IT Governance Blog on IT governance, risk management, compliance and information security.

If you downloaded our guide last week, titled IT Service Management & ITIL® Complete Beginner’s Guide, and have had a chance to read through it, then you should now have a basic overview to what IT Service Management and ITIL is all about.

Although daunting subjects from the outset, both these topics are based on simple principles and are easier to digest when broken down.

The ITIL Foundation Handbook (Little ITIL) – 2011 Edition is the perfect accompaniment to those who found reading our guide useful. This handbook goes the next step in explaining IT Service Management and ITIL, breaking down the methodology and the framework so it is easily digestible.

	ITIL Foundation Handbook (Little ITIL) – 2011 Edition (Single Copies) Price: €12.50

ITIL (2011) Lifecycle Publication Suite

Creating and Driving Service Excellence: An Executive’s Guide to IT Service Management

A Dictionary of IT Service Management Terms, Definitions and Abbreviations – ITIL 2011 Edition

IT Governance has just released a new beginner’s guide which is free for all IT Service Management and ITIL® novices to download. Written in non-technical style, this guide will provide you with a concise overview to IT service management; a perfect starting point to those new to ITIL.

“Take a second to think about the organisation you’re working for. What happens if your Internet goes down? What do you do if your customers can’t access your website? Who do you call if you’ve forgotten your password to your email?

Nowadays, IT is an integral part of most modern organisations. Whether you use email to communicate with your customers, a server to allow you access to the Internet or a website to promote your brand, IT is at the core of many businesses. For those reasons, companies expect IT support to be available, responsive and to communicate regularly with them. Therefore, technology (IT) needs to be managed in such a way that it can meet the needs of customers……..” Read more

Download the ‘IT Service Management & ITIL: Complete Beginner’s Guide’ now >>

ITIL Foundation Handbook (2011)

ITIL (2011) Lifecycle Publication Suite

A Dictionary of IT Service Management Terms, Definitions and Abbreviations

Have you ever worked on a project where you were asked to help to drive a team or an organization from one reality to a new reality? This might be the implementation of a new IT system. It may be asking IT to work in a new way by adopting IT Service Management. In other cases, IT is changing the interaction with the business. Frequently the business is requiring a new reality from IT.

Reading Changing the IT Leader’s Mindset provides the opportunity for the reader to explore IT transformation. The book is divided into two parts. The first part outlines how organizations are changing. The authors also explore the characteristics of transformational leadership vs. transactional leadership. The premise is that while transactional leaders are effective at sustaining, they are often not able to effectively lead change in an organization. Conversely, transformational leaders have the skills to help to drive sustaining change through the organization and through IT.

In the second part of the book, Chatham and Sutton focus on how our IT leaders can be more effective communicators and leaders of change. This includes concepts of changing the way that we think and talk about work and changing our conversations to be more future-focused. I found particular value in the section on how communication styles vary by individual and changing the way that we communicate can improve the outcomes of our discussions.

This is one of the best ITG Books that I have read. While reading the book, I considered situations that I have faced from new perspectives. I asked myself critical questions regarding my leadership style. Best of all, I shared bits and pieces with my team leading to not only my personal growth, but the growth of my team.

Click here to purchase this book >>

Attitudes and behavior are the biggest barriers to making changes within an organisation. IT process implementation is no different. How do you do it? What is the key? What are the pitfalls?

The ITSM Iron Triangle: Incidents, Changes and Problems is an essential weekend read. Buy today in eBook format to unlock the secrets that will transform your ITIL management processes.

	The ITSM Iron Triangle: Incidents, Changes and Problems by Daniel McLean Price: £24.95Formats available for all major eReader devices.

More to explore …

Implementing Service Quality based on ISO/IEC 20000 by Michael Kunas

ISO/IEC 20000: An introduction to the global standard for S…M… by David Clifford

Practical IT Service Management: A Concise Guide for Busy Executives by Thejendra BS

We want to help you to deliver amazing IT Service Management.
Start now, in January, with the help of these special offers. Don’t miss out, buy today:

	ITSM, ITIL® & ISO/IEC 20000 Implementation Toolkit By Shirley Lacy and Jenny Dugmore Price: £495 FREE ICT Strategy Toolkit – Buy before the end of January

More to explore …

ISO/IEC 20000 Documentation Toolkit Save £50 in January

ISO/IEC 20000 Practitioner Certificate Course Save £100 – book now

Implementing Service Quality based on ISO/IEC 20000 Save £4 in January

“Organisations that don’t allow staff  access to social networking websites risk alienating the next generation of workers”
Support World Magazine

Research from Hyphen indicates that almost half of those under 25 would not join a company with strict social media policies. The report highlights the fact that young workers starting out on the career ladder have high expectations regarding technology and social media, 60% of which recognise social networking sites such as Linkedin improve their effectiveness.

Some managers believe that staff waste their time on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and view it as a dangerous distraction. However, the Hyphen report contradicts this popular belief, concluding that over half of all those polled who have access to social media  at work, said that they spend less than 10 minutes per day on it for their personal use, and 1/3 saying they spend no at all time during work hours.

Those service desk managers who don’t allow their team to use social media could be missing a trick. Nowadays, customers often relay feedback of the company/service desk using social media. If you have a presence on social media then you are more likely to measure customer satisfaction. In SDI’s recent ‘UK Service Desk Benchmarking Report’, Daniel Wood (author) found that 17% of respondents  did not measure customer satisfaction. This is alarming, given that many service desks measure their success due to feedback and perceptions from their customers. Using social media as a tool to gain customer feedback is a great way of getting responsive answers.

Use social media in your service desk team to your advantage with the Social Media Governance toolkit. The Social Media Toolkit helps organisations create an effective governance structure around their social media activities. Social media is, for many organisations, a critical part of how they speak to customers, partners and stakeholders; for others, social media is a dangerous distraction.

Dealing effectively with social media requires a joined-up approach that is aligned with the objectives and risk appetite of the business - a governance approach.

See the advantages social media can bring with this toolkit >>

 Source: Hyphen report, via Support World Magazine