This exclusive event provided the 43 attendees responsible for ITSM/ITIL improvements the opportunity to engage with other like-minded professionals such as CIO's and IT Executives to discuss business and technology issues and solutions important to their your enterprise.

Significant dialogue about ITSM implementation strategies and proven business and IT organizational value was had between attendees and guest speakers. To view a short video clip of the event "Click Here".

The 38 attendees that participated in the Rountable session exgaged the panel in extended dialogue about ITSM improvement strategies, ITSM lifecycle challenges and alternatives, and how to dollarize improvements.

It eclipses the value of traditional CIO conferences by providing unmatched access to peer-based content and the chance to build life-long relationships, delivering exceptional value for the time invested.

Topic: Discussions about the controversial Nicholas Carr book 'The Big Switch'

The group consisted of more than one CIO from Manufacturing, Retail, Insurance, Health Care, Energy, Transportation, and Oil and Gas industries.

There was an exciting exchange round the question "Is it a trend or fade that IT is transforming into a utility function?”

Most participants agreed that:

• Parts of IT functions are or can be treated as a utility.
• IT utility functions that are strategic or provide a competitive edge should be kept in-house and not outsourced.
• Outsourcing IT utility functions may result in a loss of required skills and experience needed to maintain systems, respond to business development requirements, and achieve innovation.

All attendees agreed that the real value of today's CIO is in their ability to achieve efficiencies in operations, process, workflow management, and business analytics. While achieving operational efficiencies today’s CIO must also transform non-critical functionality into outsourced utilities that will not inhibit rapid response to development requirements or innovation.

The final critique about the ‘The Big Switch’ is that Nicholas Carr’s forward thinking premise has some merit. The velocity of business changes, globalization, and regulation compliance are driving today’s CIO to seek greater efficiencies and cost savings through outsourcing specific commodity IT functionality.

This exclusive event included ITSM educational presentations, as well as the opportunity to engage with other like-minded professionals such as CIO's and Executive ITSM leaders to discuss business and technology issues and solutions important to your enterprise.

Of the 22 atttendees, 19 stayed and participated throughout the event. The enthusiastic responses and lively discussions during the event exemplified the appetite each attended has for learning more about IT Service Management approaches and tools. Many of the attendees said they came away with some new “ITSM nuggets” they can use, along with a deeper understanding of how IT organizations can quickly achieve ITSM improvements.

Congratulations to John Cole with UNISYS the winner of the ITSM Scorecard Assessment (a $25,000 value) given away by KEDARit, and Gulhan Sumer the winner of the 8gig iPhone given away by Serena Software!!!

The event agenda:

8:00 - 8:30 AM Country Style Breakfast served

8:30 - 9:30 AM Session One - How to dollarize IT Service Management improvements

Speaker: Charles Williams, KEDARit

This session will deliver detailed strategies and examples of how companies are achieving significant improvements in IT service delivery and achieve up to 20% reduction in IT costs. 9:30 - 9:45 AM Break

9:45 - 10:45 AM Session Two – ITSM ITIL Versions 2 and 3: In Concert or Conflict

Speaker: Jeanette Smith, KEDARit

This session explains the differences between ITIL version 2 and the newly released ITIL version 3 frameworks. Attendees will understand how to determine which version they should utilize to achieve ITSM improvements.

10:45 - 11:00 AM Break

11:00 – Noon Session Three – The Dollarized Value of Automated ITIL Processes

Speaker: John Rush, Serena Software

This session helps attendees define the dollarized value of ITIL Change Management. This presentation includes a demonstration of an automated ITIL Change Management process using the Serena Team Track workflow management tool.

Noon – 1:00 PM Lunch served

1:00 - 2:00 PM Session Four – ITSM Executive Roundtable – Q&A

Panelists: Jeanette Smith, John Rush, Phil Farr, Charles Williams

This Roundtable session provides attendees the opportunity for additional questions and answers about ITSM improvements and bottom-line value.

If you were not able to attend, make sure you are on our email list to be invited to future events and announcements. We look forward to seeing you at our 1^st Quarter 2008 event.

Wishing you a Happy Holiday season from KEDARit, Inc.

It eclipses the value of traditional CIO conferences by providing unmatched access to peer-based content and the chance to build life-long relationships, delivering exceptional value for the time invested.

Topic: IT Cost Saving Strategies 

The group consisted of more than one CIO from Manufacturing, Retail, Communications, Chemical, Transportation, and Oil and Gas industries.

There was an exciting exchange of actionable suggestions, guidance, and solutions that centered around:

• Contract management,
• Telecommunications,
• Outsourcing and in-sourcing, and
• Industry benchmarks.

Here a few of the "Polling Questions" and answers taken during the session.

• What are your Telecom costs as percent of IT budget?
  • 58% of CIO's said 10% or less
  • 8% of CIO's said 15%
• Have you brought back in-house Outsourced IT functions this year?
  • 17% of CIO's said "yes" with savings ranging from 40% - 50%
• What is your cost of IT as a portion of gross company revenue?
  • 16% of CIO's said less than 1%
  • 41% of CIO's said less than 2%
  • 8% of CIO's said less than 3%
  • 10% of CIO's said less than 4%
  • 25% of CIO's said greater than 5%
• Have you done Outsourcing within your IT shop?
  • 41% of CIO's said they had Outsourced some or major portions of IT

Where: La Cima Club, Lakeside Room,

Topic: Demystifying the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) Framework

This presentation will help non-IT professionals understand what ITIL is, why it has been adopted by over 40% of US corporations, and why early adopters are reporting up to a 48% reduction in IT total cost of ownership and improved delivery of IT service to the business.

 ]]> 3/29/2007 10:35:00 PM http://168.75.236.72/cblog/?view=pLink&id=119 119 One of the new initiatives going into 2007 as changes are being made at KEDARit is our newly released ITIL Service Support Reference Card. This handy quick reference tri-fold card highlights ITIL Service Support process areas in a manner that managers and process owners responsible for implementing IT service management improvement will find useful. Here is the front of the tri-fold refercence card.

If you would like a complimentary ITIL® Service Support Reference Card mailed to you send us email email at Support-One@KEDARit.com.

It’s About The Service, Not The Server

Why you need to know about the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has been in the news lately, making headlines as implementations at Proctor & Gamble, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Caterpillar deliver eye-catching returns and huge savings for IT departments. A framework of best practices that organizations of any size can adopt and adapt, ITIL helps organizations achieve quality IT service as they change and grow.

“The good news is, it’s not a rip-and-replace solution,” comments Charles Williams, managing partner of KEDAR Information Technologies, one of the nation's leading IT service management companies. “But it’s also not an easy, step-by-step solution. It requires a considerable shift in perspective and behavior change.”

The biggest change IT organizations have to make, according to Williams, is to start thinking of the IT department as a service provider organization. “ITIL delivers processes, concepts and terminology that help IT experts communicate the value of technology by explaining it as services,” says Williams. “While business leaders don’t immediately understand the value of servers, routers and network technology, they do understand the value of services such as messaging, applications, or data access. Even budget discussions benefit from this approach, focusing on funds required to maintain agreed service levels, rather than on details of equipment and personnel.”

Changing an organization’s behavior and attitude sounds abstract, but implementing ITIL isn’t: ITIL must be backed by rigorous controls, processes, and measurement mechanisms that will deliver improvements over time. “I tell our clients, ‘no tools before the rules,’” says Williams. “You first need to define your processes and your business rules, then select and implement supporting technologies.” Williams is a fan of Serena® TeamTrack®. “With TeamTrack, once we’ve defined and mapped processes and associated controls, we can quickly automate and enforce key control points. That’s when ITIL goes from being a framework to a competitive advantage for your business.”

READ MORE ABOUT IT

 ITIL Power

Why the IT Infrastructure Library is becoming the most popular process framework for running IT in America, and what it can do for you http://www.cio.com/archive/090105/itil_frameworks.html?page=1

If you read only one article on ITIL this quarter, make it this in-depth piece from the September issue of CIO.com. This article explains why ITIL is becoming the most popular process framework for IT in America, and what it can do for you. Both the U.S. and Canadian governments will soon require IT contractors to use ITIL, as will General Motors. And the potential benefits of ITIL—including improvements in customer satisfaction and operating efficiency—are so great that Forrester has concluded that ITIL will become the de facto standard for all IT shops.

 Implementing ITIL

The state of Michigan's gradual rollout of ITIL's best practices has eased growing pains

http://www.networkworld.com/careers/2004/100404man.html

Because ITIL focuses on best practices, it lends itself to an approach of small steps. This article describes the steps the state of Michigan took to rolling out ITIL, and stresses that adopting ITIL calls for realism and diplomacy.

What Is ITIL?

http://www.kedarites.com/what-is-itil.asp

This link to the KEDAR web site is a good first stop to understanding ITIL and some of its concepts, processes, and terminology. The web site provides links to training materials, courses, books, and other information about ITIL.

602.3 OnTopix ITIL

January 18, 2006

ACS

'At this time I am pleased to make you aware of an exciting development in regard to the 2006 IT Service Management Conference & Expo.  We are happy to announce that we have been able to relocate this event to the state of the art Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.  The dates remain exactly the same, September 18-20, 2006.'

If you live in Texas or nearby and were excited about the 2006 itSMF conference being in Houston, I join you in disappointment about this recent change in venue.

I am sure it will be a great conference and Salt Lake City will welcome us with open arms. KEDAR will be there in booth #530. 

]]> 12/12/2005 2:12:00 AM http://168.75.236.72/cblog/?view=pLink&id=114 114 KEDAR will again be an exhibtor at the itSMF 2006 USA Conference and Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah (September 18 - 20, 2006). If you have not attended a conference you should! The itSMF USA conference is the premier venue for IT industry organizations to convene and share insight in striving towards service management and operational excellence.

For example, the results for the itSMF 2005 USA Conference and Expo held in Chicago, IL at McCormick Place were:

• Nearly 2,000 attendees representing over 700 companies and government agencies.

• The expo floor attracted over 100 vendors, including most of the major IT vendors that have an impact on IT service management in some respect, such as IBM, HP, Microsoft, Sun, Computer Associates, BMC Software, Peregrine, EDS, and KEDAR Information Technologies :-).

• The conference attracted representatives from over 30 countries.

• The number of attendees increased significantly this year and, possibly even more telling, the number of vendors doubled from 2004.

   

IT spending, corporate budgeting, staffing, benchmark metrics and ... 

Left to Right: Gabrielle Williams (KEDAR Office Manager and Registrar); Ron Palmer (KEDAR Senior Partner and IT Service Manager Master); Charles Williams (KEDAR Managing Partner); and Mark McManus (Computer Economics, Vice President and Industry Press for the itSMF conference)