Blogs that appear below are published on the Optimal Service Management web site.
All blogs published on this site are licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0 
Shiny new tools and processes aren't the only way to make improvements. And they won't be be of much use unless you've thought long and hard about what it is you are actually trying to achieve.
Many IT organizations think that defining a vision is too abstract, they don’t see the point, and they just want to get on with it. So they jump straight into the important work. The results are as predictable as they are sad. IT staff work very hard, but fail to arrive anywhere helpful, with results that are not nearly as good as they could have been.
Service level agreements (SLAs) should help to improve services, by making sure that both the service provider and their customer are very clear about responsibilities and expectations. Unfortunately, many SLAs have very poorly thought out targets, and these can often result in the service provider behaving in ways that are the exact opposite of what the customer wants.
How to create simple definitions of risk appetite levels, and then assign these to each of your organization’s projects, services, business units or any other clearly identifiable part of your work.
Mentoring is a great way to develop both professionally and personally, and the mentor can gain as much from the relationship as the mentee. This blog gives an overview of how you can get started as a mentor, or as a mentee.
Have you tried mapping out your customers’ journeys? If not, then it’s an exercise well worth doing.