Author Archives: mylisaland

About mylisaland

Co-Founder and COO of ITSM Academy

DevOps Gold: What the Olympics Teaches Us About Agile Development and Release

Posted on by
Reply

I am kind of “little girl excited” about our next webinar.  Probably because, ever since I was a little girl, I have LOVED the Olympics; summer and winter, I equally love them both. WebinarBanner_Sept2014Some of my fist TV memories are centered on the Olympics.  Nadia, Flo-Jo, Eric Heiden, Greg Louganis, Mary Lou, Apollo; actually it would take too long for me to list them all! Let’s just say it’s serious.  And now with TiVo, it’s almost ridiculous… but that’s for another day…

The point of today’s post is to invite you to our September Webinar; DevOps Gold: What the Olympics Teaches Us About Agile Development and Release. Presented by: Dave Roberts, Executive Advisor, BMC Software.  Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 11am (Eastern) – Register

At the recent winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, we saw athletes from all over the world striving for excellence. Some turned in the best performance of their lives and came home with a gold medal. Others, some favorites, struggled and saw their dreams slip away. In this presentation, we’ll see how DevOps done right is a lot like the Olympics. If you set reasonable goals, train hard, and execute well, you’ll reach DevOps Gold, too. But if you take your releases for granted, you may end up with nothing to show for it.

Register Today

Until your next trip to LisaLand…Happy Learning!

Advertisement

Amiable

Posted on by
Reply
amiable\AY-mee-uh-bul\

adjective

1 : generally agreeable
2 : being friendly, sociable, and congenial

It’s SUCH a great word, and great way to live your life… I wish people used it more, and lived it more!

Until your next trip to LisaLand…Happy Amiability 😉

Tell the Story With Business Value Dashboards

Posted on by
Reply

We are VERYDashboardWebinar pleased and excited to have Jeffrey Brooks, a Research Vice President with Gartner, Inc. as our presenter on our next webinar.

Thursday, August 21, 2014 at 11am (Eastern)

Jeffrey Brooks is a Research Vice President in the IT Operations Management team of Gartner. His research focuses on IT service management, including service desk, incident management, problem management, change management, process improvement (including the ITIL framework) and SLA management, as well as IT service catalog. Mr. Brooks helps clients understand the key metrics, best practices and core processes required for IT to deliver meaningful service and support that align to the goals of the business. Mr. Brooks has also authored numerous publications, including co-authoring “The Help Desk Manager’s Crash Course” (2009), and he has received numerous individual and team awards, such as Customer Service Manager of the Year (2011) by the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, HDI Team Excellence Award for External Support (2010), and Customer Service Company of the Year (2009) at the NCTA 21 Awards.

Register Today

Until your next trip to LisaLand…Happy Learning!

Converting a Budget Deficit Into an Innovation Surplus – USPS

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been meaning to write the blog, “I Left My Brain in San Francisco” for the last 2 weeks. Unfortunately, without a brain, it’s pretty hard to write a blog!  And I say that I left my brain in San Fran, because it was blown away by what I learned, saw and heard at the ServiceNow #Know14 conference.  What a great event they have grown into.  The line-up of presenters, topics, labs… it’s really a well orchestrated week, filled with learning and fun – two of my favorite things….

One of the BEST presentations was by the folks at the United States Postal Service, titled Converting a Budget Deficit Into an Innovation Surplus.

The title certainly caught my attention, and it sounded like it might be a little different from the other presentations, so I attended.  And man, am I glad that I did!

I am so impressed with their Service organization, and how in tune they are with their stakeholders and customers, that I reached out and asked if they would re-present for ITSM Academy’s June webinar… and they said YES 😉

So I am very happy to say;

Please join us for a complimentary webinar: Converting a Budget Deficit Into  an Innovation Surplus on Thursday, June 19th at 11am (Eastern) – Register 

Presenters: John Edgar, VP of IT and Kathleen A. Warnaar, Manager, Performance Achievement, United States Postal Service.

EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR BANNER June 2014“It’s no secret that the United States Postal Service operates under a stringent budget deficit, but what may surprise you is that the IT organization has converted that deficit into an innovation surplus. Join USPS, John Edgar, VP of IT and Kathleen Warnaar, Manager, Performance Achievement, as they discuss how they’ve been able to align IT as an enabler in support of a cross-organizational initiative focused on service, revenue and value transformation. Employing new strategies and approaches in service definitions and delivery, IT is successfully achieving operational efficiencies, cost savings and customer satisfaction. John and Kathleen will discuss how IT is reinvesting the savings delivered by their ITSM initiatives to drive additional innovations and automation across the enterprise.”

Have questions you want included? Post them on Twitter; #askITSM.

Until your next trip to LisaLand…Happy Learning!

Full Circle – from ESM to ITIL and Back Again

Posted on by
Reply

I guess it means that I’m getting old… I can look back over my career now and see many things coming full circle.

As example, we just celebrated our 10th anniversary here at ITSM Academy.  Of course, we are much larger, with more robust processes in place (and 30,000+ Alumni!) But, with the introduction of our new Agile Service Management Line of Training, there are many parallels to when we originally launched our ITSM/ITIL Line of Training.

Earlier this month, I was fortunate to attend the ServiceNow Knowledge14 Conference, and that’s where it really hit me.  Several people talked to me about “Enterprise Service Management” and how that title needed to replace “ITSM”.  I don’t disagree, but it struck me as so funny.  10.5 years ago, I was an ESM Practice Manager, but got so much feedback that people didn’t know what that meant.  My favorite was, “Why would you call yourself that when your are the ITSM Practice Manager?” Based on that conversation, I did something as unethical as it gets here in LisaLand…. I went onto LinkedIn and changed my job title…(insert shocked face here!).

So what does this mean, this movement to (as one presenter called it) – Innovating Beyond ITIL: Enterprise Service Management.  Well, quite simply, it’s where we should have been 15 years ago.  The focus of ITSM / ITIL / ESM – whatever you want to call it – has to be outside of IT.  The focus of any successful (insert your letters of choice here) Program needs to be on;

  • the services we provide
  • the stakeholders we provide them to
  • the cultural change that needs to shift our IT organization into a service provider

One of the KPMG presenters said, “Innovate on ITIL, but don’t emphasize the IT in  ITIL”. Which will leave some feeling IL – LOL (sorry, couldn’t help it!)

KPMG also spoke a lot about Global Business Services.  I did a little follow up reading and, “Global Business Services (GBS) business operating model is poised to replace standalone outsourcing and shared services…with around 60 percent of the organizations embracing GBS over the next three years. The research also predicted that expenditure on external GBS is expected to nearly double-up to reach $73 billion in 2017 as against US$ 40 billion in 2013.”

arrows_tail_spin_multi_colored_400_wht_9654And to take us full circle now on this blog….I think, we are back to where we should have started 15 years ago.

I also think that getting older gives you some perspective that makes life more interesting…. but that will go full circle too.  One day, we won’t be able to remember any of this anyway.

Until your next trip to LisaLand…Happy Circling!

DevOps: Moving Beyond Early Adopters to Pragmatic Acceptance

Posted on by
1

Join us for a complimentary webinar: DevOps: Moving Beyond Early Adopters to Pragmatic Acceptance on Thursday, May 15th at 11am (Eastern) – Register

Presenter: Alan Shimel,Editor-in-Chief, DevOps.com

EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR BANNER_May2014

Just about every technology trend over the last 30 years has followed a similar pattern. Originally championed by a dedicated core of enthusiasts, it gathers adherents among those willing to live at the bleeding edge. Over time champions emerge who seek to spread the word on the benefits of the technology. These visionaries eventually come to a chasm that separates early adopters from the vast majority of the mainstream. Some technologies cross the chasm, others fall in.

DevOps is now at precipice of the chasm. It appears to have the momentum to make the leap. Why? How will it affect you? Separating the fact from the hype, examining the truth behind the myth, learn how DevOps is not a threat to IT jobs, but can be the greatest catalyst of improved performance that we have seen in IT for a long time

Have questions you want included? Post them on Twitter; #askITSM.

Until your next trip to LisaLand…Happy Learning!

A Personal Blood Moon!

Aside

It’s official, I’m going to have to start a “Guest Host Posts” section!  This wonderful blog was written by my teammate (and instructor extraordinaire) Rose Lariviere.  Rose can be found on Twitter @ITSM_Rose.  

Lunar Eclipse – April 15th, 2014.

eclipseA lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a full moon. (Wiki)

After reading this I began to speculate on just how amazing it is that the entire universe works together to occasionally align itself. We know that true joy and success in life requires balance.  Sometime we glean these lessons from the wisdom of others and sometimes we learn from the painful consequences of not having the right balance.  At least twice a year the entire universe works to align the Sun, Earth and Moon and this year that triggered a provoking thought.   How often to I officially take stock and align the critical elements of my life?  How much more could I accomplish if I did?

When viewing a lunar eclipse the moon will take on a deep copper red color and has been tagged as a “Blood Moon”.  We can consider our business, relationships, health,or take any one area and determine what needs to be aligned or come under control. Every lunar eclipse will be a reminder to align and calibrate once again.

blood moonFor me it is time for a personal “Blood Moon”.  I have decided to use this time when all of the heavens come together to calibrate to take inventory of my own life.  Time to look at where I am now, who do I want to be and what can I do to create the alignment in my life that will energize, spark, adjust, and prepare me to fulfill a greater purpose in this life than I would have otherwise.

What are the critical elements of your life that could benefit for a personal “Blood Moon”?

I am off to ponder mine and to get started.

It’s Lisa again; asking Rose if she could write a post for me was one of the things I did these week to try to add some balance to my schedule so this blog is so fitting.  TY Rose.

Until your next trip to LisaLand…Happy Calibrating!

Would You Look at That!

Posted on by
Reply

Lynda May 2013Many thanks to my new friend – Lynda Frederick, MSPM, PMP – for agreeing to share this blog post with me (and you!).  You can find Linda on LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/in/lyndafrederick

I love this true story about a couple named Dow and Nancy.  Dow was busy working on his PhD and his wife Nancy helped out as his part time assistant and typist.  Dow was doing research in the maritime industry, so the couple spent five months in Europe traveling to different port cities and studying ships, ports, and logistics.

On a rare day off Dow and Nancy decided to explore a maritime museum; they just couldn’t get enough ships!  They came around a corner in the museum and saw a stained glass window that was a picture of… nothing!  It was just blobs.  After a brief glance, Dow said “That’s the ugliest thing I have ever seen!” and he proceeded on.

Dow

 

 

 

 

Nancy hung back and continued to look at the window.  There was something intriguing about it and she wondered what message the artist could be trying to send.  Suddenly, she saw it!  It was as if she was standing above a koi pond looking down at fish.  Instead of the silhouettes of fish that we draw as kids with an oval body and a triangle tail, the fish were beautiful blobs that gracefully overlapped each other.  “Would you look at that!”  Nancy called for Dow to come back to look at the window again.

Once Nancy pointed out the elusive koi, the couple stood for a few minutes taking in the beauty of the fish in the window.  When they returned from their research trip, Dow and Nancy loved to tell the story of the fish window.

Here’s a challenge for you.  What do you look at every day?  What do you overlook every day?  Where have you become complacent?  I challenge you to look for something in a new way.  Look for fish!  Find something you can improve or refine or automate or clean up or simply make better.  The fish are there, you just need to look for them.

Until your next trip to LisaLand…Happy Fishing!

New Courses at ITSM Academy – Scrum and DevOps

Posted on by
Reply

itsmacademy_smallWe have been working (tirelessly!) on our newest Line of Training – Agile Service Management®, and are continuing to add new courses to our portfolio.  We are thrilled to announce the following courses:

  • DevOps Overview – 4 hour virtual class, introducing concepts of DevOps. February 28 (with many more options to come), virtual classroom.
  • DevOps Fundamentals – 2 day certification course, provides attendees the ability to formulate a high-level strategy and action plan for adopting DevOps in their organization.  April 7-10, virtual classroom.
  • Certified ScrumMaster – 2 day certification course, which we are delivering in partnership with a leading Rep of the Scrum Alliance.  March 17-18 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
  • Agile Service Management: Applying Scrum to Process Design – 5 hour virtual class. Coming soon.

For more information on these courses, or to register, please visit our website.

Until your next trip to LisaLand…Happy Learning!

Work at ITSM Academy!

Posted on by
Reply

We have 2 great sales openings at the Academy; Business Development Manager (virtual) and Public Education Sales (Ft. Lauderdale).

Public Education Sales

ITSM Academy’s Public Education Sales team member is a skilled sales person who can effectively sell seats into our open enrollment (public) classrooms.  The ideal candidate will be located in South Florida, and will:

  • Generate sales via the telephone, in person, targeted email marketing and Social Media.

  • Articulate the purpose, key features, advantages, and value proposition of ITSM Academy’s portfolio.

  • Work from the Ft. Lauderdale Training Center every day of class to interact with learners. (May work from home on non-class days).

  • Promptly answer in-bound calls and web requests to convert to sales.

  • Develop and deliver proposals and quotes for individuals and groups.

  • Apply effective time management techniques and strategies to prioritize activities related directly to selling and minimize non-productive sales activities.

  • When necessary, travel to represent ITSM Academy to potential class locations, tradeshows and/or user groups.

  • Contribute to the growth of ITSM Academy through ideas and suggestions to help us to achieve outlined targets.

Business Development Manager
ITSM Academy’s Business Development Manager is a skilled business development manager / sales person who can effectively sell our full portfolio of training to existing and prospect accounts, using our extensive database.  In this Virtual (work from home) position, the right candidate will:

  • Conduct new business development via phone, research, in person client visits and networking

  • Partner with clients and prospects through a strategic and consultative sales approach to understand their business needs, issues, strategies and priorities and translate into best fitting service / product mix

  • Develop and deliver; client profiles, client presentations, proposals, quotes, Statements of Work, etc.

  • Acquire and integrate industry knowledge related to general trends, emerging technologies, competitors, etc. into strategic account planning and sales activities

  • Apply effective time management techniques and strategies to prioritize activities related directly to selling and minimize non-productive sales activities

  • Prioritize and performs a variety of concurrent tasks with minimal direction

  • When necessary, travel to represent ITSM Academy to potential and existing clients, and tradeshows

  • Contribute to the growth of ITSM Academy through ideas and suggestions

—————————
ITSM and/or Training Sales Experience is strongly preferred.  Our strong internal process, tools and teams provides the right candidate with a fun and lucrative working environment.

ITSM Academy is a full service IT Service Management Provider, specializing in Education and Advice. Our work environment is built on trust, loyalty and long term relationships. We provide solutions to our clients based on those same values.

Working with our team will be a fun, exciting and fulfilling experience.

ITSM Academy proudly offers a comprehensive employee benefit program which contribute to an exceptional and competitive place of employment. Program includes paid holidays, paid vacation days, medical insurance coverage through BlueCrossBlueShield as well as Flexible Spending Accounts (Section 125) for Medical and Dependent Care Costs. We also provide eligible employees with immediate vested 401(k) Qualified Retirement Plan upon 1 year of service which is an excellent means of long-term savings for your retirement.

ITSM Academy is an equal opportunity employer.

Submit Resume