The IT Skeptic - ITIL

I can't get excited about ITIL4

skeptic — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 22:45:15 +0000

I just can't get excited about ITIL4. No, you didn't miss any blog posts: I haven't written anything yet.

Lessons the world took from ITIL

skeptic — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 19:06:12 +0000

ITIL aspires to be customer-centric. If only the reality matched the aspiration. If only the main lesson people took away from ITIL was customer value. In practice I think the world takes away quite different lessons.

Here is a bunch of awful fallacies that the world actually took from ITIL:

ITIL processes aren't processes

skeptic — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 21:25:37 +0000

Stuart Rance called out ITIL's dirty secret: they're not really processes. Stuart talks about how some things that ITIL calls a process are not a process.

The future of ITIL

skeptic — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 06:13:26 +0000

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.

why DevOps transformations succeed where ITSM so often doesn't

skeptic — Wed, 26 Apr 2017 01:41:55 +0000

I've consulted on many ITSM initiatives and it always seemd a struggle to effect improvement: all stick and no carrot; dragging horses to the river with no interest in drinking. My DevOps consulting these days is a different experience - of happy horses following willingly and drinking their fill. The difference between ITIL and DevOps is that DevOps works.

ITIL exam market continues to shrink

skeptic — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 23:46:46 +0000

It's not as if too many people really care anymore, but the ITIL market appears to continue to shrink.
I haven't kept an eye on the numbers for a while - having more important things to think about these days with DevOps - but a comment on this blog triggered me to go look again. Yup, still falling.

DevOps and ITIL are both ITSM

skeptic — Sun, 22 May 2016 08:33:05 +0000

DevOps and ITIL are both ITSM. The patterns are the same though the execution is different.

Service catalogue and request catalogue

skeptic — Mon, 09 May 2016 10:57:16 +0000

It is hard to believe that confusion between service catalogue and request catalogue is still a thing but it is, as shown by a recent conversation on Facebook Back2ITSM.

An interesting tale of ITIL trademarks

skeptic — Sat, 06 Jun 2015 03:56:24 +0000

Here is an interesting story of the use of the ITIL name....

Read this link first.

I take these lessons from this:

1) Lawyers are incapable of subtlety or nuance, or even thinking much.

2) Build an open content website and they won't come.

Copyright issues when using ITIL at the coalface

skeptic — Tue, 05 May 2015 10:57:54 +0000

Axelos are shooting themselves in the foot by constraining consultants' use of ITIL.

Axelos selling ITIL?

skeptic — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 06:52:09 +0000

The IT Skeptic has seen paperwork today that appears to confirm big news for ITIL. Yes folks, we believe Axelos has sold ITIL® to a consortium of independent ITSM consultants.

Axelos Consulting Partner (ACP) Programme

skeptic — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 09:08:19 +0000

Axelos recently announced their Axelos Consulting Partner (ACP) Programme to licence ... er I mean "formally recognize [sic]" consulting organisations practicing in all areas of Axelos "global best practice" including ITIL and PRINCE2. They're putting the squeeze on.

Axelos announces a new level of ITIL certification: Practitioner

skeptic — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 22:04:25 +0000

After my dark forebodings about a potential squeeze on ITIL in 2015, Axelos' first(?) ITIL announcement of the year seems a good idea: yet another level of ITIl certification, the Practitioner.

the ITIL Squeeze in 2015

skeptic — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 20:58:43 +0000

AXELOS are doing a few troubling things lately, that may or may not point to an ITIL Squeeze in 2015 as AXELOS seek to capitalise on their purchase of ITIL (and the rest of the Best Practice por

Axelos are dropping ITIL complementary certifications

skeptic — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 23:28:15 +0000

The creeping squeeze: Axelos will no longer recognise Complementary certifications for ITIL qualifications. I can't see anything positive for the ITIL community in this. In fact the only interpretation I can imagine is an attempt by Axelos to weaken competition.

ITIL exams have fallen 11% in the last year

skeptic — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 11:58:28 +0000

According to Axelos numbers for the first half of 2014, ITIL exams worldwide have fallen 11% compared to the first half of 2013.

What is the best ITIL service desk tool?

skeptic — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 21:19:37 +0000

I'm surprised that folk can say "X is the best" when they have no idea of someone's requirements.

If you evaluate a tool based on features, you're doing it wrong.

DevOps following in ITIL's footsteps

skeptic — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 23:13:24 +0000

Listening to the DevOps world (I am immersing, or at least paddling) it sounds so exactly like the ITIL experience that I am literally laughing out loud:

ITIL v3 - what standard is this based on?

skeptic — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 21:28:48 +0000

Somebody asked me this question recently: ITIL v3 - what standard is this based on? I thought I'd share (and extend) my reply here.

There is no standard for ITIL, at any version. ITIL is not based on any standard. No organisation can be certified as compliant with ITIL.

no such thing as ITIL consultants

skeptic — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 22:52:24 +0000

Nailed it.The Practitioner’s Dilemma: How to Adapt ITIL http://itsmtransition.com/2014/07/how-to-adapt-itil/

"The magic happens when practitioners become expert at adapting best practices to solve their organization’s challenges."

Well yes. That's been true of consulting forever. ITIL only ran off the rails when supposed experts lost sight of that