Download Audio (22:18)

"You want to take compliance from an event that you don't look forward to ... turn it into a process," says Ben Newton.

The United States government must process and protect vast amounts of data essential to our country’s welfare. The challenge for government IT organizations is to make this information available when and where it is needed, without risking the security of that data or the government’s networks.

Whether you are dealing with compliance and security in a Federal environment, as a Federal contractor, or simply need to meet stringent internal security requirements, be sure to listen in as we talk with Chris Olson, Technical Director and CTO for Public Sector Sales at BMC Software andBenjamin Newton Software Consulting Manager for Public Sector; Department of Defense and Intelligence Community at BMC Software.

Bios

Chris Olson is Technical Director and CTO for Public Sector Sales at BMC Software. Chris manages the day-to-day technical sales engineering activities for all federal, state and local, and education accounts.

Ben Newton is the technical director for Department of Defense and Intelligence Community Sales at BMC Software. He manages the technical side of the sales cycle for all of BMC’s defense and intelligence community customers.

Questions

1. So, Chris and Ben, you’ve been at this awhile. Have you seen some changes, concerns, or trends that are noteworthy?
2. It sounds like on the government side, besides the sheer numbers of devices concerned being huge—and widely distributed—the compliance process involves a lot of process and detail. It sounds like a massive undertaking, am I right?
3. What’s changed in the last 3 to 5 years that make it more complex to demonstrate readiness and compliance with regulations
4. What is it about automation that they really need to know in order to move forward?
5. What are some of the key steps for creating a culture that integrates security and configuration management to get to the place of compliance? 6. How do you talk about BSM with regards to the challenges relating to continued compliance, to support compliance effectively, and so on?
6. Normally, we’d be asking about what the business benefits are to this of approach ad architecture and thinking about BSM. But, how are the business benefits different when we’re talking about the Federal Government?

 

 

"You need a good transition strategy for the changes that people have to experience ... or technology or process changes will be a constraint," says Anthony Orr.

Play Podcast   (Right click to download)

(20:43 minutes)

Are you skeptical about whether you can actually use out-of-the-box technology to achieve the most value from an IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL ® )perspective?  Have you ever selected technology that aligned with your goals but were surprised at what you found in the box? Are some of your staff ITIL trained or ITIL certified, but they still don't understand their roles in the ITIL process? Are you still trying to define your processes so you can start an ITIL initiative?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone. Industry experts have raised these same questions about getting an ITIL solution using out-of-the-box technology.

Join us as we talk with an ITIL expert, Anthony Orr, and explore this question, Can you Really Get ITIL Out of the Box?

Bio

Anthony Orr is Global Best Practice Director for Educational Services, at BMC Software. He has more than 25 years of experience in managerial, consulting, marketing, and technical positions for IT Service Management strategies and implementations. He is certified in Project Management (PMP), ISO 20000, and ITIL V2 Service Manager and ITIL V3 Expert levels. He is a senior examiner of ITIL V3 for APMG, has an Oracle Masters Certificate in database administration and application development, and holds a B.A.A.S. degree in computer information science.

Questions

It's my understanding these days, many IT organizations are turning to the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) for guidance on how to meet demands that they to reduce the cost of managing IT and ensure that decisions are based on customer value, business value, and business priorities. But, some industry experts are skeptical about whether you can actually use out-of-the-box technology to achieve the most value from applying the ITIL perspective on things.

1. With an initiative as long-term as ITIL, how does a company know when it's on the right road to success?
2. Let's talk more about identifying quick wins. What do they look like? What are some examples of those?
3. ITIL is mainly process focused, so how do we marry the process with the technology?
4. The technology is sometimes more advanced than the process stuff. It may have features and functions that you're not ready for yet. That can be daunting. So you've got this thing, and there are some immediate payoffs for it. But how can a company match the features they want with the technology they are purchasing?
5. What do we need to consider in terms of the human factor when we are making a decision about the technology?
6. Given all of this,what are the four top things you want to with regards to ITIL out of the box that would be most useful to the listeners?

Resources

Can You Really Get ITIL Out of the Box? (pdf)

Play Podcast (Right click to   download)

While he's quick to say that   he didn't choose the title of his white paper, "Between the Bazaar and the   Cathedral - Where ITIL®, Business Service Management, and Open Source   Converge" in this podcast, Whurley openly talks about the lessons learned   and leadership of enterprise software meeting open source, and community   involvement in producing quality software.

Listen in on this half-hour conversation where he and Tom Parish talk   about community as a self managing and self governing entity. As a case   study, the 13,000 registered members on BMC Developer's Network at   developer.bmc.com comprise that community and entity for BMC Software.

As Whurley loves to state, software is software is software. He means   that you have to decide if you have time or money for any software   deployment. Learn if there are mystical calculations for whether open source   is better for your situation. You'll enjoy listening in and even finding out   what sets Whurley's office apart from other BMC offices.

Bio

Whurley (William Hurley) is the chief architect of Open Source   Strategy at BMC Software, Inc. Famous simply as "whurley," he is responsible   for creating BMC's open source agenda and overseeing the company's   participation in various free, and open source software communities to   advance the adoption and integration of BSM solutions. A technology   visionary and holder of 11 important patents, whurley brings 16 years of   experience in developing groundbreaking technology. He is the chairman of   the Open Management Consortium, a non-profit organization advancing the   adoption, development, and integration of open source systems management.   Named as an IBM Master Inventor, whurley has received numerous awards   including an IBM Pervasive Computing Award and Apple Computer Design   Award.

Resources

Between the Bazaar and the Cathedral
Where ITIL®, Business Service Management, and   Open Source Converge

Questions

1. Your paper talks about the merging of open source, the babbling bazaar    with different agendas and approaches, with the cathedral of enterprise    software, complex architecture built painstakingly by “individual wizards    or small bands of mages working in splendid isolation.” Since a CMDB is a basic requirement following ITIL, it would seem that the CMDB isv a cathedral. In what ways is that a good    thing, and what are some of the downsides of the church of the CMDB?
2. You’re probably familiar with the terms “whuffie” from and “psychic    income” – for our listeners who may not have heard these terms, they    roughly translate to reputation, clout, and influence, but are terms    usually reserved for individuals’ motivation to contribute to a community    or open source project. Do you believe that similar terms are available to    describe a company’s reward for participating in and supporting open    source?
3. Your office at BMC is creative yet    comfortable, with giant green IKEA leaves    overhead and a traditional rug beneath your feet. How do both creativity    and comfort levels come into play when companies evaluate open source    solutions for solving business problems?
4. One concern about combining open source with traditional enterprise    software is the claim that total cost of ownership is more with open    source. Your paper appears to refute that claim – could you expand on that    particular concern especially when merging the two makes it more difficult    to calculate TCO? Is it valid?
5. As you know, the ITIL acronym represents a    Library with fairly expensive, tightly controlled books. Often people    associate open source with free. What are your thoughts on
6. Do you have any good stories of an IT department that lives between the    Cathedral and the Bazaar, and benefits from cathedrals built in an open    company culture?
7. You have a nice list of over a dozen open source solutions for service    management, yet only two provide support for ITIL and BSM. Do you think the trends are moving in a    way that mean more and more of those open source solutions will support    ITIL and BSM, or is    there a mismatch in the audience and purchase decision makers – ITIL and BSM solutions are    sold to the business types, while open source solutiosn are “sold” to the    technical types?
8. What takeaways do you want to leave listeners with today?
   

Play Podcast (Right click to download)

Peter Armstrong, corporate strategist for BMC Software

Listen in while Peter Armstrong, corporate strategist for BMC Software, talks about the needed skills for the direction that Enterprise IT is headed. In this interview, he gives his observations on an interesting opposition he sees forming. Now that IT does not have to run as if having the lights on day to day is their only goal, and instead, running the business efficiently is their goal, what can happen with those efficiency gains? Now that people realize they can run IT more efficiently, saving   money, then do they get to do lots of innovation with that money, and how do you innovate a controlled manner?

So, the question Peter returns to is this: if you run IT with business goals in the forefront, then how will you resolve your priorities? Peter talks about ways to uncover the mentalities and rewards that will help move your department in the right direction as team members get out of a rut. He even describes his own perfect compensation package, and yes, a driver would  be pertinent.

Peter travels extensively and has plenty of great stories to go along  with the workplaces that are examples of people who really “get” business service management and has a workforce that is enabled to do the same. What story goes along with his ability to recognize the Swiss flag? What’s his true definition of hero? Here’s a small hint, the definition of a true IT hero is a little different in this podcast than the hero described in his white paper.

Take a listen and do talk back. If your experiences or “ah-ha!” moments match any of Peter’s, let us know.

Resources

Six Guiding Principles to Changing Behavior and Speeding the Adoption of BSM and ITIL

Bio

Peter Armstrong is responsible for the increasingly important domain of how business and information technology need to work together.   Armstrong has helped to develop the company’s Business Service Management (BSM) strategy. He is also responsible for educating BMC Software’s customers and employees, the media, and analysts about the company’s vision and strategy. In addition to evangelizing, he works closely with the company’s development labs to keep them informed about customer plans and activities, particularly in the non-U.S. marketplace, helping to ensure that the solutions BMC Software delivers are pertinent worldwide both today and in the future.

Play Podcast  (Right click to download)

Education is not just for the classroom anymore for several reasons, according to Linda Moss, vice president of BMC Educational Services. The classroom format does not work for everyone, travel and education budgets are decreasing, and the number of global IT offices is increasing, to name only a few reasons. In addition, companies are expecting their education dollars to produce practical skills that can be employed during the work day, not just familiarity with a theory or a certificate. Linda, a Ph.D. in education, discusses these IT education trends and others, as well as what BMC is doing to meet them.

Listen to this podcast to find out about the new BMC Global Training Lab and other ways that BMC is trying to meet the need for both a variety of education formats as well as “how-to” and “hands-on” training needs. Linda also covers other hot topics for corporate education like ITIL version 3, the CMDB, the future of education, Web-based training, collaboration, and informal education.

Resources

Bio

Linda Moss, vice president, Worldwide Educational Services at BMC Software, Inc., joined the company April 9, 2007. Moss brings over 20 years of extensive training and development experience in the global IT industry. Most recently she served as senior director of Worldwide Education for Brocade Communications Systems, Inc – a position she held held for 7 years – growing Brocade’s education business 300%.

Prior to these positions in the US, Moss operated a successful training and management consultancy in Europe for ten years, working as a advisor/trainer with middle and senior management at companies such as Deutsche Bank, KPMG, Black and Decker as well as the US Federal Govt in Europe.

Moss holds a Bachelor of Arts – English from The University Of Gloucester, England; an MBA, Managerial Leadership concentration, from City University and holds a PhD in Gendered Learning from The University of Kent at Canterbury, England.

Play Podcast  (Right click to download)

Whether you already have in mind a grand plan for implementing your CMDB, or you don’t have a clue where to begin, this podcast is for you. Tom Bishop, chief technology officer at BMC Software, has helped implement more than 500 CMDBs at various customer sites, so he is well-positioned to offer advice that can help your CMDB implementation run much more smoothly.

In this podcast, Tom reflects on the origins of the CMDB, dangerous implementation approaches that you should avoid, the "cake-eater" approach, and the significance of a post-implementation maintenance plan. He also covers the topic of auto, and manual, discovery. So before you begin implementing your CMDB, take some time to listen to this podcast. After all, another company’s mistakes don’t have to be yours.

Resources

Bio

Tom Bishop was named one of the top 25 CTOs by InfoWorld Magazine in 2004, and is a well-known industry innovator who holds nine patents in fault tolerant computing and in leading the development of industry standards such as the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) and POSIX.

Play Podcast  (Right click to download)

The guide to help you with successful CMDB planning, CI building, and every other logical step of your CMDB implementation -- the Step-By-Step Guide to Building the CMDB -- is now available. Ken Turbitt, BMC Software’s global best practices director and one of several co-authors, shares why this book was created, what it offers (and what more he wishes it offered), and how you can get your copy.

In this podcast, Ken discusses the most common misconceptions, and mistakes made, when building a CMDB. He explains how the Step-By-Step   Guide to Building the CMDB can help you build your CMDB correctly the first time by helping you think through all of the logical steps, such as   what data you need to collect, what different architectures and structures you have in the organization, and what tools you need to automate collection. Through the five chapters, 26 steps, and practical tasks included in this book, Ken illustrates how the Step-By-Step Guide to   Building the CMDB can be a great resource, even if you want to build your CMDB yourself.

Resources

Bio

Ken Turbitt is a qualified ISEB ITIL manager and Gartner-qualified   TCO consultant. He was a founding member of the Institute for the Management of Information Systems (member since 1985) "outsourcing special interest" group, founded a successful independent consultancy, and was an enterprise architect/analyst for Peregrine Systems, assisting sales and business development across EMEA. Ken also managed the Infrastructure Resource Management (IRM) consultancy practice within Fujitsu/ICL on a worldwide basis, where he was recognized as the ICL worldwide authority on Asset Management and related services. Before ICL, Ken was a management consultant with Price Waterhouse Coopers (then Coopers & Lybrand), where he managed their Network Management Center. Currently, Ken is employed by BMC Software working as best practice director, assisting BMC in aligning with the Best Practices for IT services (e.g., ITIL, CobIT, ETom), presenting to clients, partners, and analysts.

Play Podcast  (Right click to download)

ITIL version 3 certification is now available, and classes for this new certification are filling up. But, what if you already have your ITIL certification? Is it still good? Should you bother to update your ITIL training, and if so, why?  Do you have to commit to three more days of classroom training, or is there an easier way? Anthony Orr, global best practice director at BMC Software Educational Services, answers these questions and helps you easily understand ITIL's new "lifecycle" approach by taking you through the movie, "The Three Amigos," and how that relates to ITIL v3.

ITIL version 2 included two books: Service Delivery and Service Support. There are five books for ITIL version 3: Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operations, and Continual Improvement. At the end of the day, ITIL version 3 helps IT focus on the business with a new "lifecycle" approach for managing  critical business services.

Resources

Bio

Anthony Orr is BMC Software’s Global Best Practice Director for Educational Services. In this role, Mr. Orr is responsible for the overall strategies for best practice education including ITIL, ISO20000, CoBiT, Simulations, and so on. He is currently a member of the APMG group ITIL Expert panel for Version 3 certification, vice-chair of the itSMF Certification Committee, and a member of the EXIN ITIL Expert group.

Mr. Orr has more than 25 years of information technology experience. Within these 25+ years, he has held several managerial, consulting, marketing, and technical positions requiring him to be responsible for IT Service Management (ITSM) strategies and implementations. He  is SQMF (ISO20000), ITIL foundation, practitioner, and service manager certified. He also has an Oracle Masters Certificate in Database Administration and Application Development and holds a B.A.A.S. in Computer Information Science.