VitAL Magazine - March-April 2012

IT & SUe SK IS De oW e IC SH rV rT Se Po P SU

vital Inspiration for the modern business Volume 5 : Issue 4 : March / April 2012

the sound of the crowd How crowd sourcing is shaking business up in 2012

Levelling the playing field Social media is opening up the work place

Great Green Britain How IT is shaping a sustainable future for the UK

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Properly equipped for the job?

In the current climate every organisation is balancing the need to reduce risk and costs, but at the same time maintain or increase service levels. Headcount freezes are becoming the norm, but the IT organisation is still expected to deliver the same, if not better service to its customers.

When most companies need additional or temporary resource the first port of call is the preferred recruitment agency, who will perform a word matching exercise in their CV database, then send you a stack of CVs. With a Pink Elephant resource you get much more than a body – you get people who: • Are cost competitive • Are highly skilled in their field and have a very high aptitude for delivering ‘Service’, not simply ‘Techies’

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• Understand how good process can deliver benefits to the organisation, and will look to improve at any opportunity

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LeADeR

It’s getting easier being green Leader I

t has been a while since we last had a ‘green’ cover. Was it as long ago as September 2009? That seems like a very long time. I suppose priorities have shifted somewhat in those two intervening years and perhaps ‘green’ has taken a back seat. But it’s still important to be green with new legislation coming down the track and, as I keep on saying, doing things in a greener fashion often also brings financial benefits.

Our cover story this month bears this out. ex ski champion Ronald Duncan explains why he has been working on viable ways of accurately measuring carbon footprint. not only is it to comply with the latest CRC directives, but it’s also about having a healthier bottom line. so no apologies here for a green-themed cover!

Last issue’s Leader column was all about the Government’s re-vamp of IT (or ICT as they would have it) in schools. This time the Government, e-skills and a bunch of IT and telecommunications companies (many of them the same ones being consulted for the IT re-vamp in the schools’ curriculum) are launching the UK Higher Apprenticeship Programme (see news story on page 6) which the Government says will offer young people new routes into the IT industry, creating employer-defined programmes of study which lead to highly skilled IT occupations.

Once again this looks highly encouraging, but there has been talk of the overall apprenticeships budget being slashed in the cuts, so it would be interesting to compare the previous spend figures for IT apprenticeships with what the new ones are costing – taking into account an assumed deeper involvement from the private sector I would hope.

The new apprenticeships combine the academic rigour of university and college education with practical, employer-defined training, according to e-skills, developing the technical and business skills needed by employers.

Again this sounds like it is being pitched at the right sort of level.

In Germany, mechanical engineers – the sort of skilled technicians and artisans that operate, make and maintain complicated machinery – are treated with a degree of respect that is unknown in the UK. Let us hope that the graduates of the new apprenticeships scheme in the UK are shown something like the same professional respect. I suspect this will depend on the level of credibility the qualification has out in the jobs market.

Until next time...

Matt bailey, editor

if you have any thoughts, feedback, or suggestions on how we can improve VitaL Magazine, please feel free to email me matthew.bailey@31media.co.uk

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March / April 2012 : VitAL 1

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vital Inspiration for the modern business

IT & SUE SK IS DE OW E IC SH RV RT SE PO P SU

VitAL : Inspiration for the modern business

vital Inspiration for the modern business Volume 5 : Issue 4 : March / April 2012

The sound of the crowd

COnTenTs

Contents 6 news the VitaL coVeR stoRy

10 Green Great Britain RonaLD Duncan Leading the way in sustainable IT, the UK has developed the global standards for sustainable electronic messaging.

Ronald Duncan explains how these new standards are driving a greener agenda in IT and UK in general.

How crowd sourcing is shaking business up in 2012

Levelling the playing field Social media is opening up the work place

Volume 5 : Issue 4 : March/April 2012

Great Green Britain How IT is shaping a sustainable future for the UK

VISIT VITAL ONLINE AT: WWW.VITAL-MAG.NET

editor Matthew Bailey matthew.bailey@31media.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)203 056 4599 To advertise contact: Grant Farrell grant.farrell@31media.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)203 056 4598 Production & Design Toni Barrington toni.barrington@31media.co.uk Dean Cook dean.cook@31media.co.uk editorial & Advertising enquiries Tel: Fax: email: web:

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VitaL signs – LiFe in a WoRLD With it

13 When 20 minutes can feel like a lifetime steVe White Steve White explores the issues companies need to consider when designing a support function.

VitaL ManageMent

14 The sound of the crowd kaRsten hoRn The supply chain must be prepared to become more ‘social’ with its operations, in order to drive competitive advantage and thrive in the long-term. Karsten Horn discusses why crowd sourcing will shake up business processes in 2012.

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VitAL Magazine is edited, designed, and published by 31 Media Limited. no part of VitAL Magazine may be reproduced, transmitted, stored electronically, distributed, or copied, in whole or part without the prior written consent of the publisher. A reprint service is available.

Opinions expressed in this journal do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or VitAL Magazine or its publisher, 31 Media Limited.

Issn 1755-6465 Published by:

18 Why the technology sector needs women paM MaynaRD Is a lack of female influence holding the IT industry back? Pam Maynard outlines how attracting women into technology is vital for its future success and how the whole industry needs to pull together and make it a more inviting place for females to work and grow their careers.

22 Is there a gap in your IT? VitAL Magazine, Proud to be the UKCMG’s Official Publication ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark, and a Registered Community Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce, and is Registered in the U.s. Patent and Trademark Office.

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DaViD huRWitZ There is a movement in IT that aims to straighten out the relationship between Development and Operations, bridging the divide between the two.

David Hurwitz explains DevOps.

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COntents

Contents 22 We know where you are!

42 Securing skills: People development, how and why?

Rob Machin As more and more people allow their location data to be known to all and sundry via various apps and social networking sites, Rob Machin explains how businesses can use this location data legally and with confidence.

Paul Stephenson For some businesses the idea of developing people is a ‘no brainer’, while for others it conjures up visions of complexity, time sapping and high cost, but investment in people provides significant commercial benefits according to Paul Stephenson.

VitAL eyes on

43 Internet Safety 2012 – are we any safer online?

Jonathan Westlake Jonathan Westlake reports back from last month’s Safer Internet Day.

VitAL support

26 The IT SLA versus real life Noel Bruton Service level agreements: simple, logical, neat and mutual, but also idealistic, flawed, commonly disrespected, widely misunderstood and often disregarded. Noel Bruton squares the triangle.

44 How to set goals and really achieve them Craig Bentley Executive coach Craig Bentley explains how to achieve the goals you set yourself and how to make sure the right side wins in the ‘I’m Going to Do It vs Honoring Intention’ battle.

30 Contactless communication Jon Callas In an increasingly wireless world, near-field communication (NFC) offers a bridge between the physical and digital worlds. Jon Callas outlines the potential security challenges as well as the considerable opportunities of NFC.

32 Transforming data overload into information

VitAL planet

Morgan Sheehy Morgan Sheehy outlines how good information governance practices can help companies transform a data overload into information heaven.

48 The UK’s data centres are turning green – but there is still room for improvement John Hatcher The latest figures from Data Centre World point to an increasing awareness of the need to be green in the data centre, but there is still much room for improvement. John Hatcher reports.

34 Making the case for eDisclosure Frank Coggrave If you have to have a digital investigation in your organisation, Frank Coggrave of digital forensics expert Guidance Software explains how you can minimise the cost and disruption.

VitAL processes

38 How social media has levelled the playing field in the workplace Amy Grenham Social media technology has provided a platform to identify, encourage and reward the ‘super’ contributors within an organisation. Amy Grenham asks is your business ready to go social?

www.vital-mag.net

51 The VitAL Guide to the Service Desk and IT Support Show 2012 64 Secret of my success Ian McEwan, vice president EMEA, FrontRange Solutions.

March / April 2012 : VitAL

5

news

IT apprenticeships launched Responding to IT skills shortages with apprenticeships

C

T

he Minister of State for Universities and Science joined leading IT industry employers to launch the e-skills UK Higher Apprenticeship Programme last month.

The minister, David Willetts launched the programme, at the beginning of Apprenticeship Week 2012 in February.

The programme, supported by the National Apprenticeship Service, brings together more than 20 employers including BT, Capgemini, IBM, Ministry of Justice, UBS and Visa Europe.

The Government says it will offer young people new routes into the IT industry, creating employer-defined programmes of study which lead to highly skilled IT occupations.

Speaking at the event, Willetts commented: “The e-skills UK Higher Apprenticeship Programme is great news for the IT industry. It offers new pathways to careers in technology for those wanting to pursue rigorous, higher level training. e-skills UK and the employers with which it is working are raising the status of apprenticeships and increasing the pool of talent available in a growing industry which is critical to the economic recovery of the UK.” By combining the academic rigour of university and college education with practical, employer-defined training, the programme will develop the technical and business skills needed by employers says e-skills.

6 VitAL : March / April 2012

Stephen Leonard, CEO of IBM UK and Ireland, said: “The Higher Apprenticeship Programme will be an invaluable source of talent for the UK IT industry. It is designed to support the learning and development of professional, high-calibre people who have the technical and creative skills we need to unlock the potential of technology and to drive a new era of growth.”

At the launch, apprentices had the opportunity to meet and network with their peers and attend a series of business skills development sessions run by employers including HP, IBM and Business & Decision.

Adam Banks,CTO at Visa Europe commented: “We believe that Higher Apprenticeships are an excellent route for our business to nurture talent, which is why we are delighted to be here today at e-skills UK launch to support Apprenticeship Week 2012. Higher Apprenticeships will enable our business to recruit hard working, ambitious individuals and equip them with the technical and business skills they will need to succeed in our technology business and indeed in the wider technology industry.”

The event marked the first manifestation of the Virtual Campus, which will be an integral feature of the Higher Apprenticeship Programme. Apprentices will become part of

hannel IT support company Comms-care has embarked on an aggressive support engineer recruitment drive by enlisting a group of young trainees that it plans to put through its own apprenticeship scheme.

Partnering with leading IT Apprenticeship provider Pearson in Practice, the company hopes this will be the first crop of many apprentices to come through their doors in what they hope will be a long term partnership.

The Comms-care apprentices undertake a mix of on-the-job and offthe-job training, providing them with practical and theoretical skills.

Mark Forster, operations director at Comms-care, who was part of the recruitment selection process, explains, “IT Skills shortages are a constant hot topic in the press and amongst the reseller community. We are finding that there is an ever increasing dependency on us to provide our channel partners with more and more technical resource whether that is remote diagnosis or physical onsite engineering resource.

The partnership we have formed with Pearson in Practice, along with our other recruitment channels, ensures that as we look to adopt new services we can continue to be a trusted, highly respected support partner to the channel.”

a unique network of their peers and employers which will extend far beyond the confines of their own workplace.

“We want to create an environment in which future industry leaders can grow and flourish,” said Karen Price, CEO e-skills UK. “The Higher Apprenticeship Programme delivers something over and above traditional routes into the industry. It will provide IT employers in the UK access to a larger, richer pool of talent, and give talented youngsters a real alternative to university.” www.vital-mag.net

news

Social media grows up F

resh research from YouGov’s Media Consulting team has revealed that though uptake and usage of social media services remains very high, the restless British public are now demanding more from these kinds of services. In fact, two in five of the UK online population claim to be getting bored of social media.

Almost two thirds (65 percent) of the UK online population have used Facebook within the last month, making it the social media site with the highest percentage of active users. Perhaps unsurprisingly, usage of Facebook amongst younger generations is practically ubiquitous, with a staggering 95 percent of 16-20 year olds and 74 percent of 21-24 year olds accessing the social networking site within the last month. YouTube is the closest social media site behind Facebook with half (50 percent) of all UK internet users using the site within the last month. The other big hitters in terms of active users are Twitter (23 percent), Windows Live (14 percent),

LinkedIn (13 percent), Google + (12 percent) and Spotify (10 percent).

Interestingly, moneysavingexpert.com, the expert consumer financial advice site, now has as many active users as Twitter. As well as articles on financial products, users of the site can create profiles, leave comments and interact in similar ways to other social media sites. This points towards a new phase – the rise of social sites with slightly more purpose than just connecting to people for the sake of it.

Facebook’s usage, though still leaps and bounds ahead of the competition, might finally be starting to plateau. Just under a quarter (23 percent) of the British online population, who actively use Facebook, state that they now use the networking site less compared with 12 months ago. Furthermore, 19 percent expect to use Facebook less in one year’s time.

However, over half (53 percent) of the British online population, who actively use LinkedIn, claim to now use the site more compared with 12 months ago.

Further good news for LinkedIn is that 30 percent expect to use it more in one year’s time.

Survey links government CRC legislation to a rise in data centre energy management N

ew research from the organisers of Data Centre World 2012 shows a link between UK data centres implementing energy management policies and the government’s CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme. In 2010, when the scheme came into force, the number of data centre operators adopting energy management policies leapt 300 percent when compared to the rate of adoption for each of the previous three years.

John Hatcher, the conference director of Data Centre World, believes that much of this rise could be attributed to the government’s CRC legislation.

He said: “2010 saw by far the biggest increase in energy management policy adoption rates, over three times that of the previous year. In fact, going back four years ago just 10 percent had an energy management policy in place. Today that figure stands at 71 percent.”

www.vital-mag.net

Supporting this trend, almost half (44 percent) of those surveyed believe that the introduction of the government’s CRC legislation has led directly to greater efficiency in their data centre.

The CRC legislation aims to cut carbon emissions by 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. Before it came into power in 2010, only 27 percent of UK data centres had deployed energy management policies.

This figure rose dramatically to 57 percent in 2010 and peaked at 71 percent in 2011.

The research also found that as well as putting energy management policies in place UK data centres are embracing green technologies.

Findings indicate that almost three quarters (71 percent) have replaced inefficient equipment; 67 percent have optimised cooling and airflow; while 61 percent have implemented server virtualisation.

For more on this see the interview with John Hatcher on page 48 of this issue.

Boardrooms in the dark over energy efficiency

O

ne in three of those responsible for energy management in UK businesses say that the issue is not being taken seriously by their organisation, according to a new report published by Siemens.

The Siemens Green League report, which reflects the views of 600 businesses, reveals a mismatch between the views of the board and their energy managers, with the boardroom much more confident about its efforts in energy management than those operating at the ‘coal face’. 83 percent of board directors believe that their organisation is, in fact, serious about energy management.

As a significant area of cost for UK businesses, it was surprising to find that more than a quarter (27 percent) of board directors did not know what their energy bill was, while one fifth (18 percent) admitted they did not know what their investment in energy management would be over the next three years.

Almost one in three board directors blame a lack of perceived return on investment for preventing a commitment to energy efficiency measures, while nearly one in ten said they cannot afford to invest in energy management projects.

March / April 2012 : VitAL 7

news

Mid-size businesses leading the way into the cloud A CCORDING TO new research, there appears to be more use of cloud services amongst medium-sized businesses, where 60 percent of those organisations reported using cloud services. This is compared to fewer smallsized (44 percent) and enterprise-sized (48 percent) organisations.

The research, conducted into cloud adoption rates amongst businesses in the UK, polled three hundred senior IT decision-makers to build a comprehensive profile on the UK cloud computing market.

The research found that 55 percent of respondents confirmed that they are using cloud in some capacity today. Of this 55 percent, 27 percent have been using cloudbased services in one form or another over the last 12 months, while 28 percent started using cloud in the previous year.

Michel Robert, managing director the research’s sponsor Claranet UK stated: “The reasons for the lower uptake amongst smaller and larger enterprises could perhaps be

explained in two ways. smaller companies may lack in-house IT expertise to manage the services themselves, for large enterprises there are issues around risk assessment, compliance and purchasing, increasing the length of the procurement process.”

The research also identified the type of ‘cloud’ that organisations are procuring to deliver their cloud services. It found that 79 percent of cloud models used are either hybrid or private, with only 15 percent of those polled using public cloud and just two percent using a community cloud model.

“There is a strong preference for either hybrid or private cloud models in the majority of infrastructure or application areas,” adds Robert. “This is primarily because IT decisionmakers view these models as lower-risk than other forms of cloud services and means that they can keep greater control over their applications and data. we have found that this offers a greater ability to control the perceived risks in using cloud services, making it a more attractive proposition.”

rise of virtualisation forces new management approaches M

ARKET INTELLIGENCE company IDC research estimates that European organisations spend on average between e205 and e240 a year to manage each PC installed, inclusive of internal staff expenses (approximately 50 percent of total costs), external staff expenses (15–20 percent), and software licenses (approximately 35 percent of total costs). IDC says it is aware is aware of high-spending enterprises where e300 or more per seat is the norm. The research’s sponsor, RES Software, sees this trend as an opportunity for organisations to shift their desktop management strategies and reduce their costs, while also meeting requirements for greater business agility and flexibility.

IDC has also found that the number of companies that were due to roll out tablet computer devices has more than doubled over the past year. In 2010, only five percent of organisations surveyed said that they were going to implement tablets; in 2011, more than 10 percent of those surveyed stated that they would be moving over to using tablets in the next three years.

8 VitAL : March / April 2012

“Organisations typically need a strong cost justification for changing business processes and investing in new technologies,” says Giorgio nebuloni, senior research analyst at IDC. “IDC believes that in the case of client computing, there is considerable scope for reducing operational and management cost by eliminating and automating repetitive tasks. while awareness of the general need for client virtualisation is clearly on the rise among eMeA organisations, we believe most companies are still at the beginning of the learning curve when it comes to drawing distinctions between different technologies.

Client virtualisation can be the key to solving some of the most pressing long-term issues facing the client management area, but the high degree of complexity and the vast number of factors involved make the task a tall one.

“Desktop management requirements are changing as the desktop itself continues to evolve. Users want more flexibility but they also want to retain their existing experience,” said Kees van Bekkum, Res software Vice

Hybrid cloud best option in a climate of budget and resource constraints

H

ybrid models are the most popular choice for companies looking at how they can make the most of cloud computing for their business needs according to research from vision Solutions. 46 percent of those who thought they could use cloud computing opted for the hybrid model where both public and private cloud resources are used. This was followed by 41 percent who would opt for private cloud on its own, and 13 percent that would use public cloud platforms. The survey covered 387 UK IT professionals, and was run by vision Solutions in concert with Frontier Technology, a cloud services provider based in London. when asked if cloud computing was a good fit for their organisation, 18 percent of companies said that they were already making use of cloud technologies, while 16 percent were considering how to make the most of cloud. 33 percent of organisations did not see cloud as a good fit, while 31 percent were undecided on this approach. when asked what issues they were facing, budget constraints were listed as the number one concern by 67 percent of all respondents. This was followed by lack of in-house expertise (35 percent) and staff efficiency (30 percent).

President and General Manager, eMeA. “As more workers need access to their applications and data from multiple devices and different locations, managing these hybrid environments can be more complex for IT. By separating the user settings from the desktop and automating desktop management tasks wherever possible, organisations can address those pain points now and reduce their desktop management costs considerably.”

The analyst firm also found that laptops are continuing to be more popular than traditional desktop machines in the enterprise and expects shipments of laptops to account for 59 percent of all computing devices in 2012.

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COVeR sTORY

Great Green Britain Leading the way in sustainable IT, the software industry association BASDA has been developing global standards for sustainable electronic messaging and they are being developed and tested within the UK. Ronald Duncan Duncan, chairman of the BASDA Green Special Interest Group explains how they are putting IT to work to make the IT estate and UK in general greener.

T

HE UK is leading the way in sustainability and our IT industry is playing its part in creating the standards for a green future.

These are supported by an emerging software ecosystem that provides automated identification of both the carbon required to create our IT kit and the carbon required to run the kit along with the standards to transfer this information as we are buying and selling IT hardware and services.

Knowing the carbon footprint is just the start, the other element is the efficiency of systems.

10 VitAL : March / April 2012

This is not just how much electricity is wasted between grid and powering your servers, but how efficient are the applications that are running on the servers since this will often have a 10 or 100x greater significance.

The software industry association BAsDA has been developing BAsDA Green XML and BAsDA Utilities XML for the past three years. The standards were announced back in november and now are well on the way to live piloting. These are the first global standards for sustainable electronic messaging and they www.vital-mag.net

cover story

are being developed and tested within the UK. I am developing the standards for BASDA and if you wish to take part in the pilots the address to contact is at the end of this feature.

BASDA Utilities XML has been created by a core group of utilities including: @UK PLC; British Gas/Centrica; EDF; Laser Energy Buying Group; NPower; Scottish and Southern; and Total Gas and Power.

This is important for large energy buyers in the IT industry since they need to report their energy usage under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) and will shortly have to start paying £12 per ton for excess usage. The standard will allow automatic bill validation against energy management systems along with loading into all major financial systems.

However, finding out your electric bill whilst a major benefit for organisations with thousands of sites is just the start of the process, for most organisations the energy that they use directly is only 25 percent of their total energy usage.

Energy in the supply chain Central and local government have 77 percent of their carbon footprint in the energy used by their supply chain and the NHS supply chain carbon footprint has increased from 60 to 65 percent of their total. Due to the NHS’s success in reducing the direct energy usage and the overall usage so that the supply chain percentage of the total increased. Supply Chain carbon footprint is the carbon footprint of all the goods and services that an organisation uses. In the NHS’s case this is now the next area of focus and they have engaged @UK PLC to provide the detailed information down the individual products purchased.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol standards for supply chain and product carbon footprints were released back in October 2011, and BASDA Green XML implemented these standards the next month in November 2011, having worked in parallel to ensure that the implementation was available immediately after the release of the standard.

Currently there is only one organisation that is able to measure an organisation’s supply chain carbon footprint from the ground up by analysing all the individual products and services that the organisation purchases. Naturally it is British, the company www.vital-mag.net

is @UK PLC the BASDA member that is driving BASDA’s efforts in this area, along with the NHS carbon footprint for all goods and services. The Artificial Intelligence breakthroughs that enabled this to happen resulted in two PhDs for the University of Reading researchers Matt Brown and Paul Roberts who were based in @UK’s office for the project working with fellow researcher Dr Richard Barraclough, who already had his PhD. Professor Mark Bishop, chairman of the AISB regarded is it as the “most significant Artificial Intelligence Project of the decade” The NHS and the National Audit Office first used the technology to identify over £1 billion of potential saving in NHS Purchasing of Goods and Services. Contrary to popular opinion the NHS is one of the most efficient health services in the world and has a large amount of automatic ordering of goods and services. However the scaleis mind boggling at over four million products. This scale required the AI breakthroughs to identify all the matching products and potential savings.

A ground-up carbon footprint The other use for the AI and knowledge of all the products is in providing a groundup carbon footprint. The UK created the first standard for product carbon footprinting in the form of PAS 2050. This is based on process analysis. You draw a boundary eg, an area in a factory and measure all the items required to create the product, raw materials energy etc, and this gives you the carbon footprint.

PAS 2050 carbon footprints are very time consuming and expensive. One of the early adopters Tesco spend millions and concluded that to get their 70,000 products processed would to take centuries at the current rate. Fortunately there is another UK breakthrough that solves this problem.

PAS 2050 is not just very slow and expensive it is also inaccurate. Multiple pieces of research have shown that drawing a boundary results in truncation errors and an inaccurate result. The norm is that 30-50 percent of the carbon footprint will be outside of the boundary.

This boundary problem is solved via Nobel Prize winning economic input/output analysis. The leaders in applying this analysis

The final part in the puzzle for IT is new measurement tools that allow accurate measurement of the power and system load in datacentres. This automates the process of finding out the load on all your servers, along with the power consumption so that you can make intelligent choices around virtualisation and server consolidation.

March / April 2012 : VitAL 11

cover story

Fig 1: Concurrent thinking rack usage view

to carbon footprinting are another British organisation called Centre for Sustainable Accounting (CenSA) who are a spin off from the Stockholm Environment Institute at University of York. The international team was lead by Professor John Barrett of University of Leeds with support from the ISA at University of Sydney to provide a global set of input/ output analysis covering 95 countries in the world. @UK was able to combine the economic input/output analysis with its product knowledge to create hybrid carbon footprints.

Hybrid carbon footprints accelerate product carbon footprinting to provide more accurate carbon footprints at a fraction of the cost.

Findel Education was the first major supplier to have all its products carbon footprinted and the 46,000 products took less than six months to carbon footprint vs the five years it has taken to build up 1,500 products in the PAS 2050 registry.

Power in the datacentre The final part in the puzzle for IT is new measurement tools that allow accurate measurement of the power and system load in datacentres. This automates the process of finding out the load on all your servers, along with the power consumption so that you can make intelligent choices around virtualisation and server consolidation.

It is now possible to accurately balance the carbon required to build new servers vs the improved energy efficiency of the new servers so that you can see the complete payback.

12 VitAL : March / April 2012

However, the key to date centre efficiency is software performance not hardware layout, processor efficiency, PE ratio or having the latest and greatest SAN. Though clearly a 1U ten terrabyte flash SAN is going to use a fraction of the energy of a disk based SAN and have much higher performance.

A good example of software performance was AbD Serotec who had a high speed php/mysql content management system combined with a dotNet product catalogue and shopping basket. @UK provided a faster infrastructure to assist with the load, but benchmarking showed that the AbD Serotec system was overloaded with a load that was too small to measure on the @UK platform.

The reason for this is intelligent caching.

This allows millions of pages to be stored in RAM where they can be quickly accessed with minimal CPU load. This both speeds up applications minimises CPU and maximises system efficiency.

The UK is the home of the Carbon Disclosure Project, PAS 2050 and its successor hybrid carbon footprints. The NHS leads the way with the largest measured global carbon footprint back in 2008, which identified that 60 percent of the carbon footprint was in goods and services, and the first programme to reduce the carbon footprint of goods and services procured by the NHS. Our software industry association BASDA has put these leads into standards that enable the automatic exchange of sustainability information, and BASDA members such as

@UK PLC have provided the breakthroughs to enable low cost analysis of both the energy used by your IT and the energy required to create your hardware and software. So you can deliver the reductions that your business demands. VitAL Contact: BasdaGreenXMLConsultation@ ronaldduncan.com

About the author: Ronald Duncan is Chairman of the BASDA Green Special Interest Group.

He was previously a world cup ski racer with a best placing of 13th in the World Cup finals at Are in Sweden.

He was Chairman of the UK Ski and Snowboard Governing body and his interest in practical solutions for sustainability started with the RSA Carbon limited project where Fellows of the RSA measured and reduced their individual carbon footprints. It was clear in 2005 that only energy and travel were measureable and his goal was to make goods are services easily measureable since this is the bulk of individual and organisational carbon footprints.

www.vital-mag.net

VitAL SIGnS: LIFe In THe wORLD wITH IT

When 20 minutes can feel like a lifetime Steve White, senior consultant at Kepner-Tregoe, explores the issues companies need to consider when designing a support function,

The key to date centre efficiency is software performance not hardware layout, processor efficiency,

A

friend of mine recently discovered a dead body

Customer behaviour drives a separate client to have

in the sea, which could be reached only with

an excellent service Desk, but this is a business to

specialist equipment. His first aid training kicked in

consumer service – traditionally seen as low value, high

and with the ‘do not add yourself to the list of injured’

volume. The customers of this client have a very simple

rule of thumb in mind, he assessed the situation and

choice; call up and talk to someone for a fix or move

called 999. Then he waited.

patronage to a competitor. since the services provided

There are many ways for support organisations

are broadly similar to those of their competitors,

to structure themselves – and the pressures that

customer loyalty is only as good as the most recent

exert themselves to formulate a structure can come

interaction. They have recently changed service delivery

from many sources. Previous experience may have

model to offer customers an empowered service Desk

influence: “it’s how we were organised at the last place

where First Time Fix is key, and it will be interesting to

and that worked really well”. There is, of course, no

see how significantly their profits will be affected by

guarantee that the needs of the current employer are

increased customer retention.

the same as those of the last place.

Pe ratio or having the latest and greatest sAn. Though clearly a 1U ten terrabyte flash sAn is going to use a fraction of the energy of a disk based sAn and have much

(nPs) is a good metric for understanding whether

Cost, Performance’ triangle may also drive the result,

people will recommend a business, ‘ease of

as the amount of investment available may be so limited

doing business’ will indicate retention. Perhaps

that only a really low cost model is viable.

providing support to customers, and there is a

leadership provides a clear business strategy to their

renewed understanding that the quality of each

CXOs, and the CIO then crafts an IT strategy to support

interaction with the customer is critical to maintaining

this (which then trickles down to the offerings and

customer loyalty and maximising the Customer

configuration of the support organisation), there can

Lifetime Value.

be further realisations that come after a while. But when

In the emergency response business, my friend

using any given configuration, how will customers react?

could only turn to 999. There were traffic delays, so

A couple of my clients have internal support

20 minutes later he could hear sirens in the distance

organisations which have paid particular attention to

and was still waiting. Soon he was surrounded

the ‘Performance’ dimension of the triangle, arguably

by 28 emergency services professionals; cars,

for the same reasons – competition.

an ambulance, a lifeboat and a helicopter. In that

One of these supports a financial services organisation whose service Desk is empowered with both time and tools. with no maximum time, if they can fix the problem themselves they do.

Positive consequences – they learn the environment, the tools to support the organisation and get really good. Demand management is handled by they are in ‘log and flog’ mode. If it’s 4 pm on a Thursday, they are working to the same or higher level than their ‘level 2’, assisting customers, coaching each other and building skills. Their competition is a black economy of amateur sys-Admins fixing things for each other with the help of Google; costly both in direct costs and opportunity costs.

www.vital-mag.net

the rush to the bottom is over for some companies

even in a properly managed business, where the

changing the behaviour. If it’s 9.30 am on a Monday,

higher performance.

studies suggest that while net Promoter score

A squeeze on one or two of the sides of the ‘Time,

situation, he had no choice but to wait. when logging an IT-related call, during the 20

minutes that a support organisation can take to call back, the customer may have taken certain decisions or actions which could be costly in terms of loyalty, expense and lost income. when configuring a support organisation, understand not only the strategy of the business, but what the customers will do when faced with the results of your decision – and always take into account how much their actions may cost. The results could mean life or death for your business.

VitAL contact steve White at: stevescolumn@vital-mag.net March / April 2012 : VitAL 13

vital processes

14 VitAL : March / April 2012

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VitAL PROCesses

The sound of the crowd The supply chain must be prepared to become more ‘social’ with its operations, in order to drive competitive advantage and thrive in the longterm, says Karsten Horn, director international sales of the Inventory and Supply Chain Division at Inform. Here he discusses why crowd sourcing will shake up business processes in 2012.

I

NNOvATION AND managing talent are clear strategic focal points for CEOs today. One way that companies are unlocking innovation through knowledge and creativity is an approach known as crowd sourcing. This method enables a company to broadcast an issue to a wide-ranging and diverse audience – using a variety of social media and collaborative software solutions, enabling interaction and ultimately a resolution to the problem.

I strongly believe crowd sourcing is set to shake up business processes this year, and more companies will adopt it as a strategy. Organisations that have already employed this have experienced solutions to internal problems and innovation needs. 2012 presents a strategic opportunity for CeOs and leaders to champion a collaborative digital approach that will allow an organisation to reap the benefits of today’s communitycentric culture and instant communications.

Planning for today and tomorrow One area where crowd sourcing can have a huge impact on business operations is within the supply chain. In the past, many businesses have invested heavily in technology to improve process efficiency.

These investments have included traditional eRP platforms that allow companies to gain quick end-to-end visibility of the supply chain.

These systems do not, however, offer much support to evaluate the impact of risk on the supply chain. This often leaves www.vital-mag.net

managers making decisions supported by reports written with a monthly perspective – looking backwards at problems that have occurred rather than planning ahead and anticipating or managing them in the real time.

A lack of adequate risk evaluation leaves organisations exposed to higher costs, can have a negative impact on service levels, and leave a business open to significant fire fighting. Additionally, the savings made in improved efficiency at the operational level are often negated by the cost of a solution, such as urgent transport, in an emergency.

Instant feedback Crowd sourcing is a solution which offers CeOs a proactive real-time approach to supply chain management. It enables a business to react instantly to demand changes or problems and subsequently minimise the risk (and consequent impact) and potentially generate advantage from unforeseen events.

Crowd sourcing presents a potential treasure trove of influence and insight to a company’s changing environment – which can have immediate impact on core operations, such as supply chain management.

For example, there are an increasing number of social media tools, mobile and location services that make it simple for people to broadcast data about where they are and what they are doing. This means a plethora of real time information is

In my opinion, 2012 will see crowd sourcing become a key enabler for agile response and process handling, and CeOs and business leaders which begin to integrate it into their dayto-day operations will see the most benefit.

March / April 2012 : VitAL 15

VitAL PROCesses

constantly available, from pinpointing roads in need of repairs to which stores are out of stock on a particular product.

For businesses this real-time data could prove an invaluable aid alongside planning and forecasting technologies, to help deal with unexpected logistic issues such as motorway closures, air freight delays, disasters and extreme weather.

Access to this data can enable an organisation to react instantly by putting into place strategies.

As we approach the 2012 Olympics, organisations across the country will be thinking strategically about how to take full advantage. However, they will also be thinking practically about the impact the games will have across operations, as well as on the supply chain.

The Olympics are likely to cause a host of disruptions, particularly around travel. Taking advantage of the insight that crowd sourcing offers – by keeping abreast of communications on social networks, for example – will allow businesses to increase the flexibility and dynamism of their supply chains and enable quicker reactions to changing circumstances.

new crowd In my opinion, 2012 will see crowd sourcing become a key enabler for agile response and process handling, and CeOs and business leaders which begin to integrate it into their day-to-day operations will see the most benefit.

This means businesses must begin to establish ‘listening posts’ on various communication channels – such as the various social networks – to capture critical conversations that can drive process decisions within the supply chain.

Managers must filter these messages and identify those with the greatest relevance to operations. For example, picking up 16 VitAL : March / April 2012

on extreme weather alerts can help an organisation to react instantly and source alternative transport routes.

Crowd sourcing is an enlightening tool for managers to posses but it is equally as essential that companies are able to make informed long-term business decisions to support their longevity.

To do this, businesses need forecasting systems which provide accurate statistical information based upon historical sales and dynamic parameters that continue to learn. Additional information can then be layered on top of this base information to provide a clearer picture of likely demand.

I believe that data assimilated though crowd sourcing can then be used to support and verify the suggestions given by forecasting systems. For example, supply managers could combine logistics-related information such as road closures with demand forecast-related information, such as products that are trending and popular locations, which may cause spikes in product demand.

Having access to this over-arching information will allow supply chain managers to update both current and future planning parameters and improve the flexibility of the supply chain. This in turn may help companies to increase the availability of products, improve the effectiveness and optimisation of purchasing and stock levels and to make the right planning decisions at the right time.

I predict that 2012 will be the year businesses become more ‘social’ with their operations, in order to drive competitive advantage. Those organisations that effectively layer crowd sourcing over existing forecasting and planning solutions will drive real-time guidance and recommendations and achieve better business outcomes. VitAL www.inform-software.com

I predict that 2012 will be the year businesses become more ‘social’ with their operations, in order to drive competitive advantage.

Those organisations that effectively layer crowd sourcing over existing forecasting and planning solutions will drive real-time guidance and recommendations and achieve better business outcomes.

www.vital-mag.net

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VitAL MAnAGeMenT

Is there a gap in your IT? There is a new movement in IT that aims to straighten out the relationship between Development and Operations. Known as DevOps, it bridges the divide between Development, which concentrates on how the features and functionality of the software are pushed forward, and Operations with its focus on reliable performance and delivery of these applications.

David Hurwitz, SvP at Serena Software explains.

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vital management

Gartner reports that as software demands become more complex, and the teams working on these applications grow in number, the individual management practices for each stage of Development and Operations are being forced to evolve into more automated and linked up processes.

www.vital-mag.net

T

he waning tolerance for application errors and the faster pace at which software must be developed and delivered are already huge drivers to the introduction of new methodologies in Development and Operations. But to enable even faster hand-overs and meet these cost reduction targets, the intersection where Development meets Operations also requires a re-think in its own right.

A new movement is taking hold in IT that aims to deliver better communication, interaction and productivity between Development and Operations. Known as DevOps, the aim is to bring these two traditionally divided sides of the IT house closer together, bridging the divide between Development, which tends to concentrate on how features and functionality of the software are pushed forward, and Operations with its focus on reliable performance and delivery of these applications.

Given the different cultures and focus of the two functions, how realistic is it that the DevOps principle takes hold?

Three challenges to DevOps A first obvious challenge to DevOps is the way in which the handoff between Development and Operations is managed. Even though the trend is for companies to move to development automation, few can link all of the critical stages of the application delivery process. However, Gartner reports that as software demands become more complex, and the teams working on these applications grow in number, the individual management practices for each stage of Development and Operations are being forced to evolve into more automated and linked up processes. So the issues surrounding handoff might actually slowly

resolve themselves through sheer necessity.

A second challenge to DevOps is reliance upon manual process, which, in the case of release management, can leave more room for errors and therefore delays. Developers rely on manually updated scripts or deployments when the release task could in fact be automated. And here again, automation fits well into the DevOps concept. In fact, automation is what distinguishes DevOps from traditional systems administration. Application delivery strategies must move away from manual processes, looking to become better, faster and more efficient, and bottlenecks and dependencies must be eliminated.

Finally, the third challenge to DevOps is the wider ‘business versus IT’ argument. That is to say some companies see IT as a separate function to the rest of the business, not necessarily linked to the revenue generating aspects of their enterprise. However, there are indications that this view is diminishing and IT is no longer seen as ‘just’ taking place in the back office. Gradually companies are noticing the ‘business and IT’ argument, understanding that technology is necessary to create a more nimble enterprise and thereby boost sales and growth.

It is important that IT be ready to express itself more in terms of a front-line function and demonstrate how it can move the whole enterprise forward. Divisions between IT functions can have a negative impact not only on IT deliverables but also the service face of IT – the ‘IT Front Office’. However, an aligned, business focused face can improve the perception of IT within its organisation, helping to raise its role as a real business contributor. The kind of IT alignment brought about through the DevOps approach can benefit the business as a whole.

March / April 2012 : VitAL 19

vital management

What needs to happen?

Agility and market leadership

A two-pronged approach is needed in order for DevOps to become a functioning reality. Firstly, Development needs to configure software in such a way that Operations is able to make last minute modifications in software production.

Secondly, much greater automation must be used to support the release of the applications, particularly in the processes linking all of the relevant release stakeholders. This joined up approach characterises DevOps. Furthermore, a change in mind-set needs to happen within both functions: Development and Operations working with each other’s goals in mind. Development has to take into account the kind of engineering for longterm stability implemented by Operations.

Operations has to understand the development process, particularly if the development team uses agile methods. It must understand how to manage this potential flow of changes to applications or IT services coming out of development and be able to put them into production as seamlessly as possible.

While Operations remains the guardian of uptime and response time, a further priority of ‘application update agility’ should also be introduced. This priority demands greater cooperation from both sides of the house and strengthens the case for DevOps. For DevOps to be a success, both Development and Operations need to work together on this joint priority at both the tactical and the strategic level.

The value that DevOps sets out to achieve is attainable today by companies that put agility and market leadership first. The ability to quickly translate new feature needs and ideas into reality, instead of waiting weeks or months for updated software, keeps companies nimble and ahead of their competition. What is essential is to look at the tools and people you currently have in place and then orchestrate them across the whole applications delivery process.

Given the increased reliance on applications, the greater complexity in application development and the demand for increased accuracy a n d e f f i c i e n c y, D e v O p s i s t h e right approach to take. The handover between Development and Operations must be as smooth as possible. This can be achieved when both functions work more closely together and have an understanding of the goals each must achieve. A more joined up approach can also help keep those requesting the new applications in the loop, involving them at critical stages and making the likelihood of internal and external customer satisfaction much greater. The DevOps movement not only fills an obvious gap in the release management process, it helps IT deliver the results that business needs. VitAL www.serenasoftware.com

20 VitAL : March / April 2012

An aligned, business focused face can improve the perception of IT within its organisation, helping to raise its role as a real business contributor.

The kind of IT alignment brought about through the DevOps approach can benefit the business as a whole.

www.vital-mag.net

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VitAL MAnAGeMenT

We know where you are!

As more and more people allow their location data to be known to all and sundry via various apps and social networking sites, Rob Machin senior associate at business law firm DWF explains how businesses can use this location data legally and with confidence.

22 VitAL : March / April 2012

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vital management

B

usinesses are now better equipped than ever to deliver services based on a person’s location. Applications using this data already abound, and the number will only grow over time. The law in this area is also evolving and back in May 2011, the EU’s national privacy regulators put their heads together to come up with a detailed guidance note on the issue. With this in mind it is worth looking at the current position so that location data can be used legally and with confidence.

Pinpointing the data Before delving into the legal issues, it is worth clarifying that location data enables the geographic pinpointing of a device – such as a smartphone, computer tablet or telematics device in a car. However, in most situations it is not the device itself that businesses are interested in – it’s the person using it.

There are three main ways of using modern technology to capture location data. GPS systems are driven by a network of geostationary satellites, each broadcasting radio signals of its position and time. When a device with a GPS chip picks up enough of these signals, its coordinates on the globe can be calculated very precisely.

Mobile phone-based station data is another way of calculating locations. Mobile phone networks are divided up into geographic areas, which are monitored by one or more overlapping base stations. Each phone has a separate ID, and as it moves around with its user, it continually monitors the available base stations for their relative signal strengths.

As a result, a stream of data is collected by the network, which can be used to work out where the user is.

In a similar way, both commercial and domestic Wi-Fi access points can also be used to calculate a person’s whereabouts. Wi-Fi enabled products, such as smartphones and laptops, continually search for suitable signals, which, if compared to a known database of Wi-Fi access points, can be used to pinpoint where the device and its user are.

The most sophisticated applications can combine all of these sources of location www.vital-mag.net

data in real time to obtain the most accurate picture possible.

Know the law There are two main pieces of legislation in the UK that businesses need to be aware of when using location data. Firstly, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECRs), which were recently amended following EU reforms and cover a wide range of issues. With regards to location data, they predominantly set rules for telecoms companies, but these rules have a knock-on effect for other users of location data.

Secondly, the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), which, as many businesses will be aware, regulates the use of personal data.

Personal data has a specific statuary meaning, but legal guidance on this issue has stretched the definition so that it is now very broad.

So what are the key steps in using location data that companies need to consider?

1. Stop and reflect In most instances, it should be fairly clear to businesses whether or not they are using location data. However, it is wise to be wary of cases of incidental use. For example, businesses providing hosting or development services to a client who has location-based applications will have access to this data, even if they don’t intend on using it directly for their own business. Companies in such a situation need to proceed carefully. While incidental use may help mitigate any breach, it won’t allow them to duck compliance issues altogether.

2. Consider the source The origin of location data determines the steps required to achieve legal compliance.

It might come direct from end-user devices, telecoms providers and/or from third parties, or perhaps all three.

If businesses are based and operating in the UK, then they need to comply with the DPA. However, if companies and their servers are in a number of different countries, they may need to familiarise themselves with the laws of each of those countries and act accordingly.

3. What is being collected?

There are very few applications that actually collect ‘pure’ geographic location data in the sense of latitude and longitudes. Instead, they collect information which enables locations to be calculated. Whatever data businesses collect, they need to identify exactly March / April 2012 : VitAL 23

VitAL MAnAGeMenT

During the initial

what it is, where it came from and what it is being used for.

product and services

4. Where is data being used?

If businesses are based and operating in the UK, then they need to comply with the DPA. However, if companies and their servers are in a number of different countries, they may need to familiarise themselves with the laws of each of those countries and act accordingly.

The PeCRs apply to telecoms companies licensed in the UK, so businesses using data from a UK telecom network need to observe.

Businesses that use data derived from an overseas firm, will again need to meet the terms of the local laws.

development stage, businesses need to consider the implications of using location data and implement suitable processes for handling it. Otherwise, if a problem comes to light, companies face having to rectify their position retrospectively, which can be expensive.

24 VitAL : March / April 2012

5. anonymised data The majority of companies prefer to work with anonymised data if possible, as it is exempt from privacy regulations. However, it is very difficult to create and collect data that is 100 percent anonymous. In order for information to be truly anonymous for legal compliance purposes, it must be impossible to distinguish one individual from another by looking at the information, or any other information that is reasonably likely to be obtained over time. Avoiding storing names and personal details is not enough to do this, for example, unless assigned random identifiers, device ID codes are alone enough to trigger compliance obligations.

6. check for consent If location data is not anonymised, it will almost certainly be classified as ‘personal data’, meaning it will be regulated by the DPA. while end user consent is not the only means of lawful processing under the act, it is likely to be the main one available. This issue is most important if businesses obtain some or all of their data direct from the end users’ devices. In such cases, companies need to obtain and manage end user consents, both for themselves and to those that they pass the data on to.

Under the PeCRs, consent is also the only way in which location data that has not been anonymised can be passed on from telecoms companies to third parties.

Companies using data from telecoms firms need to look closely at their approach to consents (more on this below).

7. Do due diligence If some or all of a business’ location data is provided to them from a telecoms company, they will need to engage in a due diligence exercise to ensure the telecoms company has complied with the PeCRs and that they can lawfully use the data for the purposes they envisage.

If some or all of the data is provided through an intermediary organisation, the business’ due diligence exercise is potentially even more complicated. A risk-based view is sensible here. If businesses are using location data on behalf of someone else to provide services to them, then their risks in the event of a legal breach in the chain of data transmission may be minimal.

However, if they are using location data for their own purposes, they will need to be more careful. Ideally, businesses will need to be able to trace the origins of the location data and check the legal position along each step in the chain. In any case, they will need to get some strong contractual assurances that they can use their data legally from their providers.

Due diligence can be an awkward issue to address, especially at the outset of a commercial relationship. However, it is important to understand the base position. Customers and the media are very interested in privacy compliance at the moment. If they start asking questions, businesses need to have answers available in short order if they are to demonstrate professionalism.

8. getting the right end user consent where a businesses is relying on end user consent to use location data, this consent has to be prior, specific and informed. To achieve this, the company should provide a user with information about the type of data that is being collected, what it is being used for, how long it will be used for and if it is going to be passed on to any third parties.

Businesses need to present this information in a clear and comprehensive manner, www.vital-mag.net

VitAL MAnAGeMenT

using language that can be easily understood by a non-technical audience. It’s also worth noting that end users can withdraw their consent at any time, so companies need to have a process in place to deal with this.

9. Dealing with queries As location data is likely to be personal data regulated by the DPA, an individual could submit a subject access request and ask a business to provide them with all the data they hold on them. Again, this information needs to be in an easy-tounderstand format and companies need to consider how they would deal with such requests.

10. there’s no time like the present During the initial product and services development stage, businesses need to consider the implications of using location data and implement suitable processes for handling it. Otherwise, if a problem comes to light, companies face having to rectify their position retrospectively, which can be expensive.

This ‘pain’ would be in addition to any reputational damage, costs in dealing with disgruntled end users and any regulatory investigations, which could result in a £500,000 fine (or more in certain sectors eg, financial services). Uncovering such problems in a business sale scenario would at best be grounds for some substantial indemnities, and at worst could be a potential deal killer.

overall, remember, remember when handling location data, it’s important to remember that it is people who are the main concern – not gadgets. It’s also worth remembering that location data isn’t just about longitude and latitude. It involves device and other ID codes, radio signals, base stations, wi-Fi, and databases. These points are easily lost behind the benefits offered by location data, but are key to understanding the approach taken by UK and wider eU law in this area.

If businesses take the necessary upfront steps and precautions to manage their location data then they could save a lot of hassle and expense further down the line. VitAL www.vital-mag.net

when handling location data, it’s important to remember that it is people who are the main concern – not gadgets. It’s also worth remembering that location data isn’t just about longitude and latitude. It involves device and other ID codes, radio signals, base stations, wi-Fi, and databases.

March / April 2012 : VitAL 25

VitAL sUPPORT

The IT SLA versus real life Service level agreements: simple, logical, neat and mutual, but also idealistic, flawed, commonly disrespected, widely misunderstood and often disregarded. Noel Bruton squares the triangle.

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A

Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a formal document acknowledged by a service provider and a service consumer stating the duties of both parties to the agreement in terms of delivered services and ser vice levels and customer reciprocation or remuneration. It usually consists of a set of described services, the rights and duties of both parties to the agreement and at the back, a schedule putting numbers on those services, including specific performance targets, with exceptions allowing for what proportion of the stated target is actually acceptable.

On the basis of that description, the IT department announces in writing that it treats requests with a given set of priorities, and that it will respond and resolve problems within stated target times. The customer can then measure the provider’s actual performance against those stated targets and if the targets are met, the service is thus scientifically acknowledged to be satisfactory.

Simple; logical; neat; mutual, all those things.

Oh and in terms of its applicability to IT, often idealistic, flawed, commonly disrespected, widely misunderstood and often disregarded.

The SLA process is a veritable steeplechase, with refusals at every hurdle. And despite the size of the field (in terms of the numbers of IT departments operating in the belief that an SLA is in charge) there are surprisingly few finishers, and some of those are riderless – the SLA may be running, but there may no longer be anybody holding the reins.

Which is a shame because the SLA is based on sound intention, but does not always deliver in real life.

Quantifying the deliverables It is clear that by quantifying the service deliverables, the consumer, in our case the computer users, accrue an obvious benefit.

But a well designed SLA is not one-sided, for it benefits the producer too. Given agreed quantities of demand and defined acceptable service levels, the service manager can effectively plan his processes and staffing to produce service as required. In theory, this should ensure a constant match of demand with ability to supply, so everybody’s happy. www.vital-mag.net

In practice, there is often another governing rule, not mentioned in the SLA, which precludes this reciprocation. That rule is set by financiers who, regardless of what the SLA says, may limit the expenditure on IT support staff. This limit means the provider is not entirely in control of its ability to deliver.

Of course planning to deliver a service should take account of available funds, but when these are governed outside of consideration of the SLA, the effect can render the SLA meaningless, stymied by a force out with the SLA process. Service manager, it does not matter how good your planning is if some otherwise uninvolved authority arbitrarily removes your ability to implement it.

One of the benefits of a published SLA is that service level expectations are set on both sides. Expectation management is crucial to good service. The customers understand what level of service the company has acknowledged it can afford, and so knows what to expect. So they do not make unreasonable demands, and they are neither surprised nor disappointed by the service level they ultimately receive. This means that adequate customer satisfaction is actually built into the service process. The provider will always succeed, because it always delivers what the SLA has told the customers they can reasonably expect.

A fantastic ideal Except that this is more often than not little more than a fantastic ideal. Let’s be practical – how many of IT’s actual clients even know than the SLA exists, let alone the details of its provisions? Has Doreen in Accounts ever read it? What about her boss? Probably not, and thus has the SLA had little or no effect in setting expectations at the point where the service is actually judged.

Poor Doreen, all she has to go on in terms of service expectations is the standing instruction that if she has a problem with her computer or telephone, she should call the IT Service Desk. She probably doesn’t know that the SLA says she will receive a response in one hour and a fix within two working days.

All she knows is that she cannot work and that her boss is breathing down her neck, so

Government is now The SLA process is a veritable steeplechase, with refusals at every hurdle. And despite the size of the field (in terms of the numbers of IT departments operating in the belief that an SLA is in charge) there are surprisingly few finishers, and some of those are riderless.

March / April 2012 : VitAL 27

vital support

Complaints don’t fix anything. Often, they do little more than erode an already fragile relationship. Get beyond the complaints and have your SLA embody rectification.

anything less than immediacy of reaction is rubbish. The acceptability of delivered service is quantal by nature – there is no sliding scale – it’s either good enough or it’s not. Even if the support service meets the targets in the SLA, Doreen and her boss may still judge the provision to be unfit for purpose depending on their local experience, far removed from the SLA’s hypothetical output.

Doreen’s boss wasn’t involved in the initial discussions about the SLA. He was too far down that hierarchy, and there are so many managers at his level, that it would have been impossible to consult them all and take account of their service level expectations.

The SLA will have been negotiated at the very highest level in the organisation, by people who do not even know Doreen exists, let alone what she does for a living, how she uses the computer and thus what her exact service needs are. So there is a strong possibility that Doreen and the hundreds of others like her were not taken into account in the negotiations.

You can see the effects of this hierarchical lack of information everywhere – eg, the SLA planners set four-hour response-time targets, because that appears to be cheaper than staffing the service to respond in ten minutes – but the cost to the corporation in terms of Doreen’s lost productivity in that time, multiplied by the frequency at which that happens on a corporate scale, outweighs by factors the cost of a couple of extra support technicians. But hey, we didn’t know, and in any case, why should we care?

After all, that manifold loss is on somebody else’s budget… Was the SLA intended to be a meaningful document or just a bureaucratic tick in a box?

Mutually beneficial The point of any agreement is that it must be mutual – beneficial to both parties. But the typical SLA tends to be a one-sided, demand-only document. It stipulates that the IT department shall deliver the following service levels. But what does the IT department get in return? It gets to avoid being outsourced for a little while longer, perhaps? It gets to keep its job, maybe? If this is a true ‘Agreement’, what role does the service-consuming user community take in the service delivery process? It is usually a passive one, of demanding services but having no other responsibility or role in service delivery. The costs of production lie solely with the provider.

It didn’t have to be like that. To minimise unnecessary and costly demand, the SLA could, for example, have compelled the users to attain a certain level of technical 28 VitAL : March / April 2012

competence. In guaranteeing service levels, it could contain the proviso that the Schedule should apply only up to a given level of demand and, if this is exceeded, then the judgement of service performance is invalidated. It could compel the users to undertake to be at their desk when the follow-up call or technician arrives to make the repair, so as not to waste provider resources.

That is one of the bases for SLA failure. If the IT support process and staff quantity are static and governed, then so must be the level of demand or else the whole company suffers. If the level of demand can be flexible, then so must be IT Support’s ability and authority to meet it. You can’t have your cake and your halfpenny. Your Grandma told you that. Don’t forget it when you review your SLA.

Performance The SLA commonly has provisions for reporting the performance of the service providers. However, the purpose of this policing and review process is often lost.

The reports may say how bad things are, but not always do they offer a vehicle for what must be done about it. I’ve seen too many SLA review meetings that serve as little more than an additional opportunity to reiterate and even amplify the complaints about the service. Complaints don’t fix anything. Often, they do little more than erode an already fragile relationship. Get beyond the complaints and have your SLA embody rectification.

In practice, most organisations know instinctively when their SLA is flawed. But instead of fixing the SLA, they just ignore the thing. On one hand, this can lead to a relaxed atmosphere where the service is adequate, but could be better, but not so much that the users need to actively enjoin in forcing improvements. But on the other, a valuable opportunity to govern service costs and provision may thus have been wasted, along with the effort in composing the SLA in the first place. In practice, the use of the IT service SLA is a question of striking a balance between relaxed adequacy and managed professionalism. VitAL Noel Bruton is an independent consultant and trainer, who conducts client projects to improve IT service performance. He is the author of ‘How to Manage the IT Helpdesk – a guide for User Support and Call Centre Managers’ (second edition, ISBN 07506 49011) and of a Website at www.noelbruton.com. Contact him on 01559 370270 or noel@noelbruton.com. www.vital-mag.net

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VitAL MAnAGeMenT

Contactless communication In an increasingly wireless world, near-field communication (NFC) offers a bridge between the physical and digital worlds. Jon Callas, CTO of Entrust outlines the potential security challenges as well as the considerable opportunities of NFC.

N

EAR-FIELD COMMUNICATION (NFC) technology bridges the physical and digital worlds, in a world where convenience is key, and users expect to be able to action tasks at the touch of a button. In the future, NFC will prove critical to interconnecting the ‘internet of things’ – appliances, cars, houses, Tvs and mobile devices. However there are various security challengers to consider, for example when your phone makes contact with another device and they start talking, how does the other device know you meant to tap it? On the other hand, given that NFC brings devices closer to one another, could it in fact be used as means to tighten security?

30 VitAL : March / April 2012

nFC has already made its way into our lives, with applications such as mobile payments, public transportation, medical record access and event ticketing, being tested in some cities.

A more common, everyday usage is swiping an Oyster card against a machine in a tube station. so, how does it work? In the same way that wi-Fi is a wireless network cable, nFC is a wireless protocol for smart cards; a general-purpose, short-range communications protocol. It allows two devices that are very close together, to ‘talk’ over a short-range wireless link.

In the world of mobility, nFC gives users added functionality and ease of use, and www.vital-mag.net

vital management

pretty much every mobile vendor is rolling out plans for NFC-enabled devices. ABI Research predicts that by 2016, 552 million handsets will have NFC embedded, meaning that it’s unlikely we’ll even be able to buy a mobile phone without NFC in the near future.

The rise of consumerisation With the rise of consumerisation, many NFC pilot schemes are consumer facing, so if mobile vendors building NFC technology want it to take off, they know they will need to really focus on end user requirements. If ABI’s figures play out as expected, NFC is set to become the key enabling technology behind mobile payments, and going further, it could even replace the wallet. However if mobile devices are set to replace physical applications - such as credit cards, ID’s, cash, loyalty cards and business cards – it will be crucial to ensure those devices are secure.

Using a mobile device for mobile payments, the communication between the device and the card reader on the paired system will be completed using NFC, providing a similar experience to that of swiping or inserting a credit card. The simple act of tapping the mobile device will be the main action of giving consent; however in higher risk or expensive transactions, this can be combined with PIN verification. It will be best practice that the sensitive information needed to complete the transaction will be stored on the secure element embedded on the mobile device, and this will likely be central to those transactions that require strong identity proof. The process of a mobile payment is the same as using a chip credit card, in that the infrastructure, other than the card reader on the system it’s talking to, already exists. Mobile devices can be set up to ensure they won’t respond to random requests, but will require a specific app to be running, or some sort of verification to be used before a payment is made. With all this in mind, it’s possible to design a user experience www.vital-mag.net

of convenience, whilst making security more robust with a phone than with a card.

Not just a transactional enabler NFC is not just used as a transactional enabler, although currently this is one of its most common uses. At a recent Dutch art festival, for example, each installation had an NFC station that attendees could use to rate exhibits with one to five hearts, as well as assemble their own festival poster with the works they liked.

There are also various ways in which it’s set to be used as a security enabler, such as using a phone as a car key, or with a door lock that has NFC. For businesses, there will be further opportunities to use NFC as a means to bolster the security infrastructure and bridge the gap between physical and logical access to corporate environments. For example, when we start seeing NFC in laptops, they will be used as website security management tools. NFC will enable security to be more consolidated, so that employees can use their mobile device to both access buildings, as well as the corporate network. This will reduce the need for smart cards and other physical authentication methods, offering convenience and mitigating the risk of lost or stolen devices.

NFC is used in many different ways, for many different purposes, offering scope and diverse opportunities to do things quicker and more conveniently. It’s certainly changing the ways in which devices interact with one another, and gives users more functionality.

However in the future, it will do a lot more than simply enable transactions to happen; it will be used as a means to access critical systems and might even open your front door or your car. This means that there will be less physical elements to worry about – keys, wallets, credit cards – and for businesses, it will serve as a means to bolster the security infrastructure against advanced threats. VitAL www.entrust.com

NFC is set to become the key enabling technology behind mobile payments, and going further, it could even replace the wallet. However if mobile devices are set to replace physical applications – such as credit cards, ID’s, cash, loyalty cards and business cards – it will be crucial to ensure those devices are secure.

March / April 2012 : VitAL 31

VitAL MAnAGeMenT

Transforming data overload into information Morgan Sheehy Sheehy, chief operating officer at Nuix, outlines how good information governance practices can help companies transform a data overload into information.

A

S THE amount of electronic data that surrounds business grows exponentially, businesses often find themselves in the position where they have more data, but not necessarily more information.

One of the biggest culprits when it comes to creating excessive amounts of data is the vast quantities of email being created and sent. Then there are the people

32 VitAL : March / April 2012

who then save, reply to and forward that communication to multiple persons. email is growing exponentially, at a rate of 60 percent annually. This problem is compounded by backup and archiving processes which facilitate the build-up of electronic data, making it more complicated to undertake a meaningful and comprehensive search for any specific information when it needs to be found. www.vital-mag.net

vital management

The rapid increase in the amount of electronic data has intensified a focus on establishing good ‘information governance’ within businesses. Gartner defines information governance as ‘the specification of decision rights and an accountability framework to encourage desirable behaviour in the valuation, creation, storage, use, archival and deletion of information. It includes the processes, roles, standards and metrics that ensure the effective and efficient use of information in enabling an organisation to achieve its goals.’

So, while companies stand to benefit from increased visibility across risk and improved business productivity, good information governance also sees to issues of compliance, especially if there is a threat of legal proceedings looming near. In litigation, the race to find the relevant facts can shape an entire case strategy, but data backups were created for disaster recovery purposes.

Archives were created to store large volumes of email and data. Neither was designed for indexing or the search for information.

The problem is not too big For many businesses, the perceived obstacle to achieving good information governance is that the problem appears too big. When presented with legal proceedings, some businesses have even been known to accept out-of-court settlements or fines because it would cost less than finding and producing relevant information to prove their case. Their data stores are so large and diverse it is easier to buy more storage and turn a blind eye than create an information governance culture and programme. However, avoidance will only create bigger problems in the long run and businesses are increasingly being held to account for their data management.

Ignoring these requirements can be costly, as the defendants of Earles v Barclays Bank Plc (2009) found out to their dismay.

Despite successfully defending their case, the defendants were handed a large financial penalty because the judge ruled that Barclays failed to disclose documents directly relevant to the central issue. That it was too difficult to comply with the document retention requirement and to always be in a state of litigation-readiness, was deemed not excuse enough.

This case highlights that there is a growing judicial awareness in the UK (and indeed, awareness outside the legal profession) www.vital-mag.net

that the technology exists to both manage the in-house storage and indexing issues of information governance, as well as the disclosure exercise.

At all times, businesses are expected to be able to confirm what information they retain, how long it is retained for, where it is stored and who has access to it. When it comes to legal proceedings, they should also be able to produce all the relevant data requested within a reasonable amount of time and be able to commit to a time-frame for doing so from the out-set.

Transforming data into information The means to adequately address the issue exist – it is a combination of people, processes and technology. Smart companies should establish an effective data management plan, including document retention policies and a litigation response plan. Employees beyond the IT and legal departments need to be made aware of these policies and the means must exist to police them.

Technology currently available on the market also supports businesses to gain control over the massive amounts of unstructured information and communication within every business division or, in the case of multinational corporations, every office. Every piece of communication, and all the relevant attachments, can be automatically and regularly indexed to be available for instant search when required for litigation, compliance or internal investigations.

Furthermore, to go back to the possibility of legal proceedings, technology can also be set up to identify suspicious content and bring it to the attention of relevant executives so they can follow up and find further facts.

Email monitoring technologies have been around for years, but the latest information governance technology provides an opportunity for companies to dig deeper.

This technology can identify anomalies, perform sophisticated searches and escalate examples of communication to the appropriate levels when information may pose a risk to an organisation’s reputation and authority.

In short, companies should be better at managing the information they store, and do so before the data spirals into out of control into messy and potentially harmful time bombs.

Smart companies should establish an effective data management plan, including document retention policies and a litigation response plan. Employees beyond the IT and legal departments need to be made aware of these policies and the means must exist to police them.

VitAL

www.nuix.com March / April 2012 : VitAL 33

VitAL MAnAGeMenT

Making the case for eDisclosure If you have to have a digital investigation in your organisation, Frank Coggrave of digital forensics expert Guidance Software explains how you can minimise the cost and disruption.

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EWS INTERNATIONAL’S very public fall from grace, and the ensuing and ongoing legal wrangle which engulfed the company and its employees, and resulted in the closure of The News of the World, has served as a salutary warning to many organisations.

It’s shown the critical need to keep a keen eye on what’s happening in every corner of the business on the basis that ignorance is no defence. The purpose of this article is to examine how, by using the latest e-disclosure 34 VitAL : March / April 2012

technology both before, during and after an investigation, companies can reduce the pain, cost and time involved in an investigation, as well as provide a firm basis on which to make well informed and timely decisions regarding the appropriate strategy to adopt.

A moving target Digital investigations come in many shapes and forms. some are internal – HR-related such as sexual harassment, wrongful dismissal, charges of inappropriate behaviour , or fraud, www.vital-mag.net

vital management

some are external – litigation or compliance related. In all cases the key to acting quickly to minimise disruption, cost and reputational damage to an organisation is for them to quickly assess the basis for the case. The key to that requires reviewing all relevant electronic documents wherever they are stored.

However, the process of discovering what data exists, and where it resides, is one which is becoming ever more challenging. It’s compounded by the proliferation of devices and storage options available. Any e-discovery process needs to examine desktops, laptops, servers and mobile devices – both in the business and outside of it. From a storage standpoint this might also include USB devices, iPads, smart phones as well as information in the cloud such as the popular Dropbox application.

The challenge this represents is made greater by the recent trend towards the consumerisation of IT, which has significantly blurred the boundaries between business and personal devices. Keeping tabs on all these devices is a massive challenge when you consider the ease with which information can be lost, as evidenced by the fact that last year 17,000 USB pens were left in British dry cleaners. What’s more we need to get our arms around all digital information across the entire organisation; not just emails alone, but instant messages, documents and even unstructured data including that which might have found its way onto social networking sites or forums.

Speed is everything When dealing with compliance or regulatory issues the task of establishing appropriate processes also needs to factor in the changing nature of guidelines and laws. New directives such as the recently announced Bribery Act, which came into force on July 1st 2011, may require new or revised processes and software that is flexible and easy to use can significantly lighten the burden of compliance on a company. However, whether the catalyst is external or internal pressures, what is of paramount importance is getting your house www.vital-mag.net

in order from a data standpoint and not waiting for the spectre of an investigation before putting the appropriate measures in place.

The first rule of e-discovery is, not surprisingly, therefore to ‘know where your data is located’.

Conducting a thorough data audit and purging any sensitive or critical information found in inappropriate places can save much heartache later in the day. There is also a direct correlation between how quickly you can ring fence all data pertinent to any investigation and the speed with which you can make an informed decision about the most appropriate strategy. For most lawyers going to court is considered a failure and a loss of control.

Making an early decision, based on having access to all relevant electronic evidence, can empower company executives to make better decisions from a position of strength.

E-Discovery can dramatically reduce the amount of data for legal counsel to review by automatically searching for parameters such as time and date and a sophisticated set of relevant search terms. It can also help to implement the legal hold process of informing and questioning custodians and monitoring and collating their responses, with minimal interruption to working processes.

Having both clearly defined e-discovery processes in place, as well as using cuttingedge technology, can only minimise the negative impact on productivity of employees and executives. It can also put the company back in control of the process and provide the best opportunity of making the optimal decisions for the company and its employees.

Further, it allows your executives or legal representatives to negotiate from a position of strength, armed with all relevant data to support their case.

Conversely, a company that relies on manual processes or ill-suited technology can find themselves embroiled in lengthy investigations that typically suck up the time and resources of employees and senior executives spanning multiple divisions – typically HR, legal, IT and finance groups will all be involved to some degree. Even at the end of the painstaking collation of data, information may be

The key to acting quickly to minimise disruption, cost and reputational damage to an organisation is for them to quickly assess the basis for the case. The key to that requires reviewing all relevant electronic documents wherever they are stored.

March / April 2012 : VitAL 35

vital management

What is irrefutable however is the importance of being forearmed

Key questions to ask to assess how well prepared you are for a digital investigation: 1. Do you know where all data is stored around your organisation?

2. Do any of your employees store data in the cloud using services like Dropbox?

3. Have you developed a data retention policy for your organisation?

4. Is that policy clearly communicated and enforced to all your employees?

5. Do you have technology in place to automate the enforcement of this policy?

and forewarned of

6. Do you have a clear process in place for e-discovery?

7. Are you able to quickly and easily adapt your process to accommodate

impending litigious or

new regulations or laws?

8. Is your e-discovery process able to capture all types of unstructured data as well as more traditional ones like emails and Microsoft documents?

regulatory issues and having the processes

9. Are you confident that you could easily assimilate all documentation relevant to a litigious process within hours rather than days?

10. Are you confident that you could present documentation if needed in a format that would be acceptable to a court of law?

and technology in place to snub out any smoking gun before it has the chance to seriously disrupt your business.

incomplete and inconsistent or not in an appropriate format for presentation in a court of law. Having completed the initial process of collating all information, the next stage of de-duplicating, processing, reviewing and removing and redacting privileged information can also tie up valuable resources which can also be circumvented with the use of e-disclosure software.

The bathtub in the loft Ultimately, of course, all pertinent documentation must be reviewed by legal counsel but an efficient process supported with the right technology can minimise the leg work and time required in preparation, allowing you to focus instead on analysing the relevant documentation and making an informed recommendation. That’s why my next ‘top tip’ is to ensure that your company has a well designed data retention policy that is published and communicated to all employees. Establishing clear parameters regarding what data needs to be retained, and for what length of time, limits the amount of information that would need to be searched in any digital investigation, as well as reducing enterprise storage costs. Many organisations fail to take this step and end up squirreling away data that is never likely to be needed much in the way that my wife continues to store our children’s baby bath in the loft even though the children are now in their twenties. Having defined and published your data retention

36 VitAL : March / April 2012

policy, enforce it across your organisation.

This, once again, can be automated with the appropriate software which can help monitor and report back on non-compliant data.

Hackgate So let us return in closing to the ill-fated News International as a case in point. We could surmise that if they had applied a well defined and properly enforced ESI policy they might have been able to establish early on the scale and scope of the issue and whether a problem actually existed well before the police were involved in the investigation. This would have allowed them to start damage limitation measures early on and make informed decisions that didn’t appear as if they were obfuscating the matter.

Instead, circumstances have got out of the company’s control and the brand was so damaged as to cause the closure of the News of the World. If the executives had been able to ascertain the nature of the problem early on and work out a cohesive strategy that nipped the problem in the bud before it spiralled out of control, the story might have had a different ending. What is irrefutable however is the importance of being forearmed and forewarned of impending litigious or regulatory issues and having the processes and technology in place to snub out any smoking gun before it has the chance to seriously disrupt your business. VitAL www.guidancesoftware.com www.vital-mag.net

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Service Desk and IT Support show: stand 310 Service Management Simplified

VitAL PROCesses

How social media has levelled the playing ďŹ eld in the workplace Social media technology has provided a platform to identify, encourage and reward the ‘super’ contributors within an organisation.

Amy Grenham asks is your business ready to go social?

S

OCIAL MEDIA has moved on a long way in a short time, nowhere more so than in our business lives. What may have been a tick box addition to a businesses marketing plan a year ago, is now at the top of the agenda, and the effect on our workplace is revolutionary. The principles of social media and the business tools built on this foundation are creating a brand new playing field, and a new set of rules.

38 VitAL : March / April 2012

The internet as a meritocracy A quarter of the time we spend online is on social networking sites. Giants such as Facebook and Twitter are dominating the market with Facebook now surpassing Google as the most visited website. what is really interesting here, is seeing the effect that growing up with these technologies has had on the generation entering the workplace today. social media, with its world of peer ranking and idea sharing has created www.vital-mag.net

vital processes

a brand new perspective on how we work and collaborate. The fact that ideas compete on an equal footing is now a given, and if you’ve got a contribution to make, let’s hear it. It’s not who you know, or where you went to university anymore that gives you your credibility. It can more likely be attributed to your peer approval.

Social moved to mainstream In the view of Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. com, these attitudes to how we work and collaborate reached a tipping point in 2011, the point at which, in his words, “Social moved to mainstream”. As far as he was concerned the world was made up of social individuals who enjoy using tools to connect and engage, whether at home or work. Put this notion at the heart of your organisation, allow each individual a platform to make a relevant contribution, and the results would speak for themselves.

Last year Marc Benioff was ranked by Forbes as the world’s highest value CEO and Salesforce.com as the world’s most innovative company. So how did they do it, and how did they put the principles of social media to work in their business?

The turning point came in 2006 when Salesforce.com recognised they needed to kick start their business after reaching a point of stagnation. In order to return to the firm’s core values of nimble innovation, they would need to embrace a radically different set of management techniques. In practice this meant major and fundamental changes, in line with the principles of the emerging internet meritocracy: - Managers ceased to play the role of controller and became enablers, allowing self organizing teams to become accountable for their own results.

- Individuals were notable for their contribution, not their rank.

- With more emphasis on the contribution of the individual, rather than the manager, training and development was seen as key to success. www.vital-mag.net

- Equipping the team with the most up to date methodology, empowered each member of the organisation to play their role to the full.

- The old ‘information is power’ maxim no longer held: Salesforce.com embraced a principle of total openness.

- Everyone had access to all of the information available on any given development project, all of the time.

Are you ready for the ‘Social Enterprise’?

Salesforce.com has coined a new term for this type of business model, ‘The Social Enterprise’. The company’s director of product marketing, Xabier Ormazabal, describes it as, “the journey companies are taking to make all of their internal and external processes inherently social”. It’s an approach to management that flows right through the organisation’s structure, and right into the heart of their technology platform. It is their suite of products that are leading the market, providing businesses with the tools to create their own social enterprise.

“Nowhere else on the market at present will you find an enterprise application that embodies the principles of being mobile, social and open to this degree, taking every element of the business and giving it one dynamic platform on which to work,” says Ormazabal. “The question that we need to ask any business before adopting this platform is usually, are you ready to work in a new way?”

Out of Salesforce.com’s product suite, Chatter is probably the one product that best embodies the changing attitudes in the workplace. If you look on the website you will see it described as ‘A collaborative application for the enterprise to connect and share information with people at work in real-time’.

In practice, it’s the tool that unites every member of the workforce, allowing free exchange of ideas, documents, information, updates, and tearing up the management ‘need to know’ approach as it goes. It runs right through the heart of every division of a business, allowing a platform for

“It has also allowed our own employees to shine. Opening up information across the organisation to all, any member of the team can assist in solving the day to day project issues saving time and money, ultimately producing better more informed results.”

March / April 2012 : VitAL 39

vital processes

It’s an exciting time for business right now and to dismiss the social media trend as hype would be a mistake.

Social media platforms are changing the world all around us, giving individuals the ability to form communities, collaborate and make their voice heard like never before.

co-workers to collaborate on an equal footing.

Sound familiar?

A new approach It’s true to say that much of the Salesforce.com offering is not unique. Marc Benioff is a massive supporter of Facebook and it’s difficult not to class Chatter as ‘Facebook for business’. The truth is that Chatter has important differences which make it a business tool in its own right, more fit for purpose than Facebook. The point is that Benioff recognises that each of these technology platforms play a crucial role. If your customer is tweeting that they are unhappy with the service provided by your hotel chain, then harness that information and act upon it. Provide a forum for your fans to talk about your brand and then monitor the results carefully for business advantage.

Within the work place, give your employees equal access to all the information, a platform on which to contribute, and get the best from their collaboration.

As Christopher Lewis, a developer at Salesforce.com puts it, “The introduction of Chatter has facilitated direct communication between all employees within an organisation.

If someone in an entirely different team has an idea or problem that I feel I could make a useful contribution to, I can make it directly and easily. Before social enterprise tools like chatter the chances of me being aware of such problems, let alone voice an opinion on them was somewhat low. The user’s role within the organisation has little relevance, there are no longer the barriers of bureaucracy to fight through to communicate with more senior personnel.”

A new culture Desynit is an IT consultancy delivering Salesforce.com implementation and integration. It has also adopted the platform as its own business operating system. After over ten years of working with more traditional software providers, the experience has blown away old pre-conceptions of what it means to work with a technology platform.

Gary McGeorge, director at Desynit, has seen first-hand the benefits of greater collaboration: “Developing on the underlying technology platform has been a revelation.

Over the past few years we have strived to

40 VitAL : March / April 2012

adopt modern agile software development practices and techniques. The tools and technologies available within salesforce.com have contributed towards more iterative, goal oriented, customer driven projects that are delivered quickly and with higher adoption rates. By opening up chatter to our customers it increases their ownership of the solutions as well as identifying and resolving issues expediently.

“It has also allowed our own employees to shine. Opening up information across the organisation to all, any member of the team can assist in solving the day to day project issues saving time and money, ultimately producing better more informed results.”

The App Exchange The AppExchange is the first online marketplace for cloud computing applications.

Businesses and individuals can list their cloud products and services here for free, complete with demos, free trials and support information. Customers post reviews straight back to the AppExchange, so if you want to get your app on the top spot, you are going to need a genuinely good product.

Whether you are a big name brand, or an individual developer, your success is 100 percent yours. It’s an exciting time for business right now and to dismiss the social media trend as hype would be a mistake. Social media platforms are changing the world all around us, giving individuals the ability to form communities, collaborate and make their voice heard like never before.

Businesses are slowly getting the message – they’ve got to start listening. Not only within their own organisation but also and perhaps more importantly to their customers. They need to engage with customers in mutually beneficial conversations to enhance/develop their products and resolve issues at a faster rate. The technology to facilitate these conversations is now ready and available.

The pace of change we are seeing now would suggest that Salesforce.com offers us a glimpse of what’s round the corner.

There is every chance that this new approach to business technology could make the workplace as adaptable, innovative and levelling as the internet itself. VitAL www.vital-mag.net

Your route to success For a smarter way to further your IT service management career, follow our new career path to:

Find out more at www.bcs.org/vital © BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, is the business name of The British Computer Society (Registered charity no. 292786) 2012

01319/PDS/AD/2012

• understand your options for progression • identify your training and development opportunities • make the right decisions in your service management career

VitAL PROCesses

Securing skills: People development, how and why?

For some businesses the idea of developing people is a ‘no brainer’, while for others it conjures up visions of complexity, time sapping and high cost. Wherever your company is along that spectrum, there’s no doubt, investment in people provides significant commercial benefits according to Paul Stephenson managing director of talent development specialists Results International.

T

HE MAIN benefit of an organised people development programme is the securing of key skills. This is particularly important in industries where some specialist skills are in decline such as machinists and screen printing. Without investment in transferring these skills from one generation to the next, businesses end up relying on technical advancement, but not all skills can be replaced in that way. Of course many other roles require specific qualifications or experience, including warehouse and distribution centre staff or health and safety specialists. Furthermore there are soft skills for customer service teams, sales staff and managers in general.

Without a programme, gaps in such key skill areas can emerge.

Aside from the fact that people now expect, and have a legal right to it, training also supports individuals in their career development, and enables structured succession planning which is good for the company. Furthermore, if people development is managed well, an organisation can build up a flexible, more nimble workforce equipped to cope with change and short-term pressures. Additionally if staff are stimulated and motivated then there is a strong likelihood that there will be a positive culture within the organisation. This helps with staff retention, attracting people to work at the company, and can positively impact on the reputation of the business in its industry.

The ‘How’ of people development so how do you create such a programme?

Firstly an assessment of the training and development needs of the organisation should take place. This kind of project can be somewhat daunting, however there is plenty 42 VitAL : March / April 2012

of support available, particularly from government funded services.

In addition to consulting external supports, I urge companies to consult internally too.

Fully involving employees in the process, rather than foisting training upon them, will deliver a much more effective programme.

Once training and development needs have been identified there are numerous approaches to consider: on the job training: This is one of the most effective routes and includes induction, apprenticeships, job shadowing, work experience and job swops. sadly apprenticeships are in decline due to cost considerations; however they do offer an ideal way for individuals to develop skills in a relatively safe environment, particularly if they are highly specialist. Job shadowing enables people to see how it’s done in a shorter timescale than apprenticeships, so this tends to suit unique tasks and can broaden an individual’s understanding of a whole process. Job shadowing also provides an excellent opportunity for employees to find out what another job is like before deciding whether to apply for an internal move, as do job swops. work experience is ideal for school or college leavers to help them assess a job and for the prospective employer to assess the individual before making a commitment.

Formal training: This can be done in a classroom, via distance learning or structured experiential training known as work based training. nVQs are popular. so too is training provided by suppliers of specialist machinery and software. There are numerous companies that offer training for other skills such as sales skills, customer service skills and generalist management skills. How these courses are delivered will vary from the classroom to on-

line packages or sometimes a combination of both. performance management: Proactively managing an individual’s performance is key to establishing what the company and the individual expect of each other. The manager should provide regular feedback so that the employee has a good understanding of what they are doing well and what needs to be improved. If there are development needs, the manager should establish what support might be necessary to facilitate the improvement e.g. training, coaching, individual focus. Formal performance reviews help to keep the process transparent and directed. coaching and Mentoring: Using a professional coach for senior staff can be extremely helpful to the individual and the organisation. A good coach will challenge assumptions and help the individual to gain clarity around issues. However for more junior employees, on the job coaching from managers can be just as effective.

Do ensure that you train your managers to adopt a coaching style – this is now widely acknowledged to be the most effective way of managing staff. Alternatively some favour pairing the employee with a more experienced or senior team member who takes on a mentoring role.

evaluation whatever approach you take, do monitor to ensure your programme is having the desired effect. That means carrying out a thorough evaluation of any training and development.

This will help you not only spot any issues but also make necessary adjustments.

Getting the development of your staff right isn’t that difficult to do and does deliver real commercial benefits. so I urge you to go to it! VitAL www.vital-mag.net

VitAL eyeS on

Internet Safety 2012 are we any safer online?

Jonathan Westlake reports from last month’s Safer Internet Day

whatever approach you take, do monitor to ensure your programme is having the desired effect. That means carrying out a thorough evaluation of any training and development.

This will help you not only spot any issues but also make necessary adjustments.

www.vital-mag.net

T

HE 7TH Feb, 2012 witnessed the annual Safer Internet Day. It was encouraging to see the promotion given to the event in the UK media. The BBC covered the day through its radio and Tv network all day. Safer Internet Day is organised by Insafe each year in February to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people ac ros s the world. However, the awareness campaign helps not only safeguard children but also professionals, when online.

This year’s theme for the day was ‘Connecting generations and educating each other’, with the slogan: ‘Discover the digital world together... safely!’ The day prompted some reflection; whether you’re a business or an individual the threats online seem ever present. so are we any safer online than a year ago? To answer this question I used my father in law as a guinea pig. At 65 years old he fitted the theme of the day and so I assessed his e-IQ by asking him to complete the UK safer Internet Centre, Internet safety IQ Test (reference below). The result was rather mixed and unsurprising. It confirmed my suspicions that his e-IQ was basic and even though his awareness of the dangers online had been increased he showed no impetus to take charge of maintaining his PC for safety measures. That remains a job for me it seems! we can applaud awareness campaigns such as safer Internet Day but in an ever more complex online world it remains clear that a continued effort in helping firms and individuals conduct themselves safely online remains. This includes encouraging users

to take responsibility for housekeeping of browsers; anti-virus software and operating system updates so as to maintain online protection. However, in an age where the Internet is increasingly seen as a utility this may be a challenge. Rather like the analogy of electricity, users just want to switch it on and use it. Thus one of the challenges for modern day IT is how to maximise protection with the minimum of complexity and requirement from the user. several vendors have put forward the cloud as a solution to security problems and in my next ‘eyes on’ we will review this topic.

Finally, to answer the question, are we any safer online than a year ago? The answer is a no in that all online security threats have not been eliminated but mitigated by opportunities for online safety awareness campaigns. VitAL Useful references/resources: Safer Internet Day: www.saferinternet.org/web/guest/home UK Safer Internet Centre: www.saferinternet.org.uk/ Insafe: www.insafe.org/ March / April 2012 : VitAL 43

VitAL PROCesses

How to set goals and really achieve them Executive coach Craig Bentley explains how to achieve the goals you set yourself and how to make sure the right side wins in the ‘I’m Going to Do It vs Honoring Intention’ battle.

44 VitAL : March / April 2012

www.vital-mag.net

VitAL PROCesses

I

S IT just me, or is a year shorter than it used to be? Before you know it, another year has come and gone on the calendar.

And, of course, with every new calendar year comes another round of resolutions focused on self-improvement. On formal spreadsheets, backs of envelopes, or just via mental note, most of us started off the early days of 2012 with lists of promises to ourselves to change our behaviour, modify our life styles, expand our minds, flatten our stomachs, spend more time with our loved ones, while at the same time transforming ourselves into absolute business powerhouses. I know I do it every year – make that long list of all those things I am going to do to make this next year a real winner. But ‘going to do’ is an interesting phrase.

I’m reminded of the old Fedex ad of the late 1970s that trumpeted their delivery services for packages that “absolutely, positively have to be there overnight.” It was a bold claim – it was their “we’re going to do it” resolution. And it was a great success – but not without a lot of work. They created a delivery network, an integrated technology platform, and a multinational workforce that was committed to the cause. They backed it up with action and built a $40 billion company with nearly 260,000 employees world-wide by doing what they said they would do.

However, ‘going to do’ can also have a very different meaning. It can be a mechanism for delay, for putting off those things that really need to be done. I’m ‘going to do it’ is a promise of future action – I’m going to do it after I finish what I am doing now, or tomorrow, or next week, or if and when I remember it at some point in the future. And the longer our intended actions remain future intentions, the less likely it is that we will actually do anything at all. If we are really honest with ourselves, isn’t that what often happens with our resolutions – our going to dos?

Honour the intention As I am regularly reminding my kids (now young adults), “Yeah Dad, I’m going to do it” isn’t the same as “Dad, I’ve done it!” At Bates Communications, we express this concept a bit differently. we encourage our clients to adhere to the following simple mantra: “Plan the Intention - schedule the Intention - Honour the Intention.” www.vital-mag.net

success is often about prioritisation and focus. This requires discipline, but not in the way one often thinks of discipline. It isn’t about getting up at dawn seven days a week, or making every minute count, or constantly multi-tasking. It is rather about putting your energy into what matters, about working with laser focus on the most important things and not being distracted by all of the less important peripheral issues that constantly pop up in our lives. And it’s about tackling those most important challenges and tasks with a sense of urgency.

One of my former clients, a rising star at a Fortune 500 company, had built a solid reputation in sales and marketing and he was great with customers, quickly gaining their confidence. He rose steadily within the company and eventually was rewarded with a significant leadership role. now, in addition to continuing to be personally involved in a few of the company’s most important relationships, he also had an increased administrative burden. And, as a leader, he was also expected to be thinking and acting strategically – looking ahead and charting and executing a progressive growth strategy for the next three to five years.

This was new territory and he struggled with meeting his boss’ expectations. not because he wasn’t capable of doing strategic work, but because he repeatedly failed to prioritise – he failed to concentrate his energy and attention on the most critical strategic initiatives and opportunities before him. Instead, he first did all the other things that cluttered his desk and life. He ‘cleaned up’ all the little things, all the routine tasks that accumulate in any leadership role, telling himself that, by clearing the decks, he was freeing himself up to really concentrate on the big, important challenges.

As a result, of course, there was just never enough time to give is full attention to the most critical issues. But by working with him over several months to first identify and then articulate the importance of the key strategies, projects, and decisions that would have the greatest effect on his business, and thus on his business leadership, he was able to break his old pattern of “cleaning up” the little things and instead use his experience and expertise to deliver decisive leadership and vision. His stock rose as he was increasingly seen as someone who could look to the future and drive change.

March / April 2012 : VitAL 45

VitAL PROCesses

Breaking the paralysis of non-action sometimes, however, it is doing the little things to help us get out of a performance rut, to break the paralysis of non-action. For some of us, our burning desire of wanting to be perfect and do everything ‘just right’ means we do nothing at all. Another executive I worked with was at a fast-paced company known for its innovation. This executive was a great fit, she was creative, quick to grasp complexity and potential value, and quick come up with creative ideas to go after them.

But she had so many ideas, engaged in so much over thinking, and so wanted it all to be perfect that she did nothing. even the smallest tasks became obstacles because there could always be one more review of the problem, and the solution. so together we started just ‘doing’ – tackling one simple task after another. The whole idea was just to get something done, unblock the work flow, get things moving, make decisions, and delegate promptly. we broke down her task list to those things that had to be done in the next hour, done that day, or done that week. The inertia quickly shifted from stagnation to action. soon all those little obstacles were being handled quickly and effortlessly, or were being delegated to others who were fully capable of addressing them.

Stop ‘shoulding’ we all come across hundreds if not thousands of opportunities in our lives, each with its own task list, timeline, and risk/reward profile – it can be overwhelming. This is especially true when we overlay our daily lives with a little guilt and self-reproach about what we should be doing – how we should be working – how we should be parenting – how we should be exercising etc. Frank Freed, the Californiabased psychologist has said that we would all be living much happier lives if we would just “stop ‘shoulding’ on ourselves.”

Four goals so let’s pause and take a good, hard look at our newest self-renewal plans for the year ahead. Let’s think about what intentions we will truly honour, what we really are prepared to do - and not bog ourselves down with everything we convince ourselves we should be doing.

Let’s throw out the long lists that require a 46 VitAL : March / April 2012

spreadsheet to categorize and track. How about making just four resolutions, set just four goals for the year, and focus our energies and efforts on tackling these four: • For your biggest projects, challenges or business goals, break them down into manageable bites – micro-goals – and then set out clear steps that you can achieve and record and track your progress as you march through the list.

• Control your calendar and control your life.

Make sure that you see every time slot on your calendar as a valuable asset – don’t allow yourself (or your assistant) to fill your dance card. schedule and protect that ‘free space’– think, reflect, strategise and breathe!

• Resist the allure of your inbox – electronic or snail mail. And make sure that the top of your To Do list is filled with the most important items. Ask yourself the question: “Of the 50 things I am being asked to do today, which two or three will have most significant long-term impact on my business, my people and my career?”

• Have some fun! Set one somewhat ‘crazy’ goal for the year – a real stretch, but one that if accomplished would create a new, different and exciting future state; the kind of goal that if you can only can get halfway there, you will still feel good about the progress you have made and will be better for the effort. Richard Branson is a pretty wild and crazy guy, and he has accomplished a number of incredible things in his life both personally and professionally. what drives his success? In large part, it comes from his own personal credo: “My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.”

A funny thing often happens when we set big, soaring, tough goals for ourselves – the seemingly impossible begins to become doable.

If we can succeed at just these four goals, my guess is that we will feel we have actually accomplished something, actually made a difference that looks and feels real to us.

And we will be ready when 2013 rolls around to face the challenges and opportunities of that next year with greater confidence and enthusiasm. VitAL

Richard Branson is a pretty wild and crazy guy, and he has accomplished a number of incredible things in his life both personally and professionally. what drives his success?

In large part, it comes from his own personal credo: “My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.”

www.vital-mag.net

vital planet

The UK’s data centres are turning green – but there is still room for improvement The latest figures from Data centre World point to an increasing awareness of the need to be green in the data centre, but there is still much room for improvement. John Hatcher reports.

T

he demand for data centre capacity worldwide has led to a sharp rise in IT costs and a steady increase in carbon emissions. Following the launch of the UK government’s CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, strategies for implementing energy-efficient technologies are high on most business agendas this year. But what state is the UK data centre market currently in when it comes to energy efficiency?

According to a recent survey on the views of data centre managers across the country, carried out by Data Centre World, over threequarters (76 percent) of UK data centres will fail to cut energy consumption in 2012. The research also concluded that: 48 VitAL : March / April 2012

• The vast majority (76 percent) of the UK’s data centres expect their energy consumption to increase, or remain the same, in 2012; • Of these, over a fifth (21 percent) predict that their energy consumption will increase by 25 percent or more during this year; • Almost a third (31 percent) are unaware of the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) rate of their data centre facilities; • Over 46 percent have either not achieved PUE targets, or don’t have a target PUE level in place.

Unsurprisingly, just over half (51 percent) of respondents admitted to either not knowing www.vital-mag.net

vital planet

Companies need to manage technology assets more aggressively so existing servers can work at much higher utilisation levels; they also need to improve forecasting of how business demand drives application, server, and data centre–facility capacity so they can curb unnecessary capital and operating spending.

The research, which looked into future energy usage trends by UK data centre operators, also uncovered a lack of communication between management and facilities teams. Nearly three quarters (72 percent) of management within UK data centres admitted to not consulting with their facilities teams on energy requirements before making equipment purchases. With cross-departmental discussion vital to making the most efficient choices, this lack of informed decision-making could cost the sector dearly.

Although the UK has some of the most advanced data centres in the world, the survey shows there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done. Data centre efficiency is a strategic issue. Building and operating these centres consumes ever-larger portions of corporate IT budgets, which has a knock on effect and leaves less budget available for high-priority technology projects.

The effect of CRC legislation

their PUE, or having a below-average PUE rating (above 2.0*). The majority (61 percent) of facilities admitted they had yet to achieve either their target PUE level, or even a satisfactory PUE level.

Failure to cut carbon emissions These trends show that the sector has a long way to go in order to meet the standards expected of it. There has been no letup in the demand for data centre capacity despite the economic downturn, and the power consumed by the thousands of servers churning away has a real impact on rising operating costs and the steady growth in worldwide greenhouse gases. www.vital-mag.net

There is evidence, however to suggest that government legislation is having a real impact.

When the CRC scheme came into effect in 2010, the number of data centre operators adopting energy management leapt by 300 percent when compared to the rate of adoption for each of the previous years.

The legislation, which aims to cut carbon emissions by 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050 is slowly having a positive effect. Before it came into power in 2010, only 27 percent of UK data centres had deployed energy management policies. This figure rose dramatically to 57 percent in 2010 and peaked at 71 percent in 2011.

Supporting this trend, almost half (44 percent) of those surveyed believe that the introduction of the government’s CRC legislation has led directly to greater efficiency in their data centre.

Although the UK has some of the most advanced data centres in the world, the survey shows there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done.

Data centre efficiency is a strategic issue.

Building and operating these centres consumes ever-larger portions of corporate IT budgets, which has a knock on effect and leaves less budget available for high-priority technology projects.

March / April 2012 : VitAL 49

VitAL PLAneT

The smart grid refers to an improved network that intelligently gathers data regarding behaviour, in order to ensure a sustainable, economic and secure electricity supply. The development of smart grid in the UK will be very organic, and while development has so far been slow, in the future we could see one, UK-wide integrated grid emerge.

But while these statistics show that we are heading in the right direction, there’s still a long way to go if we are to see results. If we’re to see a credible reduction in data centre carbon footprints, the industry needs to embrace innovative green technologies available to cool and power facilities across the UK.

energy-saving alternatives so what are the key technologies that data centre managers can turn to? According to Data Centre world’s survey, 61 percent have adopted server virtualisation, 71 percent have replaced inefficient equipment and over two thirds (67 percent) deploy solutions to optimise cooling and airflow. But other solutions remain marginalised; just 15 percent, for example, currently recycle heat from the data centre. with energy costs rising and the introduction of the CRC scheme, it is good to see that many data centres are moving towards greener technologies. However, server virtualisation is a technology than can deliver server utilisation rates of over 70 percent, and currently only 21 percent of data centres can report rates anywhere near this level. with IT budgets remaining tight due to the stalling economy, it is surprising that adoption rates for energyefficient technologies are not higher.

Focus on carbon goals This year’s data centre world exhibitionwill be attended by record number of exhibitors, highlighting the growing importance of the data centre industry in the midst of an economic recession. But as these figures indicate, there is huge progress still to be made to enhance the energy performance of this industry. The volume of data processed and stored in data centres continues to increase at a rapid pace, which brings new cooling, virtualisation and utilisation technologies into a new and sharper focus. VitAL www.datacentreworld.com 50 VitAL : March / April 2012

Smart Grid for power and cooling: one way to beat the data demands of the future People are living longer, cities are getting bigger, and as the population continues to grow sharply, so too will their data demands. The world’s seven billionth baby was born recently, and according to a recent Un report, by 2050 the world population could top 10 billion. The rapid rise in population brings about a number of new challenges and it is important to plan for the sheer amount of data and energy demands that will be placed upon IT infrastructure over the next few decades.

The next generation born will live their entire lives online and by 2100 it is estimated that everybody alive will be connected. The rise in smart devices and cloud computing mean that regardless of any improvements on IT and infrastructure, increased energy and load demands will be placed on the world’s data centres.

A radical and forward thinking approach is necessary in order to plan for the pressure that data centres will be under in as little as a few decades. Interxion, a provider of colocation data centres, believes that the answer lies in integrating data centre cooling with the smart grid. How we plan societies will change: Data centres need to be placed at the heart of future communities, due to the inevitable needs for future connections.

The smart grid refers to an improved network that intelligently gathers data regarding behaviour, in order to ensure a sustainable, economic and secure electricity supply. The development of smart grid in the UK will be very organic, and while development has so far been slow, in the future we could see one, UKwide integrated grid emerge.

Lex Coors, VP Data Centre Technology & engineering at Interxion states: “The cooling demands of the data centres of the future will be immense. Optimising current cooling methods will not be enough, thus we need to plan for major restructuring of a cooling grid.

“The smart grid is already in discussion, however so far development has been slow. Firstly, the smart grid needs much faster acceptance and development by governments, academia and enterprise. secondly, the smart grid needs to be linked with a cooling grid, to form a smart grid for power and cooling.”

Interxion believes that the smart grid for power and cooling will help protect the environment and resources through more efficient power and cooling management on a mass scale; enabling the world to grow economically through the establishment of new communities which can connect to big hub cities through the cloud, and limiting the need to travel. It will also help improve future quality of life by avoiding the need for people to migrate towards existing population centres; and to establish a new model where data centres are scaled to keep society working, connecting, living and communicating in spite of population growth.

www.vital-mag.net

the

VitalGuide italGuide to the Service Desk & IT Support Show 2012 24-25 April 2012 Earls Court, London

According to the show’s organiser, this year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show is set to be the best and biggest yet with the industry’s leading suppliers offering the opportunity of the year to see what’s new in IT support.

Best &

biggest

yet...

T

his year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show on 24th & 25th April at Earls Court, is set to be one of the biggest and best yet, with over 70 exhibitors confirmed.

Now in its 18th year, the Service Desk & IT Support Show has established a huge following for being the go-to show for ITSM professionals wishing to utilise the latest tools, technology, and ideas they need to meet the unique challenges of their rapidly evolving industry. Having attracted 4,120 unique visitors to its 2011 event, one of the show’s key draws is its comprehensive free education programme that combines eight Keynotes, 40 seminars, in-depth roundtable discussions, and essential breakfast briefings to provide a broad spectrum of perspectives across a host of hot topics.

52 VitAL : March / April 2010

The exhibition will feature the industry’s leading suppliers demonstrating 250+ products and services promising you the biggest and best opportunity of the year to get to grips with the latest technology, meet with suppliers and benchmark and acquire new services to revolutionise your business, plus network – all under one roof.

“The Service Desk & IT Support Show is one of the essential events of the year for service desk professionals who are looking to see what is new, implement new technology, network with their industry peers and see what personal development options and support there is out there. It’s a fantastic two days with a great variety of exhibitors,” comments The Service Desk Institute’s Sarah Connor. www.vital-mag.net

New Keynote Theatre The Service Desk & IT Support Show 2012 debuts a new Keynote Theatre, in association with Ovum. Taking place upstairs in the comfortable surroundings of the Conference Centre, the theatre will play host to an exciting series of keynote addresses, and panel discussions across the two days.

The sessions will offer a strategic outlook on current developments from key industry players, including principal analysts at Ovum, Jennifer Macniven, and regular VitAL columnist Noel Bruton, plus two engaging panel discussions – ‘The great SaaS debate ‘ (13.30pm, 24 April) and ‘ITIL 2011: How to really make it work for your organisation’ (13.30pm, 25 April). Further insight from Ovum’s team of analysts will be available in four Ovum taster papers being authored in association with Servicedesk360.com. Each worth £250, the papers will be previewed on the show website pre-show and will be available to collect from the Keynote Theatre and Ovum on Stand 650.

Essential education Forty seminars, in-depth roundtable discussions, breakfast briefings and essential keynotes complete this year’s unmissable education programme. Highlights include the unveiling of an exclusive, new industry white paper – ‘Empowering people on the move: how embracing mobile can help transform the delivery of business services’ – at Tuesday’s Breakfast Briefing, sponsored by SDI and Cherwell Software.

For those attending on Wednesday, day 2’s’s briefing, sponsored

by FrontRange Solutions, will focus on optimising the end-to-end service delivery process.

Topics discussed in the three dedicated theatres, sponsored by Serena Software, will include problem management, Service Catalogue, Lean IT, ITIL 2011, Metrics, SaaS, the impact of emerging technologies, shared services, managing and motivating staff and much, much more.

For those wanting a more interactive experience, the Hot Topic Roundtable Discussions, sponsored by TechExcel, will give the opportunity to share successes and failures with like-minded visitors.

These small group discussions are lead by professional facilitators ensuring whatever your objective, you’ll leave with practical solutions and ideas to put into practice.

“The key to the Service Desk & IT Support Show’s continuing success is its focus on promoting new ideas and innovations, by working with and listening to the needs of the industry,” says event manager Laura Venables. “It’s the largest UK event that focuses on providing real solutions for ITSM professionals looking to improve the way they work and do business.”

Show Highlights • Exhibition: Explore over 250 products and services from leading industry suppliers; • Seminars: Three dedicated theatres offering fresh perspectives and valuable practical advice; • Keynote Theatre: Taking place in the executive conference centre, gain inspiration and insight from the frontrunners of the ITSM industry; • Breakfast Briefings: In-depth research, discussion and debate on key issues; • SDI Knowledge Centre: Learn everything you need to know to become a five-star service desk in 2012; • New white paper: Collect your free copy of ‘Empowering people on the move’; • Hot Topic Roundtables: Share and learn from real experiences based on a host of topical issues; • itSMF UK Bookshop: Stock up on the latest ITSM publications with exclusive discounts available.

Another great reason to visit Infosecurity Europe 2012 takes place next door on 24th – 26th April.

Visit to get an insight into how you can secure your IT Infrastructure, ensure you are fully compliant and learn from best practice end user examples. With over 300 of the top infosecurity providers exhibiting from across the globe, Infosecurity Europe offers the most comprehensive showcase of solutions, products and services in the largest information security exhibition in Europe. Along with a New Exhibitor Zone designed to showcase the latest products and services in the ever-changing IT security arena, there will be a wealth of informative educational sessions, all of which are free to attend.

Visitors to the Service Desk & IT Support Show can gain free access to this event via the internal crossover point – no need to re-register.

Register for free entry now at www.servicedeskshow.com quoting priority code SD1047 www.vital-mag.net

March / April 2010 : VitAL 53

Seminar Theatre 1

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service Desk & it support show exhibitors Companies in bold appear in out Show listings (see over) exhibitor Alemba APMG-International Axios systems Biomni BMC Bomgar Celonis Certero Cherwell software Citrix Clockwork IT eXIn FGI FrontRange solutions GFI MAX Global Technology solutions Hornbill service Management House on the Hill software ICCM IsL Online IT Governance itsMF UK Kaseya Kepner-Tregoe Labtech software LAnDesk License Dashboard LiveTime software LogMeIn Marval n-able Technologies netHelpDesk netsupport software nimsoft Omninet

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Sponsored by TechExcel

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exhibitor Ovum panintelligence Pink elephant Prior Analytics Purple Griffon Real VnC Richmond systems RMs services scriptLogic selection serena software service Desk Institute servicenow simplisys siteHelpDesk specops software sTI sunrise software sysop Techexcel The Grey Matters The Open University Tools4ever TopDesk UK Ultima Business solutions Unipress Versadev Virtuacon VitAL Magazine Vivantio wM Promus Xeretec xMatters Xuis Zoho/Manageengine

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ENTRANCE

Upstairs to The Keynote Theatre In association with Ovum

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alemba Ltd Stand number: 706 Contact details T: 0203 479 7900 E: info@alembagroup.com W: www.alembagroup.com Alemba is a rapidly growing ITSM software and consultancy company based in the UK. Our innovative approach to software design combined with a commitment to old-fashioned customer service has fuelled a dramatic expansion with high profile organisations trusting us to provide solutions for their ITSM software requirements.

Looking for new Service Desk software?

With next generation software that runs on PCs, Macs and iPads, Alemba is setting the standard for the new generation of ITSM applications. Our ground-breaking vFire product allows both users and support staff to interact with an enterprise-grade ITIL application with unprecedented ease and excitement.

Our highly experienced team of project managers, business analysts, product consultants, developers and trainers will ensure that the software is implemented quickly and successfully, allowing your organisation to start reaping the benefits as soon as it is installed.

Looking for a new VSM/Infra Support Partner?

Alemba is a VMware Enterprise Partner and now the largest provider of VSM services in the UK. Collectively we have more years’ VSM experience than even VMware themselves.

Over 50 percent of all VSM/Infra customers in the UK are now driving more benefit from their VSM systems by engaging with Alemba in one or more of the following areas: l

Support and Maintenance

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Development Consultancy

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Product Consultancy Health Checks

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axios systems Stand number: 620 Contact details W: www.axiossystems.com assyst from Axios Systems – Service Management that Performs In the modern age of commerce, IT is a fundamental enabler of business performance. Rapid growth in an everchanging market is the key to survival and profitability in the global market. Axios Systems’ focus is to support your business success through our innovative Service Management platform, assyst. The assyst solution enables the rapid design, deployment and support of the new services your business needs right now. With options for on-premise ownership and subscription-based SaaS access, we have a solution to fit your organisation.

Combining over two decades of R&D with the latest Web 2.0 technologies, assyst is one of the most mature and innovative solutions in the market. Encapsulating full-spectrum ITIL functionality, assyst was architected as an all-in-one solution with a uniquely configurable design to support the rapid change you need to continually align IT capability with business direction. Our team of industry experts have been there and done it. Our unparalleled experience, spanning all industries, allows us to cut to the chase and work with you to get demonstrable results that impact the bottom line fast.

In an increasingly unstable vendor market, Axios Systems has the longevity, continuity and experience to deliver results to large enterprise organisations across the globe. Our track record of delivering success for household brand names speaks for itself. We stick with our customers for the journey, which is why 97 percent of our customers come back to us year on year.

Find out more about how you can optimise IT and gain that vital business edge with assyst at www.axiossystems.com.

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Biomni Stand number: 314 Contact details T: 020 7557 4200 F: 020 7557 4201 E: info@biomni.com W: www.biomni.com A: York House, 23 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6UJ Biomni is the pioneer of user-centric Service Catalog and Request Fulfilment solutions. With Biomni in play, IT departments, and IT Service providers alike, transform into the agile business partner that the overall business demands.

Biomni’s solution is ideal for the business customer who expects a self-service shopping experience with excellent customer service from IT. Biomni helps IT departments deliver and support an ever-increasing range of physical devices, software and virtual infrastructures.

Biomni have also made significant moves to bridge the gap between ITIL Service Catalog education and actual customer adoption. Biomni’s Front Office Essentials programme is a wholly unique offering that enables any IT organisation to easily define, manage and publish it’sits own IT Service Catalog without any costs whatsoever. Since Front Office Essentials launched in July 2011 over 600 new customers are benefiting from Biomni’s rich and scalable Service Catalog software, and collaborating across to our global Service Catalog community. The cost-free Front Office Essentials programme includes: • ITIL V3.1 Service Catalog Management software with Service Lifecycle Management and Service Portfolio support inclusive (SaaS or on-premise);

• Downloadable Integrators and Connectors to other leading ITSM and SaaS solutions.

Biomni’s iTunes-like approach to the presentation of IT Service Catalogs provides business users with a single point of contact for all interactions with their IT organisation. Biomni’s Front Office Essentials allows IT Departments to easily define, manage and publish their service offerings, deliver tangible cost savings, improve business operations and increase customer satisfaction.

Our Front Office Express and Enterprise editions enable you to take your published Service Catalog and make it Actionable with Service Request and Request Fulfilment processes. Upgrades are simple and quick, as is administration of the entire solution; no coding or programming at all.

Uniquely, Biomni approach the challenge of Service Catalog and Request Fulfilment from the Business user, rather than a Technical Agent. Our solution has not grown from a Service Desk tool, it’s evolved directly from Business demand; hence business and end-user adoption of our solution is unparalleled.

• Vast Knowledgebase that supports your Service Catalog adoption process with ‘How to’ documents, Whitepapers & Case Studies and much more;

Well over 1.4 million users are in production worldwide at leading global service providers and in corporate enterprises. Biomni is a proud member of VMware’s Tap Alliance Program, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Solutions Provider, a certified Microsoft ISV, and an accredited Symantec™ Developer Partner.

• Open Service Catalog Community and forum to exchange ideas, seek answers to specific questions, etc. with other Front Office customers;

Biomni’s entire Front Office solution suite is certified ITIL V3.1 complaint through Pink Elephant’s PinkVERIFY program. www.biomni.com

• Service catalog templates;

BMC software Stand number: 810 Delivering choice in IT Service Management Whether you are buying a new car, a new home, or even IT service management software, having choices is valuable. The demands placed on IT support teams and the systems they use vary greatly from organization to organization – we recognize that one size does not fit all when it comes to choosing ITSM software. BMC had a choice when we decided to expand our business and serve the needs of a wider range of IT service management customers. The choice of Numara was easy – great products and a great team.

The BMC and Numara bonus BMC recognises that customers love Numara. In fact, it was customers that helped Numara win the Service Desk Institute Supplier of the Year Award for 2011. We’re proud to extend our family with the most widely deployed service desk on earth, Track-IT! We’re also now able to bring an unparalleled breadth of IT management capability to mid-sized organisations with the Footprints portfolio. We are committed to the roadmap for these products, and inspired by what we can do together as leaders in ITSM.

Choosing SaaS? We all know that SaaS is one of the hottest topics in ITSM right now. But did you know that BMC has the fastest growing SaaS IT management solution in the world? It’s tailor-made for organisations between 500 and 5,000 employees in size.

It’s called BMC Remedyforce and it includes the benefits of BMC’s 20 year leadership in IT Service Management and runs on the industry’s leading SaaS platform, force.com. If you are interested in exploring what SaaS could mean for your organisation, Remedyforce is a great choice to consider.

For those facing a bigger challenge For organisations looking to gain better control of larger and more complex IT support operations, or for those looking to achieve the very highest levels of best practice alignment – BMC Remedy ITSM represents the most comprehensive and flexible IT Service Management solution on the market.

Armed with out-of-box ITIL processes for a faster deployment and IT business management for a tighter grip on cost, the market-leading IT service management suite is available both on premise and in the cloud. Reduce complexity and make support, change, asset, and request management a seamless integrated process – even in the most challenging of technology environments.

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cherwell software Stand number: 800 Contact details T: +44 (0)1793 858181 W: www.cherwell.com A: Lime Kiln House, Lime Kiln, Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, SN4 7HF At the 2012 Service Desk & IT Support Show, Cherwell will demonstrate its version 4 release of Cherwell Service ManagementTM, a fully integrated ITSM solution for internal IT and external customer support needs. Come and see for yourself the incredible, new functionality. This release will change how you think about your intranet and extranet solution and how you can deliver a collaborative, federated web portal to your company’s service offerings. Yes, it’s a self-service portal, but nothing like you’ve seen before!

This new, browser-based portal experience includes the following new functionality, and more: - Integrate social media tools; - Create any number of custom sites, made up of any combination of custom pages, Dashboards, Service Catalogs, and more; - Create end-user workgroups based on any criteria; - View and edit records submitted by other end-users; - Design sites that can be accessed anonymously and those that require a login; - View completely segregated Sites through one portal – have a consolidated view of everything your team supports; - See and perform actions on record submitted by your employees (approvals, add comments, withdraw request, etc.)

What does this mean? There are no limits.

About Cherwell Service Management Designed using Microsoft’s .NET platform and Web 2.0 technology, Cherwell Service Management delivers 11 fully integrated ITIL v3 PinkVERIFIED management processes straight ‘out-of-the-box’, including Incident, Problem, Change, CMBD, Request, SLA, Service Catalogue and Knowledge.

Cherwell offers you complete choice of software deployment and licensing models – on premises, Cherwell hosted, hosted by preferred 3rd party, perpetual purchase or subscription… you choose!

Cherwell Service Management is 100% configurable by its end users and provides a highly scalable and extensible development platform. Our wizard driven CBAT development platform empowers customers to easily and quickly configure the Cherwell solution to meet changing business demands and to develop integrated business applications for CRM, HR, Purchase Ordering, Project Management, Student Records, Facilities Management and much more, without the need for programming resources, bespoke coding or scripting. All product upgrades are completely seamless, ensuring lower system management overheads and enabling customers to quickly realise the benefits of new functionality.

In a recent Total Economic Impact (TEI) study by Forrester Consulting, for an organisation where Cherwell was selected to replace a legacy ‘Enterprise’ class solution, the financial analysis calculated an ROI of 108% and a total payback period of less than 10 months.

This demonstrates truly significant cost savings for organisations currently using legacy ‘Enterprise’ class service desk products.

fgi ltd Stand number: 800 Contact details T: 01926 405 797 E: enquiry@fgiltd.co.uk W: www.fgiltd.co.uk A: Warwick Innovation Centre, Gallows Hill, Warwick, Warwickshire, CV34 6UW FGI are a specialist International provider of IT Service Management, Project Management and Programme Management training and consultancy.

We deliver end to end solutions designed to meet your needs and budget, focusing on your specific strategies and individual requirements of your employees.

FGI provide a full range of accredited examination training courses for ITIL®, PRINCE2®, MSP®, Agile Project Management, APM and Change Management, along with a substantial portfolio of Project Management courses.

Whether the training is provided as a public schedule training course or a private on-site training course, we aim to deliver the highest quality service at a time and location that is convenient.

Over 10 years in the industry FGI has been delivering training courses for over a decade and as a result have been able to develop effective solutions that meet the needs of our customers focusing on their specific development strategies and the individual needs of their employees.

Our aim is to understand both your values and the needs of your business. Our Professional Education Consultants work with you to develop the most effective

program for your organisation. Whether it’s a single place on an accredited public schedule, or a bespoke non-examination course we have the solution.

Exceptional learning experience Quite simply our aim is to provide our customers with training and consultancy – the way it should be. FGI courses are delivered by our team of experienced trainers either onsite at your premises, or at one of our dedicated training venues offering first-rate service and facilities, all at an affordable rate.

We structure our courses carefully to give your delegates the right balance of theory to get through the exam, and practical understanding to implement in the workplace. This has shown to achieve outstanding results and is reflected in our exceptional pass rates.

With FGI you can continue to work with the trainer that delivered your course to embed best practice within your organisation and overcome the operational setbacks that cannot be learnt from a handbook. From initial assessment through to continuous improvement programmes our consultancy services can save years in time and money spent developing processes and practices.

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NetSupport Software Ltd Stand number: 800 Contact details T: 01778 382270 E: corporate@netsupportsoftware.co.uk W: Download free trials at: www.netsupportsoftware.co.uk Since 1989, IT departments have turned to NetSupport for help maximising the value and effectiveness of their IT spending. Today, in excess of ten million systems are supported by NetSupport technology.

NetSupport’s complementary software solutions deliver the tools needed to support the modern IT infrastructure: from powerful IT asset management and web-based ITIL service management to market-leading PC remote control.

IT asset management If you are to make informed purchasing decisions, then information is key.

Having an accurate inventory of your IT assets is critical when deciding whether to purchase more assets, redistribute current assets, or retire them completely. Providing the tools needed to effectively manage the ‘true’ cost of IT, NetSupport DNA is a modular solution that delivers powerful hardware/ software inventory, licence management and more.

NetSupport DNA’s core inventory module also includes, as standard, realtime PC and system alerting and a unique energy monitor that provides a high-level summary of potential energy wastage across your organisation. To this you can add internet and application metering, software distribution and, to leverage even more value from your investment, NetSupport’s web-based ITIL helpdesk solution, NetSupport ServiceDesk, and market-leading remote control tool, NetSupport Manager.

Our downloadable Mobile Console app, compatible with Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Blackberry Playbook 2.0, will even give

you access to accurate, real time asset data when you’re on the move.

Web-based ITIL Service Desk NetSupport ServiceDesk helps you deliver fast, effective and measurable IT support, helping you keep control of the incident, problem and change management process. Web-based and fully compliant with ITIL standards, you can log incidents online and track progress in real time, while automated workflow processes backed by a wealth of reporting options improve your ability to manage and prioritise fault lists and the complete life cycle of a problem or change.

NetSupport ServiceDesk provides built-in support for mobile devices, ensuring that operators working remotely can receive and update incidents.

Service Desk remote control The ideal support tool for the modern business environment, market-leading remote control solution NetSupport Manager provides a single operator console that delivers a unified and fully secure approach to the connectivity and management of multi-platform computers, including Windows®, Mac®, Linux and mobile - across LAN, WAN or the internet. Real-time visual thumbnails of all connected computers enable you to identify all activity across the environment and pinpoint where assistance is needed. With one click you, can interact with the remote machines and utilise a range of desktop management tools, while a powerful scripting and scheduling suite allows you to automate repetitive tasks, running them at a time most convenient to you.

pink elephant Stand number: 600 Contact details T: +44 (0) 118 324 0620 E: info.europe@pinkelephant.com W: www.pinkelephant.com As a global professional services organisation, Pink Elephant provide IT Service Management Transformation Services for organisations around the world. Through our Resourcing, Support, Consulting and Education services Pink Elephant exists to optimise IT Services for our clients. Our approach has been honed over 20 years of supporting the implementation of IT Service Management best practices which is a considerable undertaking and requires a proven implementation methodology to underpin it.

Having guided and supported 100’s of projects, we have refined our methods and amassed a significant understanding of how to implement best practices, and probably more importantly, how not too!

Pink Elephant have a culture developed in providing services. Unlike many of our competitors our culture has not been born in supplying ‘products’.

Therefore, if you are trying to turn your organisation into a ‘Service Organisation’ it makes sense to use a company which is a service-based company – not a product-based company.

Advice provided by Pink Elephant is impartial, objective and unbiased. We have no vested interest in selling anything other than our experience and knowledge of IT management best practices in the best interests of our clients. This is what defines us as a company.

The ABC of IT: have you got it?

Companies work long and hard thinking, planning, designing, building, and delivering IT services in new ways to turn customers into fans. So what is missing in the maturity of the industry to ensure the return on ITSM improvements is increased?

IT people’s attitudes, behaviours and culture are the constraint on IT becoming a trusted supplier and partner. ITSM practitioners must recognise that without developing their people and culture, they will not progress the Continual Service Improvement model described in IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®).

Visit leading experts, Pink Elephant, on stand 600 to understand that without focus on Attitude, Behaviour and Culture, the technology and framework for ITSM will fail.

Developing the team management of the service desk changes thinking, alters attitudes, behaviour and culture, enhancing the team’s performance and improving service.

Come and visit us on Stand 600 at the Service Desk & IT Support Show, bring this with you and collect free playing cards!

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ReaL Vnc stand number: 730 contact details t: +44 (0) 1223 310400 e: contact@realvnc.com W: www.realvnc.com twitter: @RealVnc Speeding up support RealVnC provides remote access software for computers, smartphones, tablets, and even in-car head units. As the original developer of VnC®, RealVnC’s software is used by the world’s largest organisations, government bodies and educational institutions in a wide range of applications from IT support to systems maintenance, collaboration and teleworking.

RealVnC was recognised in 2011 for its success in the areas of International Trade and Innovation receiving two prestigious Queen’s Awards for enterprise, the only company to win two awards that year. RealVnC is unrivalled in offering technology and licensing to integrate VnC remote access capability into third-party products such as Intel chipsets and Google Chrome products.

For IT support and service desk professionals RealVnC provides a number of robust, secure and high performing enterprise grade solutions.

VnC VnC enables remote access and control of one computer desktop from another, whether on a local network or the other side of the world on the Internet. Available on the widest range of computer operating systems, from windows and Mac through to Linux, VnC meets the needs of multi platform corporate environments.

This secure and feature rich software comes with high performance encryption, authentication options, file transfer, chat, remote printing and a powerful deployment tool (windows only). IT professionals benefit from reduced system downtime, increased ticket throughput and improved customer satisfaction.

VnC Viewer Plus VnC Viewer Plus is a result of collaboration between RealVnC and Intel to embed VnC technology directly into its chipset, enabling users to connect to the VnC server on the chip of supported computers with Intel® Core™ vPro™ technology, with no additional software required for full graphical KVM out-of band access.

Ideal for IT professionals requiring advanced support capabilities to remotely solve complex IT issues such as Os failures and boot problems. with remote power on/off functionality employees can be encouraged to turn off consoles at the end of each day, saving power without hindering after hours maintenance. Remote reboot and image mounting capabilities enable IT technicians to conduct diagnostics and fixes without the need to be deskside, increasing productivity and facilitating more effective use of IT resource.

For a demonstration of VnC and VnC Viewer Plus visit realVnC at stand 730. Free trials are also available via the website, simply visit www.realvnc.com.

sti LtD stand number: 426 contact details W: www.sti-ltd.co.uk. sTI Ltd has been providing Helpdesk and service Desk training since 1989. we believe that we certainly offer the longest established courses in the UK and probably europe. we run public courses regularly in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds Glasgow and edinburgh. we have trained thousands of staff from a huge variety of private and public sector organisations.

template. This is a really useful induction, training and appraisal tool. This course gives attendees a real opportunity to discuss and consider their own challenges and situations.

our most popular public courses are:

This one day course is suitable for all service/support staff. You may have an excellent front line, but you also need other support staff to provide consistently good service. we go to great efforts to tailor the material, course book, exercises and emphasis of the course. It will feel like the day was specifically designed for you.

Service Desk Professional one This two day course is an excellent introduction to, or refresher of, the main challenges of working on a service Desk or Helpdesk. we use “real world” material that is packed with useful tips and advice. Attendees can sit our “Certificate in service Desk skills.”

Service Desk Professional Two

our most popular onsite course is: Support Skills Day

we have also provided consultancy to major organisations such as BAA, DTI, Yorkshire water, welsh water, norwich Union, eOn, London school of economics, west Midlands Police, sanofi synthelabo and BT.

Service Desk Manager

we also have a growing number of non IT clients. we can tailor the courses to suit a wide range of service provision. This has included areas such as pay, pensions, HR, rent collection, complaints against the nHs, supporting foreign diplomats based in the UK, civil service expense claims and passport and visa enquiries. we have also provided trained to the personal support staff of a former Foreign secretary!

This two day course is for service Desk or Helpdesk managers/supervisors/ team leaders. Attendees receive a copy of our “Good Practice Guide”

Anyone can talk good courses, we deliver them.

Find out more about us at www.sti-ltd.co.uk.

This one day course is aimed at experienced service Desk or Helpdesk staff. we look at issues from how to avoid staleness through to how to stand out – for the right reasons! we aim to send attendees away keen to re-energise their own performance and that of their desk.

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techeXceL stand number: 216 contact details t: 0207 470 5650 F: 0207 470 5651 e: emeainfo@techexcel.com W: www.techexcel.com a: crown house, 72 hammersmith Road, London, W14 8th Techexcel, a leading provider of IT service Management software, has 1,500 customers in 42 countries and maintains offices in UsA, UK, China and Japan.

ServiceWise is a customisable and comprehensive internal Helpdesk, ITsM and ITIL compliant solution. It can enforce business rules and optimise business processes regardless of the size of your organisation. Automate and streamline services and helpdesk activities with configurable workflows, process management, email notifications and a searchable knowledge base. Provide support from a browser by creating a customised self-service portal that matches the look and feel of your company’s website. The selfservice portal includes online incident submission, status updates, online conversations and a knowledgebase. servicewise includes modules such as incident management, problem escalation and analysis, change management and asset management.

CustomerWise is an integrated solution focused on external customer service throughout the entire customer lifecycle. Provide your support, sales, and marketing teams the necessary tools, processes, and information they need to meet customer demands and improve the customer’s experience.

CustomerWise allows you to refine sales, customer service and support processes to increase cross-team communication and efficiency while reducing your overall costs. Combine sophisticated process automation, knowledgebase management, workflow, and customer self-service to improve

business processes that translate into better customer relationships.

AssetWise aids the process of monitoring, controlling and accounting for assets throughout their lifecycle. A single and centralised location enables businesses to monitor all assets including company IT assets, managing asset inventories, and tracking customer-owned assets. All asset changes, including maintenance information, trouble ticket data, status inventory, utilisation metrics and usage, are recorded in the central repository and linked to other service and support tasks. As part of the Techexcel service suite, Assetwise can be accessed by members of Techexcel Customerwise and servicewise and provides a single version of asset truth for sales, service, help desk, IT, and other teams.

DownloadPlus is an easy-to-use website management application for monitoring file downloads and analysing website download activities.

Integrated with Techexcel service suite, Download Plus improves sales lead generation, lead qualification, and software delivery. DownloadPlus enables businesses to enhance their web presence by integrating web activities with their customer records to improve sales and customer service. DownloadPlus does not require any programming or HTML. with customer download activities tracked automatically, sales and marketing managers can accurately and intelligently qualify sales leads. DownloadPlus provides controlled download management for all downloadable files, from software products and documentation, to marketing materials and multimedia files.

hp & WM pRoMus stand number: 218 contact details t: +44 (0) 845 619 3111 W: www.wmpromus.com HP IT service Management is a leading software solution that integrates and automates service management and quality control of the IT services that business depends upon (from sMe to enterprise) – Consistently a market leader, because it’s proven software!

HP service Manger Lite caters for sMe environments and HP service Manager scales to enterprise.

HP ITsM focuses on service design, operations and delivery so staff can evaluate opportunities for improvement throughout the service lifecycle, ensure quality delivery with built-in OGC-certified ITIL v3 best practices.

Market leading Service Management consultancy wM Promus is the market leader in ITsM and ITIL process improvement; specialising in providing solutions based on HP technology – Gold partnered. wM Promus enables you to realise the benefits delivered by HP’s IT Performance suite, which is a comprehensive and effective portfolio of software products and services. It aligns the efforts of your IT organisation with your business goals - driving business results and promoting IT efficiency at the same time. Our clients can testify that we work with you to make sure that every pound you invest in IT, every resource you allocate and every application you have in development or production is aligned to your business goals.

Visit our stand 218 to enquire about: • HP Change Configuration and Release Management (CCRM);

The Change Configuration and Release Management (CCRM v9.1) solution enables the customer’s IT organisation to: - Provide the structure and formal workflow necessary to implement changes; - Reduce the risk of making changes by providing an accurate picture of your IT infrastructure, as well as the impact any change may have on IT services; - enable early detection of unplanned changes; - Maintain an accurate record of the IT infrastructure.

• HP Closed Loop Incident Process solution (CLIP) CLIP is a highly automated fault detection-to-recovery solution to proactively manage events and incidents to optimize end-to-end service availability and service performance.

CLIP reduces mean time to recovery and improves mean time between system failures, and delivers on improved sLA and OLA objectives.

• HP Executive Scorecard Deliver real time IT Performance Management metrics with the HP IT executive scorecard software.

The IT executive scorecard delivers more than 50 out-of-the-box KPIs to CIOs, IT and business managers in a balanced scorecard. It does this based on data from the HP Performance suite and other sources to help track and improve IT performance.

directory

Hornbill Systems

Ares, Odyssey Business Park, West End Road, Ruislip, HA4 6QD T: 020 8582 8282 F: 020 8582 8288 W: www.hornbill.com C: sales@hornbill.com E: info@hornbill.com Hornbill develops and markets ‘Supportworks’, applications for IT Service Management (ITSM) and business helpdesks. Hornbill’s ITSM & service desk software with a ‘Human Touch’, enables its customers to provide excellent service while benefiting from consolidation on a single technology platform.

InfraVision

Delegate House, 30A Hart Street, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon, RG9 2AL T: +44 (0) 1491 635340 F: +44 (0) 1491 579835 W: www.infravision.com C: Nigel Todd E: info@infravision.com BMC Software’s #1 partner for Service Desk Express and the Alignability Process Model, delivering rapid implementation of proven ITIL aligned processes, procedures, work instructions and tool settings, and transformation to service-led approach in only 12 weeks!

Pink Elephant

Atlantic House, Imperial Way, Reading. RG2 0TD T: + 44 (0) 118 903 6824 F: + 44 (0) 118 903 6282 W: www.pinkelephant.com C: Frances Fenn E: info.emea@pinkelephant.com Acknowledged worldwide as niche, independent, IT Service Management Education and Consulting providers.

Having trained more people than any other company in ITIL related subjects since 1987, we have contributed to all 3 versions of the ITIL books.

62 VitAL : March / April 2012

ICCM Solutions

Cedar House, Riverside Business Village, Swindon Road, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, SN16 9RS T: + 44 (0) 1666 828 600 F: + 44 (0) 1666 826 103 W: www.iccm.co.uk C: Kate Springer E: sales@iccm.co.uk One of the overriding directives of ICCM Solutions is the simplification of complexity in Service Management environments. ICCM provides a global client base with sophisticated ITIL aligned Service Management Solutions built on Business Process Management (BPM) Architecture, from Metastorm BPM®.

iCore

60 Lombard Street, London EC3V 9EA

T: +44 (0) 207 464 8883 F: +44 (0) 207 464 8888 W: www.icore-ltd.com E: sales@icore-ltd.com C: Greg Lake iCore is the largest specialist IT Service Management Consultancy in the UK. ICore has a long & impressive track record in delivering & embedding pragmatic IT service management, solutions, relying on the deep, real world experience of our mature & determined consultancy team.

Kepner-tregoe

NetSupport Software Ltd

Quayside House, Thames Side, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1QN T: +44 (0) 1753 856716 F: +44 (0) 1753 854929 W: www.kepner-tregoe.com C: Steve White E: swhite@kepner-tregoe.com Kepner-Tregoe provides consulting and training services to organizations worldwide.

We collaborate with clients to implement their strategies by embedding problem-solving, decision-making, and project execution methods through individual and team skill development and process improvement. Clients build competitive advantage by using our systematic processes to achieve rapid, targeted results and create lasting value.

Towngate East, Market Deeping, Peterborough, PE6 8NE

T: +44 (0) 1778 382270 F: +44 (0) 1778 382280 W: www.netsupportsoftware.co.uk C: Colette Reed E: colette@netsupportsoftware.co.uk NetSupport provides a range of complementary Remote Support and Service Management solutions that help organisations deliver a productive and cost effective IT support service. Products include multi-platform Remote Control solution NetSupport Manager, IT Asset Management suite NetSupport DNA and web based ITIL Service Management tool NetSupport ServiceDesk.

ManageEngine

G2G3

ZOHO Corp, 4900 Hopyard Rd, Suite 310, Pleasanton, CA – 94588, USA

T: 925-924-9500 F: 925-924-9600 W: www.manageengine.com E: eval@manageengine.com C: Gerald A. Raja ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is highly customizable, smart and flexible Help Desk Software used by more than 10,000 IT managers worldwide in 23 different languages. It helps you to implement ITIL best practices on the go and restore your IT services on-time.

ManageEngine has a suite of software products in Enterprise IT management space like Network monitoring, Desktop Management, Applications, Logs, AD management, et al.

Panama House, 14 The High Street, Lasswade, EH18 1ND T: + 44 (0) 131 461 3333 F: + 44 (0) 131 663 8934 W: www.g2g3.com C: David Arrowsmith E: info@g2g3.com G2G3 is the leading provider of communication tools, gaming solutions and simulations that propel enterprise IT and business alignment. Headquartered in the UK, G2G3 has a strong global network of partners supporting the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. www.vital-mag.net

directory

TOPdesk

sitehelpdesk.com Ltd

APMG

61 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0HL

Eagle House, Lynchborough Road, Passfields , Hants GU30 7SB

Sword House, Totteridge Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK

T: +44 (0) 207 8034200 F: +44 (0) 207 8034215 W: www.topdesk.co.uk E: info@topdesk.co.uk

T: +44 (0) 207 419 5174 F: +44 (0) 870 138 3824 W: www.sitehelpdesk.com E: sales@sitehelpdesk.com C: Bryan Taylor

T: + 44 (0) 1494 452 450 F: + 44 (0) 1494 459559 W: www.apmg-uk.com C: Nicola McKinney E: nicola.mckinney@apmgroup.co.uk

TOPdesk Service Management software seamlessly integrates Facilities, HR and IT processes in a single 100% webbased tool. TOPdesk’s affordable and ITIL-compliant software has won several awards for user-friendliness. Secure more time for your colleagues and customers with TOPdesk.

Cherwell Software

Sitehelpdesk.com will take you to the forefront of service delivery with a suite of products designed to provide you with low cost web browser based action tracking and self-help, making your services instantly available 24 by 7.

Solisma

Lime Kiln House, Lime Kiln, Wooton Bassett, Wiltshire, SN4 7HF T: + 44 (0) 1793 858181 W: www.cherwellsoftware.com/contact Cherwell Service Management delivers ITIL v3 best practice ‘out-of-the-box’ including: Incident, Problem, Change, CMDB, SLA, Knowledge, SelfService and is PinkVERIFY certified. Our unique CBAT development platform empowers users to fully customise screens, workflow processes and develop additional business applications. The Cherwell solution is available via a standard license model or ‘On Demand’ SaaS service.

avocent landesk

Dukes Court, Duke Street, Woking, Surrey GU22 7AD

Service Improvement Made Simple!

Solisma is a leading global provider of ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000 courseware, training, consulting and assessment services, with a global partner network to help you quickly and cost-effectively improve your ITSM capability like never before. To learn more, contact us today or visit service-improvement.com

IT Service Management Forum

T: +44 (0) 1483 744444 F: +44 (0) 1483 744401 W: www.landesk.com C: Sarah Lewis E: sarah.lewis@avocent.com Avocent delivers IT operations management solutions that reduce operating costs, simplify management and increase the availability of critical IT environments 24/7 via integrated, centralized software. This includes Systems Management, Security Management, Data Centre Management and IT Service Management.

www.vital-mag.net

T: +44 (0) 207 193 2085 W: www.solisma.com E: info@solisma.com C: sales@service-improvement.com

As an accredited ITIL® Examination Institute, APMG offers our training organizations a range of benefits to help them demonstrate the quality and professionalism of their services.

Call us to find out how your business could benefit from our accreditation services.

Global Technology Solutions Ltd

T: 01288 355800 W: www.globaltechnologysolutions.com E: info@globaltechnologysolutions.com

“Taking the headache out of recruitment” Specialists in Service Management and Technical resource throughout the UK and globally.

We believe in “quality” not “quantity” when submitting cvs.

Let GTS manage your recruitment process and allow us to become your most valued solution provider.

e-Warehouse

.

150 Wharfedale Road, Winnersh Triangle, Wokingham, Berkshire.

RG41 5RG

e-Warehouse Ltd, Hampden House, Hampden House, Monument park, Chalgrove,Oxfordshire , OX44 7RW

T: 0118 918 6503 F: 0118 969 9749 W: www.itsmf.co.uk C: Ben Clacy E: ben.clacy@itsmf.co.uk

T: 0845 299 7539 f: 08717143802 w: www.oxygenservicedesk.com c: Victoria Eggleton e: oxygen@e-warehouse.com

Oxygen Service Desk is a process automation engine that simply interprets your pre-defined business processes and then mobilises the actual process, pushing work tasks to people and to systems, streamlining how the processes run across your entire department or organisation.

The itSMF is the only internationally recognised and independent organisation whose sole focus is on the on-going development and promotion of IT Service Management ’best practice‘, standards and qualifications. The forum has 14,000 UK members and official itSMF chapters in 44 countries

March / April 2012 : VitAL 63

seCReTs OF MY sUCCess

Ian McEwan Vice president EMEA, FrontRange Solutions

VitaL: name, company and job title please? Married? Kids? ian Mcewan: Ian Mcewan, vice president, eMeA for FrontRange solutions. I’m married to Jane and have four boys aged from nine to 19 years old.

VitaL: what got you started in IT? iM: It was an accident. I wasn’t enjoying being in the family business. engineering didn’t inspire me. so I went off to do rock climbing and skiing. Then I realised that one day I’d have to be sensible and grow up so I started in pre-sales at Magic solutions, supporting their Helpdesk offering.

VitaL: was there any one person or organisation that was your inspiration? iM: It’s hard to choose just one. when I was at Remedy Corporation, two people influenced me, Larry Garlick, the CeO and Dick Cahill who was the VP for international sales and marketing. Larry showed me the importance of having a simple vision with good products, and Dick had a focus on coaching and development; I learned the ropes through him. I attribute much of my success to them both.

VitaL: what was your first IT job, what was your first major IT triumph? iM: Although my first IT job was at Magic solutions, I think that it was at Remedy that I learned the satisfaction of providing real business value. I convinced a customer to re-evaluate his current solution by talking his language – really getting to the core of his organisation’s challenges – and he chose our solution. I never looked back after that.

Of course, it’s always good to close a big monetary value deal too. There was a government organisation which spent a seven-figure sum with me.

64 VitAL : March / April 2012

VitaL: Did you ever make any embarrassing mistakes? what did you learn from them? iM: I remember once trying to position a solution with a customer and it soon became obvious that they knew far more about what I was telling them than I did. I realised then the importance of aligning technology with business challenges, and immersed myself in ITIL and cloud principles. I expect the same of others around me in my organisation.

VitaL: what do you like best about your job? iM: The thing I like best about my job is re-engineering the business around the customer. A good day for me is spent with customers.

VitaL: what is your biggest ambition? iM: Apart from skiing for Great Britain, I aim to strike a balance between work and family life. I try to encourage my children to fulfil their potential.

VitaL: what are your hobbies or interests? iM: Apart from music, hill walking and ski coaching, I am passionate about rock climbing – mostly in Ireland and scotland.

In my younger years, I climbed five new routes that no-one had succeeded at before. every now and again I see if I can still make it up them.

Oh, and I have an 81-year old mistress called Zero who’s made from mahogany and is based at Runnymede. she’s a motor launch.

I remember once trying to position a solution with a customer and it soon became obvious that they knew far more about what I was telling them than I did. I realised then the importance of aligning technology with business challenges, and immersed myself in ITIL and cloud principles. I expect the

VitaL: what is the secret of your success? iM: Hiring good people and setting realistic expectations with both customers and staff.

same of others around

VitaL: Ian Mcewan, thank you very much.

me in my organisation.

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For exclusive news, features, opinion, comment, directory, digital archive and much more visit

www.vital-mag.net

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Visit us at the Service Desk & IT Show, 24-25 April, Earls Court, Stand 800

business

If only all Service Management decisions were this easy to make

Cherwell makes it easy.

Empower your users and customers.

Streamline and automate common service requests. Cherwell’s newest offering is a selfservice portal as you’ve never seen before!

Flexibility and agility. Things change – often. Thanks to Cherwell, there’s no need for consultants or developers to make changes. You can do it – it’s easy!

High ROI with lower TCO. Reduce management overheads, increase productivity, better use of resources, focus on what matters, streamline efficiencies, enhance your business value.

Portability and choice. Deploy on premises or as a fully hosted solution. It’s your choice at any time.

Anytime, anywhere access. Out in-the-field or away from your desk? Use the iCherwell app to keep track of calls and add notes to activities. Love the GUI! Social IT. Be where your customers are.

Use social media tools to prevent an influx of calls to the service desk. Then, you can focus on getting the job done.

Cherwell offers a fully integrated ITSM solution for internal IT and external customer support. 11 ITIL v3 PinkVERIFIED processes right out-of-the-box in one integrated platform. Choose as many, or as few, processes as you like without incurring additional license fees.

Find out why Cherwell says ‘yes’ to better business. Contact us on

+44 (0)1793 858181 www.cherwell.com

PROCESS COMPLIANT BRONZE LEVEL

ITIL® is a registered trademark of the Cabinet Office. The Swirl logo™ is a trade mark of the Cabinet Office.

The Service Catalogue Management, Change Management and Request Fulfilment modules within the Cherwell Service Management™ solution enjoy endorsement from the Official ITIL Accreditor.

Innovative Technology Built Upon Yesterdays Values