Conference Coverage:- Day 1 - Notes from the Day

This is the first itSMF Conference that I’ve attended, reports Mary C. Jozsi.

Right off, I was pleasantly surprised to find all (or most of) the slides from the sessions included with the conference material I was handed at the door.

A not so pleasant surprise was to find that the breakfast session and the breakfast were not in the same place. I chose breakfast (but hey – I’ve got a copy of the slides).

The introduction to the morning keynote session was upbeat, with a reminder that we will all get what we put into the conference. It should come as no surprise from an IT Service Management event that the introduction had some statistics.

Over 1300 people registered from 34 countries and territories; 106 speakers and 109 vendors/sponsors. I thought there were a lot of people in that room…

Like many conference attendees, I expect to leave with, not only new knowledge, but also a different perspective. And of course, reminders about what we already know (sometimes you need to hear them when you’re caught in the day to day activities).

The thing I really like to come back with though is new ways to explain the topics, new phrases to explain for others to understand. John Heller’s keynote gave me a little bit of all of that; one that I really like is his comment that we need to fully document changes to “give ourselves a chance at problem solving”. What a great way to turn that to a positive - I’ve met enough people who are not doing change management who need to be convinced.

All of the sessions I attended presented good information and I have something to take back from all of them. ITSM Metrics: Beyond the Measurement leaves me asking, “What decision can I make with this metric?” Building a Real Configuration Management Database Quickly and Accurately brought a different picture for how CMDB fits into the overall and, I’m happy to say it, confirmation about how I think this should be implemented.

During the Best Practices for “Managing the Business of ITIL” we heard a lot of good information, starting with Ian Clayton’s recommendation that we should read the ITIL books on the Business Perspective and ICT Infrastructure Management. A fellow attendee told me that the session A statistical Approach to Prioritizing ITIL Processes and Controls, which was at the same time, was excellent.

I also attended the Track 2 Panel: Moving to a New Process Architecture: All at Once or Incrementally? If all the panels are like this one, I’d recommend them. It was definitely good to hear a perspective from people who’ve been there. Great questions were asked such as; “How do you know you’ve got the right culture, and if not, how do you get there?” and “How do you justify a ‘big bang’ approach to management?”

Everyone I talked to seem to be enjoying and learning from the conference. As I am local and tied to the train schedule, I am not attending any of the extra events. I’m looking forward to seeing postings from some who do.

Mary C. Jozsi - Reporting from her first itSMF Conference.

Sr. Consultant
Delta Initiative, LLC
129 Brentwood Drive
Palatine, IL 60074
(847) 274-6220
www.deltainitiative.com