Solution Set

Applications pass through four lifecycle stages: Birth, Growth, Maturity, and Death. To effectively manage each application, the IT leader and Applications Manager (AM) must know to which state it belongs.

Case Study

Ad hoc management of the application lifecycle leads to inefficient management of the application, reducing its overall value.

Tool

Determining if or when to retire an application is a difficult proposition. Retirement decisions have a reactionary effect on an enterprise's corporate and technology infrastructure. Using the wrong criteria to determine whether or not to retire...

Video

Organizations must continue efforts to reduce the high proportion of their IT budget spent (typically 70%) on continuing operations, to provide room for new initiatives that management expects IT to deploy.

Video

When it comes to enacting change, IT is its own worst enemy. They fail to address four important issues when preparing users, which ultimately results in resistance to the change.

Note

When it comes to enacting change, IT is its own worst enemy. They fail to address four important issues when preparing users, which ultimately results in resistance to the change.

Solution Set

IT Leaders need to provide the guidance and direction to prepare the rest of the organization to navigate the treacherous waters of organizational change and gain buy in and support.

Tool

The Change Readiness Preparation Tool evaluates IT's ability to prepare the organization for change across three key areas and provides you with detailed advice depending on your unique situation.

Template/Policy

The Change Communication Plan ensures that relevant information related to an IT change is provided to all affected stakeholders and staff telling them what they need to know, when they need to know it.

Note

This storyboard will help you create meaningful procedures to promote improvements in your overall application maintenance approach. If you fail to provide appropriate resources and processes for maintenance tasks, the applications that drive...

Template/Policy

Configuration change control involves the systematic proposal, justification, implementation, test/evaluation, review, and disposition of changes to information systems, including upgrades and modifications. Without system change control the...

Template/Policy

Requirements may change throughout the project lifecycle. Documenting and tracking these changes ensures accuracy when addressing the requests for change. Use this template to track the status of all requirements change requests.

Template/Policy

Requirements may change throughout the project life cycle. Documenting and tracking these changes ensures accuracy when addressing the requests for change. Ensure that the accurate assessment and impact of the change are documented whenever a...

Template/Policy

Many role transitions are characterized by low productivity and lost opportunities. As one employee exits a role and their successor takes over, a clear checklist-based plan will help ensure a smooth and rapid transition.

Establishing metrics can be a sizeable undertaking. New IT leaders need to get their hands on some solid numbers fast to help build credibility and identify key areas for change. Get a few descriptive metrics in place in your early weeks on the...

Template/Policy

Unscheduled moves, adds, and changes (MACs) to desktop systems can lead to a drain on resources and inefficiencies. Draft a move/add/change policy to help you control the process, reduce IT support costs, and increase end-user satisfaction.

Template/Policy

Deploying standard server configurations is a proven method of reducing operating risk. Implementing a server configuration policy is the best way to ensure that all servers have been hardened with consistent security configurations and processes.

IT leaders should generally stick to quick wins and avoid making deep-seated changes in their first 100 days. However, new leaders must also recognize when long-term change is needed. The real-world scenarios presented in this note provide new...

The importance of network lifecycle management cannot be overstated when it comes to maintaining network performance and controlling costs. Automating certain workflow processes delivers excellent value in this area, but best practices are...

Failure to follow proper change management processes when adopting infrastructure change increases the number of enterprise system outages and results in severe impact to the business. Executing proper control and management of infrastructure...

Service management improvement can take years to implement successfully as it requires a fundamental change to the way IT operates. To ensure the process is built into the overall business strategy, build transparency into IT's plans and costs...

Help desk software has evolved into a complete service management platform that can be deployed throughout the business. ICCM's eService Desk solution, built on Metastorm's Business Process Management Suite, ensures the business is focused on...

Moving IT to a business-centric IT delivery model is a process that continues to challenge small and midsized enterprises. Gauge the enterprise's current ITSM maturity by learning why and how other small and midsize enterprises are moving to...

Moving IT to a business-centric, services oriented model is a process that continues to challenge fast growing small and mid-sized enterprises. Info-Tech In-Depth Research interviews provide valuable insight on what drives organizations to...

IT Service Management (ITSM) has become widely recognized as a business friendly approach to delivering IT service, but the complexity of frameworks, standards, and best practices can sometimes have the unintended consequence of distorting the...

Process changes are essential and inevitable as organizations evolve and improve. However, modifying business and IT processes often seems difficult to achieve. A range of people factors conspire to derail process changes. Learn about the...

Help desk solutions have evolved from a variety of different approaches. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems have been adapted to service desk duty, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery is now a real alternative to on-premise...

Help desk software solutions are becoming more powerful and integrated. A number of traditional help desk solutions offer broad capabilities and functionality. Select the on-premise solution best suited for the organization based on its IT...

IT Service Management (ITSM) has become widely recognized as a business friendly approach to delivering IT, but the complexity of frameworks, standards and best practices can sometimes have the unintended consequence of distorting the core goals...

IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks and standards fail to define what service orientation should look like for small and mid-sized shops. Instead of blind framework adoption, use a diagnostic approach and apply common sense to satisfy the...