© 2007 jupitermedia corporation asking the right questions february 15, 2007 2:00pm est, 11:00am...

© 2007 Jupitermedia Corporation

Asking the Right Questions

February 15, 20072:00pm EST, 11:00am PST

George Spafford, Principal ConsultantPepperweed Consulting, LLC“Optimizing The Business Value of IT”www.pepperweed.com


Housekeeping

• Submitting questions to speaker– Submit question at any time by using the “Ask

a question” section located on lower left-hand side of your console.

– Questions about presentation content will be answered during 10 minute Q&A session at end of webcast.

• Technical difficulties?– Click on “Help” button– Use “Ask a question” interface


Main Presentation


Agenda

• Strategic Perspective– The importance of goals and objectives– IT’s Role

• Tactical Perspective– IT Management – ITIL Processes– The Five Whys

Note: This presentation is available by either emailing:George at [email protected] at [email protected]


As a person moves up the organizational chart, there is a

shift from knowing the answers to knowing the questions


Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints can help us with our

strategic thinking


OrganizationalGoals

Logistics / SCM Manufacturing

Sales Customer ServiceMarketing

Research

An Organization Is a System


Goals

• What is the organization’s goal(s)?– Maximize sustainable profits?– Save lives?– Prepare students with an education and skills

that enable them to compete?


Necessary Conditions

• What “necessary conditions” do we need to accomplish the goal?– Good brand name– Quality products and services– Talented and motivated workforce– Excellent supply chain management– Regulatory compliance– Security


Organizational Goals


Sales Customer ServicesMarketing

Can’t manufacture custom orders fast

enough

Can’t see trends over time to streamline

orders and be readyUnable to identify

new markets

Constraints Limit Goal Attainment


To improve throughput, we need to focus on constraints


Constraints

• What are the constraints?– What is holding us back?– Failed changes causing unplanned work?– Lack of project management?– Lack of communication?– Lack of resources?

• Physical Constraints

• Policy Constraints


Why Focus?

• An organization is only as strong as its weakest link– If a length of chain is rated for 500# but one link can only hold

350# then that limits the capacity of the entire system

• Why consume resources in areas that are not constraints?

• Why burn people out working on too many things?• Why wait forever for improvements to possibly show up?• Note: It is possible to do everything right locally and not

optimize the system!


Addressing Policy Constraints

• What to change?– Identify the constraint

• What to change to?– Incremental process improvement– Radical changes

• How to cause the change?– How can you implement the change?– Who needs to be involved?– How can barriers be broken down?– How will it be funded?

• Go back to step one, but avoid inertia– Don’t rest on your success– This process should never stop


Optimization vs. Suboptimization

• Optimization entails having a system perspective and improving attainment of the goal for all

• Suboptimization pertains to improvements in selected areas that do not benefit the entire system or are even detrimental to the system


The need is to align functional areas with the goals of the organization


OrganizationalGoals


Sales Customer ServicesMarketing

Unoptimized Vectors


OrganizationalGoals


Sales Customer ServiceMarketing

Research

Functional Area Objectives Must Align for Optimal Productivity


Risks

• A risk is the probability of a negative event impacting the realization of functional area objectives and/or organizational goals

• Does a risk matter if it doesn’t impact a functional area objective or organizational goal?– NO

• Information Technologies are a threat vector• In the end there is only business risk

– It isn’t IT that goes out of business!

• IT should be a stakeholder in a larger Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) effort


Use Controls to Manage Risk to Objectives and Goals

• Risks cause variation around the achievement of objectives and goals

• Some variation is always present and inevitable

• By implementing processes with adequate controls, we strive to create a reasonable assurance that we can attain our objective

• Controls are found in– The services IT maintains and

provisions– Within the applications users

access

ME

AS

UR

EM

EN

T

TIME

Mean

LCL

UCL


Risks

• How are risks being managed?– What is the risk appetite of the firm?– How are they identified?– How are they assessed?– How is the level of acceptable risk identified?– How are mitigation actions identified?– How are mitigation actions approved?– How are risks monitored from an ongoing

perspective?


Strategic Question Objectives

• The intent is to understand – Goals and objectives– How IT provisions services– How IT can add value and be a positive force

multiplier– How IT can protect value


Tactical Questions

Is IT in a state of control?


Questions are organized by ITIL process area but leverage what

makes sense for your organization

How can IT add value while managing risks?


Why ITIL?

• It is a quality management framework for IT• The goal of ITIL through IT Service Management

(ITSM) is to deliver processes that meet the needs of the business

• It is a systemic approach as well• It complements Theory of Constraints (TOC)

nicely• What processes can help you get ahead?• In what order should you implement them to

address constraints?


Change Management• Can IT manage risks associated with changes to services?• Is there a formal process?• Are people trained in it?• Can you track all changes?• Do you assess the risks of making, and not making, a

change?• Do you have a project management backlog?• Do you have availability problems?• Do you have a large volume of changes?• Do you use an automated detective control?• Do you have disciplinary action for repeat offenders?• Are metrics used to improve the process?


Release Management

• Can IT reliably deploy new and changed services into production without negatively impacting the business?

• Is there a formal process?• Are people trained in it?• Are there standards for services in the organization?• How often do projects deliver on time, on budget, and

with the expected features?• Are all requirements understood up front?

– Including security and regulatory compliance?• Is there a defined testing process?• Does operations review and accept releases based on a

standard checklist?• Are post implementation reviews performed?


Incident Management / Service Desk

• Can IT assist users in the speedy recovery of services or service requests?

• Is there a formal process?• Are people trained in it?• Are all incidents recorded?

– Customers, users, IT, alerts

• Are communications focused through the Service Desk?• Are there escalation procedures?

– Time frame, skills

• Are there alerts when an SLA breach approaches?


Problem Management

• Are root causes established to address trends and/or prevent incidents from occurring?

• Is there a formal process?• Are people trained in it?• Are solutions driven by business need?

– Don’t want to spend $10,000 to fix a $10/year error• Are Known Errors recorded and tracked?• Is Incident Management data reviewed for

trends?• Are trends and findings in the industry monitored

for methods to improve the organization?


Service Level Management

• Are the needs of the business understood and consistently met?

• Is there a formal process?• Are people trained in it?• Is there a Service Catalog outlining what services IT

provides to the business?• Are Service Level Requirements known and agreed to in

Service Level Agreements?• Are there quarterly reviews with Customers / the

business?• Are Service Improvement Programs used to

continuously improve?– Reduce costs, Add Value, Manage Risks


Availability Management

• Can IT provision services the are available when the business needs them?

• Is there a formal process?• Are people trained in it?• What is the cost of unavailability of a service?• Are availability requirements documented?• Do these requirements reflect the needs of the

business?– Or were they generated by IT?

• What are the costs to improve Availability?• Can improvements be justified?


Capacity Management

• Can IT provision services with adequate capacity to meet the needs of the business both now and in the foreseeable future?

• Is there a formal process?• Are people trained in it?• Are accurate and timely business forecasts

being provided to IT?• Are IT strategies and plans based on business

forecasts?• Are new technologies reviewed for applicability?


IT Service Continuity Management

• Can IT support the organization’s Business Continuity Plan (BCP)?

• Is there a formal process?• Are people trained in it?• Has a Business Impact Assessment been done

(BIA)?• Is ITSCM taken into consideration in Change

Management?• Have ITSCM plans been tested and any

necessary corrective actions been taken?


IT Financial Management

• Are the costs and value of IT understood?• Is there a formal process?• Are people trained in it?• Does IT have a budget that supports the

goals of the organization?• Does management understand value

relative to the costs?• Does IT provide at least notional charging

to reflect business utilization of services?


Security

• Is the organization relatively secure to operate without negative consequences from external entities?

• Is there a formal process?• Are people trained in it?• Does the process take the needs of the business into

account?– People, Processes and Technology

• Does the business understand the risks?• Is the security commensurate with the risks?• Has basic hygiene been introduced?• Are there detective controls to ensure policies and

procedures are followed?• Are there security assessments?


Five Why’s

• Ask “Why?” until the root cause is established• Kaoru Ishikawa• Identifies the root cause usually by the fifth “why”• Good for establishing relationships and Ishikawa

Cause and Effect (Fishbone) diagrams• For problems that involve people• Should be used for non-threatening process

improvement – not the blame game• Be careful how you phrase the first question to

kick off the exercise correctly


Select questions and areas of focus based on your specific

needs

How can IT add value?

How can IT protect value / manage risks?


Process References• British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA)

http://www.becta.org.uk/tsas• COSO ERM

http://www.coso.org • The Goldratt Institute

http://www.goldratt.com/ • IT Process Institute’s Visible Ops Methodology

http://www.itpi.org• OGC’s ITIL Site• http://www.itil.co.uk/ • Microsoft’s Operations Framework

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/cits/mo/smf • PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge

http://www.pmi.org • Projects in Controlled Environments version 2 (PRINCE2)

http://www.prince2.org.uk/web/site/home/Home.asp


Thank you for the privilege of facilitating this webcast

George [email protected]

http://www.pepperweed.com

Daily News Archive and Subscription Instructionshttp://www.spaffordconsulting.com/dailynews.html


Questions?


Thank you for attending

If you have any further questions, e-mail [email protected]

For future Business IT Alignment Webcasts, visit www.jupiterwebcasts.com/bita

The bITa USA Conference

May 21-22 in Boston

www.bitausaevent.com

© 2007 jupitermedia corporation asking the right questions february 15, 2007 2:00pm est, 11:00am...

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