Conference Coverage:- Day 1 - Things That Caught The Eye

Day 1 was a huge success that started off with a great keynote from Caterpillar CIO John Heller, reports Lance Alsup.

They key point of interest for me where around how they aligned based upon their vision, their “Key Business Activities,” and where their IT Services must stay focused. Their vision statement is, “Create exceptional customer value through common global process and systems leadership.”

Their alignment is as follows:-
· Understand / Govern Cost Structure and Value Provided
· Responsive, Effective Process and Technology Solutions
· Establish Process and Technology Stewardship
· Align Resources with Business Strategies
· Foster a Culture with Engaged Business Focused Employees
· Source for Optimal Value
· Enable Business on Demand

The “Key Business Activities” defined within Caterpillar and their IT Service focuses:-

· Product / Service Development – Quality
· Order Fulfillment – Engine & Machine Order Processing
· Sales Capability / CRM – Dealer Business Systems
· Product / Service Support – Parts & Service Support e-Business
· Other Activities (Financial, HR, Accounting, etc.) – Financial Products e-Business

The other big hitter for the day was IBM’s “The 7 Immutable Laws of IT Service management.” The laws are as follows:-

-Knowledge (CMDB & Relationships)
-Quick Wins (Simplify, build it modular)
-Sponsorship (Expect & Learn from failure, look for quick time to value)
-Recycling (Map capabilities of tools to processes & be wary of “rip & replace”)
-Automation (automate what you can, but you cannot automate everything)
-Expertise (Look for expertise with People – Process – Technology)

There is so much information at the conference, but after 3 years of experience implementing ITIL at a Fortune 50 company, these were the items that really caught my attention and I hope you can utilize them in where you are at within your ITSM journey.

Lance Alsup - Roving Conference Reporter - Full Profile to Follow...