to www.itsmfusion.com.  See you there!

Welcome to Jayne Explains

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first posting of Jayne Explains, the blog of Jayne Groll, President of ITSM Academy. Consider this a virtual water cooler around which I will attempt to explain the latest developments in IT Service Management as well as upcoming happenings here at ITSM Academy. I hope you will find this a valuable and positive ITSM resource.

There is nothing plain about the economic challenges facing us. This is not the time to abandon process development. This is an opportune time to demonstrate that the need for managed, efficient, effective and quality IT services has never been more critical. . I strongly encourage you to leverage the guidance in best practice ITSM frameworks to identify quick wins that can potentially lower or justify costs.

Service Management will continue to evolve in 2009. Here are some highlights:

The long-awaited ITIL® V3 Intermediate Certifications will release throughout the year including the Lifecycle (implementation) and Capability (practitioner) streams. Managing Across the Lifecycle, the gateway course to ITIL® Expert certification will also be introduced. APM Group has released an online Credit Profiler to help learners build a relevant and balanced ITIL training program leading to the ITIL® Expert certification. The Credit Profiler is free and can be accessed at http://www.itil-officialsite.com/itilmapping/v2/map.asp. While the Credit Profiler asks for “passed” courses, you can also use it to simulate different educational scenarios.

Interest in Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) V4.0 is growing as either a standalone ITSM framework or as a strong complement to ITIL V3 and/or ISO/IEC 20000. MOF has a grassroots, prescriptive approach that I’ve dubbed “service management for the masses”. It is applicable to every company, regardless of platform and, the best part is that the intellectual property is free! If you haven’t looked at MOF, I highly recommend checking it out at http://www.microsoft.com/mof. There’s a good overview document as well as detailed guidance and free templates (job aids). Microsoft has set up a community forum. Microsoft and EXIN have partnered to offer a MOF training and certification program.

ISO/IEC 20000 is also beginning to gain momentum in the US, particularly in the government sector. More organizations are considering ISO/IEC 20000 certification while others are using the standard as an auditable benchmark for their ITSM programs. itSMF USA has chartered an ISO/IEC 20000 Special Interest Group (SIG) that will be conducting virtual meetings throughout the year in a webinar format. itSMF USA will also be hosting six regional Road Shows this year centered on ISO/IEC 20000. EXIN has introduced an tiered ISO/IEC 20000 certification scheme.

We will take a deeper dive into these and other topics in future posts.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year,

Jayne Groll