When you communicate better, work’s more fun (and productive)
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Robin Yearsley serves up two terrific posts this morning at the IT Service Blog. One of them is a pointer to a white paper (in PDF format) called Root Cause Analysis for Beginners. (In a former job, I had to develop and teach a root cause analysis class to our problem resolvers, and I wish that I…
If you’re an aggregator “harnessing collective intelligence”, what are you aggregating? If it’s data and information, you’re competing with just about everything–Google searches, reference docs both online and printed, the majority of tech books and articles, etc. But if you’re aggregating up the…
If you’re a frequent Googler (and who isn’t?) then you’ll definitely want to grab the newly-updated, two-page PDF version of the Google Cheat Sheets (Version 1.02). Print them out, stick them in a plastic sheet protector and keep them near your PC.
The concept of the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is not exceedingly difficult to comprehend, particularly as it applies to the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). However, the actual implementation of a CMDB and clearly demonstrating value can introduce subtle…
Blogging is good for your career. A well-executed blog sets you apart as an expert in your field. Ben Day blogged his way into a career as a high-earning software consultant while maintaining the freedom to schedule frequent jam sessions and performances as a keyboard player. Blogging gave him the…
An article geared towards tech support staff, but one that most of us who work in technology would do well to read: You think you’re a good communicator: You keep your users informed and you listen to their problems. So why is it that no one appears to read your e-mails or seems capable of…
A group of systems and software vendors (led by BMC, Fujitsu, IBM and HP) are pushing for standards for the databases that track IT assets and how their configurations change over time: Such a repository, called a Change and Configuration Management Database (CMDB), is called for by ITIL (IT…
The Big Four accounting firms are rapidly rebuilding their consulting divisions, though these days they’re calling them “business advisory” groups. In the wake of the Andersen scandal, and fearing repercussions from crackdowns on conflicts of interest, three of the Big Four sold their consulting…
I have seen the future of management, and it is Indian. Vineet Nayar, president of India’s 30,000-employee HCL Technologies, is creating an IT outsourcing firm where, he says, employees come first and customers second. “Everybody was aghast the first time I said that,” admits Nayar. Here are some…
Outsourcing of information technology and business services delivers average cost savings of 15 percent, a survey found on Thursday, disproving market claims that outsourcing can reduce costs by more than 60 percent. After professional fees, severance pay and governance costs, savings range between…