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