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Microsoft System Center Service Manager 2010: a credible challenger in the Service Management software market?
Posted in Adrian Polley on 17 February 2010
After 3 years in beta, Microsoft is expected to launch System Center Service Manager (SCSM) sometime this year. Long-time Microsoft watchers will know that the company often "drip feeds" new markets with product information before products are ready as a way of generating interest. This has the added benefit, from Microsoft's perspective, of creating uncertainty and potentially delaying buying decisions for competing products. But a 3-year beta is unusual even for Microsoft, and is largely explained by the company deciding that the product needed a ground-up rewrite after feedba...Do you really want to lose (inter)face?
Posted in IT Support on 15 February 2010
Off-shoring of IT services and especially Service Desks is gaining popularity as Financial Directors continue to reduce IT spend and headcount. But before a decision as crucial as this can be taken it is important to assess the potential short, medium and long term impact on the user community and ultimately the bottom line. Although the Service Desk is just a component part of IT as a whole, it remains the 'face' of IT and in most cases, the measurement point of both user perception of IT effectiveness and impact on the user's ability to carry out his or her job. A good or bad Service Des...A new lease of IT life
Posted in Infrastructure on 11 February 2010
The latest Gartner predictions state that by 2012, 20% of businesses will own no IT assets. Is IT following the paths of cars and mobile phones and will we end up leasing it? It is actually not difficult to imagine. The growth of utility computing means organisations are already purchasing software and storage on demand, leaving its management to a third party. They don't only do it because it is convenient economically speaking, but for a more important reason - it spares them from the responsibility of managing something that is not the main function of their business. As the trend grows...From ITIL v2 to v3 – where to start?
Posted in ITIL Compliance & Accreditation on 08 February 2010
ITIL v2 and v3 have been peacefully coexisting since the release of the new version in 2007, but with the forthcoming phasing out of v2 starting this year, many organisations are starting to plan their transition towards v3. It is always hard to switch from the comfort of a widely-practiced and familiar method to a new version of it, and although most organisations seem to understand the tangible benefits of the enhanced discipline, the question remains: where do you start? The problem, in fact, is often not why but how to carry out the transition - moving your organisation from oper...Can you afford not to invest in Best Practice?
Posted in Paul Whitlock on 02 February 2010
Times are tough, purse strings are tight, so CFOs play it safe when it comes to their IT spend. A cautious approach is typically adopted and only technical projects which are deemed 'essential' actually see the light of day until confidence in the market is restored. This is all well and good, but problems can arise when examining just what many of them consider to be essential. Deciding whether to roll out 400 new PCs, switch to Windows 7 or implement Citrix is on the face of it a simple decision, in terms of Finance. Is it essential to keeping 'the wheels on' and are you doing it for the...Experiential Learning explained through Confucius
Posted in Derek Elphick on 02 February 2010
'I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.' With this quote, ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius gives us an important insight into learning: lectures go in one ear and out the other, Power-Point presentations make things ring a bell, but the only way to truly learn something is through active practice. You don't learn to ride a bike by reading the instructions booklet, do you? This is exactly the principle of Experiential Learning in delivering ITIL-related awareness and training. Decades ago learning equalled plain knowledge absorption. Now Montessori schools...Quick win, quick fall if you fail to plan ahead
Posted in Infrastructure on 11 January 2010
Virtualisation seems to be the hot word of the year for all businesses large and small, and as everyone seems to concentrate on deciding whether VMware is better than Microsoft HyperV, often driven by the media, they might overlook one of the major pitfalls in moving to virtual - the lack of forward planning. Many organisations invest only a small amount of money and time investigating solutions, but choosing one which is tailored to the business rather than investing in the coolest, latest or cheapest product on the market can save organisations from the illusion of cost-effectiveness. T...Cloud computing – Help your IT out of the Tetris effect
Posted in Adrian Polley on 08 January 2010
Enjoy playing human Tetris on the tube at rush hour? All the hot, sweaty physical contact; the effort in pushing your way out, slowly, uneasily; people in your way, blocking you, breathing on you.. Of course not. You just wish you could share the carriage with three friendly, quiet companions and kick the rest of the lot out, bringing a small selection of them back in only when you need an extra chat, some heat in the carriage, specific information they might have. If you imagine the tube situation to be your IT system, then you get a first glance at what Cloud Computing is about. &...One of you may be fired
Posted in Infrastructure on 17 December 2009
Those of us old enough still remember the advertising slogan suggesting that 'no one ever got fired for buying IBM'. And it was largely true. Many IT managers spent a lot of money on IBM systems as it appeared a risk free option - even if they were not always convinced it was the best solution for the business. The sentiment is not confined to IBM of course. More recently you could easily replace IBM with names such as Microsoft, Cisco or Dell, for example. The problem is that it is there are usually too many options available. And the same is true when it comes to virtualisati...Hot or not. ..Says who?
Posted in Infrastructure on 15 December 2009
Many of you who have visited an exhibition featuring modern art will know what I'm talking about: you stare at a tiny, coloured dot in the middle of a huge white canvas, and think 'This is art? Says who?' Who decides which pieces of modern art fetch millions at auction and which are consigned to the scrapheap? The answer can be found with no single person. It is, in reality, a combination of influences. Hype generated by perceived experts, the media, even the public at large play a part as a 'crowd sourcing' entity the makers of Twitter could only dream about. Of course, this situation isn...2012: avoiding the IT Apocalypse
Posted in Infrastructure on 03 December 2009
2012. If you take the legend behind this year's Hollywood blockbuster of that name to hold some truth, we're in for a bumpy ride in a couple of years. Ok, so the major cities of the world are unlikely to disappear into gaping chasms but the Mayan prophecy used as inspiration for the movie which predicts the occurrence of an unspecified major change in 2012 might not be so unbelievable when it comes to IT. Of course, that isn't to suggest anything of the apocalyptical nature seen in the big-screen blockbuster is likely to occur, but from an IT point of view at least, 2012, and the period le...Punishment alone does not work
Posted in Information Security on 04 August 2009
Every so often a multinational corporation with an image to protect or a public sector organisation that the public are supposed to trust find their lackadaisical approach to information security horribly exposed. The media kick up a stink, various experts are wheeled out to pass comment and we all gasp in horror at the weighty fine imposed - or in the case of the public sector, look on disapprovingly as they humbly promise never to do it again. Then, after they stump up the cash, all is quickly forgotten until the next time. The question we have to ask, given the propensity for carbon cop...HSBC Data Loss
Posted in Information Security on 27 July 2009 and 3 People have commented
Most will know what has befallen HSBC in recent weeks, for those who don't, the bank's seemingly wanton data loss culminated in a £3.2 million fine, along with a well deserved hammering in the press. Of course, it could have been a lot worse. The fine itself was reduced from £4.5 million by the FSA as HSBC did not contest the ruling and in all honesty, either amount is small change to an organisation of the size of HSBC. In fact, for HSBC a data loss like this is not quite the catastrophe the media might be making it out to be. Talk of their customer base deserting them in drov...ITIL for ITILs sake
Posted in ITIL Compliance & Accreditation on 03 June 2009 and 2 People have commented
During the boom years, there was a dangerous precedent for implementing best practice disciplines such as ITIL without stopping to consider why. Conversely, perhaps the only positive our industry can take from the current economic climate is that most have now been forced to recognise how crucial it is to demonstrate return on investment from every IT venture. Looking back, it is perhaps understandable that so many were caught up in the furore surrounding ITIL. It has made its name as the industry standard for best practice for good reason and there are many benefits that can be had from a...VDI and Windows 7
Posted in Information Security on 07 May 2009 and 2 People have commented
Windows 7 came firmly onto the radar last week as Microsoft made Release Candidate 1 available for general download. In doing so, they're following a new path - firstly by making a Release Candidate so publicly available and secondly allowing people to use it unfettered until 1st March 2010. That's a long time for a free (albeit non release) operating system. Many IT departments will view the release with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it gives even less reason to consider a move to Windows Vista, but on the other reinforces the fact that Windows XP is mortal and entering its twilig...The art of deception
Posted in Information Security on 06 May 2009
An interesting article on the BBC website today which shows how critical a good security culture is to an organisation. An external consultant, through social engineering techniques and bags of confidence managed to gain unauthorised physical access to a company's premises and from there, very quickly, access to sensitive documents. He then repeated the feat at the BBC's request, and this time gained access to user accounts and passwords just by pretending to be an IT support engineer. The episode is enlightening. Everyone assumes the Internet is full of bad people, and therefore the...VDI - the revolution begins...
Posted in ITIL Compliance & Accreditation on 05 May 2009
So the first in our series of seminars on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is nearly upon us and working through some of the demonstrations with the Infrastructure team has thrown up some interesting topics for discussion. Here at Plan-Net we have the benefit of seeing the ways in which VDI is revolutionising the delivery of IT Support first hand and some of the developments we are witnessing will have a resounding effect across the full spectrum of service delivery. A perfect example of this is the newfound ability to re-image a desktop that VDI brings. For those Service Desk per...Wake up and tackle the real VDI issues!
Posted in Infrastructure on 24 March 2009
There seems to be an article on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) in every industry publication I read at the moment however I have yet to read anything that addresses one of the biggest issues on the table - namely, what it means to those tasked with supporting the desktop environment on a day-to-day level. The Service Desk will change, that's a given, and with it, the people who work in IT Support must change too. A properly implemented VDI environment means a drastic reduction in desk side visits which will surely have an effect on 2nd line Support in its current form. Though it migh...ITIL Version 3
Posted in ITIL Compliance & Accreditation on 18 February 2009
ITIL is currently undergoing something of a renaissance in popularity. Renewed interest in the framework is almost certainly being spurred by the buzz surrounding the launch of ITIL in its third iteration. And whilst v.3 is still an unknown quantity and will inevitably be prone to some initial teething problems, I firmly believe that the refreshed best practice framework will be at least as successful as its predecessor. This success is likely to be predicated upon the increased focus placed upon ROI and justifying the value of the service desk and investment in the service desk to the boar...Virtualisation - making the headlines
Posted in Infrastructure on 18 February 2009
It has been difficult to pick up an IT magazine recently and not find any number of stories on virtualisation. Whilst ‘virtualisation' seems a rather nebulous term that's easily adopted by vendors trying to spruce up their existing product line, its also true that it is starting to play a major role in infrastructure strategies - a trend that will only continue. Anyone who has some interest in the virtualisation story will be familiar with VMWare; a company that has done more than anyone to push the topic up the corporate agenda. After an IPO last year, the company currently has a ma...Batten down the Hatches!
Posted in Information Security on 18 February 2009 and 2 People have commented
The problem with most security companies is they are very product driven - you name your security problem, and they can sell you a product to fix it. Whilst it's always tempting to think that you can fix a problem by buying something from a catalogue, the reality is often very different. Take the current hot potato of regulatory compliance, e.g. Sarbanes Oxley. If you believe the marketing, you can identify any number of products which will solve your SOX problems for you, which completely ignores the fact that compliance is all about opinions - specifically, convincing the relevant auditor...Overcome the Freeze
Posted in IT Support on 10 January 2007
With the economic upturn driving increased IT investment, how can organisations overcome inflexible outsourcing contracts or internal headcount freezes to guarantee service levels and avoid compromising business integrity? Co-sourcing is the flexible, cost-effective alternative which enables organisations to flex up or down IT support services in line with business needs.Over the past couple of years, as any IT Manager can attest, costs have been squeezed. The result is that most operations are running at zero spare capacity - support staff illness, for example, can seriously compromise th...T: +44 (0)20 7353 4313 F: +44 (0)20 7353 4314
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