What I know about the candidates for itSMF International Chair and Board

[Updated]There is no such thing as truly independent people in any sphere of business. Just so you all know, here’s what I know about affiliations of the candidates for itSMF International Chair and the new itSMF International Board:

Sharon Taylor: Canada. Works for an independent organisation, Aspect Group. Is also employed by OGC, TSO and APMG. itSMF International Director of Publications. ITIL Chief Architect (OGC) and Chief Examiner (APMG). ITIL3 author.

Ken Wendle: USA. Employee of HP. itSMF International Board (governance).

Rob Stroud: USA. Employee of CA. itSMF USA Board. International Vice President of ISACA

Colin Rudd: UK. Works for an independent organisation, Items Ltd. ITIL3 author.

Alexander Kist: Netherlands. PinkRoccade Director of Education Services.

Peter Brooks: South Africa. Works for an independent organisation, PHMB. Ex-employee of HP. ITIL2 author (Metrics)

Paul Martini: Germany. Employee of HP (Peregrine). Treasurer itSMF Germany.

This information is the best I can glean from public sources, as no biography is provided with the announcement. I welcome any corrections, and I look forward to the official bios apperaring soon to satisfy our curiousity.

Comments

My "official" bio

In the nomination procedure the National Chapters were asked to submit a 100 word bio for each candidate. Below is the text -verbatim- that was submitted about me.

Alexander Kist (1965) is director of Getronics PinkRoccade Educational Services, responsible for Getronics’ ITSM and PPM training portfolio.
Alexander has been actively involved with the itSMF, almost from the beginning. He became a member of the ITIMF Management Board in 1992, representing the international (largely Dutch) membership. Together with Roelof Doustra of Quint, he was co-founder of the Dutch chapter in 1993. He served as Treasurer on the UK Board from 1997 until he moved to Canada in 2000. He was initiator and co-founder of the Canadian chapter and Board member until he returned to the Netherlands in mid 2001.
Alexander has devoted his professional career to ITSM and ITIL. He holds a masters degree in “Computer and Information Resources Management” and is the proud owner of Service Manager Certificate nr. 62, dated june 1992. He has worked as an IT (Service) Managment consultant and trainer for a multitude of customers, in a number of countries since 1990. He is also a marker for EXIN and a frequent speaker on ITSM and BITA at conferences and seminars.
After a recent role change, Alexander is once again in a position to dedicate a portion of his time to the itSMF.

Bios

Both Ken Wendle and Alexander Kist have indicated in their election statement that they have ITIL Certifications. What is the certification status of the remaining candidates?

Stop throwing bricks!

What relevence is that? I doubt that very many of us working in ITSM have any of the relevant or up to date certificates - especially those relating to ITIL V3. It's better that we have people who can work together without arguing and for the betterment of us all. That's been sadly lacking in the past. And bloggers... if you are so annoyed about the candidates that have been nominated, why on earth did you not put yourselves forward, properly and within the rules.

Stop throwing bricks and try to support this new Board and its new Chief Executive - please!

Who said I'm annoyed at the candidates who have been nominated?

Who said I'm annoyed at the candidates who have been nominated? I'm annoyed about the candidates who have not been allowed to be nominated.

I would be delighted to see itSMF work together. I challenge anyone to show that I do not have the best interests of itSMF at heart. I am an active contributor to itSMF. I just lost three days' very highly paid consulting income to do volunteer work for itSMF. It is not me that has just pissed off several chapters by treating them like delinquents and denying them democratic participation

Qualifications

Thank you for your support! I agree that bickering and nit-picking is pointless. However, I also believe that it is important to be open and honest. If there are people worried about something to do with me, where possible (and it isn't always possible), I would prefer to answer the question to remove any possible suspicion - or, alternatively, if the suspicion is correct, to explain the background, which might make it easier to understand.

In this case, the question is about qualifications in ITIL. I took my Foundations course back in 1998 and my Service Manager in 1999 - I was trained for the first in the UK and the second in the Netherlands. I'm also certified to provide ISO20000 consultancy since 2005.

I have been appointed to the Institute of IT Service Management, the ISM, as a Fellow of the Institute (FISM). I am a strong supporter of the Institute (and the similar organisation in the Netherlands). I hope that the value it brings can be extended to all chapters eventually. Anybody interested can find that the requirements to be accepted as an FISM are strict and include references and a demonstrated high level of experience in Service Management practically over a number of years. To my mind one of the very important features of being a member of the institute is the code of conduct that the institute abides by. I have, of course, signed this and hold myself to it - I am subject to the discipline of the IoSM if there are any complaints against me. I'd recommend membership, and an adoption of the code to everybody involved in Service Management.

I was also author of the book 'Metrics for IT Service Management', endorsed by the IPESC (the itSMF International publications sub-committee) as part of the itSMF library.

I have been active in the itSMF over the past few years, I was involved with the set-up of the New Zealand chapter and am now the Marketing representative for the Western Cape committee of the South African chapter. I am also involved with the Benchmarking initiative started by the itSMF Netherlands and I have been the South African representative on the IPESC for over a year.

For completeness, since I am giving extra information, I might as well mention my possible conflicts of interest:

As the Skeptic mentions, I worked for Hewlett-Packard in various capacities, mainly in the UK, for twenty years, but also South Africa and New Zealand.

I am certified by both EXIN and the ISEB as a trainer for Foundations and as a lead trainer for Service Manager training and I deliver these for both HP and Foster-Melliar. I provide consulting to various customers for both these organisations as well as providing direct Service Management consulting to various companies. I am in the process of working on a number of book titles that might eventually become part of the itSMF library - I'm hoping to be able to publish these through the South African chapter and the IPESC review and endorsement process.

I also have an interest in the continued exploitation of the metrics themselves in electronic form along with the itSMF and the publisher Van Haren. I am hoping to be working on the Second Edition of this book (to include version three) in the not too distant future.

I also work with the IPESC to review certain titles as they come up from time to time, to decide whether they should be endorsed by the itSMF. I was, for example, involved in this process for the books that comprise the ITIL version 3 core.

I have worked with a number of Service Management tools, I'm mainly familiar with HP OpenView and Service Desk (but not the new Service Centre), CA's service desk tool, and the SAS Service Management tool.

I hope this satisfies any curiosity or concerns about my experience, qualifications and possible conflicts of interest. If anybody has more questions, they are welcome to contact me directly.

Kudos

That was pretty easy, wasn't it!

Whose's throwing brick?

Has this board been elected?

Generally in an election, whether it’s a city, state national or something as simple as a trade association, it’s important to know as much about the candidates as possible in order to make an educated decision on who deserves your vote, otherwise it’s just a beauty contest. So, asking questions like, what certifications do you hold, have you ever completed an ITIL implementation and what are you going to do for the industry seem very relevant to me.

It's Who is!!!!

C'mon JJ Prunty get it right!

The election as far as I can make it out, is for the Chairman. They have made their statements, it's up to them to then lobby by telling people how good they are.

it doesn't occur to anyone that the members might be interested

There are tens of thousands of itSMF members worldwide. At least some of them will be curious as to who the new Board is that has been appointed unopposed and unelected. Each one of the five submitted a statement. Each one of the five no doubt has a standard bio. How hard would it be to post these on itsmf.org? Why is it that it doesn't even occur to anyone that the members might be interested?

Well put!

Common sense isn't common any more.

It's RELEVANT!!!

Their experience is relevant. If they have nothing to hide, why don't they make a statement. If they were applying for a job, wouldn't you want to know and verify their experience. This is a job and they should make their application public.

Eligibility for the role of an officer

My comments are not intended to vilify or besmirch Sharon Taylor in any way, or to question her qualifications, but to pose questions. Her pledge in her election statement, “I believe in an open, transparent, International Board, accountable to member Chapters…” seems to be in conflict with her acknowledged connections to OGC, TSO and APMG. It could easily be construed that their influence could have a major impact on her agenda as the chair of the international. My second question is eligibility. Her election statement is silent with respect of her service on the itSMF international board of directors. Since the bylaws and the operating philosophy of the international have escaped promulgation, eligibility for the role of an officer is widely unknown. It would appear that any member of any chapter, if nominated, could run for the chairmanship of the international, notwithstanding international board experience.

Perhaps Sharon could take a minute and answer or clarify to these questions.

The itSMF chair

I understand your concerns about Sharon - but she has stated her potential conflicts of interest openly in her statement.

I have worked with Sharon as the South African representative on the IPESC for over a year. My experience of her as our chair has been extremely positive, and the committee has been sad to see her go - I believe that most of us wanted her to stay on as our chair.

I found her to have tremendous energy and palpable integrity. Our discussions were by no means always easy and uncontentious, but, as chair, she was fair, consultative, collaborative and impartial. I have, as a result, enormous respect for her and would personally be very happy if she was elected as chair to the itSMFI board. I believe that she would be a tremendous asset and (I am an optimist) I believe that the board could achieve great things under her leadership.

I think that her being invited to have a blog on this forum, by the ITSkeptic himself, speaks volumes for the general respect in which she is held.

Since a rumour is mentioned in this thread, I think it proper for me to reply to it. Yes, it is true that I was nominated by the South African board for the chair, and it is true that I withdrew my application. I did not know that Sharon was a candidate when I did, but, if I had not withdrawn myself as a candidate then, I certainly would have done now. I have nothing like the ability, maturity and experience that Sharon has and would certainly not have continuted to contest an election against her. I know that I'll probably get into trouble with her for saying this (it's sexist), but she is the better man for the job.

itSMFI Election - Chair statements

The statements from the two candidates for the post of Chair of the itSMF International Board have been posted as attachments with this News article http://www.itsmf.org/node/389

Pal Martini is HP indeed.

Pal Martini is HP indeed. Colin Rudd is very active in the ITSMF UK. Alexander Kist is former board member ITSMF UK and was one of the founding members of ITSMF Canada. I have heared rumours about Peter Brooks initially also running for chair.

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