The VitAL Focus Groups is a not to be missed event for anyone with an interest in IT service management. Taking place at the Park Inn Hotel, Heathrow on Tuesday 21st June 2011, the event is specially designed and targeted at senior IT managers as a forum for them to discuss and debate some of the industry’s current hot topics in an informal setting where they can be sure to pick up specific information to help them at a time when IT has never been more crucial to the business.

Key expert industry suppliers are supporting the event including Pink Elephant, Infravision, Kepner Tragoe, Cherwell Software and Wardown Consulting.

“It is clear that as the role of IT expands in business, senior decision makers need a forum to discuss their challenges in a structured manner with a view to finding solutions to what are often complex issues,” comments Matt Bailey, editor of VitAL magazine. “And suppliers to the industry, who are naturally keen to meet these professionals, need to identify how they can help them to focus on the business benefits of IT. This logic coupled with VitAL Magazine’s consistent desire to drive the market forward lead us to launch the VitAL Focus Groups for 2011.”

The VitAL Focus Groups will consist of fifteen syndicate rooms, each a forum to discuss a specialist subject for IT managers. With some of the industry’s leading minds on hand to help facilitate and steer each session, we predict that they will quickly become a ‘must-attend’ event for anyone serious about IT in the modern environment.

In addition there will be plenty of networking opportunities available at break and lunch time as well as a small exhibition area, offering a fabulous chance for delegates to interact with their peers, source the latest products and services, developing meaningful relationships in an informal yet professional setting.

The VitAL Focus Groups are open to all professionals within the IT industry although complimentary places are limited to 120 and are offered to managers, directors, and board executives on a first come first served basis.

www.vitalfocusgroups.com

VitAL Focus Groups

Tuesday 21st June 2011, Park Inn Hotel, Heathrow

The VitAL Focus Groups is a not to be missed event for anyone with an interest in IT management & service delivery. Taking place at the Park Inn Hotel, Heathrow on Tuesday 21^st June 2011, the event is specially designed and targeted at IT managers as a forum for them to discuss and debate some of the industry’s current hot topics in an informal setting where they can be sure to pick up specific information to help them at a time when IT has never been more crucial to the business.

It is clear that as the role of IT expands in business, senior decision makers need a forum to discuss their challenges in a structured manner with a view to finding solutions to what are often complex issues. And suppliers to the industry, who are naturally keen to meet these professionals, need to identify how they can help them to focus on the business benefits of IT.

The VitAL Focus Groups will consist of fifteen syndicate rooms, each a forum to discuss a specialist subject and with some of the industry’s leading minds on hand to help facilitate and steer each session, we predict that the VitAL Focus Groups will quickly become a ‘must-attend’ event for anyone serious about IT in the modern environment.

In addition there will be plenty of networking opportunities available at break and lunch time as well as a small exhibition area, offering a fabulous chance for delegates to interact with their peers, source the latest products and services, developing meaningful relationships in an informal yet professional setting.

The VitAL Focus Groups are open to all professionals within the IT industry although complimentary places are limited to 120 and are offered to managers, directors, and board executives on a first come first served basis.

To register for the event please visit: www.vitalfocusgroups.com/register.html

Or for information about sponsoring or exhibiting please visit: www.vitalfocusgroups.com/sponsors.html

Or contact Grant Farrell on +44 (0) 203 056 4598 or email grant.farrell@31media.co.uk

Now in its 17th year, the Service Desk and IT Support (SDITS) Show is where the IT Service Management industry converges to see the latest technology and business services. This year’s event will focus on key industry themes including improving business efficiency, reducing operational costs and the future of ITIL.

Over 100 educational seminars, workshops, panel discussions, keynotes and hot topic round-tables will examine these themes and more, while visitors can also experience hands-on demonstrations of over 250 products and services from the most innovative and trusted suppliers to the sector on the exhibition floor.

Breakfast Briefings start each day with Hornbill and SDI launching a new white paper on Tuesday. ‘Mind the Gap’ will uncover the scale of the gap between the services delivered by the Service Desk and those the business really needs. Wednesday’s briefing will debate the findings of the latest service-provider and end-user research on making the RITE decisions, with an expert panel chaired by Vance Brown, president and CEO of Cherwell Software. Keynotes and panel discussions follow throughout the day with seminar streams focusing on ITIL, service management processes, technology and people running alongside.

On the exhibition floor, leading companies in the sector including Citrix Online, EMC, Hornbill Systems, Pink Elephant, Sunrise Software, Axios and Avocent, to name a few, are on hand to demonstrate and discuss the latest thinking and technologies on a one-to-one basis.

Corporate demand for increased agility, lower operating costs and competitive advantage is greater than ever. Hear OVUM’s Stephen Mann discuss the opportunities available today to help you work smarter, not harder. Ken Goff explores the dynamics of Problem Management and discusses its power as an essential component of corporate culture.

Technology; Process; Solutions; People; Performance – now in three dedicated theatres, indispensable education from the specialists to inform and motivate. Sessions include real-life case studies from industry pioneers.

Dennis Adams Associates will be presenting a seminar at the show: “Managing the Key IT Production Resource – People” which brings a remarkable insight into motivating the Individual and the team. “The effectiveness of IT is not in technology alone, but technology applied effectively by people,” for an exclusive preview see p60 in this issue.

Participate and interact. From expert-led workshops on the Service Catalogue to panel debates on essential metrics and their applications, these must-attend sessions are great opportunities for personal education and in-depth team learning.

Lift-off to the moon, manage a check-in glitch at a busy airport, save the day in a dramatic health scare – collaborate and build your knowledge of ITIL and service management in a series of simulations that translate the urgency, fast pace, and impact of IT decisions – with a sense of fun and without the stress!

Join one of many roundtable workshops to share and discuss experiences on a host of topical issues.  With expert facilitators, subjects include creating CMDBs, the service catalogue, effective self-service, customer satisfaction metrics, and planning your Windows 7 rollout.

Improve how your team communicates and interacts. Motivate and develop the leaders of tomorrow. Discuss your own management strategies. Sponsored by SDI, have an informal chat and a coffee with some of ITSM’s leading independent specialists.

www.servicedeskshow.com  

Keynote highlights

The keynote programme includes presentations from leading figures in the industry and panel debates. Highlights of this and the seminar programme are as follows:

•             The Power of Problem Management, Tuesday 27th , 10.45am – 11.45am featuring Ken Goff, principal lecturer at KGM who will explore the why this should be an essential component of the corporate culture.

•             10 Killer Metrics – What are they and why? Tuesday 27th, 12.15pm – 1.30pm. A panel discussion where experienced practitioners will bring their own take on the most important topics facing service desk directors and managers chaired by Howard Kendall.

•             Work Smarter Not Harder! Practical solutions for the IT Service Desk, Wednesday 28th April, 10.45am – 11.45am. Corporate demand for increased agility, lower operating costs and competitive advantage is greater than ever. Ovum’s Stephen Mann will discuss the improvement opportunities available.

Seminar highlights

•             A new era in IT service delivery, Tuesday 27th, 10.30am – 11.15am. Virgin Atlantic discuss their service improvement programme (SIP) with Fusion – Lara Osgood, SIP programme manager and Carl Chambers, IT service design and development manager, Virgin Atlantic.

•             Adding value with ISO 2000, Tuesday 27th, 1.30pm – 2.15pm. Tamworth Borough Council illustrate how their implementation of ISO 15000 and ISO 20000 has set the pace for local government service management – Nicki Burton, assistant director of ICT, Tamworth Borough Council.

•             Power to the people, Tuesday 27th, 10.15am – 11.00am. BBC Monitoring discuss their ITIL implementation – Paul Gibbons, technology support manager, BBC Monitoring.

•             Don’t call it ITIL! Comet shines with ‘Common Sense’, Wednesday 28th, 12.30 – 1.15pm. Comet explains how best to introduce ITIL to the general business and improve IT’s reputation within the organisation – Rob Gwatkins, IS Service Desk manager, Comet plc (see p30 in this issue for Comet case study).

•             Staleness in Service Desk staff – How to spot it and avoid it, Wednesday 28th, 1.15pm – 2.00pm. John Fahey, training consultant from STI explains how to assess staleness levels within the service desk and offer strategies to prevent this.

•             Implementing ITIL for SMEs, Wednesday 28th, 11.30am – 12.15pm. Girish Mathrubootham from Zoho Corporation considers the essential ITIL processes and what’s critical for SMEs to give practical guidance on how to get started with ‘just enough’ ITIL.

According to the organiser, UC Expo offers visitors an exciting look into the business potential and changing delivery models within the voice, visual, mobile, and collaboration workspaces to ensure your organisation has substantial business benefit and competitive advantage.

This year’s show will see announcements from leading companies as well as the first public viewing, outside of the US, of the latest Microsoft Office Communications Server part of the refresh of Information Worker products (code name ‘Wave 14) which is currently in private beta-testing. Outsourcery will be announcing and demonstrating two new unified communications products: Hosted iPBX and Hosted iPBX Overlay.

Eurodata systems have teamed up with StartReady and Interoute and will be launching the first ever Microsoft OCS appliance in the UK, taking only days to deploy (not weeks) at fraction of the cost. End users will also be present including Severn Trent Water who can speak about how ClickSoftware’s mobile field service application is transforming service delivery.

This year, UC Expo and Mobile 10 offers four exhibition areas with over 100 exhibitors including O₂, Vodafone, Mitel, Brocade, Symbian, Microsoft, ShoreTel, Digium|Asterisk, Gigaset and SMART. The show also offers unrivalled breadth of knowledge through its eight seminar theatres delivering strategic keynotes, Insights into future development, practical ‘How to’ sessions, analysis and opinion, roadmaps to implementation, infrastructure planning services and technology overviews.

Key speakers to look out for include:

• Nic Newman, head of strategy and European GM, Tigerspike – Mobile Applications now and the future – the application of technology. Wednesday 10 March 11:50 am – 12:20 pm

• Brett Johnson, UC technical specialist, Microsoft – Microsoft Office Communicator 14 early preview. Wednesday 10 March 11:50pm – 12:20pm.

• Andy Powell, solutions evangelist EMEA, ShoreTel – Building a business case for new technology: the challenges and opportunities. Wednesday 10 March 11:50am – 12:20pm.

• Geoff Paulsen, global security operations director, Microsoft – Using Microsoft Unified Communication & Collaboration to run your business. Thursday 11 March 12:30pm – 13:00pm.

• Alison Brewer, solutions marketing manager, Mitel Networks – ‘Sorry I can’t make it to work today’…..how flexible working can keep your business moving, whatever the disruption. Thursday 11 March 12:30pm – 13:00pm.

• Jon S von Tetzchner, founder and former CEO, Opera – The future of mobile applications. The browser vs the OS. Thursday 11 March 13:10pm – 13:40pm.

• Lester Hewett, solution architect, Dell – Dell’s approach to building available unified communications solutions. Thursday 11 March 13:50pm – 14:20pm.

Attendance to the event is free, and visitors to UC Expo will have access to all four parts of the exhibition Voice, Visual, Mobile, and Collaboration.

For further information on the event, to register for a press pass or to set up interviews with speakers, please contact Niamh O’Grady or Natalie Domanski on 020 7401 8001.

www.ucexpo.co.uk

 
In just one or two days at this user-friendly educational event, you can find out about all the key technology trends for 2010, including:

• Unified Communications & VOIP
• Virtualisation, Storage & Datacentre Optimisation
• Cloud Computing & Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
• Collaboration, Messaging & Telepresence
• Secure Systems Development
• Green IT & Corporate Compliance

Entry is free-of-charge for senior IT decision-makers, including access to independent advice clinics, keynotes from industry experts, innovation briefings from leading vendors and real-life case studies from your peers, plus a preview of the most significant emerging technologies – all under one roof.

To gather all the knowledge and intelligence you can gain in just one day at IT Decisions, you would need to visit a myriad of small niche events, costing your organisation time and money which are rarely available in the current economic climate.

Date                 22nd – 23rd September 2010

When                1^st Annual

Venue               Earls Court

Website            www.360itevent.com

360°IT- The IT Infrastructure Event – is the UK’s ultimate event that addresses the needs of IT Professionals responsible for the management and development of flexible, secure and dynamic IT infrastructures that deliver competitive advantage and enhance business value. The event takes place on 22nd–23rd September at Earls Court, London. The show reflects the changes that have occurred in the IT sector and will provide an essential road map of current and emerging technologies, including Storage, Security, Network & Communications, Virtualization, Data Centres, Applications, Enterprise 2.0, Information Management, Cloud Computing & SaaS, Business Continuity, and Risk & Compliance.

”360°IT will facilitate vendor and end user collaboration to help them create the IT infrastructure necessary to achieve key business objectives – improving service, reducing cost and managing risk whilst gaining competitive advantage and growth”, said Natalie Booth, Event Director of 360°IT.  “The event will offer the entire IT department, from the Network Manager to the CIO, the opportunity to gain crucial knowledge and advice on the latest products, solutions and trends to drive a business forward.”

The education programme will feature high level strategic content, product demonstrations and technical workshops that will facilitate vendor and end user collaboration to create IT infrastructure that will help an organisation improve service, reduce cost, manage risk and gain competitive advantage. 

“There is definitely a need for something that encompasses the whole of IT infrastructure management and not just storage. I think IT management are faced with increasing demands on them and the pain doesn’t reside in any particular area”, Rene Millman, Senior Research Analyst at Gartner Research

 “360°IT is a great idea. It reflects the convergence in the market place and will help everyone see the bigger picture; it also reflects the cycles and fashions in the industry”, said Nigel Stanley, Practice Leader, Bloor Research

“Today’s IT infrastructures can no longer be considered in terms of technology silos, for two reasons: first, that a number of innovations like virtualisation and cloud run across infrastructure layers such as storage, server infrastructure and so on, and second that the dependencies between the layers themselves make it impossible to consider any one technology area by itself. For this reason, I welcome and strongly support Reed Exhibitions efforts to define an event which meets the real needs of IT decision makers today”, said Jon Collins, CEO and Managing Director of Freeform Dynamics.

For further information on 360°IT, please visit www.360itevent.com

Limited places are still available at the both the Awards Dinner and the conference itself – book online here or call 0118 918 6500 and ask for our events team.

This year’s finalists, who have fought off intense competition, are -

Student of the Year: itSMF ISO/IEC 20000

• Diane Stow, Changing Tudor Ltd
• Malcolm Ashton, Execit Management Ltd
• Frances Murray, Frances Murray Consultancy Ltd

Student of the Year: ITIL

• Anthony Williams
• Ken Day, Defence Support Group
• Donovan Pearce, Roche Products Ltd

Trainer of the Year

• Michelle Major-Goldsmith, Sysop
• Andy Wright, Sysop
• Mike O’Brien, Remarc Group

Submission of the Year

• David Greenway & Chris Cherrington, Capgemini; Governing success: an integrated approach to IT Governance and Service Management in an outsourced environment
• Ian MacDonald, The Co-operative Financial Services; End-to-end service reporting
• Rodrigo Fernando Flores, NewScale; Ten best practices for self-service request management

Service Innovation

• Service-now.com Winter 2009 release
• Systems thinking, Stockport Council
• Customer 1^st Aid, Shop Direct

Service Management Champion

• Michael Sheaves, Vertex
• Sue Dyson, NHS Connecting for Health
• Terry Hodge, Logica

IT Service Management Project

• BT Major UK Network programme
• Service Management transformation at RSA
• TSYS Project Lion

Our last award – the highly acclaimed Paul Rappaport Lifetime achievement award does not carry a shortlist – nor are the nominations made public. This award is perhaps the ultimate recognition for an IT Service Management professional and will be announced on the night of the Awards dinner.

A hearty congratulations to all our finalists – this year has been especially tough on all our judges who have had to make some very difficult and tight decisions.

We look forward to welcoming our finalists and our delegates to the 2009 IT Service Management Awards dinner which promises to be the best yet.

If you have any queries please contact Ben Clacy or Kelly Caulfield at the itSMF UK by e-mail – ben.clacy@itsmf.co.uk & Kelly.caulfield@itsmf.co.uk or by phone at +44(0)118 918 6500.

Last year’s itSMF Conference was rated ‘the best yet’ by its members, with approximately 1,200 attendees from over 45 nations. This year’s event, at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on 9th-10th November, promises to be even better. We take a closer look.

As every organisation in the UK and in most countries worldwide faces economic downturn, IT service management (ITSM) and the tangible benefits it can bring move into focus. At the heart of ITSM are the principles and expertise needed to provide cost-effective services that deliver recession-beating business benefits.

That is the background for ‘Optimising IT Services for Business Success’, itSMF UK’s 18th conference in Birmingham in November. Fifty seven seminar sessions presented over two intensive days cover all aspects of service management, arranged into five specially focused streams:

-              Lessons learned;

-              Tips and techniques;

-              Working together;

-              The human factor;

-              Facing the future;

Plus two further streams devoted to interactive presentations and experimental learning (simulation) sessions.

Conference highlights

Highlights of this year’s Conference include:

Service catalogue: The undoubted ‘hot topic’ of 2009, there are no fewer than seven sessions on the service catalogue from speakers such as industry thought-leader Rob Stroud from CA and ITIL v3 author Colin Rudd; Karen Brusch and Dave White, members of our Service Level Management Special Interest Group and co-authors of the SLM Practitioner’s Guide; and Keith Spiers, who offers a practical case study from Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC).

Working with the business and reducing cost: Cost reduction is on every agenda at the moment. We offer some excellent ways to manage down your costs, including ‘CCRM during a credit crunch’ from CCRM SIG chair Vawns Guest; ‘Delivering business-driven demand planning’ by Danny Quilton from Capacitas; ‘A simple, low-cost but innovative approach to end-to-end service reporting’ from Ian McDonald from Cooperative Financial Services; and ‘Benchmarking IT’ from Gartner Group analyst Ian Reeves.

The human factor: Focusing on personal development, this stream offers such thought-provoking presentations as ‘How to identify and retain talent’ (Luciana Abreu, BCS) and ‘Winning hearts and minds’ (Jane Suter, Hampshire County Council).

Real-life experience: A host of practical case-studies and ‘war stories’ from speakers such as Connor O’Brien from Eversheds, Adam Poppleton from Hants County Council and Rachel Dunscombe from NHS North West.

Outside of the main programme

Outside the main educational sessions there are numerous other activities and events to participate in, including:

-              Simulation (experiential learning) sessions – a memorable and stimulating ‘game environment’ for learning about the practical side of IT service management;

-              Our highly renowned ITSM exhibition – offering around 80 stands with exhibitors from the worlds of service management training, software and consultancy;

-              The prestigious awards dinner – a showcase of talent from our industry, attended by around 700 people;

-              Keynote speakers such as popular futurologist Ian Pearson, legendary England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward and veteran commentator John Inverdale.

The IT Service Management Industry Awards

The IT Service Management Awards are recognised as the premier industry awards for outstanding achievement in our field. The awards give individuals and organisations the opportunity to showcase their IT service management achievements. The awards dinner during which the finalist and winner for each category will be announced takes place on Monday 9th November. The Categories are:

The Paul Rappaport Award for Outstanding Contribution to Service Management;

The Service Innovation Award (sponsored by Marvel);

The IT Service Management Champion Award (sponsored by EXIN International);

The IT Service Management Project Award (sponsored by Marvel);

The Submission of the Year Award (sponsored by EXIN International);

The Student of the Year: itSMF ISO/IEC 20000 Award (sponsored by Marvel);

The Student of the Year Award: ITIL (sponsored by Best Management Practice);

The Trainer of the Year Award.

www.itsmf.co.uk/conference09