Enterprise Digital - the podcast

Wow, this discussion is a creative caravanserai of ideas and ‘ologies. Our guest is the indomitable Mark Smalley, thinker, writer and builder of bridges across the IT industry. We move ineluctably from potty-training for cows, to service science and Buddhist sagacity – yes that sentence is true…! Mark has been involved in bringing together a whole new set of worlds of thinking as the lead on the High Velocity IT ITIL 4 book – the least ITIL-like ITIL book ever…we debate the taxonomy of services, products goods and the meaning of life, then enjoy a nice cup of tea at the bar…

This week’s guest is an experienced technology consultant and author – with 4 books to his name, Kevin J Smith, who also started his life working on the shuttle programme at NASA…  From working in technology, Kevin is now fossed on the human side of work more than just frameworks and this is reflected in his latest book on the humanity of IT. We discuss a number of aspects of the evolution of how we work and use IT, now with a renewed focus on enjoying work – the happiness factor – both for our customers and of course our people. Kevin’s point about ‘happiness is contagious’ is well made and reflects the need to improve the work experience, as a more broadly diverse workforce. We are also now the ‘hub of the wheel’ for organisations, and we should focus on innovation more than just fixing things and keeping things running. We end up on the opportunity that we have to bring in new types of people to our workplace. As is ever the case our podcast workplace drifts into the bar, Kevin enjoys a bourbon..

Our first four-person discussion on the podcast..! This is a brilliant practical discussion around The Vinci ESM approach , led by Darren, and supported by Pat Bolder from Hornbill, Vinci’s software partner. Darren has a great role as the ESM driver, outside of IT, although he’s from an IT and ITSM background. He also identifies the value of selling and communicating ESM concepts in simple business terms, not using IT or even ‘ESM’ language  Pat is also on hand to provide a vendor perspective – having been doing this in some form since 2005 – as well as ‘navigating hype’. He also provides a variety of useful data on some benefits of ESM working. Not surprisingly this discussion ends up in the bar.

Shane is a well-known contributor to the ITSM world, now as Director, Enterprise Architecture at Service Now and with a variety of previous roles, including an early stint as a prison guard. This discussion covers a range of topics with a clear focus on experience management and the need to focus on key business activities – ie the ‘moments that matter’… We also discuss the growing role of enterprise architects particularly as these are ever more being delivered as mostly business (and not IT) roles (Experience architects). This podcast discussion is full of great nuggets of clarity and insight. We also visit the bar and talk bourbon…

Charlie Araujo is a successful business leader and author – his book ‘the Quantum Age of IT’ raised a number of issues and questions about the whole technology industry – i.e. the traditional IT organisation is dead, we are entering a new ‘retail’ phase in our evolution. We discuss that and the outcomes that have happened since it was published nearly a decade ago. Our industry has changed and has had to – what has this meant for IT people and practitioners? We discuss the business side of this development, as well as touching on low code, citizen developers, IT democratisation, and hybrid IT organisations. An excellent discussion, followed by some refreshment at the podcast bar…

Normally brightly coloured in attire, on this occasion just bright (as ever), this episode features an excellent discussion with the distinguished and sagacious Stuart Rance. We dip into several storied from Stuarts wide experience of working In IT and ITSM, with particular relevance the need to work with people, not just do things to them. The way to get people to do things is not by giving them personal target, but by setting shared goals. The core of ESM is also touched on and the need to ensure that we develop a flexible ‘case’ based approach to work that needs it, and not just assume that all work can be classified as standard. The value from service management comes from working with people.  For ESM, ITIL’s history is in IT – its future is in (wider) service management. Some great thoughts from one of the industry’s eminent thinkers and prominent dressers…

We welcome Mauricio from Mexico City to the podcast – he is an eminent figure in the ITSM and Service Desk world, as a key ITIL and SDI contributor. We discuss a wide range of applications of robotics via ITSM and ESM, plus the (beautiful) concept of ‘co-bots’ – i.e. robots and that work with and in support of people – not the dystopian view of robot sci-fi destruction. Mauricio also highlights the need for good service management as the business focus and link to ensure that this technology is used in accordance with business needs and objectives.  We also dip in a little to the current Latin American market. Mauricio also enjoys a fine cognac – who doesn’t..!

We welcome ‘ITSM Ninja’ John to the podcast where the discussion starts with a really good/bad joke from Barclay – you decide. John has vast experience in the service management world, bringing great business and people perspectives to the discussion, particularly how ESM is possibly an indicator of organisational maturity. We discuss how ESM is currently only really seen as the toolset, and how this needs to change. “If you are not supporting the customer, then you are supporting someone who is supporting the customer”  - is a nice way of saying we all play our part in service delivery too. John is also clear that organisations don’t really understand the cost of service delivery – on that note we move to the bar, for some classy cocktails.

Our guest this week is the irrepressible industry analyst Stephen Mann, from ITSM.Tools. Stephen is a much respected figure in the industry who has created and defined several movements and initiatives around opening up access to information and data to practitioners. We discuss data from his recent work, which shows that 67% of organisations already do some sort of ESM. We also touch on whether ‘ESM’ is a name that will stick for this – its currently the best we’ve got. The conversation also covers the well-being of people working in IT and how we need to ensure that this is given the attention it deserves, particularly with the growing spectre of automation/Ai and the extra demands this puts on people. Ultimately Stephen’s focus in on ensuring that we do the right thing to do good business, and that includes looking after people.

What have we learned after 20 episodes of the podcast about Enterprise Service Management? Ian and Barclay review the content from the first few sessions, discussing the input that we have had from a variety of experienced people from our industry. We realise that ESM really does mean business, people and the need for leadership as well as automation, new tools and ways of working. Will robots take our jobs to save money or are we safe as we will be more needed than ever? The over-riding learning is that service management offers opportunities to the whole of business and is not just about ‘IT’. We also gained some insight on our guests via their preferences for drinks. One thing for sure – we are not just talking about IT or ITSM – ‘if its ITSM, its not strategic enough..’!