SmITh Consulting helps organizations work smarter thru the right combination of People, Process & Technology improvements
Information Technology has pervaded business at all levels to the extent that businesses and organizations of all shapes and sizes cannot function without it. And yet it’s more fundamental to an organization's health than other “facilities” such as power…IT is to an organization what the circulatory system is to the body.
Over the years the way in which IT has delivered the Services needed by the business has matured and is explained by such frameworks as ITIL or COBIT under the IT Service Management umbrella.
As you mature and improve, you set your ITIL, COBIT, CMMi frameworks in place. You survey your customers and the ITSM machine is running nicely, plodding away, making incremental change. What to do next? ITSM will help align your process and improve your IT organization's internal capabilities to get work done. What do you do when it is time to move to the next step? How do you change the perception of your IT organization so that your business can take full advantage of your IT organization's capabilities? Enter ITMM (IT Marketing Management), now it's time to "sell" your IT organization's capabilities, its Services and the Service Desk itself to the rest of the organization. Get ready to learn how to sell tap water.
The Case for ITMM: See my new Blog post at the ServiceSphere site explaining the what and why of IT Marketing Management (ITMM): Of the People, For the People, By the People!ITMM is brought to you by ServiceSphere and SmITh Consulting.
Even though the IT Service needs of the Business have attempted to be addressed, IT is still too often seen as disconnected from the Business and something is missing. It is almost as if both parties are talking different languages. ITSM has tried to provide some answers, but it is not complete. Here below are the common Service related elements and how they interact with the business



The void is that there has been nothing on “HOW” the Service is actually delivered to the person who needs it. The entire USER experience from start to finish is IT centric, and the people and users involved have changed. Gone are the individuals who sit in awe of IT professionals. Instead users are now savvy consumers of IT where the products of the consumer market are now easy to reach and use. In their non-work environment they know what is out there and how to use it, but within an organization it’s like going back to the dark ages or a land where prehistoric giants amble about unaware of the impending meteor strike.
But the meteor has struck. While IT still tries to enforce a locked down desktop strategy, Internet-based collaborative working is transforming how businesses talk to their customers; influencing everything from product design to innovative ways of developing the business.
And businesses need the people within the business. It needs to
unlock the potential within its employees…allowing them to participate
in problem solving, in the delivery of service as joint collaborators in order
to make the business work. It’s like SETI for IT…harnessing the brain
power experience of the users doing the job to help solve,
contribute to, and address the problems and the development of
IT/business solutions.
People need to be brought into the dialogue and be ‘SOLD’ the potential by providing a Paradigm Shift in how we interact with consumers of information. Communication is the foundation for this alignment and yet is what IT is worst at doing and has never really done. ITMM provides that framework for communication, from the marketing of what is available to bringing the latest social collaboration tools into IT and Service Management in order for new solutions to be built ground up.

Please find an overview set of slides on ITMM via the following link:

ITMM 3 Day Package: ITMM Fundamentals is designed to explain the basics of ITMM providing the oundational understanding as to what ITMM is, why it’s important, the value that it delivers and how to go about making it work, using some basic Service Management areas as the starting point for analysis.
ITMM 5 Day Package: The ITMM 5 day workshop goes into more depth than the Fundamentals workshop which sets the scene for ITMM. This workshop starts putting ITMM into practice and making it work for the organization.
ITMM 10 Day Package: The ITMM 10 day workshop goes into more depth than the 3 day
Fundamentals workshop which sets the scene for ITMM or the 5
day workshop around Incident Management. This workshop puts ITMM into
practice and making it work for the organization around the core set of
ITIL elements.
Social Media for ITSM: Social Media for IT Service Management is a very
powerful new tool that actually aligns the business with the needs of
customers external, internal and B2B. ServiceSphere a pioneer in the
space of using Social Media for ITSM has developed engagements that
empower the support organization to reach beyond IT and connect to the
customers of the business. We have over 300 specialized functions that
completely align social media to ITIL processes. No matter where you
are on your ITIL or ITSM journey Social Media for ITSM is the logical
next step.
Social Media Policy: Blocked from social sites, allowing social media or somewhere in the middle, ServiceSphere has collaborated with organizations all over the globe to create policies that work for the business while allowing the next generation of prosumers to embrace and extend their professional lives while at the office and at home. Don't open your organization up to unnecessary risk. ServiceSphere has the social media policies that will embrace and extend your organization.
ITMM Fundamentals (1 Day): Workshops for IT staff presenting a foundational introduction of ITMM. This class is designed to explain the basics of ITMM, providing a base of understanding as to what ITMM is, why it is important, the value that it delivers and how to go about making it work in your environment. This class will cover everything from the importance of traditional & social media. Social Media Fundamentals (1 Day):
This hands on workshop will enable students when they finish
to fully understand the concepts for using social media for their
professions. Business of every shape and size can benefit from this
workshop and the immediate benefit from learning to use these new
powerful tools.
Social Media for Organizations (2 Day): Following on the hands on methodology from fundamentals, this workshop enables organizations to use their tools to build brand and loyatlity for current customers, collaborate with other professionals and use B2B skills to truly tap into the power of this emerging media.
Social Media for Communities (3 Day): Organizations need to build strong allies internally and externally. Social Media for Communities picks up where our 2 day workshop leaves off and teaches the skills that build communities not only for your internal organization but focused on new and potential prosumers for your organization.
Social Media Policy Development (1 Day):
This
workshop is about risk management. In this class students will analyze
the tools needed to listen, speak to and develop compelling policies
that embrace and extend the use of social media for the organization
while protecting the reputation of the organization.
Social Media for the CXO (1 Day):
Creating and
understanding the ROI, Risks and Benefits of social media for the
business. This workshop is geared toward the entrepreneur or business
leader to look beyond the hype and embrace their peers, partners and
customers from a leadership prospective.
Social Media for ITSM (2 Day): Built from our
groundbreaking workshops, we focus on using tools, skills and
methodologies that align to ITIL processes in your organization. This
workshop was custom built by ITSM and ITIL professionals that have seen
the power of community.
To find out more specifically how SmITh Consulting and ServiceSphere can help your organization, please call or email!