CastlePointe is constantly producing articles, white papers and other content tools based on our latest Ideas and Insights dealing with the many aspects of IT Transformation. We hope that you find them helpful in your journey to Transform your IT organization.
I was sitting in a meeting the other day and the dreaded question came up. "How do I justify the investment in Service Management to the customer?" the IT executive asked.
It is a fair question. It is a question that makes sense. There is only one problem - it is the wrong question.
THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE OF SERVICE MANAGEMENTWe in the Service Management industry have made a big deal about putting our services…
The phrase "What we've got here is (a) failure to communicate" is a famous line we've all quoted at one time or another from the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. Similar to the film, it's not that communications are not taking place between IT and the business; it's just that they're ineffective or unproductive. Let's face it, sometimes we're literally thrown into an IT/business relationship with no history, faced to come up with a quick…
When I was about six years old, I returned from a trip to the beach with a bag full of beautiful sea shells. So I did what most normal six year olds do - I set up a "store" to sell them. (You did that, right?)
I got up early the next morning, pulled out a little fold-up table and set it up on the sidewalk in front of my house. I neatly arranged all…
While traditional performance management practices focus on fixing individual and team weaknesses, this presentation explores strengths-based strategies for increasing team performance, team member fulfillment and overall project results.
The most successful project managers know how to build and maintain an environment in which people, teams, and projects flourish. Having strong project management processes in place is not enough. In today's fast-paced, complex and chaotic business environment, strong teamwork and…
Your company may be giving IT vendors more help with their innovation than your own innovation. Don't just give away great ideas. Work with your vendors to not only implement innovation in their products and services, leverage your strategic vendors to help your company's innovation and improve the value of IT to your business.
A few months ago I…
In the article, "Building Teams for Success," we discussed how building an IT team may not be easy, but it can be fun. Whether developed from the ground or inherited, we know we have good operational teams in many of our IT organizations. Teams that are culturally diverse, motivated to be successful and possess the right character traits to support our customers. Some of us are even privileged enough to have…
Cloud services are now so mature and well adopted that surely it is time to start discussions and make plans about how to manage and tune the cloud services that your company may have purchased.
If that sounded a bit sarcastic and presumptive, well, it was meant to be. I am willing to bet, however, that most organizations that are pursuing and/or already using some form of…
Thoughts, Ideas & Real World Experiences About Transforming IT Organizations
We in the Service Management industry have made a big deal about putting our services in the context of business value. That is the right thing to do, but it is misaligned when we discuss the value of Service Management. The cold, hard truth about Service Management is that it has no value in-and-of itself. "Finding Value in Service Management" delves into how the real value of Service Management is only found when…
Let's face it, sometimes we're literally thrown into an IT/business relationship with no history, faced to come up with a quick solution and expected to deliver results that show value to our customers. "Communications: Building and Maintaining Effective Business Relationships" discusses why the power of the liaison position can be an outstanding way to build and maintain effective business relationships that do just that.
The most well run organizations in the world are masters at defining and understanding their markets and customer segments. World class IT organizations should be no different. Our latest article, "Creating a Service Portfolio Through Markets and Customer Segments," discusses how to create a service portfolio that is both relevant and designed to deliver optimal value to your customers.
While traditional performance management practices focus on fixing individual and team weaknesses, this presentation explores strengths-based strategies for increasing team performance, team member fulfillment and overall project results.
Your company may be giving IT vendors more help with their innovation than your own. Our latest article,"Are You Leveraging Your Vendors for Innovation?"discusses how to work with your vendors to not only implement innovation in their products and services, but how to leverage your strategic vendors to help your company's innovation and improve the value of IT to your business.
