Crap Factoid

IT analysts produce crap - what to look for in analyst "research"

Submitted by skeptic on Wed, 2008-04-09 21:43

This post has been podcast
Crap Factoids are pure B.S. that almost sound like a fact, and will be presented so often that everyone will think it true. Let us look closer at a classic Crap Factoid where the results were deliberately skewed, then hyped up by marketing people, and the resulting Crap Factoid thrown to the winds like GM seed. It is time people called analysts to task for this stuff because we all suffer the consequences when decision makers fall for it.

Chokey the Chimp hates crap factoids

Submitted by skeptic on Thu, 2008-04-03 21:11

The IT Skeptic's Crap Factoid Early Warning Service brings you this warning of extreme crap factoid danger.

Crap Factoid Alert: "Two-thirds of companies around the globe are using ITIL"

Submitted by skeptic on Tue, 2008-03-25 10:55

The IT Skeptic's Crap Factoid Early Warning Service has detected another Crap Factoid (pure B.S. that will be presented so often that everyone will think it true) emerging.

McKinsey on IT Strategy; a combination of insight and gibberish

Submitted by skeptic on Sun, 2007-06-24 04:01

Most analysts produce a combination of insight and gibberish, none more so than McKinsey.

The CMDB Tidal Wave? More of a ripple.

Submitted by skeptic on Wed, 2007-05-16 22:21

Dodgy stats and talk-up-the-market hype mar two otherwise interesting articles on CMDB.

ITIL reduces costs by up to 48% - another crap factoid to beware of

Submitted by skeptic on Wed, 2006-11-01 09:36

Time and again the analysts come up with these numbers using totally unscientific methods and before you know it they are gospel and popping up everywhere like bird flu. I'm not sure who's worse; the snake oil salesmen who invent them or the gullible twerps who repeat them.

ooh I got all excited when I read this question in an article on InfoWorld:

1. What can I do with ITIL that I couldn’t do before?

And the answer is......

Get it straight: CMDB can not be auto-discovered

Submitted by skeptic on Sun, 2006-08-13 02:15

This line in a Butler Group white paper synopsis pressed a button for me:"Service Configuration Management enables quick establishment of Configuration Management Database (CMDB) through auto discovery". I respect the Butler Group more than most analysts, and I am too tight to buy the full text from them, so I hope the synopsis is a bit misleading. Though from the tone of the rest I fear it isn't. This pernicious idea turns up regularly, mostly from software vendors. It must be stamped out.

What a load of .... Computerworld: How Much Is 'Just Enough' for a CMDB?

Submitted by skeptic on Sat, 2006-07-01 11:32

This article has been podcast in slightly modified form.

Antonio gave us an interesting link in a recent comment. Excuse me folks, but what a load of crap it is.

"A just-enough CMDB should provide a full picture of the following:
All technology components related to the specific service.

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