These sessions will be of general interest to everyone regardless of ITIL^® or ITSM knowledge and experience.

These sessions are for those who are new to ITIL and likely do not possess Foundation Level Certification in IT Service Management.

These sessions are for those with practical ITIL experience, and have possibly attained Practitioner/Intermediate or Service Manager/Advanced level certification.

Keynote & Featured Speakers

Chris Gardner
Start Where You Are

Chris – one of our highest rated keynote and most electrifying, motivational speakers ever – is back!

A few years ago, Chris joined us with his highly inspirational (and Oscar nominated!) life story – Pursuit Of Happyness. Starring Will Smith, the movie and Chris’ keynote, conveyed his never-give-up strong willed determination to succeed after he was left homeless and single with a young child.

Start Where You Are is his new book and features Chris’ latest practical advice and philosophies about life’s lessons. If you’ve had the rug pulled out from under you, have been dealing with the loss of a job or a home, have had a health or financial crisis, or simply can’t find the motivation to pursue new challenges, Start Where You Are abounds with lessons that offer hope and provide a road map for starting anew. This is also the ideal book for anyone ready to launch a personal or professional undertaking, or someone who simply wants to break through the cycles and thinking that they have limited his or her potential in the past. Click here to read excerpts from Start Where You Are.

Since speaking at our event three years ago when he was first gaining global attention, Chris now has a huge following! Don’t miss this opportunity to hear one of the world’s most dynamic, highly energizing and powerful keynote speakers.

Allan Pease
Easy Peasey – People Skills For Life

What do these pictures – based on common day-to-day gestures – tell you about how Allan is really feeling and what he is really thinking? He’ll tell you (and you’ll probably be very surprised!!).

One of the world’s foremost communication experts, and a veteran of many Pink conferences, Allan is back to discuss how you can use body language and communication skills to your business and personal advantage. Always a highly rated and extremely well received speaker, Allan has mesmerized Pink’s conference attendees in the past with his very candid, humorous and detailed descriptions on the major differences between how males and females think, act and communicate. Now, he is on hand to deliver two more very meaningful and powerful keynote presentations.

In his first presentation, Allan will give you tips for how to interpret and act upon non-verbal signals – which actually account for about 80% of how we all send out messages. Join Allan as he tells you about winning body language strategies for work and in our personal lives. You’ll be amazed when you hear what he has to say about how to interpret common body gestures in men and women, how to tell if someone is lying, and strategies for seating arrangements and how these can create persuasive or negative moods.

In his second presentation, Allan will focus on verbal communication and people skills and how to put these specific skills to action to create more positive and successful outcomes.  His discussion includes a look at some of the 17 powerless phrases you must remove from your vocabulary if you want to start influencing others more positively, and the 12 most powerful words you can use to gain greater success in any situation.

The Magnificent Seven – Part 4
Seven Tips From Seven Pinkers For How To Use ITIL To Go From Good To Great

David Ratcliffe, President; George Spalding, Executive Vice President; Troy DuMoulin, AVP, Product Strategy; Jack Probst, Gary Case, Graham Price, Principal Consultants;  & Matthew Bowles, IT Management Consultant

One of the highlights of this year’s conference is ‘Mag 7’ breakout sessions.  Each session features a different line-up of IT practitioners and industry experts and various subjects.

In this featured general session, seven Pink Elephant consultants - all highly experienced and seasoned ITIL veterans, including three ITIL authors - will each share with you one valuable tip for how to successfully apply ITIL best practices, and take your results from good to GREAT!  These practical tips will enable you to achieve IT business and process integration as well as lasting, repeatable results.  There is most definitely a right way versus a wrong way to do it. This line up of ITIL Experts has seen it all, and they’re on hand to share their experiences with you. Collectively, these Pinkers represent close to 100 years of ITIL and ITSM experience!  Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from the world’s most knowledgeable ITIL luminaries.

Award Winners – Q&A Panel Discussion
Facilitated by: David Ratcliffe & George Spalding

Stephen Wrenn, VP, ITSM & Process Excellence, CVS Corporation
Catherine McGregor, Dept. Manager of Process Support Services (Retired), BMO Financial Group
Mary Jo McElroy, Vice President, IT Compliance & Standards, OhioHealth
Pete Corrigan, VP Infrastructure Services, Allstate Insurance 
William Miller, Associate Vice President, Nationwide Insurance

Learn from the best! This is a unique opportunity to hear from several award winning senior managers from a cross section of industries who have been recognized during the past few years for their outstanding achievements in the ITSM and ITIL realms. They all share common traits including: several years successful experience working with ITSM frameworks including ITIL; working through and with others to attain tangible and sustainable successes linked to business results; successfully overcoming barriers and obstacles to keep the momentum going and making change stick; and senior management commitment to continual service improvement. During this general session, you’ll hear details from each of them about the critical success factors that have led to their award winning achievements.

Sunday Primers

Exhibition Hall Optimizer
Rob England, The IT Skeptic

Code: General

Sometimes, walking around the exhibit hall at a conference can be an intimidating experience. What exactly are these vendors selling? What questions should I be asking? How do you evaluate one product against another? How do you assess one vendor against another? What’s the latest “big thing” I should look out for? Are there any “must see” products? Find the answers to these questions at Rob’s session. Rob (aka The IT Skeptic) has been an outspoken industry critic who keeps a very close eye on trends, and is an ex-software vendor who can help you to make the most of your exhibit hall experience! With no vested interest in any product and a frank, straight-shooting style, this is a must-attend session for those seeking advice.

This session is presented twice, once as a Sunday Primer on Sunday afternoon, and again as a Breakfast Club session on Monday morning.

Conference Optimizer: How To Successfully Network At This Conference
Kirk Weisler, Chief Morale Officer, Team Dynamics

Code: General

Many conference attendees aim to network with others in similar industries, roles, and situations, to expand learning and exchange ideas and best practices. These are all very good goals, but what exactly is the best way to get the most out of networking opportunities? Maybe you’re on your own; how do you meet people? Kirk will tell you everything you need to know! He’ll not only give you many tips for how to successfully network at this conference, but he’ll also guarantee that you’ll leave this session with several new friends and contacts!   

This session is presented twice, once as a Sunday Primer on Sunday afternoon, and again as a Breakfast Club session on Monday morning.

Networking Industry Focus Groups

Code: General

Start your conference experience by meeting new friends and networking with people who share common interests. These sessions are ideal for those looking to meet others in the same industry and similar situations.

Five different focus group sessions will run concurrently Sunday afternoon: ITIL in Healthcare; ITIL in Financial Services; ITIL in Government; ITIL in Education.

Track 1 – God Only Knows: Strategic IT Management

Cultural Transformation & Organizational Maturity
Jack Probst, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beyond Beginner

Pink Elephant has developed a model which aligns organizational types (moving from a technology-focused organization to one which is value-chain focused) and their organizational readiness for the ITSM processes necessary to be successful at each stage. The issue is that many organizations struggle at times to understand the steps necessary to mature or transition from one stage to the next. Why is this critically important for senior IT managers to understand? Jack will tell you through real life examples based on his extensive experience as a strategic consultant and practitioner senior IT executive. This workshop identifies: 1) each stage and their distinctive cultural significance; 2) how senior IT managers can clearly identify how to know if they have achieved the organizational stature to be successful at a given stage; and 3) the necessary process and organizational changes required to transition from one stage to the next.

Execution: The Discipline Of Getting Things Done
Troy DuMoulin, AVP, Product Strategy, Pink Elephant

Code: Beyond Beginner

A conference favorite for the past three years, Troy’s session is always highly rated because of the very practical and insightful look at this meaningful subject. Conference attendees also value Troy’s extensive industry experience and wealth of knowledge.

Strategic plans and good intentions aren’t enough. Successful outcomes can only be achieved through proper execution — getting things done. Execution is "the missing link between aspirations and results," and as such, making it happen is the business leader's most important job. Disciplines like strategic planning, leadership development, and innovation are the sexier aspects of being at the helm; actually getting things done never seems quite as glamorous. But, as Larry Bossidy (Former Honeywell CEO) and Ram Charan (executive business consultant) demonstrate in their book, the ultimate difference between a successful company and its competitor or a successful project and a flop is, in fact, the ability to execute — not just develop — effective strategies and plans.

IT managers at all levels of the organization must know how to properly position IT strategies against business needs, and then execute these, including ITSM improvement plans, to gain desired outcomes. Without proper execution of ITIL, business and ITSM best practices, efforts will more than likely fail.

Service Strategy — An Overview
Jack Probst, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beyond Beginner

A very highly rated session at this past year’s conference, Jack is back to provide a must-have overview of ITIL’s Service Strategy book, which contains many insightful business concepts and principles for senior IT managers not previously found in the library.  In this session, Jack, a veteran of many strategic ITIL initiatives, will provide an overview of the key elements, concepts, and processes contained in the book, and how strategy runs through the Service Lifecycle. Included in his overview will be: The 4 Ps of Strategy; Competition and Marketplace; Service Value, Service Oriented Accounting; Service Value; Service Provisioning Models; Organization Design and Development.

How To Use The Service Catalog As A Strategic Tool To Achieve IT Business Integration
Rodrigo Flores, CTO & Founder, newScale, Inc &
Troy DuMoulin, AVP, Product Strategy, Pink Elephant

Code: Beyond Beginner

Back by popular demand! Meet the authors of one of the best selling how-to ITIL books, and one of the highest rated sessions of past conferences.

Rodrigo and Troy (together with Bill Fine) are authors of the hugely successful and highly acclaimed book, Defining IT Success Through The Service Catalog: A Practical Guide. In this insightful presentation Rodrigo and Troy, two of the most experienced ITSM experts in the industry, will use the practical guidance offered in their book to show you why the Service Catalog is a must-have in your strategic management tool kit. After reviewing its strategic relevance, they will then explain exactly how to use the Service Catalog and the related processes to strengthen IT’s capabilities and achieve IT business integration.

5 Tips For Developing An ITSM Strategic Road Map
Troy DuMoulin, AVP, Product Strategy, Pink Elephant

Code: General

Troy, a 12 year ITIL veteran, is back to present one of this past year’s highest rated conference sessions.

Many IT executives and senior managers are challenged with creating and communicating a “road map” that includes the key strategic ingredients to successfully execute an ITSM implementation project. While all organizations differ, there are some very important commonalities that should be considered in each case, and that could mean the difference between success and failure. Do you know what these are? Join Troy, who is a highly seasoned expert of many strategic consulting engagements, to learn 5 important tips from his Consultant’s Case Book.

Top 5 Strategic Benefits Stantec Has Gained From Implementing ITIL
Chris McDonald, VP & CIO, Stantec Corporation

Code: Beyond Beginner

Stantec is a global professional consulting firm specializing in the delivery of sustainable solutions targeted towards public and private sector clients. With a variety of services that span the gamut from planning and engineering to architecture and environmental sciences, Stantec's one team, infinite solutions approach strives to balance economic, environmental and social issues in the pursuit of world-class solutions design and innovation. 

CIO Chris McDonald recently led the organization towards achieving ISO 20000 certification.  Ultimately, Stantec became the first company in Canada and the first engineering company in the world to achieve this goal. Quite a feat for an organization offering services through more than 10,000 employees operating out of more than 130 offices in North America!  Chris is quick to acknowledge ITIL as a major contributing factor in achieving this milestone. In this session, Chris will provide a CIO’s perspective on how ITIL and ITSM best practices have substantially benefited his organization. Using a top 5 list, he will discuss his experiences and share successes and lessons learned about strategic journey through an ITIL implementation.

ITIL: Strategically Speaking
Stephen Wrenn, VP, ITSM & Process Excellence, CVS Corporation

Code: Beyond Beginner

Steve is a multi-year ITIL veteran and past winner of the Case Study Of The Year Award, which is presented at the conference each year to the case study speaker with the highest overall rating. Steve has been a conference presenter for many years running, and conference attendees really appreciate his very articulate sessions and real-world examples of ITIL implementation dos and don’ts. In this presentation, Steve will focus on the specific role of senior IT managers in ITIL project initiatives. His discussion includes: what does it really mean to “strategically lead” an ITIL implementation; what specific senior management contributions are value-adds and must-haves to ensure success; how should senior managers communicate project objectives up the line, down the line and across the line– to whom and how often; strategies for how to “rally the troops”; and how to link results back to business goals and objectives.

Leveraging A Service CI Model As A Strategy For Service Improvement
Garrison Hall, Sr. Process Manager – ITIL / CSO Service Management, Bell Aliant

Code: Beyond Beginner

Within Bell Aliant there are currently five major support organizations – each one with a primary function and historically working in silos, and often times, supporting different components of the same service.  An ongoing challenge and opportunity within Bell Aliant’s ITIL evolution – now several years running - has been to realize the cross impacts of service degradations and failures. Garrison will highlight how a Service Configuration Item Model is being used to achieve this goal and to remove the inherited silos, and provide a more holistic view and greater understanding of all service impacts. His discussion will include: why this model was chosen as a strategy and key objectives; how the model is being deployed; successes achieved so far and lessons learned; longer term objectives and next steps.

The Fine Art Of IT Costing – What It Really Means
William Miller, Associate Vice President, Nationwide Insurance

Code: Beyond Beginner

Nationwide is winner of Pink’s “2002 ITIL Project Of The Year Award”. Join Bill to learn from this well established and very experienced ITIL case study, whose successes have been featured in a Forrester Case Study, CIO Insight, CIO Magazine, TechTarget and Infoweek.

There is a significant trend in IT operations requiring IT to become a sophisticated and integrated part of the business they enable.  Companies are demanding more proof of value from IT investments as those investments become an ever increasing portion of an organizations spend.  It is no longer acceptable for IT to imply its too complicated to explain what they are doing and why.  The result is a ground swell of efforts to implement IT costing, but the real challenge of IT costing is beyond the simple implementation rates and measuring consumption.  The art of delivering intelligent insight into what drives IT costs and how business decisions impact IT, few shops are mature enough to address. In this session, Bill will examine some of the finer points of this art, beyond the basics of unit costing and consumption management.  Topics for discussion will include: why to have unit rates and how to create rates; how to leverage insights gained from understanding unit cost and consumption; why business leaders claim they want to know their IT costs, but really don't; rates and behaviors – what rates solve and what they don't; is there such a thing as too much transparency; and why it matters who you bill, what you bill, and how you bill.

Dr. George Westerman
Research Scientist, Center For Information Systems Research, MIT Sloan School of Management

Always a conference favorite, Dr. George Westerman is back to present two sessions: The Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create & Communicate Value – which is based on his new book and latest research; and Turning IT Risk Management Into Business Value.

The Real Business Of IT: How CIOs Create & Communicate Value

Code: Beyond Beginner

Does your organization think you're spending too much on IT, or wish you could get better returns from your IT investments? If so, Dr. Westerman’s challenge to you is that it's time to examine what's behind this IT-as-cost mind-set. In his new book The Real Business of IT, Dr. George Westerman reveals that the cost mind-set stems from IT leaders' inability to communicate about the business value they create, so CIOs get stuck discussing budgets rather than their contributions to the organization. In his presentation, he explains how IT leaders can combat this mind-set by first using information technology to generate three forms of value important to leaders throughout the organization: value for money when your IT department operates efficiently and effectively; an investment in business performance evidenced when IT helps divisions, units, and departments boost profitability; and personal value of CIOs and senior IT managers as leaders whose contributions to their enterprise go well beyond their area of specialization. Dr. Westerman will highlight how to communicate these forms of value with non-IT leaders so they understand how your organization is benefiting, and see IT as the strategic powerhouse it truly is.

Turning IT Risk Management Into Business Value

Code: Beyond Beginner

MIT research has shown that effective IT risk managers provide benefits well beyond avoiding bad things. Back by popular demand, Dr. George Westerman will share insights from his book IT Risk: Turning Business Threats Into Competitive Advantage published by Harvard Business School Press, which was named one of CIO Insight's 10 "best books of 2007". Today's economy is focusing new attention on enterprise risk, and its impact on organizations. Join Dr. Westerman as he talks about new and emerging frameworks, and reveals current findings to help you turn IT risk management from a cost of doing business into a source of competitive advantage.

An IT Executive’s View Of ITSM & ITIL
Robert Turner, Senior VP, Capital One Financial Corporation

Code: General

Robert has had many years experience building continuous improvement teams and leading change in two organizations, including Capital One – a former winner of “ITIL Project Of The Year”. His presentation will include a laundry list of lessons learned based on his personal experiences as a senior IT manager responsible for developing and executing strategies. His discussion will include: why he has chosen ITSM principles and the ITIL framework as key strategic components of his IT business plans; his advice for how to link and communicate IT strategies to business needs and objectives; what he has learned are critical success factors for building project and work teams to get the job done; the leadership and communication processes he has put in place to introduce change, eliminate resistance to change, and keep the momentum going;  how he has measured and communicated success – what are the most important metrics; and his advice for how to sell ITSM and ITIL up the line.

Chargeback Arrangement Delivers For 1-800-FLOWERS
Steve Bozzo, CIO, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM Inc.

Code: Beyond Beginner

IT organizations face increasing pressure to understand costs, improve financial transparency and manage the demand for IT services they provide. To ensure that the executives in its brands and business units understand and are responsible for their IT costs, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM implemented a service costing and chargeback system in which they believe everyone benefits. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM was launched as a single flower shop in 1976 by CEO and Founder Jim McCann. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. has since successfully grown into the world’s leading florist and gift shop. After a number of recent acquisitions, the company was supporting about 14 new brands and businesses, including The Popcorn Factory, Cheryl&Co. cookies and Fannie May chocolates. All this activity put a huge strain on the company’s IT department. Though technology services were being delivered centrally, the various brands were not responsible for the IT costs. Steve will provide details about how he and his management team approached the problem of decentralization and developed a hugely successful costing and chargeback mechanism and methodology for allocating and recovering IT costs for technology services. He will also touch on the tools used to support these new processes.

ITSM & ITIL: How Allstate Has “Made It Stick”
Pete Corrigan, VP Infrastructure Services, Allstate Insurance 

Code: General

Pete, last year’s conference award winner of “The Best Case Study” presentation, is back with an updated version of his very highly rated session. 

Allstate Insurance is a former winner of the “ITIL Project Of the Year Award”. For the past several years, Pete has been the senior sponsor and champion of Allstate’s process improvement efforts. Join him for a VP’s perspective in this revealing session about the leadership best practices he and his management team have deployed for successful results. Pete’s session will cover:  how he and his teams have sustained their ITIL program from conception to strategy and beyond, over several years; how they justified, rolled out and are sustaining a major education and training program; how they kept the program alive during corporate change and global sourcing; how they stayed focused during an economic downturn; how the program has brought both Infrastructure Employees and Application Development groups together to deliver better services, thrill their customers and improve the customer loyalty index; how offering an integrated framework reduces processes in the Enterprise and how they made it stick including highlights of how they successfully achieved increased availability, reliability and maintainability through adoptions of ITIL’s service framework.

Track 2 – Barbara Ann:  The People Side of IT

People Are The Secret Weapon To Running IT Like A Business
Russell Barrett, IT Director, BNP Paribas, North America 

Code: General

BNP Paribas is one of the largest financial organizations in the world operating in over 85 countries with over 162,000 employees. Their ITIL initiative started in 2004.

In this session, Russell will discuss people management best practices that have been implemented across IT to increase key business competencies, focuses, and skills. This includes the following: review of how BNP Paribas is using education planning to track, report, and manage individual career development; the process used for Skills Gap Analysis; how focus is placed on both hard and soft skills and which soft skills are deemed important to the organization; their survey process and how employee feedback is tracked and used as part of continuous improvement; and reward and incentive processes.

The Servant: A Simple Story About The True Essence Of Leadership
Kirk Weisler, Chief Morale Officer, Team Dynamics

Code: General

Imagine an organization where its leadership is based on patience, kindness, humility, respectfulness, selflessness, forgiveness, honesty, and commitment. This definition can't be found in an MBA textbook – it is taken from life’s lessons. According to the author of The Servant by James Hunter, these are the characteristics which define good leadership. Hunter’s book is considered by many to be one of the best books on leadership ever written because it addresses leadership from a very human and personal perspective.

 The Servant is written in story form. It’s a tale about John Daily, a coach, father, and manager who seemingly has it all together. But beneath the surface, the wheels have begun to fall off his life. Many of us will be able to see ourselves in him —  driven, worldly, ambitious, anxious — a wreck waiting to happen.

John goes to a retreat at a monastery in a search for answers to those questions of his life, and the missing pieces of his heart. At this retreat, John discovers insights and treasures about life, leadership, and himself.

The book and its teachings have been so successful because they define, and redefine, principles of leadership, influence, authority, power, relationship, and, yes, love. The story is powerful without being preachy, and its lessons are universal in application and timeless in relevance.  The Servant unveils hard truths about ourselves in the workplace.

Kirk is known industry-wide for embracing the same values as this book in corporate culture and leadership. In this very powerful session, he will provide a summary of the book’s key principles and then use his vast knowledge and experience to discuss how to apply them back in IT.

Team Work: How To Create Good Vibrations!
Kirk Weisler, Chief Morale Officer, Team Dynamics

Code: General

Powerful. Passionate. Kirk’s sessions are always a conference favorite!

Cementing high performing IT groups requires very strong team work, and a results-driven service culture. Building an unbreakable team — and unbreakable culture — is the focus of this break through, break it down, and breakout session. Kirk takes a look at some of the cultural best practices of the top ranked IT support organizations across the globe with which he has worked. Kirk plans to take a grassroots and practical look at exactly what differentiates IT support groups who demonstrate strong team work versus those that just struggle along aimlessly. Kirk promises that you’ll leave this session with practical guidance you can take home and put into practice right away. Overall, the learning you gain will help serve as the cultural cement for building an unbreakable team and a more positive culture.

The Magnificent Seven – Part 1
Seven Tips From Seven Managers For Managing The People Side Of Change
Moderated By: Kirk Weisler

Ernie Nielsen, Managing Director, Enterprise Services Portfolio Management, Brigham Young University
Sarah Johnson, (formerly) Senior Manager, Customer Services Support, Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Debra Krar, CMC, Director, PMI Southern Ontario Chapter (Toronto)
Sheri Cassidy, ITSM Program Manager, Progress Energy  
Brian Gibbons, Release Manager, Claims Solution Center, State Farm Insurance
Kim Liston, Vice President, IT Customer Service, OhioHealth
Steve Hayman, IT Change Manager, Compassion International

Code: General

Each of seven IT managers — all highly experienced and seasoned IT practitioners — will share one tip each (a lesson learned, advice, a proven method or a best practice used) for how they and their colleagues successfully tackled major cultural change.  This includes creating a positive and energized climate and work teams, choosing the right people for key roles, overcoming resistance to change and navigating people through what is often tight project deadlines. Getting the right people to do the right things in the right way is the secret to success! Learn first hand how these organizations did it.

Release Management: Getting The Right People In The Right Roles
Brian Gibbons, Release Manager, Claims Solution Center, State Farm Insurance

Code: Beginner

In his case study presentation, Brian will focus on the people side of Release Management and why the people involved and their training, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities are key to the overall successful implementation, and ongoing management of this key ITIL process. His presentation will cover: key major challenges of delivering change faced by his very large IT organization and a summary of the chosen solutions; his role and a “day in the life of” overview of his role and team; the RACI matrix his organization created and why this was a critical success factor in their project, and after implementation; why, in his experience, project managers (and their associated skills sets) make good release managers; why it’s important to, and how to get release managers, change managers, project managers, program managers and other key roles to take a well coordinated highly communicative approach; an overview of the training plan developed and deployed for their project team, description of roles, and the connections to his area of responsibility; and future plans.

Track 3 – When I Grow Up To Be A Man:  Good To Great

Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap...And Others Don't
Troy DuMoulin, AVP, Product Strategy, Pink Elephant

Code: General

The book and related principles that inspired our 2010 conference theme!

This is a must-attend session, being presented twice; once on Monday morning during the first breakout period, and again as a breakout session on Tuesday morning at 11:55.

In one of the most successful business books of our time, Jim Collins, hailed as one the best ever business luminaries, methodically walks you through data which clearly shows that sustained success (be it big business or small or even the success of a high school cross-country running team) comes from having the right people, the right leader (who puts the organization’s interests above his/hers), and other factors often sadly lacking in companies.

Never mind the rah-rah self-congratulatory hype so pervasive in today's big business, says Jim Collins in his book. Focus instead on running the business from the ground up, with the desire and will to be the best and taking small incremental steps to become the best. Good To Great is the “prequel” to Built To Last – another Jim Collins’ best selling business books. 

Regarded as one of the world’s foremost ITIL authorities, in his session Troy will draw upon his wide business knowledge and extensive IT industry experience to, first provide an overview of the book’s key teachings, and then illustrate exactly how IT managers should apply each of these back at work.

First, Break All The Rules
Jack Probst, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant 

Code: Beyond Beginner 

What makes a great manager? Is it something innate in a person, or can people learn great management skills? First, Break All The Rules is an insider's look at successful managerial behavior; great managers share one common trait: They do not hesitate to break virtually every rule held sacred by conventional wisdom. They do not believe that, with enough training, a person can achieve anything he sets his mind to. They do not try to help people overcome their weaknesses. They consistently disregard the golden rule. And, yes, they even play favorites. This amazing book explains why.

People and their strengths are a key reason why some ITIL projects fail while others succeed. It’s critical to have the right people in the right roles. What is the best way to do this? Jack, a highly experienced veteran of many ITIL projects, will tell you how to apply the book’s findings back at work.

Leading Change
Gary Case, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beyond Beginner

Back by popular demand!

Still one of Pink’s all time favorites! Leading Change is recognized as one of the all-time best business books and the definitive work on the subject. Harvard Professor John P. Kotter methodically and carefully explains his eight-step process for leading and managing major organizational change in an easy to understand fashion, which captures his wealth of knowledge and experience working with major companies all over the world.  Kotter takes concepts like leadership, urgency, vision, strategy, quick wins, and communication and puts them in well-explained, practical terms that anyone can follow.

If you're a manager at any level of your IT organization who is currently leading any aspect of an ITIL implementation, understanding Kotter’s eight-step change process is a must-have, and this is a not-to-be-missed session.  Plus, learn how to apply the best practices from this book from one of the world's leading ITSM consultants — Gary Case. You'll gain huge benefits from Gary's extensive ITIL implementation experience as he walks you through several real world examples for each of the eight steps.

Made To Stick
Jack Probst, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant 

Code: General

A conference favorite and one of the highest rated sessions from our 2008 conference! As part of major ITIL transformations, successful communication is a key ingredient to success. Think about a time, as an IT manager, when you were trying to get a new idea across to one or many people – even your entire department. Think about how you approached the situation, what skills you used, what words you said, and the techniques you used. Were you successful? Were people responsive to your message? Did your idea ‘stick’ with them?

After reading the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, two brothers, Chip Heath (a Stanford Business school professor) and Dan Heath (a corporate education consultant at Duke), were inspired by Gladwell’s top selling book. Gladwell spoke of the innovations that cause the ‘tipping point’ are due to their ‘stickiness’. The Heath brothers take the extra step to find out what exactly causes ideas to be ‘sticky’. How are they constructed? After extensive research they found that the ideas that ‘stick’ all share six principles. According to the Heaths, although the six principles seem like common sense, they are woefully under-applied in business communication. The authors state: "Business managers seem to believe that once they've clicked through a PowerPoint presentation showcasing their statistics and conclusions, they've successfully communicated their ideas. What they've done is just shared data."

The 7-Step Improvement Process
Pierre Bernard, Manager Education Product Portfolio, Pink Elephant

Code: General 

This session highlights one of ITIL’s 24 processes, the 7-Step Improvement Process, contained in the Continual Service Improvement (CSI) book.  This measurement process includes the steps required to collect meaningful data, analyze the data to identify trends and issues, present the information to management and other stakeholders, and implement improvements.  Based on Dr. Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, it is a continuous process and loops back to the beginning to the first step. During this session, Pierre will cover each step in detail, citing real world examples along the way of dos and don’ts for how to effectively manage metrics and the entire process.

Track 4 – Don’t Worry Baby: The Early Years Of ITSM 

Conducting A Readiness Assessment Before Process Deployment
Gary Case, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: General

How do you know if your IT organization is ready for major change? What can you do before starting to implement ITIL processes to promote successful results? Gary, a twelve year ITIL veteran, will tell you!

To implement ITIL successfully, managers – particularly leaders – must understand organizational behavior as a business discipline. While the teachings of ITIL focus on process-specific guidance, Gary will share with you the recommended approach to take, together with very specific factors related to organizational change that are needed to assess before you start off on process deployment such as communication, education and awareness, and appointment of key roles.

Gary will draw upon his vast implementation experience to highlight what you need to do, and what you need to know, to conduct a “readiness” assessment. This presentation is a must-attend, not only for those just starting out, but also for those who’ve already started but have encountered problems along the way and wondered ” what went wrong?”

Developing Awareness & Education Strategies For ITIL Deployment
Gary Case, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: General

You may be thinking: “Hey! What’s the big deal? I don’t need an awareness and education strategy! Consultants always try to make things too complicated. So, what’s not to get – I send people on ITIL Foundation courses; they come back knowing what to do, and then we take off…”

CRASH!

There are many things that can go wrong with an ITIL implementation, and during his twelve years helping others work with ITIL, Gary has seen it all. As he will explain, one of the biggest mistakes is not spending the required time developing and executing awareness, education strategies, and plans.  In his discussion, Gary will start by highlighting the difference between awareness and education (yes, there is a very important difference!). He will then review: 1) why, and how to develop and execute an Awareness Campaign, and who should do it; 2) the steps involved in developing an Education Plan; 3) various key roles and recommended courses – both within the ITIL certification scheme and other courses (no, it’s not just about ITIL!); 4) how to execute and track results against the plan.

Gary, who co-authored ITIL’s Continual Service Improvement book, has helped numerous organizations through this process. Not only is Gary an ITIL Expert, but he also has over three decades of consulting experience. Attend this session to learn real-life practicalities from one of the industry’s foremost experts.

An Introduction To ITIL
Mark Hamilton, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beginner

This presentation is a not-to-be missed session if you’re a “beginner” and want to start your conference experience with an overview of ITIL’s key learning points. The overview is an ideal way to learn about ITIL’s IT Service Management framework and Service Lifecycle approach. Designed for those new to ITIL or needing a refresh, the agenda includes an overview of ITIL’s five books – Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation, Continual Service Improvement – and their main concepts and best practices, together with a high level look at the 24 process, four function IT Service Management process model.

To maximize participation, this session is scheduled more than once throughout the conference: Monday and Tuesday as Breakfast Club sessions, and Monday as a Track 4 breakout session.

What IT Managers Need To Know About Process Maturity
Terry Sherman, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beyond Beginner

Are your processes “defined”? Are they fully “optimized”? Do you know what these mean and why it’s important to know? Attend Terry’s session and you’ll learn about the key concepts of process maturity. Terry will provide an overview of the different process maturity stages and explain why understanding a maturity level is a necessary step in implementing ITIL best practices.

Make this a must-attend session to help you better understand other conference presentations that refer to process maturity, assessments, and best practices for implementing ITIL processes.

To maximize participation, this session is scheduled more than once throughout the conference: Monday and Tuesday as Breakfast Club sessions, and Monday as a Track 4 breakout session.

The Magnificent Seven – Part 2
Seven Tips From Seven Managers For Successful ITIL Start Up
Moderated By: Jack Probst

Cathy A. Kirch, ITIL Expert & Process Consultant, Allstate Insurance
Elaine Lauritzen, ITIL Expert & Director of Operations Center, Brigham Young University
Catherine McGregor, Dept. Manager of Process Support Services (Retired), BMO Financial Group
Stephen Wrenn, VP, ITSM & Process Excellence, CVS Corporation
Sarah Toms, Service Support Manager, Almac Group
William Hargrove, Process Design, Waste Management National Services Inc.
Michael Oatley, Director, Information Technology Office (ITO), Government of Bermuda

Code: General

Each of seven IT managers — all highly experienced and seasoned IT practitioners — will share one tip each (a lesson learned, advice, a proven method or a best practice used) for how they and their colleagues successfully navigated through the ITIL start up process and first couple of years of major improvements.  This includes raising awareness, building excitement for change, developing and executing education and training plans, identifying quick wins, gaining senior management support, assigning key project roles and deciding where to start.  No theories here!  Don’t miss this valuable real-world perspective.

The Ins & Outs Of Supplier Management
Nikki Foster, Director, Strategic Sourcing & Vendor Management, McKesson Corporation

Code: Beginner

Here’s your opportunity to learn from a 15-year veteran of Supplier Management. If you’re interested in starting up, or strengthening your Supplier Management process, Nikki will provide you with very valuable insight.  Her presentation will include: the definition of Supplier Management – what is really means; what are the benefits; how to start up and create an efficient practice of Supplier Management; what are the best practices for successful ongoing management of Supplier Management; what you need to know about the Supplier Management lifecycle; and a summary of dos and don'ts.

The Early Years Of ITIL At Almac
Sarah Toms, Service Support Manager, Almac Group

Code: Beginner

Almac provides a broad range of services to more than 600 companies, including all the world leaders in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. The company employs over 2,400 individuals and is headquartered in Northern Ireland. US operations are based in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and California. Recently, the company won the coveted Northern Ireland’s Business Of The Year award for business excellence. Sarah and her colleagues started their ITIL journey in 2007, and are taking a very deliberate ‘slow and steady; one small win at a time’ approach to implementing ITIL. During her presentation, Sarah will describe her IT organization’s accomplishments in the implementation of Incident, Problem and Request Fulfillment Management and how these processes have improved the delivery of IS support and service to the Almac business.  Understanding IT's performance as process improvement changes are made has been key, and Sarah will discuss this component including the value of good metrics and meaningful management reporting in understanding how well IT is doing, and feeding into the Continual Service Improvement efforts.

ITIL Under Pressure!
Matthew Bowles, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beginner

In a perfect world, you would have as much time as needed to create and execute the perfect plan. But in today’s reality, you must typically deploy ITIL under time pressures with sometimes seemingly unrealistic deadlines. Is there a secret to achieving quick wins and successes in short time frames? The answer is yes! And Matthew will tell you how to do it. Matthew will draw on his Consultant’s Case Book to illustrate real world examples of what worked for other organizations. He’ll give examples of case studies that show you: how to assess and choose processes that give you the quickest returns and what those returns are; how to create a sense of urgency, mobilizing people to act quickly; the right way versus the wrong way to choose people for key roles; and the dos and don’ts for achieving success.

Finding The Right Prescription For Service Portfolio Management

Jenny Czajkowski, Chief Planning, Evaluation, and Communications Office, Center for Information Technology, National Institutes of Health/HHS

Code: Beginner

Composed of 27 institutes and centers, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and many countries throughout the world. With headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, the NIH has more than 35,000 staff on the main campus and at satellite sites across the country.  In this case study presentation, Jenny will start by describing the Center for Information Technology’s (CIT) mission, and the IT culture at NIH. She will also provide an overview of how her organization identified the need for service delivery processes, and the ITIL components they’ve already implemented within CIT. This includes a discussion about the issues the CIT has faced implementing processes in a large decentralized IT organization, and how these are being addressed. The major focus of Jenny’s session will be on reviewing the activities they’ve undertaken to build and implement a Service Portfolio Management (SPM) process. Her review will include: specific SPM process design and implementation steps taken to date and lessons learned; challenges encountered with integrating SPM and government mandated system lifecycle management and NIH enterprise architecture; the wins achieved to-date; next steps and future plans, and how and why these have been identified.

Track 5 –  Do It Again:  Moving Beyond The Early Years Of ITSM

Knowing Me; Knowing You...Ah Haa
Jack Probst, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beyond Beginner

♪ ♫"Knowing me, knowing you, ah haa...there is nothing we can do." So goes the famous ABBA song. But, Jack is here to tell you that, yes - there is a lot more you can do and worth knowing about Knowledge Management.

Knowledge Management, as defined in ITIL's Service Transition book, seems straight forward but the application of this process requires “some assembly”. The DIKW (Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom) model offers a base description of how knowledge is processed within an organization. The challenge for most is understanding what each stage of the model means and most importantly how the elements D or I or K etc., can be successfully captured, used, and applied within the Knowledge Management process.  Join Jack in this revealing session (and no — he will not be wearing white polyester and sing ABBA songs!) as he peels back the mystery of the model and provides a very practical look at: 1) understanding what is meant by Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom; 2) how to capture each element; 3) the various practices to identify, retrieve, and use each one; and finally 4) the steps needed to apply DIKW to the Knowledge Management process.

Continual Service Improvement: From Strategies To Measurements
Gary Case, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: General

Meet an ITIL author and one of the world’s most respected ITIL luminaries!

One of the challenges for many of today’s organizations is that managers don’t understand the importance of aligning metrics and measurements to the overall business strategy and IT goals and objectives.  Here’s your chance to learn!  Gary, co-author of the ITIL book, Continual Service Improvement, will describe key measurement concepts from V3’s service lifecycle framework as well as discuss business models for setting up a measurement system based on the Balanced Scorecard.  He will also provide details about when to start identifying key service and service management measurements that support the Continual Service Improvement practice.  Don’t miss this informative presentation from one of ITIL’s authors.

Winning Friends & Influencing People On The Road To Greatness
Troy DuMoulin, AVP, Product Strategy, Pink Elephant

Code: Beyond Beginner

Getting people to actually follow process is a skilled art, not luck!

So, you have designed a great process, you’ve invested in a slick ITSM tool and paid your consultants for the best advice you could purchase, so then what makes you think anyone is actually going to follow the new processes after you close down the project and take down the posters?

Culture change is beyond your ability or the project’s ability to modify and should not be the goal of the organizational change strategy.  To be successful, ITSM projects must understand, and work within the boundaries of your current culture in order to effectively change behavior.  If you get this right and actually show that life has gotten better over the long term, you will have anchored the change into the organization, which will result in a changed culture.
 
To change from a current to a new set of behaviors and eventually change the culture of the organization, there are specific critical success factors that need to be considered. Troy is a twelve-year veteran of ITIL implementations. Join this very seasoned ITIL Expert to hear about practical strategies for effective lasting change and making new allies along the way.

Case Study: Team BYU

BYU – Brigham Young University – has been on a 6 year ITIL and ITSM journey.

One of the oldest and largest universities in the US with over 40,000 student and faculty users covering four states, BYU’s IT organization aims to create business value with fully integrated and optimized IT services. Elaine, Ernie, Troy and Valinda are on hand to deliver four case study presentations that describe how BYU has built many diverse teams to focus on process improvement efforts. Their ITSM and ITIL journey during the past six years have achieved many successes. Each presenter will discuss a specific area of process improvement and the positive outcomes achieved.  

Achieving Trust & Success Through Process Improvement & Standard Support
Elaine Lauritzen, ITIL Expert & Director of Operations Center, Brigham Young University

Code: General

As Director of BYU’s Operations Center, Elaine has responsibility for the Data Center, Network Operations Center, and Change and Problem Management. She is also Chair of her IT organization’s Service Management Process Improvement Team.  Elaine’s presentation will include: 1) an overview of BYU’s six year ITIL journey for which she has been a part of since the beginning; 2) what does Standard Support mean for her organization; 3) BYU’s Accountability Model – what it is and how it works; 3) how they’ve stepped away from “dummy” escalations, and how they’ve made an important distinction between escalation and collaboration; 5) details about the growing relationships, process maturity and synergies between Service Desk, Engineers and Operations; 6)  plans for continuous improvement including lessons learned.

Modeling Services Linked To Business Value
Troy Gundersen, Product Line Manager, IT Tools & Applications, Brigham Young University

Code: Beyond Beginner

Troy is a member of BYU’s Service Management Process Improvement team. During his presentation he will discuss his contribution to BYU’s six year ITSM journey. The focus of Troy’s session will be on Portfolio Management and Service Modeling. Specifically, he will provide: 1) a high level overview of BYU's ITIL implementation history; 2) details of his role and responsibilities related to the areas of Product Management and Portfolio Management; 3)  a review of how BYU has defined product lines, and processes for ticket trending and quality improvement; 4) details of supporting documentation and monitoring; 5) a look at their process for critical business transaction identification, and roadmaps; 6) an overview of major successes and lessons learned.

Process Management & Improvement
Valinda Rose, Enterprise Process Innovation Project Manager, Brigham Young University

Code: General

It is a commonly held belief that in a continuous improvement journey, there is no finish line! BYU’s IT organization fully embraces this view. Valinda’s presentation will profile lessons learned and successes related to her organization’s multi-year process improvement journey, and she’ll provide details of their long standing PIM (Process Improvement) initiative. Her presentation will highlight: 1) PIM roles and responsibilities; 2) policy and documentation; 3) PIM roadmap; 4) how critical success factors and KPIs have been formalized and are used for PIM; 5) details of BYU’s formal Continuous Improvement Plan; 6) Major successes, and lessons learned.

Project Management In A Fast-Paced, Often-Changing IT Organization
Ernie Nielsen, Managing Director, Enterprise Services Portfolio Management, Brigham Young University

Ernie is also on hand to present a session about BYU’s project management model and best practices. Refer to Track 9 - Project Management Best Practices - for his session description.

Information Technology Service Continuity Management
Dave Lauer, Service Continuity Coordinator, OhioHealth

Code: Beyond Beginner

In this session Dave will describe a three-year program to implement a robust IT Service Continuity Management (ITSCM) program at OhioHealth – 2008 ITIL Project Of The Year Award winner.  His presentation will include a discussion about: how OhioHealth defines ITSCM within their ITIL framework; program initial state including purpose, objectives and vision for service continuity and information disaster recovery.  Dave will also present information about their approach to governance, leadership and roles, requirements and strategy for prevention and recovery, implementation timeline and cost, key accomplishments, and ongoing operation and continuous improvement.  He will also include sample documentation, description of supporting tools and KPIs.

OhioHealth has been on a multi year ITSM journey and has achieved many positive outcomes. Dave’s session is one of a total of five from OhioHealth at this conference. Check out the other sessions.

Release Management At Bell Aliant
Darren Dunn, Sr. Operations Manager, Bell Aliant 

Code: Beyond Beginner

Bell Aliant has a well established Release Management process. Darren says that he and his colleagues are self-acclaimed “ITIL disciples” who have fully embraced the framework’s best practices and sight this as the reason for their many successes. In this presentation Darren will highlight his organization’s Technical Review Board (TRB) and its key role in their Release Management process. Darren will discuss: his 5 years experience working with Release Management and an overview of how they’ve moved this process through higher levels of integration and process maturity; why and how his organization’s TRB was established; who is involved in the TRB; the specific role the TRB plays within Release Management; metrics, statistics and management reporting process and how these elements of Release Management are managed; and a look at how tools are used to support the TRB and Release Management process.

Fuelling A Strong Change & Release Management Integrated Process At BP
Haskell Moore, Change & Release Manager, BP Plc

Code: Beyond Beginner

Haskell Moore – Change and Release Manager for BP’s Information Technology Services within North America Gas and Power organization – is responsible for over 60 applications across a variety of database and development platforms.  A typical month for Haskell and his team includes up to 150 RFCs for applications operating under an estimated $60 million annual budget. BP has several years experience implementing ITSM and ITIL best practices which makes this session a must-attend for those who are interested in hearing a mature and successful implementation story.

Haskell’s case study presentation will include: an overview of the approach taken to successfully implement Change & Release Management; the factors that contributed to success, and lessons learned about pitfalls; factors leading to the creation of an effective, skilled and motivated Change & Release Management team; a brief overview of the use of software tools utilized and how they dramatically improved the Release Management process while significantly reducing costs; how and why they were led to think outside the box; and details about how they built a robust release calendar that takes into account the various activities, holidays, and conflicts.

Don’t Brake…Keep Your Foot On The Pedal!
Dave Howard, National Manager Service Management, Toyota Financial Services

Code: General

In this session, Dave will provide you with insight about how Toyota has “kept the momentum going.” One of the biggest mistakes many organizations make is to slow down or drive down messy detours as they go along the long and winding road of major ITIL implementation efforts. Dave will give his advice on how to keep a good steady pace and not get stuck in the mud based on his experience. During his presentation he will: discuss how his organization started their ITIL journey and highlight a few examples of how they built up excitement and positive energy; recap a few quick wins achieved during the early years; profile lessons learned about getting stuck; and describe details about how they’ve kept moving forward successfully after the initial gusto. Dave is not only a knowledgeable and experienced ITIL practitioner, he is also very actively involved in the IT community and is an Officer in the Greater LA itSMF LIG.

Surfer Girls, Surf Boards & CMDBs – Is There A Connection?
Graham Price, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant  

Code: Beginner 

The answer to this question is, yes – if you’re one of the Beach Boys these are probably very important Configuration Items (CIs) in your overall Configuration Management (CM) process! Join Graham as he takes a tongue-n-cheek look at one of the most trying and difficult processes to implement and get right. A highly seasoned ITSM and ITIL veteran, Graham will draw upon his many years of implementation experience to describe: what CIs are important to keep track of in your organizations (what are your surfer girls and surf boards??); what does it take to map out, plan, implement and manage an effective end-to-end CM process;  and the do’s and don’ts of setting up and managing an integrated CMDB.

Track 6 – Good Vibrations: The Best Of The Best 

Case Study: Team OhioHealth

Winner of Pink’s 2008 Project Of The Year Award, Mary Jo, Kim, Scott and Dave will deliver multiple sessions about their award-winning project.  OhioHealth is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit, charitable healthcare organization made up of 15 hospitals, 20+ healthcare and surgery centers. Recognized by FORTUNE Magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2007, 2008, and 2009, OhioHealth includes 15,000 associates, 2,300 physicians, and 5,500 volunteers.

Award Winning Identity & Access Management
Parts 1 & 2
Mary Jo McElroy, Vice President, IT Compliance & Standards & Scott Supman, Manager, Identity & Access Management, OhioHealth

Code: General

In this two-part presentation, Mary Jo and Scott will present details about their award winning project for provisioning users at a brand new facility – Dublin Methodist Hospital. With the ITIL framework as the operational model, the project team tackled five challenges: 1) Current manual and complex provisioning process; 2) Requirement for quick, easy, and secure access to advanced clinical applications; 3) Requirement for compliance with Ohio Board of Pharmacy “positive ID” rule; 4) Time crunch to provision 1,100 people across 168 applications; 5) Requirement for remote connectivity method for physicians from home or office.

The team capitalized on the existing Access Management vision and some technology already in place.  As the project kicked off in winter 2007, the team determined project objectives and set milestones along a timeline.  Specific tactical interventions to address each objective were implemented, culminating in provisioning 1,100 persons for opening day.  The project team was able to deliver measurable results from the perspectives of utilization, customer satisfaction, compliance, and fiscal responsibility.

The session will begin with an overview of how OhioHealth has defined Access Management, and then highlight the organization’s vision for Access M\management as the new hospital was opened in the suburbs of Columbus, OH.  The session will then continue with a description of: the challenges facing the project team;  project objectives, deliverables, and milestones for the nine-month project; the implementation of role-based access control; use of enabling technology for automated provisioning;  use of biometrics to achieve strong authentication; and implementation of a virtual desktop with two factor authentication.   There will also be details shared of how results were evaluated using measures of timeliness, approval from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, customer satisfaction, cost reduction, and productivity of IS associates.  The presentation will conclude with a discussion of the challenges inherent in the project, and how these were overcome.

What A “Service-Driven” Culture Means At OhioHealth
Kim Liston, Vice President, IT Customer Service, OhioHealth

Code: Beginner

Kim will deliver a session about OhioHealth’s Service Desk and her organization’s continuous improvement initiatives to change its service and business culture. Refer to Track 8 – Service Operations – for her session description.

Configuration Management: Incremental Improvement Versus Delayed Perfection
Dave Lauer, Service Continuity Coordinator, OhioHealth

Code: Beginner

Dave is also on hand to present two sessions about how OhioHealth set up and is managing a successful Configuration Management Database (CMDB)’s. Refer to Track 8 – Service Operations – for his session description.

Information Technology Service Continuity Management
Dave Lauer, Service Continuity Coordinator, OhioHealth

Code: Beyond Beginner

Dave will present a second presentation on the subject of IT Service Continuity Management. Refer to track 5 – Moving Beyond The Early Years – for his session description.

Case Study: Team Allstate

Winner of the 2007 Project Of The Year Award, Allstate has been on a multi-year journey through ITIL implementation and has gained numerous wins. The word is spreading! Allstate’s CIO, Catherine Brune has been featured in The Wall Street Journal discussing her organization’s best practice approach. Cathy and Mike are on hand to provide insight into what has made their ITIL and ITSM initiatives hugely successful.  In addition to these two sessions below, Cathy is also part of panel discussions, including The Magnificent Seven.

Service Catalog:  How Did We Ever Get Along Without It?
Mike Sparks, Director, Business Service Management / Technology Solutions, Allstate Insurance  

Code: General 

Mike has been involved with Allstate’s implementation of ITIL since the very early years. In his current role, he is responsible for directing, designing and enabling a new service-based business model for Allstate’s management of IT systems. Join Mike, as he discusses basic strategies and lessons learned for implementing an actionable IT Service Catalog.  After 3+ years and with over 1,000 service requests in the catalog, Mike is in a unique position to share implementation strategies, challenges and ROI opportunities that await you.  And, if you’ve already implemented your catalog, Mike will offer some forward looking ideas on how to put your new demand and fulfillment transparency data to good use! 

Release Management: In Good Hands
Cathy A. Kirch, ITIL Expert & Process Consultant, Allstate Insurance

Code: General

In this session, Cathy – an ITIL Practitioner Of The Year award winner – will present details of her organization’s Release Management Project; one of their most recent initiatives. Her session will include: 1) an overview of ITIL at Allstate; 2) why and how Release Management was selected including audit findings and problem statement; 3) how they assembled the required teams and lesson learned; 4) Project planning including approach used, scope, assessment results, and key deliverables; 5) early wins and defined measurements; 6) and future plans and continuous improvement.

ITSM & ITIL: How Allstate Has “Made It Stick”
Pete Corrigan, VP Infrastructure Services, Allstate Insurance 

Code: General

Pete has played a key role in Allstate’s ITSM and ITIL success. He is presenting a session in Track 1: IT Strategic Management. Click here to read about his conference presentation.

Case Study: Team BMO Financial Group

BMO (Bank of Montreal) Financial Group was one of the first very large multi-national organizations in North America to embrace ITIL.  During the past decade, they have implemented numerous processes using ITIL’s framework and have achieved numerous successes, including significant IT business integration.  BMO is also the winner of Pink’s 2006 ITIL Project Of The Year Award. 

Are You Ready To Move From Good To Great?
Catherine McGregor, Dept. Manager of Process Support Services (Retired), BMO Financial Group

Code: General

Before retiring from BMO in 2009, Catherine had over a decade worth of experience working on numerous ITIL implementation projects. She is a highly passionate ITIL champion and seasoned senior manager who has led many ITIL initiatives with great success.  In this session, Catherine will highlight how to ensure great success by focusing on the people side of change. According to Catherine, we constantly hear how important it is to have executive sponsorship of IT projects to get the project off the ground and keep it moving forward.  While there is no doubt that it helps, Catherine will present a case about why this is not the be all and end all.  Her real world experience has shown that focusing on people should come first, not executives! She will discuss why it’s important to, and how her organization got large teams of people fully engaged in, and enthusiastic about, their huge multi-year ITIL journey.  She will also provide an overview of management reporting mechanisms and customer metrics that executives could relate to that very easily got them to see the value of everyone’s ITIL work. This is a not to be missed session if you want to hear “the straight goods” from a multi-year ITIL veteran.

What Business & Incident Management Integration Really Means
Stewart Crymble, ITIL – Department Manager Product Operations, BMO Financial Group

Code: Beyond Beginner

In Stewart’s session, he will focus on the successful work that has been done to integrate his IT group’s Incident Management with BMO’s business processes. Many organizations struggle to fully integrate IT and business processes, including Incident Management. BMO has been able to achieve it. Stewart’s session will focus on: the use of “business incidents” – how these are defined, categorized and managed; the important link between these processes and BMO’s revenue generating customers; metrics used and how these are tracked and reported; his IT group’s interactions with, and outputs to, other groups – Six Sigma and the LOB (Lines of Business ) Pillars; how all groups work together with a common goal to increase BMO’s revenue opportunities, decrease and manage costs, and eliminate Incidents and Known Errors that directly impact BMO’s customers; review of how tools are used to support these processes; overview of a new Audit Process and its link to Incident Management.

Case Study: Team Progress Energy

Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh, NC and serving over 3 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida, celebrated a century of service in 2008. The company has a very strong continuous improvement culture and award winning customer service (they are winners of the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates Founder’s Award), delivered through 10,500 employees.

Progress Energy’s IT organization has achieved many successes using ITIL’s Service Management Process framework and continuous improvement principles. Having worked with ITIL, together with other proven quality business frameworks for several years, they have experienced many big wins, and two highly seasoned and knowledgeable ITIL practitioners are on hand to provide valuable insights and lessons learned about their journey.

Implementing ITIL – The Journey Continues
Sheri Cassidy, ITSM Program Manager, Progress Energy

Code: General 

Sheri (one of the highest rated speakers at last year’s conference) and her colleagues at Progress Energy have achieved many successes using ITIL’s process framework and continuous improvement principles, for the past seven years. Sheri has been honored with Pink’s 2007 “Practitioner of the Year” award, and she is on hand during this session to share lessons learned and provide her personal insights about her organization’s ITSM journey, and her own journey of discovery.  It is said that the very best lessons learned are from those who’ve ‘been-there-done-that’.  We agree.  And, in this not-to-be-missed session, Sheri reveals major successes, barriers encountered and how these were overcome, what she would do the same versus what she would not, if she could do it all over again, and how a culture of sustainable, continuous improvement can be achieved. Sheri will also use “The Flywheel” concept from the book Good To Great as a frame of reference for her discussion. According to the book, The Flywheel concept refers to: ‘Sustainable transformations follow a predictable pattern of buildup and breakthrough.  Like pushing on a giant, heavy flywheel, it takes a lot of effort to get the thing moving at all, but with persistent pushing in a consistent direction over a long period of time, the flywheel builds momentum, eventually hitting a point of breakthrough.' Sheri is on hand to tell you how these principles are being applied in her organization.

Slow & Steady Wins The Race – But Is There A Finish Line?
Bill Iffland, Enterprise Configuration Manager, Progress Energy

Code: Beyond Beginner

Three years ago, Progress Energy presented a case study profiling how they approached and implemented Configuration Management. Back then, Configuration Management was not very well understood or appreciated but as they moved to a new ITSM tool and matured Incident, Problem, and Change Management processes, staff began to truly rely on their CMDB and today are asking “Why isn’t that in the CMDB?”. Bill will explain that previously, their Configuration Management process was “ahead of its time” and they were pulling the organization to catch up.  Now, the Configuration Management process is being pushed by the organization and they are asking ourselves “where’s the finish line?”.

In the book, Good To Great, one of the concepts discussed is ‘Culture of Discipline’, which is described as: ‘Sustained great results depend upon building a culture full of self-disciplined people who adhere to a consistent system with freedom and responsibility within the framework of that system.’ Expanding upon this theme, Bill will cover how their Configuration Management process has matured to meet the demands placed on it and which strategies they are choosing to stay one lap (really one step) ahead in this race. Using one of the concepts from the book – he will review: benefits of moving to a Configuration Item-centric model; maximizing relationships (borrowing from one of the most famous political slogans of our time: It’s the relationships stupid!) for troubleshooting and impact analysis; developing the right behaviors with CMDB reporting, metrics, and dashboards; aligning with the business by introducing Business Services as CIs; leveraging auto-discovery and base-lining to uncover undocumented change.

SLM Meets The Real World
Sheri Cassidy, ITSM Program Manager &
Bill Iffland, Enterprise Configuration Manager, Progress Energy

Code: Beginner 

In the book, Good to Great, one of the concepts the author discusses is “Confront the Brutal Facts”, which is described as: ‘Don’t ignore reality in your pursuit of greatness.   Having lofty goals can be good, but you can never lose sight of what the reality is on the ground, no matter how much you will it to be different.  Success is achieved by continually refining the path to greatness with the brutal facts of reality.’ 

During this presentation, Sheri and Bill will use this concept as the basis for their discussion. They will highlight what happens when ITIL best practices meets the reality of business (not enough resources, not enough money, etc). and how they’ve faced realities and worked through them while striving to meet business goals and objectives.

Catch An Elephant By The Tale
Kirk Weisler, Chief Morale Officer, Team Dynamics

Code: General

And, now……something very different!

Kirk is a masterful story teller and a long time favorite of Pink’s conference attendees! He promises that this session will be amazingly creative and highly applicable to your work and every day life.  Kirk will take 5 elephant “tales” and discuss valuable lessons we can all learn from them. And, he will also illustrate how leaders can, and should use the power of story telling to influence culture.

• An Elephant Never Forgets: But, people and organizations do.  Learn how great leaders use stories and symbols to teach, reach and create lasting impact and cement change
• Horton Hears A Who: Learn who Horton heard, how he heard them and why this story can help us take our dust specks from good to great and beyond. 
• What An Elephant Is Like: In this classic tale about the importance of perspective, perception, patience and seeking first to understand, 5 blind men each feel a different part of the elephant.  Learn how you can use these actions to create a better culture within your organization
• How To Eat An Elephant: Is there a right way to eat an elephant?  Yes!  It’s all about the importance of taking one bite at a time to avoid feeling overworked and overwhelmed; breaking it down to take it down; and celebrating often to help wash it down
• Taming Through Training: Understanding how elephants are trained offers fascinating insights into some effective principles that can strengthen your own teaching and training processes.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice?
Henry White, Director, IT Global Operations & Excellence In Operations, Cisco Systems, Inc.

Code: General

Wouldn’t it be nice if tracking and measuring IT service delivery was a simple, straight forward, “non-political” affair? And, what is really important to measure anyway? Henry – last year’s Practitioner Of The Year Award Winner – will share details about his real-life ups and downs with surveys, and how he and his colleagues have addressed service and support metrics. His presentation will include: key service metrics his IT organization tracks and reports; why these have been selected and how they are used; a discussion about how useful, and not useful, customer satisfaction surveys are/have been; the difference between measuring client experience versus customer satisfaction; and how “excellence” is defined and measured at Cisco.

Track 7 – Little Deuce Coupe:  Implementing Tools & Technology

Ask The Technology Experts
Q&A Panel Discussions

Code: General

Throughout the conference there will be many opportunities to bring all your questions about how to align tools with people and processes. The technology panels feature ITSM tool experts, including experienced IT practitioners, vendors, and industry gurus, to help you address your biggest issues and challenges, and give you insight into the latest industry trends.

The Magnificent Seven – Part 3
Seven Tips From Seven IT Professionals For Successful Tool Implementation
Moderated By: Brenda Iniguez

Brenda Iniguez, Strategic Business Development, Pink Elephant
Patrick Bolger, Chief Marketing Officer, Hornbill Systems Inc.
Sheri Cassidy, ITSM Program Manager, Progress Energy
Stewart Crymble, ITIL – Department Manager Product Operations, BMO Financial Group
Kai Holthaus, Director of Product Management, McKesson Corporation
Troy Gundersen, Product Line Manager, IT Tools & Applications, Brigham Young University
Jeff Westcott, ITSM Project Manager, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Code: General

Join these seven highly experienced and seasoned IT professionals who will share one tip each (a lesson learned, advice, a proven method or a best practice used) for how to successfully navigate through the selection, implementation and ongoing successful management of tools and technologies that support ITIL processes. The “tools and technology” component of implementing ITIL is often mismanaged by many IT organizations and as a result, tools act as a major hindrance and barrier when they should be a critical enabler to success.  There is a very definite right way, versus a wrong way, to manage this very important aspect of your ITIL implementation. Don’t miss this invaluable session to get real world advice from those who’ve seen it all!

Application Lifecycle Management & IT Service Management: How Do They Co-Exist?
Martin Erb, Director, Product Development , Pink Elephant

Code: General

Martin has been on both sides of the fence. As an IT practitioner he has worked in a large, global multi-faceted environment, where process and tool coordination required major attention.  In his current role, Martin works with many organizations to help them tackle major ITSM implementation issues. During this presentation, Martin will provide attendees with a unique perspective of both sides – practical guidance and been-there-done-that tips coupled with an in-depth theoretical knowledge of best practices. His presentation includes: an overview of what processes are contained within a typical Application Lifecycle Management Program (ALM) and how this is used within the bigger context of continuous service improvement; a description of how ALM interfaces with their ITIL processes and ITSM frameworks; details of the IT functions/departments involved and the related dependencies and relationships; and a summary of tips and lessons learned.

Panel Discussion: IT Leaders Share Their Perspective On Software As A Service (SaaS)
Moderated By: Matt French, Director of Marketing & Product Strategy, Service-now.com

Chris Pope, Managing Director Of Global Customer Service, NYSE Euronext
Amy Irwin, IT Customer Service Manager, PepsiAmericas
Greg Lazzaro, Director Of Operations, Service & Support, VeriSign, Inc.
Carolyn Dugas, IT Service Improvement Program Manager, Clark County, Nevada

Code: General

Join IT leaders from various industries as they explore how their organizations are dealing with economic pressures and the growing need to provide better services using ITIL and SaaS. During this panel discussion senior IT managers from four organizations will describe their quest to gain executive approval for SaaS, describe the necessary shift in personnel and cultural dynamics, and provide insight into lessons learned. Panel members will also discuss the impact of SaaS on their adoption of ITIL processes and ITSM best practices.

ITIL In Bermuda Shorts
Michael Oatley, Director, Information Technology Office (ITO), Government of Bermuda

Code: General 

ITO, Government of Bermuda has eight years experience working with ITIL and ITSM. In this case study presentation Michael will focus on the journey his organization has taken to move from ITIL V2 to V3 with emphasis on tool implementation and process integration. His discussion will include: why ITIL was chosen and a quick look back at the several processes implemented (Incident, Change and Release, CMDB, SLM, Problem, Service Catalog and Security Management); key successes attained over the years and how technology has contributed to these wins; how ITO was able to ensure process efforts around V3 and services’ definitions were supported and implemented with the V3 “service lifecycle” concept in mind; how ITO added a service catalog and ensured that processes previously established using V2 were improved upon using V3 concepts; a summary of key lessons learned and future plans.

Hey, You! Get On To My Cloud
Rodrigo Flores, CTO & Founder, newScale, Inc.

Code: General

The growing interest in Cloud Computing and Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) models is providing yet another push towards defining the value of IT in the context of services versus technology.  Cloud Computing focuses on the business outcomes and value elements rather than simply the technology components they are comprised of.

Join Rodrigo, an accomplished author, as he explains the importance ITIL and ITSM can and should play in the adoption of Cloud Computing strategies, and the overall changing emphasis from inward looking IT processes to business customer process automation. Attend this session to understand what really is cloud computing; how to apply ITIL and ITSM best practices; the types of roles, knowledge and costing/pricing approaches that are required to ensure successful outcomes.

Track 8 – Help Me Rhonda: Service Operations

Top 10 Considerations For Implementing Change Management
Jennifer Wels, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beginner

A past conference favorite, Jennifer’s presentation has been described by attendees as “an insightful highly educational experience”.

One of the key ITIL processes is Change Management, and many IT organizations include it as an early implementation and improvement focus.  While not complicated, Change Management is a complex, multi-faceted process that many IT managers struggle with.  Get Change Management right and it works, get it wrong and it becomes a bureaucracy that creates frustration and confusion that everyone wants to bypass.  Change Management is a control process that has to have a good balance of efficiency and effectiveness. 

Join Jennifer, a twelve year ITIL veteran, as she identifies the top ten considerations when developing and implementing Change Management in your organization.

The Biggest Mistakes IT Organizations Make Implementing Problem Management & How To Avoid Them
Jim McKennan, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beginner

What’s the problem with Problem Management? The issue is that many organizations think they have implemented Problem Management when actually they have not – all they may have done is get better at managing Incidents!  Problem Management is worth the time and investment because, if implemented and managed effectively, it can provide very high returns.  However, most organizations do not fully execute or manage all aspects of this key operational support process, and consequently do not reap full benefits.  Some organizations do an adequate job of reactive Problem Management, but fail in proactive Problem Management. Don’t fall into the same trap! 

Jim has presented this session before with highly favorable results. Attendees appreciate his very powerful and articulate delivery style and practical, knowledgeable guidance.  Don’t miss Jim’s session to learn about the biggest difficulties associated with implementing and managing an effective Problem Management process, together with tips for how to avoid them.

7 Tips For Creating & Managing A World-Class ITIL Service Desk
Jim McKennan, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beginner

What is an “ITIL” Service Desk, really? Jim is here to tell you! Join him as he separates fact from fiction about what it really takes to create and manage a world class support function according to ITIL principles. In his presentation, Jim will walk you through several tips for how to strengthen the overall effectiveness of your IT service support operation. And, if you haven’t yet brought ITIL V3 into the fold, or have just started to do so, he’ll tell you what enhancements you’ll want to consider that build on V2’s IT Service Management service operation processes. Jim, aka “Dr. Jim”, is recognized as a support industry guru whose guidance and knowledge are highly sought after. His ongoing contributions to industry articles and his own, very popular, blog are greatly valued.

The 5 Most Important Things I’ve Learned As A Change Manager
Chanin Forsyth, Change Manager, American Greetings

Code: Beginner

Chanin has been a Change Manager for two organizations; and currently works for American Greetings.  With numerous ups and downs, successes, and lessons learned under her belt, Chanin will profile the five most important things she’s learned playing project management and process manager roles through two major Change Management roll-outs. She will also provide an overview of American Greetings’ current Change Management process highlighting major implementation milestones, key successes, and best practices.

Building A Successful Online Request Center:  A Two Year Journey
Bob Grinsell, Request Management Administrator, Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota

Code: General

One key component of many ITIL Service Operation initiatives is the development and implementation of a Request Management process. Establishing a consistent process for requesting IT services can help reduce Service Desk call volumes, streamline and unify divergent practices and ultimately eliminate any number of separate forms, databases, webpages and manual processes that can develop over time. Bob will draw on his extensive ITIL knowledge and multi-year practical implementation experience to take you through the comprehensive two year process his organization has undergone to create an online “Request Center,” including: 1) using Focus Groups to clarify current state; 2) the importance of high level executive commitment and support; 3) creating detailed process flow charts and project documents to ensure a consistent process; 4) how to identify and prioritize request candidates; 5) using “Lean” and process analysis to avoid automating bad processes; 6) identifying and promoting key milestones in the project; and 7) keeping the momentum going over the long haul.

What A “Service-Driven” Culture Means At OhioHealth
Kim Liston, Vice President, IT Customer Service, OhioHealth

Code: Beginner

Kim is responsible for her IT organization’s customer service processes. In addition, she and her group own Incident Management and Request Management.  In this session, Kim will present an overview of OhioHealth’s drive to increase customer satisfaction through a cultural shift in the Service Desk and IT.  Discussion will surround how dramatic increases in first contact resolution were achieved through a number of strategies; and equally important, how these successes are communicated to both IT and the organization.  Kim will address the number of challenges faced and tackled along the way including working with processes at varying levels of maturity, cultural transformations, and balancing what can be seen as diametrically opposed goals within a Service Desk.  The presentation will conclude with lessons learned and plans for the future direction to continue driving a successful service driven culture.    

OhioHealth has been on a multi year ITSM journey and has achieved many positive outcomes. Kim’s session is one of a total of five from OhioHealth at this conference. Check out the other sessions.

Configuration Management: Incremental Improvement Versus Delayed Perfection
Dave Lauer, Service Continuity Coordinator, OhioHealth

Code: Beginner

In this session Dave will describe OhioHealth's approach to implementation of Configuration Management, specifically the Configuration Management Database (CMDB).  Dave will take a step-by-step approach and highlight: vision and objectives; getting started; problem to be solved; process design; enabling technology; key action items, incremental approach taken, and continual improvement.  Dave’s presentation will also include a description about how their CMDB successfully serves to enable process integration with Incident, Problem, Change, Service Level, and Service Continuity Management.

OhioHealth has been on a multi year ITSM journey and has achieved many positive outcomes. Dave’s session is one of a total of five from OhioHealth at this conference. Check out the other sessions.

Process Design Simplified: Waste Management's ITSM Journey
William Hargrove, Process Design, Waste Management National Services Inc.

Code: Beginner

In this case study presentation, Bill will focus primarily on Configuration Management to discuss where Waste Management (WM) is today in their ITSM journey, and how well-designed processes have enhanced their service delivery capabilities. His presentation includes: process maturity at WM before embarking on ITSM and redesign; the pitfalls and challenges of process design and lessons learned; the importance of properly defining IT Service Management processes; how technology helped them to accelerate process design; a description of their current situation and next steps in their continuous improvement journey.

Track 9 – Catch A Wave: Project Management Best Practices  

The Project Management Scorecard: Measuring The Success Of Project Management Solutions (Improving Human Performance Series)
Graham Price, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant 

Code: General

Is your ITIL project a success? How do you know? Exactly what are you measuring to find out? Project Management continues to be a critical function in organizations. Almost any new product, service, system, or technology must be introduced and implemented through a formal project management process. Until now, there has been no book that focuses on how to measure the success of project management solutions. In this book, the authors provide the answers to critical questions about project management measurement. Using six types data, including the actual ROI, this book simplifies the measurement process and provides credible data needed for the senior management team. It should be a valuable reference for every project manager.

In this highly informative session, Graham, who is certified in project management, will provide an overview of the method discussed in the book for setting up and measuring the success of projects, and then he’ll provide specifics about how to apply the principles to ITIL projects.

Successful IT Projects: What's The Secret?
Debra Krar, CMC, Director, PMI Southern Ontario Chapter (Toronto)

Code: General

Founded in the late ‘60s, Project Management Institute (PMI) is the world’s leading not-for-profit association for the project management profession. PMI is at the forefront of working with business and government to create project management standards, certification programs, and techniques that work. Today, there are 250 chapters in more than 70 countries. Debra is proud to be on the Board of Directors of one of the world’s largest and most successful chapters, with more than 4,500 members.

Recent studies conducted by PMI show that the success rate of IT projects is increasing. Debra is here to share with you details about these study results and the key factors that play a role in ensuring a high success rate, including 10 sure ways to failure-proof your project. Not only will Debra look at the area of project management at large, but she will also specifically highlight IT project dos and don’ts. If you’re a project manager, project sponsor, or a member of an IT or ITIL project team, this is a not-to-be-missed session presented by a very passionate expert and IT practitioner with many years of experience in the project management field.

Project Management In A Fast-Paced, Often-Changing IT Organization
Ernie Nielsen, Managing Director, Enterprise Services Portfolio Management, Brigham Young University 

Code: General

Project Management is an area with which many IT organizations struggle. But, some do get it right! As a result, they are able to navigate through major initiatives in a highly productive manner. To get it right takes a very focused and disciplined approach. How? Ernie is on hand to tell you! He and his colleagues at BYU have implemented many best practices that have improved project management processes and outcomes. In this session, Ernie profiles: 1) a description of his role and department; 2) BYU’s project management model and process map; 3) his organization’s best practices for project planning and executing key action items; 4) MITAR – what it means and how it’s used; 5) best practices used for managing project team meetings; 6) how they track project status; and 7) a summary of key wins.

BYU has been on a 6 year ITSM journey and has achieved many positive outcomes. Ernie’s session is one of a total of four from BYU at this conference. Three of Ernie’s colleagues are also speaking in Track 5 – Implementing ITIL: Moving Beyond The Early Years. Check them out!

How Project Management & Change Management Come Together
Liz Konarske, IT System Support Manager, Carhartt

Code: Beginner

When small to mid-size organizations begin to employ ITSM practices, many discover they have trouble adapting to the best practices defined by ITIL due to their lack of definition of boundaries between Project Management and Change Management.  In order to ensure that Change Management provides a successful deployment of Release Management, organizations must realize the importance of monitoring project activity to achieve the quality objectives needed.

Liz – who has four Practitioner certifications in ITIL V2 with 20 years of Information Services experience – will present how her organization implemented a merger of Change and Project Management in order to achieve their overall objective of ‘protect the production environment’.  Topics include the integration points to ensure success with Project Management and how to best utilize existing resources constrained by budget challenges in a down economy.  Attend her session to learn how to develop a PMO based project team for Change Management; how to use existing staff to achieve success with Change Management; and how to identify and reduce areas of risk to the production environment.

ITIL Project Roles & Responsibilities
Graham Price, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant 

Code: Beginner

Establishing the right roles and responsibilities for a major transformation project, such as implementing ITIL best practices, is an important activity. To ensure successful outcomes, roles and responsibilities must be defined and formalized, which means that accountability, ownership and KPIs are assigned and incorporated into performance management processes. And, these must also be documented and communicated through job descriptions, project briefs and direction papers.

In this informative session, Graham – a veteran of many ITIL projects, will review a detailed listing of key ITIL project roles, together with a description for each one.

Track 10 – I Can Hear Music: Enabling IT Governance 

IT Strategy & Governance
Jack Probst, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beyond Beginner

IT Governance is a term that gets multiple explanations and interpretations. Many authors, including prestigious speakers at industry conferences, have offered interpretations and suggestions on what the term means. But the biggest stumbling block is in providing a practical approach to applying the concept of IT Governance within a useful model. This session details Pink’s recommended approach to IT Governance including the necessary and pragmatic interface to IT strategy, portfolio management, quality and controls, and alignment to the organization of the ITSM model and a service-based organization.  If this is a critical subject for you, don’t miss Jack’s very practical and sharp perspective on this sometimes misunderstood and misinterpreted key business area.

How To Overcome Process Compliance Challenges
Sarah Johnson, (formerly) Senior Manager, Customer Services Support, Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Code: General

Sarah has successfully implemented and managed Change, Incident, Problem, and Release Management processes during her 12 years of ITIL experience. She has achieved many meaningful results including reaching 99% compliance across multiple organizations.  Sarah has led diverse groups, including geographically distant vendors, divisions, and off-shore resources to embrace unified processes that brought significant value to the business. In her session, Sarah will explain how she has achieved high compliance with ITIL processes. Her discussion includes: how to map out and implement processes that are simple, intuitive, and value-driven; how to build support for processes from the ground up; the importance of “the human factor”; why and how to think "support up", not "top down"; and key lessons learned.

So, You've Got A Service Catalog – Now What?
Kai Holthaus, Director of Product Management, McKesson Corporation
 
Code: Beyond Beginner

Kai’s IT organization has embarked on a multi-year journey transforming their business model to a service delivery organization.  In this session, he will discuss life after implementing a Service Catalog, with specific focus on managing a service pipeline and the necessary (but often overlooked) IT governance component of the equation. After the implementation of their Service Catalog, it became obvious that it was necessary to actively manage the way services enter the Catalog. It was at this point that ITIL’s Service Portfolio Management was introduced to manage the service pipeline. Kai will explain how Service Portfolio Management is used as the process that links together IT governance processes and service proposals and design. Kai will explain how their approach allows IT to proactively manage its investments across the lifecycle, considering each service in terms of the business value it provides. Kai will also share his experiences implementing Service Portfolio Management and how and why a solid IT governance process is a critical success factor. His session also highlights the requirements for tools to be used for this process and the benefits of proactive management of the service pipeline.

ITIL: An IT Governance Enabler
Jennifer Wels, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: General

Many organizations are adopting an overall governance framework such as Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (CobiT). However, the question 'how can ITIL enforce governance principles?' soon arises. This timely session covers a view of how CobiT and ITIL align and mutually complement each other. Additionally, Jennifer provides an overview of CobiT's framework emphasizing how you can use it for more than just audit purposes. Jennifer also provides valuable insight into how you can effectively use CobiT and ITIL as part of an overall service improvement initiative.

Track 11 – Surfin’ Safari: Breakfast Clubs

“Great” Books For Breakfast
Kirk Weisler, Chief Morale Officer, Team Dynamics

Code: General

If you value “sharpening the saw”, Kirk’s famous Books For Breakfast sessions are not-to-be-missed! Kirk’s burst of high energy is contagious and better than a morning latte to get you going!

Remember, branding yourself means building yourself — and we do that one insight, one idea, and one book at a time! Join Kirk as he shares some of the books that he highly recommends and are currently on his must read list. Kirk believes these books are excellent aids to help you on your journey of professional and personal growth, and self development.

Exhibition Hall Optimizer
Rob England, The IT Skeptic

Code: General

Sometimes, walking around the exhibit hall at a conference can be an intimidating experience. What exactly are these vendors selling? What questions should I be asking? How do you evaluate one product against another? How do you assess one vendor against another? What’s the latest “big thing” I should look out for? Are there any “must see” products? Find the answers to these questions at Rob’s session. Rob (aka The IT Skeptic) has been an outspoken industry critic who keeps a very close eye on trends, and is an ex-software vendor who can help you to make the most of your exhibit hall experience! With no vested interest in any product and a frank, straight-shooting style, this is a must-attend session for those seeking advice.

This session is presented twice, once as a Sunday Primer on Sunday afternoon, and again as a Breakfast Club session on Monday morning.

Conference Optimizer: How To Successfully Network At This Conference
Kirk Weisler, Chief Morale Officer, Team Dynamics

Code: General

Many conference attendees aim to network with others in similar industries, roles, and situations, to expand learning and exchange ideas and best practices. These are all very good goals, but what exactly is the best way to get the most out of networking opportunities? Maybe you’re on your own; how do you meet people? Kirk will tell you everything you need to know! He’ll not only give you many tips for how to successfully network at this conference, but he’ll also guarantee that you’ll leave this session with several new friends and contacts!   

This session is presented twice, once as a Sunday Primer on Sunday afternoon, and again as a Breakfast Club session on Monday morning.

An Introduction To ITIL
Mark Hamilton, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beginner

This presentation is a not-to-be missed session if you’re a “beginner” and want to start your conference experience with an overview of ITIL’s key learning points. The overview is an ideal way to learn about ITIL’s IT Service Management framework and Service Lifecycle approach. Designed for those new to ITIL or needing a refresh, the agenda includes an overview of ITIL’s five books – Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation, Continual Service Improvement – and their main concepts and best practices, together with a high level look at the 24 process, four function IT Service Management process model.

To maximize participation, this session is scheduled more than once throughout the conference: Monday and Tuesday as Breakfast Club sessions, and Monday as a Track 4 breakout session.

What IT Managers Need To Know About Process Maturity
Terry Sherman, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: Beyond Beginner

Are your processes “defined”? Are they fully “optimized”? Do you know what these mean and why it’s important to know? Attend Terry’s session and you’ll learn about the key concepts of process maturity. Terry will provide an overview of the different process maturity stages and explain why understanding a maturity level is a necessary step in implementing ITIL best practices.

Make this a must-attend session to help you better understand other conference presentations that refer to process maturity, assessments, and best practices for implementing ITIL processes.

To maximize participation, this session is scheduled more than once throughout the conference: Monday and Tuesday as Breakfast Club sessions, and Monday as a Track 4 breakout session.

The Executive Club
Moderated By: Brenda Iniguez, Strategic Business Development, Pink Elephant

Code: General

Three specialized sessions specifically designed for senior IT managers – Building Consensus, How To Strategize What’s Next, and Generational Leadership: Watch The Perception Factor.  Facilitated by Brenda – a highly experienced senior IT manager as well as a seasoned veteran of many ITSM and ITIL implementations – this is your exclusive opportunity to hear tips for successfully leading and managing change at the most senior level of IT. Brenda starts by presenting her ‘Executive Club Tip Of The Day’. Then, she’ll site real world examples from her Consultant’s Case Book to illustrate her key points. Don’t forget to bring your most pressing issues and questions! These sessions feature roundtable discussions and include a question and answer period.  Overall, this is an excellent opportunity to expand your senior level network and compare notes with others in similar situations!

Dr. Jim’s Q&A Forums
Jim McKennan, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: General

The doctor is in! No appointment needed to visit “Dr.” Jim – one of the industry’s leading service support experts, and regular contributor to industry articles, blogs and magazines. Bring your most pressing questions and issues about your Service Desk, and Incident, Problem and Change Management processes to this open Question & Answer Forum.

Q&A Forum: How Do I Get To 22?
Pierre Bernard, Manager Education Product Portfolio, Pink Elephant

Code: General

22 is the magic number! That’s how many credits are needed to get you “ITIL Expert” qualified. Join Pierre for breakfast and he’ll answer your questions about which courses to take (and not to take!) to move successfully along the certification path. With so many different options, how do you know what’s best for your specific role and situation? Pierre will tell you! He’ll also provide you with the latest news about ITIL certification, including the new “master” level. Pierre is an ITIL veteran with over 12 years experience, and was one of the first North American managers to achieve ITIL certification. He now possesses many ITIL qualifications including ITIL Expert, and is the Senior Examiner for APMG’s Official ITIL V3 Certification Panel. Attend this open forum to take advantage of the opportunity to walk through your own personal education path with an industry expert.

SLM, SLAs, & ITIL: Three Is NOT A Crowd!
Erik Hille, Director Of Product Management & Product Marketing, CA

Code: General

You are invited to join Erik in this breakfast session for coffee, croissants, and conversation so stimulating you won’t even need the coffee to wake up. Erik will discuss the benefits of implementing an ITIL-based Service Level Management process as an integral part of your organization’s Continual Service Improvement strategy. In particular, he will take a deeper look at the processes and tools that will help your organization implement ITIL-based Service Level Management, specific use case scenarios, and how to make the most out of your IT investments through Service Management.

Delivering Customer Value From Outsourcing Your Enterprise IT Services – A Multi-Disciplinary Approach To Applying ITIL

Panel Discussion
Moderated By: Jen Marie Parker, Senior Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton

Code: General

As government agencies become more reliant on outsourcing non-core functions such as IT infrastructure, they must address the challenge of maintaining delivery and support of these IT services to ensure mission alignment and regulatory compliance. Come to this session to listen how several federal organizations leverage ITIL to help manage their IT transformation. Booz Allen has found that taking a multi-disciplinary approach is the key to successfully structuring large enterprise IT outsourcing programs. The panel includes representation from the US Department of the Navy’s Next Generation Network (NGEN) Program and Booz Allen experts who will discuss multiple dimensions of applying ITIL consistently (e.g.: human capital, information assurance, strategic communications, and business and IT process engineering).

B2B Open Source: Lowering TCO Sustainably During The Crisis
Product Demonstration: The First ITIL-Compatible Open Source ITSM Solution 

Werner Siebecke, Head of IT Service Management &
Shawn Beasley, Community Director, ((otrs)) 

Code: General

There is no way around B2B Open Source Software when deciding upon introducing an ITSM application. OTRS, the first ITIL-conformant Open Source ITSM solution, is a regular on user shortlists. It even beats out leading products from proprietary vendors by offering complementary components such as Nagios, Jaspersoft, SugarCRM, MySQL and Apache. Annual savings in recurring licensing costs are a powerful argument for using OTRS, with a significant direct effect on Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). However, is this effect strong enough to sell the investment to IT management?   

Werner will outline which factors besides cost are pivotal. He will highlight unique selling propositions compared with closed source solutions. Werner will also demonstrate which reservations about Open Source in a B2B environment are a thing of the past. More than 70,000 organizations worldwide rely on OTRS. The Service Desk Software is available in 27 languages and with modular ITSM extensions for IM, PM, CFG and SLM. Two new major features will be added in Q1 2010: Change Management (CHG) and Business Process Management (BPM) – two flexible approaches towards modeling and supporting complex workflows. The Open Source model is based on a vision of freedom. Shawn will depict the synergies of combining the ((otrs)) business model focused on business services with the OTRS Community driven by voluntary collaboration. He will also explain why exactly Open Source Software allows for more flexibility and why it effectively raises the economic value added for your IT.

How To Successfully Deploy A Business Focused End User Portal
Edward Chiles, Senior Systems Engineer, Matrix42

Code: General

Most IT organizations today are looking into ways of displaying services to end users in the form of a portal. The idea of applying e-commerce-like capabilities within the organization has great merit, but bridging the gap between commercial ventures and internal corporate strategies has become elusive.  Edward will help you answer the following key questions: Why do we want to deploy a portal?  What should the portal contain?  How does deploying one help the bottom line of the IT budget while aligning technology with the overall dynamic business direction?  How can I incorporate my ITIL Service Catalog into a portal and help drive more efficiency?  Join Edward’s breakfast discussion and learn how a user facing portal, when deployed in the right ways and for the right reasons, will have a dramatic impact on IT costs and user empowerment.  

ITIL Castles In The Cloud
Troy DuMoulin, AVP, Product Strategy, Pink Elephant

Code: General

In the very popular musical Les Misérables, the character Young Cosette sings:

There is a castle on a cloud,
I like to go there in my sleep,
Aren’t any floors for me to sweep,
Not in my castle on a cloud.

But wait – you ask – I thought that cloud computing strategies are meant to simplify IT service provisioning? I cut the supplier a check and they take care of rest – right? Well…not completely! Troy will explain that in one sense this assumption is correct, since you are paying an external supplier to provide a complete service outcome. The service can come in the form of an account for a hosted software service, a development platform or a set of virtual infrastructure components without you having to own or manage the physical assets.  However – and this is a BIG however – on the other side of the coin it is critical to understand that what you are also doing is introducing a new set of players into your existing IT management processes. Just as Young Cosette discovered in the musical Les Misérables, we still have to sweep the floors and take care of business even when we live in the clouds!

Attend Troy’s Breakfast Club session to understand how ITSM / ITIL support the strategic use of cloud computing services, and how launching a cloud computing strategy means outsourcing multiple aspects of your IT service value chain.

If this subject interests you, read more about it on Troy’s blog: http://blogs.pinkelephant.com/troy

Using Process Baselines To Kick-Start Successful Service Desk Implementations
Alexander Keller, Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM

Code: General

Service Desks, comprising the ITIL Request Fulfillment, Incident and Problem Management processes, are regarded by many enterprises as the first step towards a comprehensive IT Service Management (ITSM) strategy because the return on investment materializes almost instantly. However, the flexibility of today's ITSM platforms – along with their implementation complexity – overwhelms many. Deploying predefined IT process baselines, comprising a variety of self-contained process artifacts such as workflows, user roles and KPIs, creates a solid foundation from which further work can evolve within the specific opportunities and constraints of a given environment. Using a concrete example, the presentation includes a case study discussion about IT process baselines and a demonstration on how to create an accelerated solution to quickly build, pilot and deploy an operational, production-ready Service Desk, and deliver that quick return on investment that facilitates further development.

Approaches For Successful Service Delivery In The Virtual Age
John Maclean, Global Product Manager, EMC Ionix Service Manager

Code: General

Reducing the cost of physical infrastructure, improved operational flexibility and better customer responsiveness are all promised benefits that come with a properly managed virtualization transformation. Simultaneously, the demands of doing business in an increasingly competitive marketplace has seen constant demand placed on IT to improve efficiency, satisfy compliance requirements, and deliver solutions to enable business agility.  IT’s response has been the much needed transition from a technology-centric model to a service-delivery focused operation.

While analysts estimate that more than 20% of user environments are now virtualized, the rapid adoption of virtualization has also seen the emergence of new management challenges as organizations struggle to control increased risk and potential business failures all with a diminished line-of-sight.  Attend this session to join John as he discusses how, by simplifying and automating your IT Service Management function, you can achieve the unparalleled levels of visibility, flexibility, efficiency, you need to manage service delivery in the virtual age.

Track 12 – Kokomo: The Situation Room

The Situation Room: A CMDB – Really?
Rob England, The IT Skeptic  

Code: General

Get ready for some very lively debates! The IT Skeptic – Rob England – has been quite vocal and critical in recent years of the practicality of constructing and maintaining a CMDB. Review his blog at http://www.itskeptic.org/  to see for yourself! He calls the CMDB (as ITIL defines it) a “dead elephant!”  Wow, sounds like this could get quite personal (we’re glad he didn’t call it a dead pink elephant)! Come to this session and you’ll hear a spirited debate between Rob and our panel as they discuss the merits, and otherwise, of a CMDB. And, you’ll also get a chance to throw in your own questions, comments and opinions to the panelists:

• Doug Mueller, BMC
• Bill Iffland, Progress Energy
• Chris Dancy, ServiceSphere
• Randal Locke, CA
• Glenn O'Donnell, Forrester

The Situation Room: The Real Benefits Of Professional Certification
Rob England, The IT Skeptic

Code: General

The ITIL V3 professional certification scheme was launched with the Foundation Certificate in May 2007 and since then the scheme has been deployed right up to the “Expert Level”. Over 200,000 IT professionals around the world have now begun their ITIL V3 certification journeys – a huge achievement, but not without some degree of criticism, cynicism, and skepticism concerning the way the scheme was introduced, structured and administered!  And, what about V2 certification courses; why are they still around muddying the waters? Join the IT Skeptic – Rob England – as he chairs a lively discussion on the ITIL V3 certification scheme including its strengths and benefits as well as its weaknesses and challenges. Come prepared with your own questions and discussion points to present to our panelists:

• Richard Pharro, APM Group
• Aidan Lawes
• Julia Chapelle, Loyalist
• Pierre Bernard, Pink Elephant

Gary Case, ITIL author and one of the world’s foremost ITIL luminaries, will facilitate two sessions that focus on the challenges associated with implementing ITIL in large and small organizations.

Implementing ITIL In Large Organizations
Q&A Panel Discussion
Moderated By: Gary Case, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: General

Large organizations are multi-faceted, complex in structure, and are often multi-nationals with numerous geographical locations. Implementing major change across these types of organizations involves unique challenges. How do you overcome these? During this Q&A Panel Discussion, Gary will be joined by IT managers, from all walks of life, who are successfully engaged in implementing ITIL on a large scale, and industry experts with practical experience helping others through major change. This is a not-to-be missed session if you’re looking for real world answers to your most pressing questions.

Implementing ITIL In Small Organizations
Q&A Panel Discussion
Moderated by: Gary Case, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Code: General

Limited budgets. Limited resources. Challenges trying to define “ITIL light”. Implementing change in small organizations presents its own unique set of challenges. Many small organizations look at ITIL as a “Mack truck” and have difficulty understanding how to turn it into a smaller, more “drivable” vehicle. What have others done to address similar situations? Gary will tell you. During this Q&A Panel Discussion, he’ll be joined by IT practitioners and industry experts with practical guidance to share with you about how to tackle the ins and outs of implementing ITIL in small organizations.

Aidan Lawes, Independent Service Management Evangelist

Aidan has been involved with ITIL since its very early days, and he is one of the world’s most knowledgeable ITIL advocates. His many accomplishments include the role of CEO for itSMF UK, and under his stewardship the itSMF grew considerably both in scope, and in number of members across the globe. Aidan has contributed to numerous publications, chaired the ITIL V3 refresh program board, and participates in many initiatives to raise professional standards in the IT industry. 

Aidan will facilitate three sessions: 

The Situation Room: Clarifying ITIL & ITSM – What They Are, What They Aren’t & The Benefits You Can Expect

Code: General

Over the past two decades since ITIL was first introduced we’ve often seen consultants, training organizations and other “experts” claim that ITIL is something that should be done by everyone – completely. “It’s the de-facto standard” is a common refrain, as well as “Let’s implement ITIL.” Well stop right there! In this session Aidan will explain where the true value lies in ITIL and how you should be using it to improve your IT Service Management (ITSM) operation. Even though Aidan has been working with ITIL virtually since its very beginning, recently when commenting on ITIL and ITSM his views have been described as a “breath of fresh ITIL air”. If you’re fairly new to ITIL and you want to improve your ITSM organization, then come to this session, take Aidan’s advice and you’ll soon be right on track. We’re sure you’ll walk away with a clearer picture of where to start your ITSM improvement efforts and how to set the right expectations for the benefits you’ll derive for your organization. 

The Situation Room: What Do You Think Of The ITIL Certification Scheme? And What, If Anything, Needs Changing?

Code: General

It’s now almost 3 years since the ITIL professional certification scheme was re-developed in alignment with ITIL V3. With the exception of the “Masters Level” all certifications are now in place and many Training Organizations have courses available to prepare you for the examinations. Aidan will review the scheme as it currently exists, give you his opinion and describe some of the buzz he’s heard as he travels around the world. So – what are your impressions of the certification scheme so far? What do you like, and dislike? What would you do differently? Here’s your chance to have your say! Aidan will lead a discussion with all participants and document the group’s thoughts and ideas. We promise to deliver all your feedback to APMG and the other Examination Institutes!

The Situation Room: How To Fail At Service Management (Without Really Trying!)

Code: General

Service Management as a discipline has been around for many years now.  Some organizations get it right; however, many still seem to keep making the same mistakes. Why do so many struggle to achieve lasting change and positive results? In this revealing “tell-all” session, Aidan exposes some of the most common misunderstandings and errors that are encountered. Aidan is a very experienced and seasoned ITSM expert who has seen many organizations and individuals misinterpret what ITSM and ITIL are all about and then go on to make many mistakes. Join him as he goes through his laundry list of the most common errors, but be forewarned – Aidan’s session isn’t for the faint-hearted! You may very well recognize your own failings. Don’t worry though – Aidan will also include guidance about how you can change course to get it right.

Track 13 – I Get Around:  Networking Focus Groups

Track 14 – Be True To Your School: ITSM & ITIL Workshops

Incident Management Workshop
Facilitated By: Matthew Bowles, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Problem Management Workshop
Facilitated By: Jim McKennan, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Change Management Workshop
Facilitated By: Mark Hamilton, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Release Management Workshop
Facilitated By: Zahra Rahemtulla, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

Service Level Management Workshop
Facilitated By: Anil Dissanayake, IT Management Consultant, Pink Elephant

ITSM Strategic Road Map Workshop
Facilitated By: Troy DuMoulin, AVP, Product Strategy, Pink Elephant

Configuration Management Workshop
Facilitated By: Graham Price, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Continuous Improvement Workshop
Facilitated By: Gary Case, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Service Catalog Workshop
Facilitated By: Jack Probst, Principal Consultant, Pink Elephant

Making ITSM Real
Rob England, The IT Skeptic

Code: General

No theories here! You’ll get only real world practicalities and hopefully a few laughs from a seasoned and knowledgeable industry expert. Rob has worn many hats over twenty five years – practitioner, consultant, software vendor, author, industry advocate – and in this workshop he’ll introduce the concept of “Real ITSM” as described in his satirical book Introduction to Real ITSM. Rob will use a variety of techniques including role plays, discussions, readings, case examples and even games, to illustrate the worst and best practices for service management in the real world. You will also be able to compare your own organization’s maturity compared to these real world worst practices through a unique self-assessment that he’ll take you through during the workshop. The workshop will include: understanding the satirical philosophy of Realitsm and what it reveals about real human motivations; examples from the book of all too common Real ITSM worst practices and how they compare to best practices (or “good practices” as embodied in ITIL); an assessment of how your ITSM organization compares to Rob’s findings of industry “real” practices; what is service culture and service orientation and how to successfully apply what we have learned.

Dine-Arounds

#

Subject

Pink Elephant Hosts / Facilitators

1

ITSM Tools: Implementation & Integration

Brenda Iniguez & Laurie Dolan

2

How To Define Services & Develop A Service Catalog

Matthew Bowles & Beverly Parker

3

How To Build & Implement Configuration Management & CMDB

Victor Mack

4

Continual Service Improvement Through Measuring & Reporting

Jennifer Wels & Pierre Bernard

5

Developing & Executing An ITSM Road Map

Zahra Rahemtulla & Kristin Colburn

6

ITSM Governance Structures & Operating Models

Troy DuMoulin

7

Creating & Implementing An ITSM Education & Awareness Strategy & Plan

Gary Case & Mark Hamilton

8

The ITIL Service Desk; Incident & Problem Management

Jim McKennan & Rich Petti

9

Service Portfolio & Service Costing

Jack Probst & Anil Dissanayake

10

ITSM & ITIL Project Management Best Practices

Graham Price & Martin Erb

11

How To Conduct ITSM Process Maturity Assessments

Robin Hysick & Terry Sherman

Kokomo Beach Party