A famous quote from Peter Drucker says "[perfectpullquote align="full" bordertop="false" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all "[/perfectpullquote] Businesses do not always have a clear and uniform apporach for prioritsing features in a product backlog. Business Values Points can help to rationlize… Read More USING BUSINESS VALUE POINTS FOR BACKLOG PRIORITISATION

Is the cloud radically new? No.... it is old wine in new bags with a twist. Already at the turn of the last millennium, I was developing, selling and implementing Cloud services for Multrix, a small Dutch independent Cloud services provider “avant la lettre”. Later on, when I was working for Shell Global Functions as… Read More Cloud services, old wine in new bags?!

Die meisten Investitionsentscheidungen beruhen auf dem Nutzen, den uns die Investierung bringen soll, oder der Rendite die wir von dem Geld erwarten das wir investieren. Es gibt entweder eine unternehmerische Chance, die wir ausschöpfen wollen, oder wir wollen unsere Nettogewinne erhöhen, indem wir die Effizienz und Effektivität unserer Geschäftstätigkeit verbessern. Wenn der Geschäftsbetrieb stärker abhängig… Read More test

The control illusion Do you need to know all the facts and possible outcomes before making a decision? Actually you can't , the dynamics of life are too complex to oversee all possibilities. It is a common misconception that we make decisions mainly on rational grounds [perfectpullquote align="left" bordertop="false" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]It is a common… Read More Make better decisions using awareness techniques

on 30 oct 2017 Bernell Geldenhuys Service Management Process Manager at De Sociale Verzekerings Bank asked: "Hi Dimitri, read the article, very good insights and I can definitely see the benefits of this approach. However, I am curious though. Is this all applicable in a DevOps scenario where dev and ops works in 1 team and are fully… Read More Devops and Agile risks are often misunderstood (opsasto Q&A)

Out of the 100 companies that topped the fortune 500 list at the beginning of the millennium only 41 are still represented today. In fact, only 10% of the original list, made in 1955, are still on it. Great companies come and go. But some seem better equipped to cope with changes than others. They… Read More How to become good at change.

  According to Taiichi Ohno, something is wrong if workers do not look around each day, find things that are tedious or boring, and then rewrite the procedures. Even last month’s manual should be out of date. One of the famous teaching methods by Taiichi Ohno is the chalk circle. The method itself is simple.… Read More Standing in the Circle

The support model describes how support needs are being fulfilled, which functions are available, and who provides the functions. It also facilitates the discovery of stakeholder priorities and alignment of their views. {{ vc_btn: link=url%3Ahttps%253A%252F%252Fopsasto.blog%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2017%252F09%252FAn-Opsasto-Reader-The-Support-Model-Workshop.pdf%7C%7C%7C&title=download+full+article&style=outline&gradient_color_1=turquoise&gradient_color_2=blue&gradient_custom_color_1=%23dd3333&gradient_custom_color_2=%23eeee22&gradient_text_color=%23ffffff&custom_background=%23ededed&custom_text=%23666&outline_custom_color=%23666&outline_custom_hover_background=%23666&outline_custom_hover_text=%23fff&shape=rounded&color=blue&size=md&align=center&i_align=left&i_type=fontawesome&i_icon_fontawesome=fas+fa-adjust&i_icon_openiconic=vc-oi+vc-oi-dial&i_icon_typicons=typcn+typcn-adjust-brightness&i_icon_entypo=entypo-icon+entypo-icon-note&i_icon_linecons=vc_li+vc_li-heart&i_icon_monosocial=vc-mono+vc-mono-fivehundredpx&i_icon_material=vc-material+vc-material-cake&i_icon_pixelicons=vc_pixel_icon+vc_pixel_icon-alert&css_animation=none }} OR READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

How to facilitate the dialogue for business led IT and how this complements the bi-modal IT idea What is happening: Business Led IT is growing, business functions are procuring IT services and building their own facilities to support these services. Not always without risk. <more about business IT> Why is this happening: The cause of… Read More IT Service Operating models in an agile world

The sourcing activities are the first steps on a path of a mostly long term and close relationship with a service provider. It’s often also the first opportunity to exchange expectations, to verify assumptions and the point where you start building a common understanding of the agreement that is being put in place. Including Opsasto… Read More Learn how to source for secure and reliable IT services

In this short movie we share the story of James and how he learned that the separation of powers is a good practice for the Governance, Risk and Control of IT services. This way of working is part of the Opsasto practice. Trias Politica of Information Security

In this article, we will cover the cutover plan, its purpose and provide guidance for the setting up the structure and agreement. The objective of the cutover period is to ensure the service that has gone in production fulfills the expectations of its users and that the organization can deliver the needed operational quality.   Start… Read More The Service Cutover Plan

The support model describes how support needs are being fulfilled, which functions are available, and who provides the functions. A workshop helps discover the support needs and who can fulfill them. Through this process of discovery the stakeholders also align their priorities and views. … Read More The Support Model Workshop

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Most investments decisions are driven by the benefit and return we expect to get from the money we invest. There is either a business opportunity that we want to exploit or we want to increase our net gains by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our operation. As business operations start to become more reliant… Read More The importance of the Business Impact Assessment in the Digital economy.

Our guidance has always been quite simple and effective. Do a risk assessment on the issue and then prioritize. … Read More Stop debating different perspectives of the truth. Effective issue management in projects.

Why operational readiness matters! An organization that doesn't prepare for the operational phase can be found struggling with issues long after the introduction and as a result will have a lower return on their investment. The Benefits of first time right The cost for resolving an issue is generally significantly higher when the service is… Read More Sourcing for operational readiness

A service performance scorecard can be a great tool to help us focus our attention where it matters most.… Read More AGILE PROCESSES: Are you using the Service performance scorecard correctly? (hint: don’t use it as a disciplining tool)

The OPSASTO approach is a write-up of good practices from my seven years at Shell as a Supportability and Transition Management Lead… Read More About Opsasto

INFOGRAPHIC: The eight Opsasto assurances for enabling operational readiness… Read More INFOGRAPHIC: The eight Opsasto assurances for enabling operational readiness

INFOGRAPHIC: Mixing agile and waterfall… Read More INFOGRAPHIC: MIXING AGILE and WATERFALL

A while ago I participated in the drafting of a standard for an enterprise set of non-functional requirements for one of my customers. You might wonder how did I get involved in this endeavor.… Read More The three golden rules for formulating quality requirements

How often did I read or hear this questions and every time I wonder if the person asking it understands the purpose of the ITIL processes… Read More Do ITIL processes still have value in devops? YES!!! (short rant)

Often, I hear people say that agile is the modern way of project delivery. You will hear that agile delivery focusses on value, where waterfall focusses on control and its sequential approach is wasteful by nature. However, is that so?… Read More How to run mixed waterfall and agile projects.

 

The Process Pragmatist infographic… Read More The Process Pragmatist infographic

introducing process pragmatism and touching why this is needed for the governance of cloud services… Read More Introducing the process pragmatist

INFOGRAPHIC: The eight opsasto assurances… Read More The eight opsasto assurances

How we can get more value out of our IT Services through sourcing them with secure and reliable operations in mind. Berlin, June-2016… Read More OPSASTO, An approach to enhance operational readiness