For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Low-Hanging Fruit That Service Operations Teams Should Consider Now

by Evelyn Hubbert, November 13, 2009

Some IT organizations are confident that they can weather the storm of our current economic situation. Others believe they can maintain their current staffing level, and some are saying that they can maintain their current IT technology investment levels. . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Role Overview: Service Catalog Manager

by Evelyn Hubbert, November 6, 2009

Most IT organizations "get" the service management concept and many have implemented and improved their processes, and the interrelationships of these processes, to support and service the business. Many companies have implemented elements of ITIL as . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Service Catalog — Your Prerequisite For Effective IT Service Management

Yes, They Can Help Connect You With The Business

by Evelyn Hubbert, Glenn O'Donnell, October 28, 2009

The vision and purpose of effective IT service management is to efficiently develop, operate, and deliver services with value and alignment to the business. To do this, IT must transform itself from an organization with many silos of technical and functional . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Help Desk Is On The Critical Path For Pandemic/Disaster Recovery

Oft-Overlooked Group Is Key To Business Continuity

by Evelyn Hubbert, Chip Gliedman, October 22, 2009

The designation of the H1N1 flu virus as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) should, once again, prompt organizations to revisit their business continuity planning processes. However, recent conversations with Forrester clients reveal a . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Service Catalog Manager — Job Profile And Description  (33 KB XLS)

by Glenn O'Donnell, Evelyn Hubbert, October 16, 2009

The service catalog manager plans, implements, configures, and maintains the catalog of available IT services.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

A Sample IT Infrastructure And Operations Balanced Scorecard  (41 KB XLS)

by Rachel A. Dines, Evelyn Hubbert, October 1, 2009

The Balanced Scorecard is built around four dimensions that have been adjusted for use in information technology: the value perspective, the user orientation perspective, the operational excellence perspective, and the future orientation perspective. . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Building The IT Infrastructure And Operations Balanced Scorecard

The Eight Essential Metrics That Infrastructure And Operations Should Be Measuring

by Rachel A. Dines, Evelyn Hubbert, October 1, 2009

"You can't manage what you can't measure" is the stated adage, but when it comes to infrastructure and operations (I&O), what to measure is the first challenge. Many firms don't know which metrics to use, or how to collect the information they need . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Role Overview: IT Asset Life-Cycle Manager

Reporting To Both IT And Business

by Evelyn Hubbert, September 25, 2009

The effective and efficient implementation of an IT asset life-cycle management (ITALM) program requires an approach that is disciplined enough to enable the entire organization to maximize the value of its IT assets over the entire asset life cycle. . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Who's Hot In Business Service Management

An Overview Of Vendors Offering BSM Solutions

by Peter O'Neill, Evelyn Hubbert, June 11, 2009

Enterprises continue to invest in business service management (BSM) projects, even with the economy going into recession, and BSM has been the battle cry of IT management software vendors for several years now. As a technology, it is founded on the ability . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Open Source IT Management Tools

Cost Is Not The Only Differentiator

by Evelyn Hubbert, May 26, 2009

With shrinking IT budgets and a continued need to control IT environments, the use of open source solutions to manage infrastructure and operations is no longer just an interesting experience but a viable alternative for enterprises of all sizes. The . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Unraveling ISO, CMM, And ITIL IT Management Frameworks

Combine CMM With ITIL And Six Sigma With ITIL For The Best Results

by Evelyn Hubbert, May 7, 2009

Technology is the beating heart behind business, but with economic crises on a global scale, increasing sensitivity to cost, and competitive pressures, IT services must be managed and delivered with high levels of customer service and satisfaction. At . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: IT Asset Life-Cycle Management, Q2 2009

CA And BMC Software Top The Leaders' Stack, With HP And IBM Close Behind

by Evelyn Hubbert, April 10, 2009

In Forrester's 81-criteria evaluation of IT asset life-cycle management (ITALM) vendors, we found that CA and BMC Software came out on top because of their strong end-to-end offerings and their excellent product vision. HP is a leader due to its balanced . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: IT Asset Life-Cycle Management, Q2 2009

by Evelyn Hubbert, April 10, 2009

IT asset life-cycle management (ITALM) is a requirement for many goals the modern IT organization is pursuing. Without adequate ITALM tools and processes, key initiatives like moving to informed, process-oriented management, addressing compliance and . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

IT Marketing Manager — Job Profile And Description  (28 KB XLS)

by Evelyn Hubbert, March 26, 2009

Position overview: This crucial person is responsible for developing and implementing an IT marketing plan to align IT with business.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Capacity Manager - Job Profile And Description  (28 KB XLS)

by Evelyn Hubbert, March 26, 2009

Position overview: This person is tasked with bringing a holistic and accurate IT capacity plan for infrastructure needs to their company.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Cover Your Assets: Use IT Asset Life-Cycle Management To Control IT Costs

by Evelyn Hubbert, December 24, 2008

The current economic situation has been very discouraging — to say the least. As the economy continues to show signs of downsizing, it's reasonable to say that the cost of conducting business is a very important category that businesses need to look at. . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Role Overview: Capacity Manager

A Balancing Act Of Today's And Tomorrow's Needs

by Evelyn Hubbert, December 1, 2008

Capacity management is a process aimed at controlling the IT infrastructure in such a way that resource shortages are anticipated and corrected before they occur, thus maintaining service-level agreements (SLAs) contracted with the business users. For . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Role Overview: IT Marketing Manager

The Time Is Right: Ready, Aim, Hire!

by Evelyn Hubbert, November 7, 2008

The lack of marketing in IT is obvious when we take a look at the changes in how IT is perceived. Back in 2006 when Forrester asked how IT's perception had changed, 50% of the respondents stated that IT was viewed about the same as one year before. Forty-five . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: ITIL, Q4 2008

by Evelyn Hubbert, Glenn O'Donnell, October 8, 2008

Every day Forrester sees growing interest in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) in the form of client inquiries with our analysts. Between July 2007 and July 2008 Forrester's IT infrastructure and operations team fielded more than 2,700 inquiries from . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Why IT Service Management Should Matter To You

Stop Running IT For The Geeks And Start Running IT For The Bill Payers

by Evelyn Hubbert, September 16, 2008

IT service management (ITSM) has made its way onto the agendas of both global businesses and large and medium enterprises. Yet there are many companies that don't fully understand what service management involves and what it can deliver to your entire . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Role Overview: Service Manager

Delivering Value To Your Business By Facilitating Outcomes And Managing The Service

by Evelyn Hubbert, September 3, 2008

Service management promises to reorganize IT to provide better value to their business customers, but only if that service is designed, transitioned, and delivered in such a way that the service consumer is satisfied. Several key ingredients such as the . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Role Overview: CMDB Manager

Take Charge Of Managing And Maintaining Your IT Configuration Items

by Evelyn Hubbert, July 9, 2008

The configuration management database (CMDB) is still a central theme for today's infrastructure and operations (I&O) professional. Organizations are making significant improvements in mastering CMDBs and implementing this as a central process discipline . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Data Center Automation, Q2 2008

HP Is The Unified Data Center Automation Front-Runner; BladeLogic And BMC Follow Close Behind

by Evelyn Hubbert, April 15, 2008

Data center automation (DCA) solutions allow IT organizations to automate a variety of workflows that support configuration and change management processes across IT infrastructure. In Forrester's 80-criteria evaluation of DCA vendors, we found that HP . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Problem Manager: A New IT Service Management Role

The Key To A Proactive IT Service Organization

by Evelyn Hubbert, March 28, 2008

In many IT organizations, the same problems keep occurring, but they never get fixed properly or identified as known errors. Even if you have fully automated IT management, you still need a person who can comprehend dependencies and has the ability to . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Data Center Automation Defined

Steps Toward IT Service Automation — Doing More With Less

by Evelyn Hubbert, February 26, 2008

Operating a data center not only requires the daily assistance of people who have deployed a variety of tools, but it also calls for a variety of processes and best practices to ensure smooth data center operations. While IT budgets are largely flat, . . .