Costs

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In almost everything, there is a cost of doing something that must be balanced against the cost of doing nothing.

Everything we do in Service Management and Asset Management must be weighed on this scale.

The scale helps determine the “why” we are doing it.

For example, we do Change because the cost of outages and risk of disruption is greater than the cost. The same goes for Incident, etc.

So, since you are doing something (like Change) because it’s a worthwhile endeavor, we need to do it well. Very well.

The scales get messed up when we don’t do things well. The reason for doing it becomes less obvious.

Every CMDB Needs Improvement

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Imagine a scenario where you check your online bank statement and it is off.

You dive in deeper and realize it is only 61% correct.

You then think of all the automated payments/withdrawals about to hit the account.

That 61% will fluctuate.

How confident are you in making decisions based off this data?

Well, this exact scenario plays out across CMDBs around the globe 🌎 every single day.

Leaders are expected to make great decisions based off data that is 61% – or worse – correct.

My research shows most CMDBs to be in the 55-65% range on average. Some are higher. Some lower.

If your CMDB needs implementing, improving, or remediating, Service Management Leadership can help.

Advice for Leaders

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There is so much noise in our respective worlds.

We hear many voices, see many metrics, and are left not knowing what to believe.

We hear definitive statements that are really opinions or best guesses.

For any of us to become the leaders we want to be, we must narrow down our inputs.

We need to get better at discerning wisdom from idle noise.

This is especially true in service management and asset management.

Any deviation in focus will cause us to take missteps.

We Do Not Need More Data

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Many times, we don’t lack for metrics or data.

In fact, we have too much and cannot sort out the “signal from the noise”.

We usually only need a small subset of the metrics and data we collect.

The irony is that it costs money 💰 to collect, mature, and protect each metric or data.

The issue, like most things, is that we collect each without a stated goal in mind.

Each metric and piece of data should be tied to measuring a business problem or solution. Even those tied to IT performance should be rooted in the “why” of the business.

Success Requires Humans

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In our quest for better technology, we forget that success is based on humans.

Consider the following …

Humans approve and implement changes, resolve incidents, validate the CMDB, fulfill requests, track hardware assets, ensure software entitlements match usage, and provide governance.

Humans are also the ones impacted by all these process activities.

In a world focused on everything else, let’s remember that these people determine success.

Their individual and collective experience impacts success.