So, let me review last year's predictions.
I said that Service Integration was going to be big, and it certainly has been and continues to be so . SI, SIAM, MSI call it what you will but it is turning out to be a significant element in pretty much all the major European outsourcing deals, especially those that cover multiple geographies and we are seeing increasing interest in North America. If you want to know more then Pink14 is probably the place to be early next year. There will be an MSI think tank reporting back on the topic, and I'll be speaking on the cultural lessons to be learned. I suspect in 2014 we will see tool vendors talking about their explicit support for SIAM.
Service Architecture is now set to be a fundamental building block to the future shape of ITIL with the Taking Service Forward initiative. The need to impose some form of architectural rigor on the ITSM world was a key point to come out of the initial workshops with AXELOS. It is also clearly a key requirement of any IT department that is going to survive and thrive in the coming storm that the end of the recession will bring....more on that later.
The same could be said for the non-ITIL version of Service Design and I continue to be disappointed that this isn't seen as a vital part of the ITSM toolbox. Meanwhile the issues around Shadow IT 2.0 appear to be manifesting themselves primarily in the security realm, with unknown quantities of data finding their way on to BYOD and non corporate Google Docs and Dropbox accounts.
I'm glad to see that Service Desk 2.0 is beginning to gain some traction and Aale's hard work promoting it is beginning to pay off as people realise that the current view of service desk, incident, request, and problem is not fit for purpose. The need for soft skills has been highlighted by the selection of skills as one of the #ITSMBig4 topics by itSMF UK. Interestingly Andreas Kis's presentation on Business Relationship Management has now had over 7000 hits on slide share and remains in high demand for international conferences.
The impact of the need for hard facts and hard choices is going to be a killer in the next eighteen months. I'm already seeing our major clients preparing for the end of the recession. At one level this is good news, especially since it is being recognized that all aspects of IT have been suffering from unsustainable levels of under investment. The bad news is that IT isn't going to have a free ride as we come out of recession. The need to support a return to strategy driven by mergers, acquisitions and divestitures is going to put a lot of pressure on IT departments, and rightly or wrongly, they will be in the firing line if IT gets in the way of that strategy.
Is ITIL up for the challenge or is it still "so 2011" Well as it stands I don't think it is, but I've been encouraged by much, though not all, that AXELOS have managed to do so far and what they have planned. I'm particularly happy with the way they have reached out to the international ITSM community. My concern is that they need to be more agile than the customer base for ITIL whilst not raising questions about organisations existing investment in ITIL. They have a tough challenge ahead of them and the jury is definitely still out. I'll say more about this in the New Year
What about my prediction of a new kind of ITSM event? Well it looks like my 2012 prediction was closer to the mark, with the established events taking a hard look at how they could be improved. My takeaway from all those I was directly or indirectly involved in is that the organisers are all making a real effort to respond to the needs of the community and thriving in world where the new SocMed is face to face contact. Charlie Araujo deserves a special call out for sticking his neck out with the RevNet idea at Fusion that led to SMCongress even if I stand by my apparently heretical stance that SM Congress has to prove its value before being hailed as a success.
Obviously the same old same old prediction came true. That is how it should be. I think I've been proven right about the decline of ITSM blogs as well.
If I got anything wrong then clearly it is that the ITSM world still hasn't woken up to the need to address the scarily complex parts of ITIL and ITSM, like cost and capacity, that can't be solved by sound bite solutions.
Looking forward to next year my predictions, which should come as no surprise given the above, are:
- SIAM and MSI will reach the tripping point where they are a significant aspect of any major outsourcing deal and ITSM solutions will be judged by their ability to support SIAM
- The ITSM world will increasingly reach out to other allied disciplines, such as architecture, devops, and auditors rather than trying to re-invent the real. This won't be out of choice but because it will be the only route to survival.
- Business strategy, and therefore IT strategy, will be dominated by MA & D
And now, my naughty or nice list.
The Nice List
Sadly one of our number that Father Xmas won't be visiting this year is Ashley Hanna who died recently. I don't claim to have known him as well as many. My main contact with him was in BSI/ISO committee meetings. Anyone who has been involved in those will know that they could try the patience of a saint. Ashley was always the first to volunteer for such mind numbing tasks as reviewing a draft of the standard for the umpteenth time, or mapping exhibit A against exhibit B. He was a deserving winner of an itSMF Paul Rappaport award and will be much missed.
I'm glad to say that Stuart Rance, the most recent recipient of that award, and an erstwhile colleague of Ashley's, is very much still with us, and remains one of the nicest people in the industry.
I've already mentioned Charles Araujo for his bravery in setting up RevNet but he earns his mention here for the way he managed the aftermath of the SM Congress "debate" on SocMed.
Actually I think 2013 was a year when itSMF chapters around the world stepped up to the mark and improved their game by listening to their members and encouraging new voices in ITSM.
And whilst I'm still in the skeptical camp I think everyone at AXELOS deserves a special mention. I don't think many people realise how small the team there is.
Finally I'm going to mention Sophie Danby because in 2013 she has done so much to reach out and support individuals in our community and has made so many events truly social.
So boys and girls, as an expectant hush falls over the auditorium and we come to my naughty list let me remind you there is still time to mend the error of your ways.
And now we have to leave the ITSM Naughty List Awards for a repeat of Gogglebox*.
*Oh deary me, I seem to have mad a UK centric cultural reference, that must be clear evidence of my inherent xenophobia.
*Oh deary me, I seem to have mad a UK centric cultural reference, that must be clear evidence of my inherent xenophobia.
Posts
Darn, i was hoping to be on the Naughty List
ReplyDeleteRob, I think there is a nice distinction between being naughty and being mischievous.
ReplyDeleteI should have added you to the nice list for Standard + Case. I believe it provides a perspective that could enable many ITSM teams to free themselves of the burden of thinking "everything is a process" and trying to design for every single specific eventuality. Sadly though, it isn't sexy. Yet.