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Lontra Monthly eNewsletter
    "The Business of IT"  
 
The Business of IT Newsletter
In This Issue
ITSM Resolutions for 2008
Webinar: Five Characteristics of Successful Service Catalog Implementations
See Lontra in This Month's Issue of itSMF's Forum Newsletter
January & February 2008 Featured Events
We want to hear from YOU!
Quick Links

Featured Article     
Webinar

White Papers     Blog
Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for reading this month's issue of "The Business of IT".  We look forward to your feedback and contribution to future issues.
My #1 IT Service Management Resolution for 2008
By Molly Holladay, Lontra Director of ITSM Solutions & 2006 winner of ITIL Practitioner of the Year

There was a great article in CIO Magazine this month entitled "How to Make IT Allocations Work" in which the author explains why it's not enough for businesses to simply allocate a certain amount of money to IT each year and expect that they will get everything they need, and it naturally leads to contention between IT and their customers. 

For both sides to be satisfied with the relationship, IT needs to present the services they provide along with accurate costs, and the LOB needs to choose and pay for the services that they need.  Sounds great - so how do you get there?

The author offers this piece of advice, which I think is a key takeaway of the article: "Take a step at a time, but first, get the direction straight."

If you can make one resolution for 2008 in your IT organization, in my opinion, it should be this - take the time to talk about the big picture first, and develop a roadmap for how to get there. 

To be able to present costs for services, you first need to define all of the services you provide.  This leads to valuable conversations and collaboration internally and drives standardization in the organization.  After your services are defined, you are then able to calculate what it costs to provide them. 

But it doesn't stop there - once you have this information, you can use it to forecast demand for the services in the future, anticipate and create new services, strategically plan your service delivery, and more. 

So, think big and start small.  Picture your IT organization in 2009 presenting a full Service Catalog with accurate rates to your customers, and then start by creating your roadmap for how to get there.

For information on how Lontra can help with just that, get more information here.
Webinar: Five Characteristics of Successful Service Catalog Implementations

Wednesday, January 16th - 8:30 AM PST, 11:30 AM EST

Join Lontra's Senior Consultants as they share examples, real-world experiences and advice gained from implementing best-practice Service Portfolios, with actionable Service Catalogs, for organizations, big and small, over the years.

Hear the top 5 characteristics of good Service Catalog projects, and see real world examples of how these characteristics helped the organizations involved meet their IT Service Management and IT Financial Management goals.

Register here.

Lontra CEO Interviews Alliance Data CIO in the January Issue of itSMF's "The Forum"
Join Lontra's CEO, Boris Pevzner, as he interviews Alliance Data's CIO, Barry Carter, in the January issue of itSMF's newsletter "The Forum".  This month's focus is IT Service Continuity Management and IT Financial Management.

Barry tells Boris about his experience developing a Service Portfolio for Alliance Data, and applying  IT Financial Management and IT Service Demand Management best practices to achieve his customer satisfaction, cost transparency, and IT and business alignment goals.

Barry's application of the best practices in ITIL v3 is in line with the growing number of organizations using the Service Portfolio as a strategic business management tool for IT, and the Service Catalog as a way to communicate not only available services but pricing and SLA information to their customers.

For more information on this topic, view an instant replay of Barry's webinar, "Shaping IT Service Demand Through the Service Portfolio".  For the full issue of itSMF's Forum Newsletter, visit their website.
January & February 2008 Featured Events

January 15 - January 17
Washington, D.C.
ITIL v3 Foundations Course

Register here

January 16 - 8:30 AM PST
Free Educational Webinar
"Five Characteristics of Successful Service Portfolio Implementations"

Register here

January 18
Washington, D.C.
ITIL v2 to v3 Bridge Course

Register here 

January 22 - January 24
Chicago, IL
ITIL v3 Foundations Course

Register here

February 12 - February 14
New York, NY
ITIL v3 Foundations with Polestar Simulation
Register here

February 15
Phoenix, AZ
ITIL v2 to v3 Bridge Course
Register here
We want to hear from YOU!

Do you have an idea for an article that you'd like to see featured in "The Business of IT"?  Would you like to respond to a previous article, white paper, or webinar?  Let us know!

Give us feedback here.

 
    Read Past issues of "The Business of IT"  
  Read the Aug. 07 issue of The Business of IT
 
Read the Sept. 07 issue of The Business of IT
 
Read the Oct. 07 issue of The Business of IT
 
Read the Nov. 07 issue of The Business of IT
 
Read the Dec. 07 issue of The Business of IT
 
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Consulting services: consulting@lontra.com
Workshops and webinars: education@lontra.com
 
  10+ Hour Course: Running IT Like A Business  
  Running IT Like A Business
10+ hours of instruction!
1.0 Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
Fri, April 24 and Fri, May 1

Register today!

Looking to get a comprehensive, in-depth overview of service-centric IT management while satisfying your organization's continuing education requirements? Look no further! This NEW 10+ hour two-day course provides instruction in service catalog design, service costing, demand management, running IT like a customer-centric business, and other IT management concepts -- and at the end of it all, gives you a course completion certificate worth 1.0 CEUs! The course includes the following:

  • The Service Catalog Online Workshop and Toolkit (April 24)
  • A one-hour Case Study session (April 24)
  • The Service Costing Online Workshop and Toolkit (May 1)
  • A one-hour "Putting It All Together" session (May 1)
  • An optional one-hour one-on-one consultation with your workshop instructor (scheduled separately)

Register here

 
  Service Catalog Design Online Workshop  
  Date: Friday, April 24
Format: Interactive presentation, hands-on modeling exercises

Register today!

This workshop is an information-packed 4-hour interactive online session designed to answer all your Service Catalog design questions. It will give you the tools and knowledge necessary to build a robust, ITIL-compliant, business-process-aligned Service Catalog from scratch, or improve on your organization's existing Service Catalog. Your instructor for this session will be one of our ITSM experts, well-versed in industry best practices. Along with this workshop, you will receive all the materials contained in our Premium Service Catalog Design Toolkit. Space is limited, so register now!

Register here

 
    Consulting Services  
  Lontra's award-winning consultants have a wealth of experience implementing best practice service catalogs and service portfolios, as well as developing service-based costing and budgeting. We have a track record of helping Global 1000 organizations achieve their IT Service Management (ITSM) and IT Financial Management (ITFM) goals, and can help you.

Email us to learn more about Lontra's ITFM and ITSM consulting offerings.

email Lontra's consulting group