I've been a service manager for over 3 months now and here is what I have discovered

N2IT

Utilization, Cost, Profits rule my world.
I am getting a lot better with Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Cognos (IBM reporting tool)
My advanced technicial skills aren't erroding quite yet, but they sure the heck aren't to sharp.
Presentations, Presentations, Presentations are a weekly event for me. Besides Outlook, PowerPoint is becoming one of my most used tools.
Having more of a business back ground would help out tremendously. Obviously they don't have too many certs for those.
ITIL, ISO, ITSM makes a lot more sense now. It's starting to come together and the knowledge gaps are starting to decrease in size. My functional knowledge is increasing as well.
I know very little when it comes to service management. I thought I knew how this world worked, WRONG
Any suggestions would be appreciated

Just a rant, but this board has been very helpful in my journey. Take care all.

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Comments

vCole

But the question is, do you enjoy doing it?

lordy

Sounds like my worst nightmare. Do people enjoy this kind of job?

Jinuyr

My list is starting to look like that. It's fun, but you learn all sorts of 'interesting' things each day.

For me, my #9 would be that nobody realizes the importance of change management in a large organization.

pzero

Jinuyr wrote: »

For me, my #9 would be that nobody realizes the importance of change management in a large organization.

+1. Sick of people making changes without telling anyone which is against the policies of the company. STOP BREAKING MY STUFFS!!

Everyone

I'm sure you may already be aware of this, but they do have ITIL certs.

N2IT

Jinuyr wrote: »

My list is starting to look like that. It's fun, but you learn all sorts of 'interesting' things each day.

For me, my #9 would be that nobody realizes the importance of change management in a large organization.

That would be my number 9 as well!

These one off silo's can just kill momentum. And yes Change Management is huge!

+1

N2IT

Everyone wrote: »

I'm sure you may already be aware of this, but they do have ITIL certs.

I have a few right now. I really find going to ISACA's and Best Management websites extremely helpful and informational.

Everyone

N2IT wrote: »

I have a few right now. I really find going to ISACA's and Best Management websites extremely helpful and informational.

Cool, how hard were they? I had started studying those at my last job, but found them very boring, and never did take the test. I kind of wish I had now, and may stil go back and try to do them later. I have a few others I want to knock out before ITIL though.

N2IT

vCole wrote: »

But the question is, do you enjoy doing it?

It's a challenge everyday.

higherho

pzero wrote: »

+1. Sick of people making changes without telling anyone which is against the policies of the company. STOP BREAKING MY STUFFS!!

change management can be a pain in most places. Most of the time change management goes up to supervisors who know nothing about IT and often time's takes days or weeks before you get something done.

I understand the importance of it and I'm glad its their but most companies really need to make the processes easier. My one friend could not make an ACL change without going through his supervisor (who is not an IT person at all) so that his EPO server would work and before he got the approval it took 4 days, 4! when it could have taken 5 minutes.

Essendon

The one thing I just DO NOT get about Change Management is the folks that approve those changes are not technical at all, I mean they are system owners/managers but apart from that they dont know shite about they are approving. You could really have anything approved by those goons.

Essendon

And you have lost your signature, N2IT...?!?!

Jinuyr

Essendon wrote: »

The one thing I just DO NOT get about Change Management is the folks that approve those changes are not technical at all, I mean they are system owners/managers but apart from that they dont know shite about they are approving. You could really have anything approved by those goons.

This was something I often ran into and always asked the question as to why they should be involved. I was able to mitigate most of these problems by having a test system available if it was an upgrade or patch to an existing piece of software. If it was a policy change, we often had an all department meeting every single morning where I can bring it up on the table and make a decision within 5 minutes. Over the months, they have understood that if they did not challenge the change, they accepted the change and had to be prepared to accept whatever consequence came to them if it were negative.

Easier said than done, I know, but working to get support for the IT department was key in getting this system going. I had to find what made these other departments or approvers tick and what they needed from IT. Once I knew that, it was the leverage I used to convince them how important it was to implement change management in their system and eventually the other systems in the organization.

Hope this helps and makes sense ^_^

N2IT

Essendon wrote: »

And you have lost your signature, N2IT...?!?!

I'll eventually recreate it Ess

shodown

it all depends on the environment. I have worked places where there is always someone on shift who can authorize a emergency change(update to ACL, reboot of a core device), the rest like a new ACL going on a core device, new BGP policy and so on would have to wait until the weekly change meeting on a conference call. Prior to that the change was looked over by another engineer, then signed off by the Lead Engineer, so when we went to the conference we were already ready for anyone who had something to say. This was one of the better environments though the IT director actually build the network in his techie days 15+ years ago with. Other places it took weeks to get a change done.

bertieb

N2IT wrote: »

It's a challenge everyday.

LOL! You must be getting good at management, because that is definately a management style answer to vCole's question. Neither confirm or deny you like it, but put some kind of positive spin on it.

bertieb

Essendon wrote: »

The one thing I just DO NOT get about Change Management is the folks that approve those changes are not technical at all, I mean they are system owners/managers but apart from that they dont know shite about they are approving. You could really have anything approved by those goons.

Welcome to the modern world of IT. It has spawned a complete new industry and career path which, like many others, is often filled with the inept who are treading the path.

That said, a decent Change Management system should have some form of CAB (Change Approval Board) consiting of key stakeholders that should review the change benefits, risks, implications and so on and should include input from the techies before the Change Manager signs it off.

However, it's not uncommon in smaller businesses to have 'Nigel' from Accounts in the role of Change Manager who will happily sign off anything in return for a friendly cup of tea and a Mars Bar

I've seen this so many times I've lost count.

Everyone

I wish we had change management where I work now. It is driving me insane not having it. I wrote a paper on why we need it, and how we could implement it. I gave that to my manager, he agreed with it, but nothing ever came of it.

They attempted some change management with the big EPIC implementation we just had, but are only using it for that, nothing else.

it_consultant

Service management is a real challenge because you have to bridge the gap between the implementors and the users. I don't know who is more challenging to work with sometimes. The implementors don't respect the impact changes make on business processes and workflow, and users don't respect that occasionally they will have to learn something new.

Users can be dumb and excitable whereas techs can be arrogant and condescending (how do you NOT understand such and such). Good management in IT and the business side is critical, otherwise everyone is miserable.

N2IT

it_consultant wrote: »

Service management is a real challenge because you have to bridge the gap between the implementors and the users. I don't know who is more challenging to work with sometimes. The implementors don't respect the impact changes make on business processes and workflow, and users don't respect that occasionally they will have to learn something new.

Users can be dumb and excitable whereas techs can be arrogant and condescending (how do you NOT understand such and such). Good management in IT and the business side is critical, otherwise everyone is miserable.

It was overwhelming at first and it still can get that way at times, but I am learning at an incredible rate. I've been identified as a potential engagement manager in the next few years. This is a great feat for me, I have hung and slung in the trenches waiting for my chance to get out. I am doing everything in my power to not squander this opportunity. I do agree with your write up though about end users and it support etc. It can be challenging, but with good practices and a solid strategy this thing is starting to come together. I have to admit transition can be extremely painful. Uncovering knowledge gaps and knowledge transfer is one of many pain points.

Essendon

Glad that things are working out for you, N2IT. Keep up the good work, and with the kind of work ethic you have, you shouldnt have too many issues climbing up the food chain.

gouki2005

N2IT wrote: »

Utilization, Cost, Profits rule my world.

I am getting a lot better with Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Cognos (IBM reporting tool)

My advanced technicial skills aren't erroding quite yet, but they sure the heck aren't to sharp.

Presentations, Presentations, Presentations are a weekly event for me. Besides Outlook, PowerPoint is becoming one of my most used tools.

Having more of a business back ground would help out tremendously. Obviously they don't have too many certs for those.

ITIL, ISO, ITSM makes a lot more sense now. It's starting to come together and the knowledge gaps are starting to decrease in size. My functional knowledge is increasing as well.

I know very little when it comes to service management. I thought I knew how this world worked, WRONG

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Just a rant, but this board has been very helpful in my journey. Take care all.

hate that.

N2IT

Essendon wrote: »

Glad that things are working out for you, N2IT. Keep up the good work, and with the kind of work ethic you have, you shouldnt have too many issues climbing up the food chain.

Thanks Ess that means a lot.

N2IT

gouki2005 wrote: »

hate that.

It's takes a bit of time, but you get better at it. My presentations aren't all that great.

Side story, my first presentation I did was a co presentation with my boss. After the presentation we had meeting just him and I and he asked me "do you ever practice the day before you have a meeting" He went on to suggest I practice in front of a video camera. I looked back at him and said I guess I stunk it up and we both started laughing. I'm blessed to have such a great mentor.