ITIL and Cloud Service Management

Cloud computing is a fairly new model of allowing convenient and on-demand network access to a plethora of configurable computing resources and services. Cloud services deliver computing, storage, software, applications, and so on, via Internet to customers on a self-serve basis. Customers can subscribe to these services based on their needs. These services are flexible, adaptable, and utility based where customers pay for their subscription as they require and use. Regardless of the growing recognition and importance of cloud computing, little effort has been put in towards incorporating it into established IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks like ITIL. Cloud computing is an entirely new form of infrastructure with its own unique mechanisms, processes and users. There is a need to accelerate the design and implementation of ITSM processes and capabilities to manage the cloud and therefore help reduce operational expenses and increase efficiency of cloud-based infrastructure.

ITIL is a widely accepted approach to service management in the world. It provides a consistent set of best practice, drawn from the public and private sectors internationally. It is supported by a comprehensive qualifications scheme, accredited training organizations, and implementation and assessment tools. The best practice processes promoted in ITIL support are those of ISO and British Standards. 

As organizations are briskly moving toward cloud services, many IT leaders find their existing ITIL structures do not support the cloud environment well, resulting in frustration and limiting the value of cloud promises. This will expose the business to needless complexities with no accountability for the end services being delivered and poses serious risks for any IT organization migrating to cloud solutions.

ITIL 2011 contains the majority of cloud-related content in the ITIL Service Strategy book. The book introduces the characteristics and attributes of cloud services and the numerous types of service delivery and deployment models.  Successful adoption to cloud computing starts with careful strategy processes planning followed by the design, transition and operation.

Cloud computing represents a major shift in IT architecture, changing the way IT services are sourced and delivered. It reduces upfront capital expenditures but there may be extra costs for operating expenses. The cloud computing service model has three different service layers or categories AKA the cloud stack. The cloud stacks are:  

Software as a Service (SaaS): this is cloud computing layer where users simply make use of a web-browser to access software that others have developed, maintain and offer as a service over the web.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the consumers develop their applications and software using a set of programming languages and tools that are supported and provided by the PaaS provider. Developers can provide their customers with a custom developed application without the hassle of defining and maintaining the infrastructure.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): allows customers access to different kinds of infrastructure and use the resources to organise and run their applications through the use of virtual machines, which automatically can scale up and down.

The most commonly used three-cloud implementation models are:  Private cloud, Hybrid cloud and Public cloud. The concerns for refurbishing ITIL service processes mainly exist when the public or private cloud is hosted with third party. When services of private cloud are hosted internally there will be no substantial modification in the way of using ITIL framework.  

 

Wish you all the Best;

EL

Do you Value People Who Work For You

More and more in the corporate environment the attitude of cutting costs has become predominant.  We have started treating our employees as commodities as opposed to assets that they truly are. Employees are now interchangeable, replaceable and discarded. They are treated like plastic water bottles.  The employees are no longer there to be treated like a human that can actually contribute to the well-being of the company, but rather if they make a manager uncomfortable for any reason at all, or if their questions rocks the boat, the employer’s tendency has become to get rid of them.  After all there are plenty more where they came from right?

Organizations not recognizing the value of their employees, turn into a revolving door.  This is not only not beneficial for the employee, but also puts the organization in great jeopardy; especially if the employees leave without proper hand-over.  No matter how easy a job/task may look from outside, the person that is making it look easy, has had many years of experience on the subject matter and worked hard to get the full understanding of the matter. Even though another person may be able to replace him/her, the amount of time required to catch up is a loss to the company. 

There are legal ramifications and dangers in viewing employees as disposable.  There is also demoralization of the staff that remain behind and hence having a less productive group who spend time seeking employment elsewhere instead of being dedicated to serve the current employer. The most motivated employee, is the one that is appreciated.  I am not talking about any monetary compensations either - even though they are always a nice surprise – the mere fact of few words of appreciation is all that is required to keep them going.  Not fireworks, just a small thank you or pat on the back; or at the least the support and attentiveness of the manager to the needs of staff.  Managers who appreciate talents within their teams, create the high efficiency and high energy players who will go to lengths to please.

The most proven employee retention strategies, have a very low cost.  Here are few to ponder:

Manager – employee relationship: this is a biggie. This is what makes an employee look forward to going to work or dreading it. An appreciative manager who is willing to listen and consider ideas, is one of the most important concepts.  Managers who employ the attitude of “my way or highway” are least favoured and hence have a team of people that do not respect them nor look forward to working with them.

Conducting expectation exchange: a little chat every once in a while to ascertain that there are no crossed wires in the expectations from both sides goes a long way.

Weeding out the incompetence: looking into processes and employees that are not quite there yet.  Re-engineering incompetent processes and providing adequate employee training or finding out whether the role is well-suited to their competencies.

Fun in workplace: this is one of the key motivators.  We spend most of our lives in the workplace rather than anywhere else.  We spend around the average of 2,440 hours at work every year and roughly 2,120 awake hours at home, this is not counting the overtimes that creep up. Without incorporation of fun into workplace, the rate of burn-out and lack of interest will be high.

Upward mentor: mentoring is another way of motivating the employees.  This basically brings about the hope that there is a ladder of success to climb in the environment and there is enough care from the employer’s side to address the employee’s career needs.

There is a tacit understanding of the employee and employer relationship that requires to be honoured.  The failure to comply with the “expected terms” may be viewed as a breach of contract on either side. Employers seem to forget that this is a two way road. 

The age of “one-employer till retirement” is a gone notion.  This of course means that organizations strive to compete and need all their crew feeling valued and rowing in the same direction. Throughout my consulting career, I have seen a lot of good people left to sink or swim in the deep end of the leadership pool.  Their only saving grace is their most valuable “assets”, – their people. Unfortunately in any organization where the employees are treated as commodities, these leaders are doomed to sink. To position your organization in heading to win the race: embrace employees as your MOST valuable assets; develop your people to be the best they can be; and embrace learning and growth.

It is time for all organizations, employers and managers to understand that valuing employees will come full circle.  Your employees are your most valuable assets in securing your future. Always check this very simple term: are we all rowing in the same direction? If not, you can be sure that it is one of the three: management style and values, employees as commodities, or broken processes. Employees who feel valued will bend over backward to compete in the race and overtake the competition and be on the medal stand for the organization.

Regards,

EL

Emotional Quotient

Emotional Quotient (EQ) is the emotional comparable of an IQ, in understanding, and empathizing with the emotions of others. We all know those around us that are really easy to talk to and empathetic; these are the individuals with high EQ.  We of course know those who are self-centred and could not really care less but they may pretend out of showing tact or for business reasons; and these people are quite low in EQ. 

EQ – even though not familiar to everyone – is actually an important part of success throughout our lives and careers.  Think about it.  Most people are naturally drawn to those with high EQ in doing business.  Something as simple as shopping.  I am sure you have dealt with people at the cash register while paying who actually care as well as those who don’t care.  Which one are you drawn to go to most? I personally stand in a longer line up if I know the person checking me out is pleasant.

Which doctor are you going to like more the empathetic one, or the one who wants you in and out fast?  Which mate are you attracted to more, the one who listens, cares and understands; or the one who could not care less? And the list of course goes on.  Our success in anything we do is very much dependent on reading other people’s signals and appropriately reacting to them.

Without mature EQ skills, we fail in motivating those around us, whether at work, social environment or at home.

For us to have proper levels of EQ, there are few requirements:

·        We need to become self-aware.  The ability to identify an emotion as it happens.  At this point I am talking about your own emotion, evaluating and managing it and understanding its effects on others. 

·        We need to be self-confident in understanding our own worth and abilities. To be trust-worthy, honest, responsible, and conscientious.

·         Be adaptable and flexible. This will also allow us to manage change better.

·         Be truly empathetic.  Faking empathy is quite detectable.  The more skillful you are in recognizing other person’s feelings, the better you can control your signals to them. This also improves your social skills at a tremendous rate, in turn it give you a power of influence.

·         Improve your communication skills.  Listen to understand not just to answer.

IQ is hardly enough for success at any level.  Psychologists agree that only 10% of success is based on IQ and the rest is dependent on EQ. 

Regards,

EL

Employee Value

Looking at the articles online and otherwise, all you can find is how to motivate and reward your employees. No one ever looks at the many abusive employers that are hiding behind the veil of righteousness.  I have had the chance to council few laid off employees as well as the ones’ who left on their own accord and all I can hear is the nightmare of abusive behaviour, nepotism, favouritism, micro-management, unrealistic expectations, bullying, intimidation and so on. You would think at a day and age that we produce movies such as Star Trek, to show human advancement and understanding for “life” and all that it entails, as well as the value of emotional quotient and learning as opposed to all above-mentioned behaviour, we have grown out of these prejudices.

I am all for young CEO’s, VP’s and Senior managers, but it seems that all the values that we held near and dear to our hearts are disappearing fast.  Companies have grown to devalue their employees, as if they would continue being even if they are no longer around.  Employees don’t value and respect the companies they work for because they are not being treated right. We have forgotten that the same employee can also be a client or a customer.  Human values have been replaced with value for money and the bottom line. But where would the companies be without employees or customers? Would they exist? Would they need to?

Laying off knowledgeable, dedicated, level headed employees to bring someone you favour into a position still goes on.  The only difference is the long and fine prints in the contracts before one is hired, and within the severance agreement that prohibits many to come forward and tell their story.  Employees that are frustrated at work seem to take the frustration home and lay it on family members whom they feel the closest with.  This in turn, ruins relationships and home life. 

There seems to be an increasing need for those we hire as CEO, VP, SVP, or Manager, to go through some serious training; not in the area of their knowledge, so much as in the area of human behaviour and needs.  Happy employees – whether you like them or not – are productive employees.  Employee happiness goes beyond little rewards and wage increase.  Most are happy to be just appreciated. Let’s take action and get out of the kindergarten of employee management.

Regards,

EL

Effective Writing

Having worked in corporate environment most of my life, I have seen many poor documents.  Organizations tend to expect their technical team to write the technical documents, and this does not always pay off.  Simply for this reason that having the knowledge of something does not mean you can also explain it well-enough for the layman to read and understand. 

Technical people most of the time – knowing the subject inside out – will leave the details out, because they feel everyone else would already know them and there is no need to rehash.  To me, a well-documented process, procedure or description is one that anyone off the street can read and fully understand.

Manuals that do not explain the step-by-steps in a proper manner and are not easy to follow,   are only good as a collector’s item or paper-weight.  Here I would like to offer a few hints in creating useful documents:

1.       Try not to end your sentences with adverbs; and instead use them mid-sentence.

2.      Using too many adjectives, may sound too biased.

3.      Use passive voice only when absolutely necessary.

4.      When using acronyms for the first time in the document, fully write it out and for any consecutive times that the acronym is used, have a reference glossary.

5.      Use words in their full form.  For example say, “Was not” instead of “Wasn’t”, or “Could not” instead of “Couldn’t”. 

6.      Try and make your sentences as short as you can. One description per sentence; and preferably one description per paragraph.

7.      Use simple words that are easily understood by anyone and do not require a dictionary.

8.      Especially in technical writing, try not to use pronouns like “I”.  Make your sentences in third person.

9.      Make your documentation look consistent where comma, colon, and semicolon are concerned.

10.   Have a template to follow, to make it easier for the reader to know what to expect next.  For example consider the following sections:

a.      Title page (the title of the document, the author);

b.      Revision table (who worked on the document, when, why, what did they add to it?);

c.       Table of contents;

d.      Introduction or Summary;

e.      The body of the document;

f.        Glossary of terms.

Happy Writing!

EL

Importance of the Exit Interview

“Good bye! Nice knowing you! Wish you luck in your new endeavour.” Is hardly considered an exit interview.  The most important part of an exit interview is to gain valuable information, which can prove to be quite useful in all aspects of business operation and work environment. 

Letting someone walk away, with all the knowledge they have gathered through months and years, hardly seems sane.  All organizations need to conduct an exit interview, whether the employee is being laid off or just moving on.  Organizations have become comfortable in their skin so much so that they feel public perception no longer matters.  An employee leaving a company, always has a personal perception of the company and whether or not they are competent in their operations, procedures and processes.  Getting to understand their view point can eliminate a lot of negative feedback. 

As a business owner or simply a senior manager or executive, you never really know, who your previous employees associate with and what effects they may have on your future business.  Once an employee leaves an organization, they are far more likely to open up and be honest in providing feedback in how the organization is run.

By keeping a record of outcome of these interviews, over a period of time, employers can begin to identify trends and patterns; after all most employees, very likely end up getting their career continued in another organization, which may be a major competitor.  The person’s perception of the management is one of the main concern.  Managers, even though not business owners, can make or break an organization, due to their lack of management knowledge, lack of emotional quotient, and bad decisions. 

An exit interview should classically be conducted by HR who is not directly involved with the individual. This allows for neutrality, as well as the chance for the individual to be able to voice their concerns and bellyaches, without feeling awkward or vulnerable in any way. The individual is far more likely to open up and be truthful, if they are talking to someone who is unbiased, and not someone they have been working with on a day to day basis.

This also presents an opportunity to better understand the process of hand-over of what the individual was responsible for and smooth transitioning for the sake of the organization and their clients.

It is a misconception that a person needs to go through exit interview prior to walking out.  In fact, the best time to do an exit interview is anywhere from one month to even up to a year after the person has left their position. At this point of course, it is not useful to find out what properly was or was not handed over.  In my experience, former employees are always enthusiastic to partake, and give very valued feedback. In general, people like to be asked and this may even introduce doubt in what they perceived about the manager or the organization in general. 

 

Here are some of the questions that I think may prove to be valuable:

1.        Overall, how did you find your experience working on this team?

2.       What did you like about it?

3.       What could have been better?

4.      Did you receive enough training and support to do your job effectively? 

5.       Was there a mentorship program available to you for your career path?

6.      Did you receive sufficient feedback about your performance between reviews? 

7.       Did any policies or procedures (or any other obstacles) make your job more difficult? 

8.      How would you describe the services of this organization?

9.      What was the management style and in what way could this improve?

10.    Was all or most of the responsibilities properly handed over?

11.     Did you get a chance to post all the important documentation you created or worked on, where it can be easily accessed?

12.    If there was one thing to improve in this organization, what would that be?

13.    Were your peers happy in their positions?

14.    What did you find to be a main pain-point to all? (The water-cooler conversations).

15.    Would you recommend this company to anyone looking for a position?

16.    Would you recommend this company to any business for services they provide?

 

All the Best,

EL