Since 2007, the University of Edinburgh has trained many staff in Service Management best practice. 565 attendances on a Foundation in IT Service Management course (8 years of staff time) 178 attendances on a Practitioner or Intermediate course (3 years) 7 staff trained to Manager or Expert level (15 weeks) Training fees are in the […]

With Christmas rapidly approaching, I’m sure many of you will be looking forward to enjoying a whodunit, whether in print, film or game. I’d already referenced Holmes when introducing Kepner-Tregoe problem analysis and by popular demand have been asked to tell a story. So settle down and grab a mug – are you’re sitting comfortably?  […]

Long time no see ITIL Tattlers! The medical theme in Robert’s post last week has encouraged me to resume blogging duties. His post cleverly applies First Aid principles to ITIL and I’ve had cause over the last few months to have a lot of interaction with our amazing NHS, so I’d come to the same […]

Doing certain things now will give us breathing and thinking space to assess our next response. First aid training includes a pre-prioritised list of immediate actions. Battlefield medics use MARCH, which in priority order means: Massive hemorrhage – if this isn’t stopped rapidly, everything else is in vain Airway – ensure an airway, as without a […]

The sketch shows a general store front. Whilst it functions perfectly adequately for a film set, if you wish to buy vittles [1] you will be disappointed! What we may think of as Service may not be. It may be just a function. So what is the difference between a Function and a Service? Can […]

What is a Service? The ITIL definition, if you’re not familiar with it, is about co-creating value by “facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve, but without the ownership of specific costs and risks”. The first time I read this, it threw me a little. I thought to myself: “The way this is written, it makes […]

Whenever someone asks me for a report, my response is usually “Why?  What do you wish to achieve?” I’m not (just) channeling my inner Mordac, rather I’m trying to make the outcome as beneficial as possible. Firstly , a report always answers a question, but that question may be unstated or ill-defined. Secondly, the underlying […]

Contrary to the stereotype that Change Managers typically want paperwork in triplicate, this particular Change Manager has always been dead set against duplication of effort, and so triplication will be right out. Today I want to write a little about duplication, value, and how to keep the right balance. When I think about duplication, I’m […]

A Look Back This week the blog is a celebration of how far we have come on our ITIL® journey. Sometimes it has been a winding uphill road but perhaps blue sky is ahead… It might seem an odd time to reflect but as the University has just passed through arguably the busiest time of […]

For his last few blog posts (notably in last week’s blog), James has been teasing about the ITIL “Guiding Principles” highlighted in the current iteration (ITIL4). Whilst I feel like a drum roll might now be anticipated given the build-up, these principles are not new and indeed are common sense!  I’ve often felt that a […]