Mar 2008

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Editor's Corner

A debate broke out over coffee and tea one day - the notion: "an emerging region like ASEAN is not ready to embrace IT service management and ITIL". The proponents argued that IT organizations in this region are relatively "less mature" and are percevied to be more tactical than strategic. One also noted that typical ITSM value propositions such as "operational efficiencies" and "improving business alignment" are way too cryptic for most CIO's here... who seemingly, are more concerned with building bigger and better infrastructure than to be worried about how to manage it - at least not yet.

Of course, there are many strong opponents to this notion who are not ready to accept that "low levels of maturity" is good enough an excuse not to want to manage your IT better. Can ITSM best practices started by the UK government more than 20 years ago gain widespread acceptance in South-east Asia? To answer that, we probably need to think about what exactly compels an organization to want service improvement and consider how they are relavant in our context:

• Cost of Labour - the higher the better. I once met a senior IT manager at the product launch of a snazzy IT automation software. She acknowledged that she really liked the tools but the relatively lower labour costs in her country meant that she could never use optimization of labour costs as a justification for process automation and improvements. In similar places, it may make better sense to discuss the benefits in terms of improving reliability and consistency rather than labour costs alone.
• Size of Organization - big is beautiful. For large conglomerates and MNCs, service management is often a neccessity, not an option, but can the same be said for the typical small-medium enterprises that dominate the economies like Singapore? With usual IT staff strength of 20-30 people, many of these companies struggle to internalize and implement the many processes, process activities and roles that ITIL describes, often perceiving it as an overkill. Simplification is key - the ability to adapt ITIL concepts into what I call a "lite" version of ITIL, coupled with foundational solutions that deliver ease of implementation, easy maintenance and affordability, will be crucial success factors for mass acceptance in this sector.
• Compliance - international standards are sought after. Many companies in emerging economies are eager to prove their capabilities to the world by means of alignment to international standards. Be it the desire to be recognzed as an efficient governement agency or a world-class bank, compliance to standards such as ISO/IEC 20000 and alignment to governance frameworks such as COBIT provide a compelling need for ITSM.
• Benefits Realization - pragmatism rules. Consultancy firms may find it difficult to sell process documentation and designs or stand-alone assessments at sky-high premiums. Gone are probably the days when ITSM software companies can paddle their wares based on technology capabilities alone. Clients in this region need to see, touch and use solutions that are practical and deliver real benefits fast. The combination of process optimization, cultural change and technology functionalities delivering quick-win results are key successful criteria for ITSM projects.
• Pain - the more excruciating the better. The IT staff who finds it a constant challenge to prioritize and fulfill change requests, the CIO who gets battered constantly about "lousy" IT services, an IT organization that is struggling to trim costs - these are the ones who may benefit the most from ITSM. Do IT organizations in this region experience fewer problems? Certainly not... but some organizations may choose to live with the current state. It does take strong resolve and a high regard for service quality to make a change, and that typically is dependent upon how highly the value of IT is perceived by the business - this requires greater effort to educate and create awareness on the subject.

Just four years ago, itSMF Singapore was one of the very few chapters in Asia outside of Japan and Australia. At the itSMF Asia Summit last year, we saw the first gathering of representatives that hail from Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. Early this year, we were informed that chapters in Malaysia and the Philippines are forming up. In a recent trip to Bangkok, I was pleased to see that a sharing session on a company's ISO 20000 accreditation experience received overwhelming support by the itSMF Thailand members - and it was just two years ago that majority of companies have not even heard of "ITIL". Will ITSM and ITIL hold a significant place in this part of the world? It certainly is gaining ground, but vendors and organizations alike need to consider the diverse and unique cultural and economic characteristics in the region and adapt the concepts in practice.

Be part of the next itSMF Asia Summit

Make a difference, participate in our AGM and elect the next council on 28th March

See you then!

Yours sincerely,
Cindy Ling, Ho Eu Jin & Chan Hwee Hiong

Meet the editors (from Left: Cindy Ling, Chan Hwee Hiong, Ho Eu Jin)

We welcome questions, feedback and your input. If there is anything you want to see covered in the next issue, please feel free to email to us at newsletter@itsmf.org.sg

Feature

itSMF Asia Summit 2007

Last November, a historic event took place in Singapore. The first ever itSMF Asia Summit 2007 brought together senior-level attendees from 92 distinct companies spanning 17 countries. The itSMF Singapore chapter realized this need for the industry to come together and acted upon it. The itSMF SG council came to the conclusion that the only way to professionalize the annual conference and to reincarnate it as a regional show would be to transform it to a paid event managed by a commercial partner that is equally committed to the goals of the forum. To that end, itSMF SG sought out and brokered a strategic partnership with the leading B2B executive conference company, Terrapinn. The vision to raise the bar for every aspect of the conference, from the quality of speakers, delegate experience and rich learning content was developed jointly but with realistic expectations of building this reputation over several years. What was deemed crucial to its success was the discipline to wrestle control of speaking neutrality, and to maintain a strict end-user biased approach to the contribution and attendance ratio. This short-term policy, though painful, would eventually bear fruit for all members in the ecosystem including solution houses and independent consultants who would experience the benefits of such a platform in time to come.

The inaugural event in 2007 already saw an increase on several key KPIs (based on 2006 and 2007 comparisons):

• An increase in speaker offerings by 70% from 17 to 19 which included 4 keynotes (i.e. two ITIL v3 authors and two high-level end-user presenters)
• An increase in international attendee representation from 7% to 62%
• An increase in attendee end-user composition up from 41% to 71%
• An increase in attendee satisfaction scoring from 14% to 54% in the "Excellent/Very Good" rating
• An increase in value-added networking activities up from 1 to 6 unique events
• An increase in the profitability of the event – allowing the chapter to finance other local activities and to invest more in building up the value behind a better financed Asia event

These early wins served as a boost of confidence to the council and more has been pledged to invest in the 2008 event to create a better show to tackle cross-border issues. The real value behind this regional event would be to ensure positioning of the event does not replicate the objectives of national level conferences. This also includes feeding in new prospects to the forum and providing opportunities for itSMF members to meet not only their peers from neighboring chapters, but also people outside the association. Herein Terrapinn's expertise in list building and contact database acquisition is key to keeping the year-to-year attendee composition fresh and alive from the perspective of improving delegate connectivity and reach in the market.

The 2007 event featured a host of industry luminaries as our distinguished speaker panel. 2008 promises to build on the momentum achieved and raise the bar further with a two-day event sporting two half-day tracks in four distinct areas of interest: strategy; risk, audit and compliance; outsourcing; and Tech Toolkit. A call for paper has begun for the October event to scour the international community for original papers and case studies for inclusion. In addition, the organizing committee remains committed to engaging sister itSMF national chapters to increase their participation and visibility at the event. As in 2007, the rich presentation content provided by speakers will be made available to delegates in hardcopy as well as in digital format from the secure event website. A special 'contact' online application facilitates individual meetings between participants and speakers (local or international) weeks before the event starts to maximize face-toface time spent at the conference with key decision makers. To top it all, other innovative conferencing features such as speed networking, real-time polling, interactive panels and brain storming sessions are in the works to add to the experiential fun factor. Masterclasses will continue to be made available to supplement the education needs of attendees.

For more information on the itSMF Asia Summit 2008 to be held in Singapore 13 – 15 October, visit the event site.

Get the presentations from itSMF Asia Summit 2007 here!

The presentations from itSMF Asia Summit 2007 have now been uploaded to our web site, so that they are available for all members. The presentations are available here, or login as a member from the itSMF SG home page, and go to Members Resources, and the category itSMF Asia Summit 2007.

However, please note that you must be a member of itSMF Singapore to access this material. If you would like to become a member, please enrol here, or contact us.

Following are the presentation titles that are available from the itSMF Asia Summit 2007:

• ITIL v3 Qualification & Certification Scheme
• The "Build vs Run" IT Management challenge
• Partnering for success: Business and IT
• How Acer eDC is Using ITIL to Achieve Goals of Regional Expansion
• ITSM Adoption
• Excellence in operations: Necessary but not sufficient
• Continual Service Improvement A Six Month Check Up
• ITIL service management Past, present and future
• HE, SHE or IT...
• CobiT and ITIL - a winning combination for IT Management and Governance
• ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000 - The perfect match
• Adopting and Adapting: A deliberate approach to achieving international best practices
• Optimizing application support and maintenance with ITSM
• Practical Approaches to Integrating IT with the Business
• BMC Service Request Management Product Overview
• Alternative Thinking for Better Business Outcome: Delivering ITIL
• Corporate Culture & Management of Organisational Change
• Implementing an IT Service Management Architecture
• ICT Governance - What exactly is it?
• Achieving Strategic Service Management Goals
• ITSM Myths
• What is itSMF International?

Due to the recent change in our constitution, itSMF Singapore is required to organize its Annual General Meeting no later than 31st March every calendar year. You are invited to the 4th Annual General Meeting on Friday, 28th March 2008 from 6pm to 9pm at IBM Parkview, level 16, Parkview Square, North Bridge Road (walking distance from Bugis MRT).

Please enroll for the event so that we can ensure the required quorum for the AGM.

Agenda for the AGM is as follows:

• Welcome Address
• Presentation of Annual Report by Each Council Member
• Review and Approval of Certified Statement of previous year's financial accounts
• Election of new office-bearers for new work year
• Appointment of Honorary Internal Auditor
• AOB & Q&A

The soft copy of the AGM invitation is attached here. This document contains nomination forms and the list of current itSMF SG member companies.

Also, the attached spreadsheet lists the names of all current members and nominees. These people may nominate for positions on the itSMF SG Council, and may vote in any elections (one vote per member company).

For further information about the AGM, please send an email to general@itsmf.org.sg

Over the past few months the itSMF Singapore Council has been developing a policy document that outlines the benefits of membership to both vendor members, non-vendor members, as well as the resources available to non-members. This policy document is now available on the itSMF Singapore website.

Our goal is for itSMF to become a community of interested IT Service Management practitioners in Singapore, and the ASEAN region, and therefore most of the benefits are aimed allowing vendor members and non-vendor members to readily share information on topics related to ITSM. Accordingly, some of the benefits that are described include the following:

• Receive periodic itSMF SG newsletters via email
• Access to soft-copy of Service Talk magazine (from members area of web site)
• Purchase from itSMF SG bookstore at 15% discount
• Receive invitations to events via email
• Attend annual conference at discounted rate
• Attend members meetings at no charge
• Present products and services at members meetings based on sponsorship
• Present case studies and experience at members meetings
• Attend itSMF International eSymposium presentations at no charge
• Access to Intellectual Capital in members area of web site
• Post Career Opportunities / Vacancies in the itSMF SG web site
• Access to resources and articles posted in the public section of the itSMF SG web site, including advertorials and news articles
• Post advertorials under relevant categories in the Public Resources section of the web site. Categories are "General", "Software & Tools", "Consultancy Services", "Education & Training", "Publications", "Events and Special Promotions".
• Send advertorials to members using the itSMF email blast tool

Some of these benefits are new, and are the result of requests from some of our members. Therefore we encorage members and other interested parties to review the policy document.

Members, be a part of it!

Get Involved in our Annual Conference!

Members! This is your opportunity to get involved in the chapter's annual conference, our biggest affair every year! Singapore has the honor of hosting a regional platform to bring together your peers from the region and beyond to share best practices and to network extensively. itSMF Asia Summit 2008 will be held in October.

Here's how you can get noticed and get heard:

Tell us what you want… its YOUR conference!
What are the issues that are keeping you up at night or the hot topics that you’d like to find out more about?
Heard of an amazing speaker you want to meet? We’ll hunt them down! Ideas, ideas, ideas, please!

Be a speaker and gain the respect of your peers!
If you’ve been in the thick of battle, eat and breathe ITSM, give us your war stories and help others be successful as well. If you’re a user practitioner, we want to hear your story! Regional speakers are also welcome so send in your synopsis today and join our distinguished ranks of speakers.

Be on the advisory board
We're looking for senior-level user advisors to be on our board to help with content vetting, speaker recommendations and strategic advice. Advisors will get special mention in our program for their energy in helping us ensure a quality program. Only 2 positions.

ITSM Nationwide Survey
If you have the resources and expertise to organize a nationwide survey on ITSM adoption/penetration in Singapore and are able to do research comparisons with regional trends, contact us. Spearhead this project and receive a speaking slot at the upcoming event. Be credited with initiating probably the most useful report for our community!

Call for Sponsors

With the release of the ITIL v 3 update, this is the best time for you to step-up, position your services and secure a front-of-mind and thought leadership position.

• Put your CEO on a platform with your top prospects
• Build your brand with the decision makers
• Target your message to your precise audience
• Being a part of a conference that brings knowledge experience and quality leads

Target your market!
For details contact Eugene Chang at (65) 6322 2768

Call for Speakers

Do you want Top-of-mind personal and product brand recall for ITSM in Asia?

This is a call for speaker. Are you an IT Service Management expert or professional with a thought provoking paper or success story to share? Do you have a unique perspective to share with an audience of your peers? Are you looking to raise your own personal branding and your company's corporate leadership in this space?

The 4th itSMF Asia Summit 2008 returns October 13 & 14, 2008 to Singapore, as a platform for senior-level ITSM professionals in Asia to learn, share and network with the best in the industry. Take advantage of this opportunity to address 200 delegates representing over 90 companies spanning 20 countries congregating at the only regional ITSM event in Asia. This premier event is scouting for world-class presenters and industry leaders to engage Asia's key ITSM-savvy business proponents.

itSMF Asia Summit is backed by the itSMF Singapore chapter and organized by international conference experts Terrapinn. Our advisory panel is seeking compelling and thought-provoking practitioner depictions of real-world experiences and implementation tips that also demonstrate the real value and benefits of ITSM. Cases studies can be both from within the Asia region and globally. For maximum exposure to the region, brand affiliation with other world-class ITSM experts and a premier event that operates on a proven formula that promises a highly interactive, content-rich, end-user driven (>70% in 2007) summit, contact us with your submission.

Proposal submission deadline: Monday, 3 March, 2008

1. Details about the speaker & organization
2. Details about your presentation/master class
   • Title + 3 bullet points
   • Short synopsis (approx. 200 words)
   • Target audience
3. Topics broadly fall into four categories:
   • Strategy
   • Risk, Audit, Compliance
   • OutsourcingStrategy
   • Tech Toolkit

Be sure to indicate the preferred category for your topic.

All submissions will be considered by our advisory panel and priority will be given to end-user cases and be appraised on speaker content, reputation and originality. Both Asian and international contributions are welcome.

If you would like to be involved as an integral part in this event and be part of our distinguished speaker cohort, please contact us:

Speaking and sales opportunities
Name : Eugene Chang, Project Manager
Tel : (65) 6322 2768
Email : eugene.chang@terrapinn.com

Join us and be a part of the ITSM growth in Asia. This conference is an opportunity to strengthen your position as a thought leader and generate crucial partnerships that will enable your business to flourish.