skeptic's blog

A project is a wave in a product structure

If you build your organisation out of projects you are building out of blocks that evaporate. A project is a transitory phenomenon, not a structural component. You probably know of one or more organisations whose BAU is whatever was left when the projects vanished. Building a business out of projects' droppings is a bad idea.

The IT Renaissance

A while ago I used the phrase "the IT Renaissance" to capture the sea change I felt in our industry. But the idea has languished buried in another post, so I felt it is time to bring it forward as a blog post of its own. We are going through an IT Renaissance, the like of which we have never seen before in our industry.

DevOps Configuration versus ITSM CMDB

Devops configuration tools means something quite different to ITIL configuration tools (cmdb).

This blog first gathered its following by saying that cmdb is an unhealthy aspiration for nearly all organisations.

Theatre

One of my favourite words in IT transformation is "Theatre". We must get rid of it.

IT is riddled with theatre: a performance which creates the illusion of something happening but which everybody knows is not real, yet we all tacitly agree to go along with the illusion.

images of Lean

Here are some graphics of Lean which I created. Enjoy.
Image

The fatal flaw of outsourcing

Outsourcing strategic value streams, process or resources is a bad idea. You lose flexibility and responsiveness. As soon as you move from a collegial all-in-this-together relationship to a contractual you-serve-me relationship, you promote a blame culture. That's the fatal flaw of the whole idea.

This must never happen again

Why is it that so many IT managers and governors expect zero incidents? It happens. But when it does, they introduce more controls to stop a recurrence. Wrong attitude and wrong response.

DevOps isn't a tool to be applied selectively

Several times lately I've come across the idea that DevOps is a localised technique which can be used on one team or application, and not another. This isn't true. DevOps is a cultural transformation,a journey not a state or a tool. The primary goal of that transformation is to increase collaboration towards a common goal, to break down silos. A bi-modal model achieves the opposite.

The future of ITIL

Forecasting is hard, especially about the future. Nevertheless here are some thoughts on the future of ITIL: it is not going away but it is on a trajectory of gradually decreasing significance.

DevOps Enterprise Summit: humane IT

Returning from DevOps Enterprise Summit in London, I'm reflecting on the experience.

My one big takeaway is that IT is finally a people industry. The talk is of happiness, safety, empowerment. Hippies like me feel at home again. Gene's passion is "humane IT" and it shows.

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