15Jan
IT infrastructure work is certainly not the same as software development, but the Agile methodologies offer some good advice to us system and network administrators. In general, Agile has grown from a Manifesto about software development to a full-blown project management methodology. Powerful tools are available to help manage projects according to its tenants. Although Agile is based on lessons learned implementing complex software projects, its principles apply equally well to IT infrastructure projects and operations. Agile’s concept of “self-organizing teams” is particularly appealing to me, since Applied Trust is managed as a “company of peers”.
I’ve picked five of the Principles behind the Agile Manifesto that are particularly applicable to our field – read on to see how they look from an IT infrastructure perspective:
1) Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable infrastructure.
2) Welcome changing requirements, even late in deployment. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
3) Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
4) Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential.
5) Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
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02Feb
Author: ned
Categories: IT Management, Ramblings
I recently passed my ITIL v3 Foundation Certification Exam, having studied both the best and worst study guides I could find. After my last bitter rant, I figured I would share a positive review. If you’re already familiar with ITIL concepts and processes, The Art of Service’s “Exam Prep Study Guid: ITIL v3 Foundation” is the golden ticket. It provides concise, 2-page summaries of each Service Design and Service Delivery process, including the process’ business goals, basic concepts, and key terms. It covers in 90 pages (with nice, fat 14-point text) what the official ITIL books cover in hundreds.
If you are new to IT operations processes (such as change/incident/problem/configuration/capacity management), you should probably attend an ITIL Foundations training course. However, if you have some hands-on ITIL experience, or experience with other comprable IT operations models (like MOF), you should buy this book today and pass your ITIL v3 Foundations test tomorrow!
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08Dec
Author: ned
Categories: Ramblings
I just survived a book that I am pretty sure was written by a computer, and regardless is probably the worst book I’ve ever read. Whoever wrote the clever algorithm that generated random ITIL-related text in this rotten book probably deserves a neck-medal, but surely their name isn’t Blokdijk. It appears that this horrible book, “ITIL IT Service Management: 100 Most Asked Questions, by Gerard Blokdijk,” was written by a real human, but I prefer to assume this was a result of a poor application of techology…
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