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Suggest You - ITIL and the CMDB: Think Small?
How to Get the Job You Want in Any Economy... Act Like a Headhunter To better facilitate Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA initiatives, IT organizations can tap into the CMDB data model to ensure that asset information is accurate and complete. Additionally, the CMDB coupled with the assignment of accountable CI owners and auditors can better enable IT organizations to demonstrate better internal controls. Tracking CIs, relationships and validating their accuracy through continuous monitoring can provide a higher level of assurance that IT systems and related components are controlled and managed in accordance with legislative requirements.Having spent the last few years of my career in the staffing and recruiting industry, I’m asked all the time by friends and relatives if I can help them find a more desirable job. I’ve helped my fianc? get a job, helped my college buddies get jobs after graduation, and even helped a few high school buddies find jobs having not seen them for years. It’s a real joy in recruiting when you can help someone find a job that positively impacts their life. But the fact of the matter is, not everyone has the opportunity to work with a headhunter. I would say that only a small percentage of career moves are made at the hand of a headhunter. So what do the rest of us do when we find ourselves in a dead end situation and no one to conduct the hunt for you?I’ve heard lots of gimmicks, tricks, and tactics for aiding the process and I’m sure you’ve heard a few yourself. Do any of these ring a bell? Sending out resumes on extra thick paper, memorizing the most dazzling answers to commonly asked interview questions, wearing a brightly colored outfit to your interview to be memorable, and the list goes on and on. I honestly don’t know if any of these things help or hinder the hiring process, but I do know that I’ve Other advantages of deploying and optimizing a standard CM process and supporting CMDB toolset may include: * Centralize storage of physical and logical infrastructure information Formulating Answers To Tough Interview Questions The concept of the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is not exceedingly difficult to comprehend, particularly as it applies to the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). However, the actual implementation of a CMDB and clearly demonstrating value can introduce subtle complexities as a result of competing business objectives and internal IT requirements.For all jobseekers facing an interviewer, the best thing is to prepare properly for the particular interview, based on the company where the interview is taking place. Good preparation includes the ability to anticipate tough interview questions, and then, knowing how to handle them.The interview questions most difficult for the average candidate to handle are those that are intended to probe weaknesses, or areas requiring the individual's improvement and/or development. The following are some examples of questions, which fall into this category:* What are your major weaknesses?* During a reference check, what would your boss likely cite as key areas for your development and performance improvement?* Over time, what have historically been described as the areas in which you could most improve your overall job performance and effectiveness?* In your last performance evaluation, what specific areas were cited in which you could improve your overall performance?* If we were to talk with some of your co-workers during a reference check, what areas of your performance are they likely to cite as needing improvement?* If asked to be somewhat critical, wha But as a standard and trusted data source, even the simplest of CMDB’s can provide a means for improving internal communications and dialogue with IT customers. Even small-scale CMDB deployments could potentially help IT yield measurable benefits in operational effectiveness, cost efficiencies and improve the overall quality of service. But perhaps most importantly, the CMDB provides an early foundation for changing a reactive IT culture into a proactive service provider. Establishing an initial IT framework and baseline of data through the deployment of a simple, tactical CMDB tool can help promote a more cohesive IT Service Management culture. CMDB: Simply Defined In the real world, a banking customer would not write a check without first ensuring there is enough money in their account. Additionally, these same customers need to rely on their banks to accurately record their deposits and withdrawals. Each time money is withdrawn or deposited, the customer assumes the transaction was successful and any changes to the account balance were precisely updated. This level of accuracy is required to determine how much money needs to reside in the account at any given time to cover the customer’s daily expenses. Unfortunately, IT decisions are not always based on a similar level of data integrity, and its common place to see one IT group interfere with another internal group, redundantly performing operational tasks or even making assumptions about who is handling a specific IT support activity. The IT Security Team, for example, may pick a specific time to apply patches to a cluster of servers, inadvertently disrupting automated database backups taking place on those same servers at the same time. From a proactive standpoint, the same IT Security Team can establish an improved process for internal communications, identify the owners of the target server group and notify them prior to deployment-- alleviating issues with subsequent service support and delivery activities. A CMDB provides a common repository for IT configuration items (CI), their attributes and relationships, offering a single source of record and a logical model of the IT infrastructure as it related to IT services. As a proactive management tool, the CMDB can provide accountability and ownership of CIs, improving the identification, verification and management of the IT infrastructure. Why Use a CMDB? This concept of a CMDB serving as single source of data is one of its greatest strengths-- without a central repository for configuration information, IT organizations continue to work in silos, and fail to align activities with business objectives. A basic Configuration Management (CM) process and toolset (i.e. CMDB) can enable teams to better communicate and coordinate processes by establishing a common data repository. The CMDB breaks down barriers between IT and the business, removing IT silos and creating a higher level of synergy between people, processes and supporting technologies. Put another way, how can you manage and improve IT services if you don't know what equipment you have, where it is, how it’s connected and the impact of changing it? It is suggested that 80% of critical system outages are the result of people or process failure, with the main proponent being that of changes to the IT environment. This is exacerbated by the fact that planning activities derived from inadequate sources of information drive a path to failure. Additionally, subsequent recovery processes are further hampered by those same inadequate data stores. Since the CMDB provides the logical model for the IT infrastructure and related services, organizations can more easily manage configuration items and their relationships with other entities and services. Some of the primary benefits a CMDB can provide from the start are related to the areas of proactive change management, security and IT compliance. Less Reactive, More Proactive Management. A CMDB, coupled with an effective Change Management process, can provide the ability to more effectively manage changes within the IT environment. Since the number of IT changes in an environment will increase as the infrastructure becomes more complex, having a central repository of all configuration information and relationships can help avoid downtime through better planning and understanding of the impact of those changes on the rest of the computing environment. Improved Security Deployment and Assessment of Risk. When assessing a known vulnerability on a server, CMDB information can be used to assess risk based on both the severity of a patch, as well as the business context of the vulnerability. This capability allows IT organizations to prioritize patches that support the business and ensure that critical systems are secured first. More Accurate and Streamlined Compliance. To better facilitate Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA initiatives, IT organizations can tap into the CMDB data model to ensure that asset information is accurate and complete. Additionally, the CMDB coupled with the assignment of accountable CI owners and auditors can better enable IT organizations to demonstrate better internal controls. Tracking CIs, relationships and validating their accuracy through continuous monitoring can provide a higher level of assurance that IT systems and related components are controlled and managed in accordance with legislative requirements. Other advantages of deploying and optimizing a standard CM process and supporting CMDB toolset may include: * Centralize storage of physical and logical infrastructure information Looking for a Job Washing Cars; Mobile Car Washes Pay More Per Hour ey is withdrawn or deposited, the customer assumes the transaction was successful and any changes to the account balance were precisely updated. This level of accuracy is required to determine how much money needs to reside in the account at any given time to cover the customer’s daily expenses.Each year the car wash industry does many surveys and one of the most interesting surveys is the amount of money that they pay per hour to their regular employees. It is just over minimum wage.It turns out that most mobile car washes pay more per hour than fixed site car washes and if you are looking for a job in a car wash you might want to get a job with a mobile carwash and get to work in parking lots all day and not in a smelly carwash.If you are the manager of a carwash you will most likely make over $40,000 per year plus benefits, but remember there is usually only one manager of a carwash and all the rest of the employees are not paid very well at all. Why do the car washes pay such little money per hour for their employees?My guess is that they are use to paying illegal aliens to wash cars and they would normally pay them under the table. And they were exploiting these illegal aliens in my opinion and they are use to paying very very little money to their carwash workers.Most of the surveys in the industry show that the average dollar amount that they are paying per hour has slightly increased at fixed site car washes, but it still does not equal the amount that the Unfortunately, IT decisions are not always based on a similar level of data integrity, and its common place to see one IT group interfere with another internal group, redundantly performing operational tasks or even making assumptions about who is handling a specific IT support activity. The IT Security Team, for example, may pick a specific time to apply patches to a cluster of servers, inadvertently disrupting automated database backups taking place on those same servers at the same time. From a proactive standpoint, the same IT Security Team can establish an improved process for internal communications, identify the owners of the target server group and notify them prior to deployment-- alleviating issues with subsequent service support and delivery activities. A CMDB provides a common repository for IT configuration items (CI), their attributes and relationships, offering a single source of record and a logical model of the IT infrastructure as it related to IT services. As a proactive management tool, the CMDB can provide accountability and ownership of CIs, improving the identification, verification and management of the IT infrastructure. Why Use a CMDB? This concept of a CMDB serving as single source of data is one of its greatest strengths-- without a central repository for configuration information, IT organizations continue to work in silos, and fail to align activities with business objectives. A basic Configuration Management (CM) process and toolset (i.e. CMDB) can enable teams to better communicate and coordinate processes by establishing a common data repository. The CMDB breaks down barriers between IT and the business, removing IT silos and creating a higher level of synergy between people, processes and supporting technologies. Put another way, how can you manage and improve IT services if you don't know what equipment you have, where it is, how it’s connected and the impact of changing it? It is suggested that 80% of critical system outages are the result of people or process failure, with the main proponent being that of changes to the IT environment. This is exacerbated by the fact that planning activities derived from inadequate sources of information drive a path to failure. Additionally, subsequent recovery processes are further hampered by those same inadequate data stores. Since the CMDB provides the logical model for the IT infrastructure and related services, organizations can more easily manage configuration items and their relationships with other entities and services. Some of the primary benefits a CMDB can provide from the start are related to the areas of proactive change management, security and IT compliance. Less Reactive, More Proactive Management. A CMDB, coupled with an effective Change Management process, can provide the ability to more effectively manage changes within the IT environment. Since the number of IT changes in an environment will increase as the infrastructure becomes more complex, having a central repository of all configuration information and relationships can help avoid downtime through better planning and understanding of the impact of those changes on the rest of the computing environment. Improved Security Deployment and Assessment of Risk. When assessing a known vulnerability on a server, CMDB information can be used to assess risk based on both the severity of a patch, as well as the business context of the vulnerability. This capability allows IT organizations to prioritize patches that support the business and ensure that critical systems are secured first. More Accurate and Streamlined Compliance. To better facilitate Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA initiatives, IT organizations can tap into the CMDB data model to ensure that asset information is accurate and complete. Additionally, the CMDB coupled with the assignment of accountable CI owners and auditors can better enable IT organizations to demonstrate better internal controls. Tracking CIs, relationships and validating their accuracy through continuous monitoring can provide a higher level of assurance that IT systems and related components are controlled and managed in accordance with legislative requirements. Other advantages of deploying and optimizing a standard CM process and supporting CMDB toolset may include: * Centralize storage of physical and logical infrastructure information Career Reality Check - The Four Types of Jobs MDB can provide accountability and ownership of CIs, improving the identification, verification and management of the IT infrastructure.In reality, no job is ever perfect, but there is nothing wrong with fantasizing about your ideal job. In fact, it may help you set goals for current employment and your future career. Your fantasy job can help you evaluate real jobs. Real jobs come in three forms: Survival Jobs, Bridge Jobs, and Career Jobs. All three require skills and the ability to describe your skills.Fantasy Job Have some fun and think about your dream job. If you could create your perfect job, what would it be? What would you be doing? Think about your skills, interests and values. Think about the location, work schedule, wages, benefits and level of responsibility you desire. What types of people do you want to associate with, and how? Consider your interests and values. Think about the physical surroundings, size of the business, management style, social atmosphere and whether it's for-profit or non-profit. To help you out, think about the questions below.What would you be doing on your ideal job?What skills are you using in your ideal job?For what activities and tasks are you responsible? What is your work role?What are your co-workers like? Why Use a CMDB? This concept of a CMDB serving as single source of data is one of its greatest strengths-- without a central repository for configuration information, IT organizations continue to work in silos, and fail to align activities with business objectives. A basic Configuration Management (CM) process and toolset (i.e. CMDB) can enable teams to better communicate and coordinate processes by establishing a common data repository. The CMDB breaks down barriers between IT and the business, removing IT silos and creating a higher level of synergy between people, processes and supporting technologies. Put another way, how can you manage and improve IT services if you don't know what equipment you have, where it is, how it’s connected and the impact of changing it? It is suggested that 80% of critical system outages are the result of people or process failure, with the main proponent being that of changes to the IT environment. This is exacerbated by the fact that planning activities derived from inadequate sources of information drive a path to failure. Additionally, subsequent recovery processes are further hampered by those same inadequate data stores. Since the CMDB provides the logical model for the IT infrastructure and related services, organizations can more easily manage configuration items and their relationships with other entities and services. Some of the primary benefits a CMDB can provide from the start are related to the areas of proactive change management, security and IT compliance. Less Reactive, More Proactive Management. A CMDB, coupled with an effective Change Management process, can provide the ability to more effectively manage changes within the IT environment. Since the number of IT changes in an environment will increase as the infrastructure becomes more complex, having a central repository of all configuration information and relationships can help avoid downtime through better planning and understanding of the impact of those changes on the rest of the computing environment. Improved Security Deployment and Assessment of Risk. When assessing a known vulnerability on a server, CMDB information can be used to assess risk based on both the severity of a patch, as well as the business context of the vulnerability. This capability allows IT organizations to prioritize patches that support the business and ensure that critical systems are secured first. More Accurate and Streamlined Compliance. To better facilitate Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA initiatives, IT organizations can tap into the CMDB data model to ensure that asset information is accurate and complete. Additionally, the CMDB coupled with the assignment of accountable CI owners and auditors can better enable IT organizations to demonstrate better internal controls. Tracking CIs, relationships and validating their accuracy through continuous monitoring can provide a higher level of assurance that IT systems and related components are controlled and managed in accordance with legislative requirements. Other advantages of deploying and optimizing a standard CM process and supporting CMDB toolset may include: * Centralize storage of physical and logical infrastructure information Leveraging The Enterprise-Wide Knowledge Base ta stores.The surety and effectiveness of a Six Sigma project relies heavily on leveraging the enterprise-wide knowledge of the project implementation team. Hoping for the best could hardly have any meaning, provided the team lacks overall knowledge of the goals, customs, and the treasury of knowledge and practices of the overall organization in specific and cross-sector knowledge in general. It is crucial for the project implementation team to know alternative practices and strategies available within the organization, and current status of the project.Leveraging the Existing Knowledge Base In Six SigmaThe knowledge levels expand as per the following in an enterprise:1. The HOW and WHY of process flow, the implementation goals and the change management strategies2. Knowledge about the enterprise including the goals and the current juxtaposition, alternatives, etc.But it is easily noticeable that the availability of ready information on both is chronically lacking. The way to move ahead in situations such as this can be with the trusted tools of knowledge sharing such as brainstorming, innovation and organizing ideas which help get ideas out of the box.At the core, Six Sigm Since the CMDB provides the logical model for the IT infrastructure and related services, organizations can more easily manage configuration items and their relationships with other entities and services. Some of the primary benefits a CMDB can provide from the start are related to the areas of proactive change management, security and IT compliance. Less Reactive, More Proactive Management. A CMDB, coupled with an effective Change Management process, can provide the ability to more effectively manage changes within the IT environment. Since the number of IT changes in an environment will increase as the infrastructure becomes more complex, having a central repository of all configuration information and relationships can help avoid downtime through better planning and understanding of the impact of those changes on the rest of the computing environment. Improved Security Deployment and Assessment of Risk. When assessing a known vulnerability on a server, CMDB information can be used to assess risk based on both the severity of a patch, as well as the business context of the vulnerability. This capability allows IT organizations to prioritize patches that support the business and ensure that critical systems are secured first. More Accurate and Streamlined Compliance. To better facilitate Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA initiatives, IT organizations can tap into the CMDB data model to ensure that asset information is accurate and complete. Additionally, the CMDB coupled with the assignment of accountable CI owners and auditors can better enable IT organizations to demonstrate better internal controls. Tracking CIs, relationships and validating their accuracy through continuous monitoring can provide a higher level of assurance that IT systems and related components are controlled and managed in accordance with legislative requirements. Other advantages of deploying and optimizing a standard CM process and supporting CMDB toolset may include: * Centralize storage of physical and logical infrastructure information Brandbuilding with Taglines To better facilitate Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA initiatives, IT organizations can tap into the CMDB data model to ensure that asset information is accurate and complete. Additionally, the CMDB coupled with the assignment of accountable CI owners and auditors can better enable IT organizations to demonstrate better internal controls. Tracking CIs, relationships and validating their accuracy through continuous monitoring can provide a higher level of assurance that IT systems and related components are controlled and managed in accordance with legislative requirements.When it comes to building your brand, you want to take advantage of every possible shortcut to help your target market know you…and remember you. Taglines provide that path through the woods. A tagline consists of a few short words that communicate to your target market what your company does and how you're different from competitors. A good tagline should position your brand in your audience's mind and sum up its essence or benefit in a way that your audience can relate to. A great tagline uses memorable phrasing and creates a personality. Taglines are typically simple phrases that telegraph a message. They normally accompany company logos and are written to stand the test of time. Most taglines have a fairly long shelf life. Taglines can also help change the perception of a company.Should you develop a tagline?The simple answer is yes. All companies should consider using a tagline in their marketing materials and company advertising because taglines deliver the following benefits:1. Clearly states what your company stands for.2. Simplifies buying decisions because customers know who you are and what you offer.3. Differentiates you from competition.4. Raises Other advantages of deploying and optimizing a standard CM process and supporting CMDB toolset may include: * Centralize storage of physical and logical infrastructure information Implementing a CMDB Deployment of a CMDB can only be accomplished in parallel with a Configuration Management process. Therefore, IT organizations need to establish goals, create a baseline and foster an environment of continuous improvement. In turn, related activities will help IT management and supporting personnel to gain momentum and demonstrate the value of standard policies, processes and supporting procedures. In order to establish an effective Configuration Management process, process stakeholders need to ensure that any data associated with core IT operational processes is appropriately stored and managed. Guaranteeing the integrity, validity, accuracy and completeness of CM data is no small task, and requires certain levels of accountability and ownership in order to properly manage the data. Therefore, deployment of a CMDB requires careful consideration of who owns and is accountable for the operational components of the repository itself. At a minimum, the following Key Goal Indicators (KGI) should be reviewed, established and/or communicated to all stakeholders prior to commencing any CM strategy or CMDB implementation: - Establish process ownership and executive sponsorship for the Configuration Management process - Ensure accountability for the setup, ongoing maintenance and support of CMDB related hardware and components - Ensure network availability, throughput, capacity and access to CMDB related resources is provided - Implement regular, scheduled backup of data and related files required for continuous, reliable CMDB operation - Plan for timely audit and validation of CMDB data to ensure ongoing accuracy of IT environment - Establish a continuous improvement program specific to CM that focuses on the people driving the process Bottom Line: For many organizations, simply establishing a starting point for a CMDB can greatly help facilitate effective awareness and maturity of the Configuration Management process. However, incorporating too much detail during an initial CMDB deployment can add significant cost to the process and exceed the actual (or perceived) value it provides. In the end, early adopters of CMDB tools that take a tactical, realistic approach to deployment will be rewarded with more rapid realization of IT service support and delivery efficiencies.
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