itSMF Singapore was official inaugurated in 2005. 2006 will be our 2nd year in existence. We have received feedback from many members that they would like to receive more frequent communication from the Chapter. Members are also telling us that they look forward to more events organized for their benefits.

This year, the council members and the executive committees have been brainstorming on how to take itSMF Singapore to the next level. One of the suggestions was to create a regular e-newsletter. The intent of the newsletter is to publish articles and the latest updates on the chapter and ITSM in general. It is our great pleasure to introduce the Newsletter Editorial Team - we are Eu Jin, Cindy and Hwee Hiong. All of us come from different companies and backgrounds but our passion for ITSM is the same. Producing an e-newsletter can be fun but challenging. We need to think creatively on what should be published, constantly review, correct and modify the content etc. These activities do require sacrifices of personal time. However, knowing that the newsletter will eventually promote itSMF Singapore and ITSM, we realized that such efforts definitely are worth it.

Last but not least, we are pleased to inform you that itSMF Singapore is organizing its 2nd Annual Event in August 2006. We have witnessed the entire Events Committee putting in tremendous amounts of effort and volunteering their time in organizing the Annual Event. We look forward to your participation in this event as your attendance will mean a lot to the chapter. In conjunction with the event, we have included a special feature on the event this month.

We hope you will enjoy this newsletter. For any feedback or letters to the Editor, please contact us at newsletter@itsmf.org.sg

Thank You.

Yours sincerely,
Ho Eujin, Cindy Ling & Chan Hwee Hiong

Newsletter Editorial Team

July 2006

itSMF Annual Conference & Exhibition 2006
1-2 Aug 2006

20% Discount !

Planning to Implement IT Service Management ($202.00). Now - $162. Offer ends 31st July 2006

*Terms and Conditions Apply

Two world authorities bring a compelling story to delegates at the IT Service Management Forum (itSMF) Singapore national conference being held from 1-2 August by showing how to reduce organisational IT service costs and enhance customer service whilst increasing profitability by over 20%, as measured by return on assets (ROA). Sounds too good to be true? Newly published ISO/IEC standards provide guidance, enabling organisations to achieve good service management and IT governance when used in conjunction with operational frameworks and best practice principles.

With 70-80% of IT spend internationally going towards service management solutions organisations are understandably concerned with reducing cost whilst improving the customer experience.

Craig Pattison, itSMF Vice Chairman and International Director of Certifications and Qualifications, will be talking about ISO/IEC 20000, the first international service management standard published in December 2005. Organisations implementing the standard are reducing their IT costs and improving customer service, freeing up budgets to spend on a continual service improvement programme.

Alison Holt, Chair of the ISO/IEC Study Group on ICT Governance, and a Service Management consultant at Synergy International Limited, will be talking about the value of good IT governance principles, and the development of an international IT Governance standard that will incorporate the best of the existing standards and frameworks. Her presentation also explores how top performing organisations have good IT governance principles in place – is this just a coincidence?

Established in 2004 the IT Service Management Forum (itSMF) Singapore chapter is hosting its second annual conference from 1-2 August 2006 at Suntec Singapore. itSMF is the only internationally recognised and independent organisation dedicated to IT service management. It is a not-for-profit organisation wholly owned and principally operated by its membership. The itSMF is a major influence on, and contributor to, industry "best practice" and standards world-wide.

As we prepare for our 2nd annual event, let us revisit the success last year. The itSMF Singapore Chapter organised its first Conference and Exhibition at the Suntec Singapore in May 2005. This was a thought leadership event to educate and inform participants on the latest trends and challenges in IT Service Management.

The Guest of Honour was Ms Seah Lye Khim (DIRECTOR, CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT from the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA). The keynote speaker for the event was Mr Aidan Lawes, (CEO, itSMF UK & International).

The event created a platform for exchange of ideas, experiences and enabled members to gain access to a network of industry experts. The conference featured 18 International practitioners who shared their experiences in the service management arena. 238 delegates from 8 different countries attended the 2-day event, which was one of the largest turnouts for inaugural events amongst itSMF's local chapters worldwide.

Here are some photographs for recap, and we look forward to a bigger and better event this year.

Meet Tan Khim Siang, organizing chairperson of the itSMF Singapore Annual Event.

A year has passed since our first annual conference in 2005. As we progress another year as a chapter, the events team has relentlessly worked hard over the months to bring together this year's annual conference and exhibition themed "Unveil the 4 Dimensions to Business Excellence - People, Partners, Process, Product of ITSM" to be held from 1-2 August at Suntec Singapore.

This year's program shall focus on the synergies of the 4Ps working harmoniously to achieve service excellence. We have lined up renowned speakers sharing their experiences with the intent for the audiences to take back the latest developments in ITIL and to enhance their knowledge on IT Service Management. We hope this conference will propel each participant's interest in IT Service Management so as to sharpen their skills in identifying the equilibrium of the 4Ps working in tandem for each unique organizations that they are working for.

This conference shall be catered for everyone from novices to experts in ITIL; and from IT or non-IT background. We have envisioned this conference to serve as an inclusive-platform for information sharing on IT Service Management.

2006 signifies the realization of business environment is improving. Business relevancy is paramount to the survival of an organization. The foreseeable incessant changes of business model are inevitable, not forgetting, the IT service enabling the business processes. Sustaining the IT services coupled with cost boundaries depicts the significant value of IT Service Management. itSMF Singapore Chapter will continue to strive to bring the latest updates (at an affordable cost) to the IT Service Management professional in Singapore.

Be sure to visit our website on the details of the events like speakers and agenda.

See you there!

Khim Siang Tan

Article of the Month

Adoption of IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Service Management best practices is rising phenomenally, with implementation levels in $1 billion-plus companies expected to reach 40% of by the end 2006, according Forrester Research.
ITIL focuses on unifying people, process and technology through a comprehensive, consistent and coherent set of best-practice approaches for IT service management processes. The ultimate goal is to optimize the bottom-line performance of the business, not just to implement a best-practice framework. But several common myths and misconceptions can seriously limit the value ITIL delivers:

Myth: ITIL is just for "techies."
Fact: ITIL is for the entire business.

The time and resources required to successfully implement ITIL, combined with the critical need to support organizational and behavioral change, requires buy-in from IT management and business leaders.

If an ITIL initiative is regarded as "IT-only" or is classed as an IT project, there may be little shared accountability and commitment.

Remember that ITIL is a means to an end, not an end in itself, and the objective is to improve the value IT delivers to the business, such as reducing cost and enabling business growth.

The goals should be agreed upon through an active and ongoing dialogue between IT and business.

Myth: ITIL is only about people and process.
Fact: Technology plays a key role.

ITIL describes what needs to be done to improve service to the business, not how to do it.

Many ITIL and service management consultants and service providers who help companies build their ITIL plans often focus entirely on process improvement and organizational issues. Achieving tangible efficiency gains and ROI, however, requires the automation of appropriate components of the ITIL processes (usually repetitive procedures and workflows) through technology.

To increase the chances for success, look for consultants who are skilled across the essential elements of ITIL - people, process and technology - and who have a pragmatic, outcome-based approach to an ITIL project.

Myth: ITIL is the only answer.
Fact: ITIL complements other best-practice frameworks.

While ITIL defines service management best practices, it is still essentially an IT-operational framework that isn't intended to address detailed financial asset management, IT governance and related areas. Also, ITIL does not sufficiently address IT security.

As companies evaluate and improve their processes as part of an ITIL implementation, they should consider supplementing ITIL with other best practices, such as ISO 17799/BS7799 for security, and COBIT for IT governance.

Myth: The major investment is education.
Fact: Education is only one requirement for success.

Many organizations often invest significant time and money to train a high percentage of their IT workforce in basic and advanced ITIL principles. What's often overlooked is the opportunity to unify both business and IT with practical team-focused workshop programs that concentrate less on the description of ITIL, and more on the value that ITIL will deliver to the organization.

Also remember that early adoption of such programs will not only build awareness and support of a shared IT and business project, but also help obtain the senior level commitment needed to drive what is effectively an exercise in organizational change.

Myth: Take it one step at a time.
Fact: Try to improve several processes simultaneously.

Many companies choose to concentrate on a single ITIL process, such as incident management. But ITIL processes are by nature inter-related and inter-dependent. So if you want to drive down the number of incidents, you need to quickly find the root-cause of persistent problems. To reduce the number of problems, you'll need to consider change management.

Organizations that get too far down the path with one process before considering related processes may spend significant time and money in constantly revisiting and refining the initial process as they implement others.

The best way to improve service is to simultaneously work on enhancing two or three process areas.

Myth: Only choose ITIL "compliant" solutions.
Fact: No technology solution is inherently compliant

Many companies believe they should only select tools that are certified and compliant with ITIL. However, since ITIL doesn't provide functional requirements for technology solutions, ITIL compliance in the context of technology solutions is impossible. In fact, the U.K.'s Office of Government Commerce, the owners of ITIL, explicitly warn against vendors making claims about compliance or proof of compliance.

In addition, since ITIL is a high-level set of guidelines that doesn't lay out processes and procedures in any detail, tool assessments will always be so high-level that their usefulness is limited.

The certification of many ITIL processes, such as problem management, is performed solely on service desk solutions and doesn't account for how other integrated technologies, such as network and systems monitoring to automatically detect incidents, can improve and complete an end-to-end process. ITIL is clearly becoming the de-facto standard in service management, and the lens through which the delivery of IT services will be measured. Always remember though, that the goal is to improve service and not just implement a best practice framework. Identify solutions, methods and partners that can deliver real business value through IT service management.

About The Authors

Brian Johnson was part of the British government team that developed the standards for ITIL. He is now the worldwide ITIL practice manager for CA.

Peter Waterhouse is director of Product Marketing in CA's Business Service Optimization business unit. Peter has 15 years experience in enterprise systems management, with specialization in IT service management, IT governance and best practices.

itSMF Diary

Event: ITSM 'Live' on 30 June 2006

More than 50 participants turned up at our most recent mini-event which was held at the charming vintage building - The Arts House. Business Service Management (BSM), one of the popular concepts in ITSM was the topic of the day. Our guest speaker, Mr Dean Banta from Managed Objects, took the audience through the principles of BSM, which was aptly illustrated by success stories and a case study on Ericsson by Mr Andrew Saw. Mr Saw spoke about his own invaluable experiences and the benefits from implementing BSM in the Telecommunications sector. The concept of a federated CMDB was also discussed as it is the corner stone of Managed Objects' BSM approach.

At the end of the event, a lucky draw was organized to thank the audience for their participation. itSMF Singapore gave away complimentary tickets to 2 lucky winners to its Annual Event. Each ticket was worth S$500 (at usual price). The event ended with a cocktail session where like-minded participants shared and exchanged ideas and experiences from their respective organizations over some booze and canapes.

As organizers of the event, it was certaining heartening to see that organizations here in Singapore are looking at ITSM to help them in running their IT organizations effectively and efficiently. One of our members summed it up aptly: "This event and other similar ones provided a great venue to meet and exchange ideas with inudstry thought-leaders and are definitely a wonderful chance to network!"

Look out for more of such sessions from us in the near future!