The Service Management Soapbox

This Forrester report of mine was published on April 30, 2009:

 Knocking The NOC: Enter The New Operations Center

The operational hub of any well-run and complex organization is a strong operations center. In IT, this function is often fragmented into pockets that tend to be too isolated. Such isolation is a principal cause of much of the chaos that characterizes IT, therefore leading to an eventual crisis of punitive outsourcing. To address the increasingly complex needs for delivering business value, the IT organization must consolidate and streamline these functions. Combine the service center (aka, the help desk or service desk) with a command center and condense operational tool ownership within this structure. Approximately 80% of the IT budget is spent on operations, and a frightening proportion of this 80% is wasted by inefficiency. A properly unified operations center will prove to be the single most powerful weapon against operational waste in IT.

It is available on the Forrester web site. This report is for Forrester clients only. Its distribution is restricted by the terms of Forrester Research client agreements.

I recently posted a new article to the Forrester Research blog for Infrastructure and Operations Professionals entitled:

Configuresoft Nicely Fills an EMC Gap

EMC has been slowly building a formidable portfolio of configuration and change management offerings. This is a notable step in that journey because it fills the final major gap in that portfolio.

I just posted a new article to the Forrester Research blog for Infrastructure and Operations Professionals entitled:

Is a CMDB even possible?

There has been extensive debate about this point because many CMDBs have failed and tainted the potential for the CMDB to truly realize its potential. I wrote this to help clarify what is real and what is not. In short, the CMDB is possible, but only if we follow the newer architectural and process models of ITIL v3’s CMS instead of the old notion of a monolithic CMDB.

The monolithic model is almost guaranteed to fail. The CMS can act as a catalyst to help transform your entire IT organization, but only if you do it right!

This one fell through the cracks! I published the report:

Managing the IT Management Software Portfolio

on September 25, 2008, but I didn’t post the notice here until now. The report covers practical ideas to make the best use of the collection of management tools you use. It also outlines how the evolving tools market will reshape the “Big Four” group of vendors.

It is available on the Forrester web site. This report is for Forrester clients only. Its distribution is restricted by the terms of Forrester Research client agreements.

Glenn posted a new Forrester blog entry on 17-Sep-2008, highlighting the dangers of buying management tools to deflect blame (and a plea to change this common behavior):

Don’t buy management tools for exoneration

This blog posting is visible to anyone, but bound by Forrester Research copyright protections.

Glenn’s latest Forrester report, dated 30-Jun-2008:

A Federated CMDB Remains Distant, but Start Now

is available on the Forrester web site. This report is for Forrester clients only. Its distribution is restricted by the terms of Forrester Research client agreements.

Hi everyone,

It’s been far too long since I posted something here. I’ve been busy starting the next chapter in my life. I am proud to announce that as of May 5, 2008, I am a Senior Analyst at Forrester Research!

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DISCLAIMER: First, let me make one thing clear … despite my prior position with EMC, I do not have any insider information on what I am about to write below. I am merely observing and analyzing what is obvious to me or to anyone else who has enjoyed long-term, broad market exposure the way I have. Everything below is public knowledge and opinion.

One of the great rumors in the management software business for nearly a decade (maybe longer) is that EMC Corporation and BMC Software would join forces via a “merger.” In almost all cases, what people were actually referring to was an acquisition of BMC by EMC. I steadfastly posit that true mergers are rare and almost all attempts are failures (e.g., Daimler-Chrysler and Bay Networks, both huge disappointments). As the bigger fish, EMC would have taken over BMC, period.

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The Domain Name System (DNS) is one of the most fundamental mechanisms of distributed systems. It is so basic and so widespread that it has become nearly invisible. As a service so obscured from view, it may seem inconsequential. Nothing can be further from the truth. It is, in fact, one of the main underpinnings of everything we do so it can wreak havoc when it malfunctions.

We just take it for granted that our DNS is functioning flawlessly behind the scenes, but is it? Many performance and availability issues are misdiagnosed because of our blind faith in DNS. It is without doubt one of technology’s great innovations, but nothing in IT should be trusted so blindly. It turns out many DNS installations are misconfigured.

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One aspect of IT management automation that has frustrated me for years is the relative lackluster progress we’ve made in the area of performance. With all the other wonderful innovations we’ve made, I’m confounded that performance remains largely in the dark ages. This need not be. This must not be. We are finally beginning to see welcome changes in both available software solutions and more importantly, attitudes toward performance. If we hope to attain true service management, this must be a priority.

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