practice
/
writing
field
notes.
twenty-eight pieces about operational readiness, ITIL in a devops world, sourcing, cutover plans, and the occasional short rant. the original archive lives at
opsasto.blog
; each post here links back to its source.
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practice
architecture
support
contracts
process
security
cutover
28
pieces
2019
using
business value points
for backlog prioritisation
"there is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." — drucker. business value points help rationalise feature priority when teams can't.
oct 2019 ·
process
2018
cloud services,
old wine
in new bags?!
is the cloud radically new? no — it is old wine in new bags with a twist. a note from the turn of the last millennium, when "the cloud" wasn't called that yet.
jan 2018 ·
architecture
2017
infographic —
maximising
human potential
the posture, on one page: people experience value, not processes or tools. maximise human potential over shareholder profit.
dec 2017 ·
practice
make
better decisions
using awareness techniques
the control illusion: you can't know all the facts before deciding. we make decisions on rational grounds far less than we think — awareness techniques help.
nov 2017 ·
practice
devops and agile risks are often
misunderstood
a q&a with bernell geldenhuys (sociale verzekerings bank). is opsasto applicable when dev and ops are one team and fully accountable?
nov 2017 ·
process
how to become
good at change
.
of the 100 companies that topped fortune 500 in 2000, only 41 are still there. only 10% of the original 1955 list remain. some companies are simply better at change.
nov 2017 ·
practice
standing in the
circle
.
taiichi ohno's chalk-circle method, applied to IT services. if workers don't find tedium and rewrite the procedures, something is wrong.
nov 2017 ·
process
how to design a
support model
for IT services
the support model describes how needs are fulfilled, which functions are available, and who provides them. an infographic + reader.
oct 2017 ·
support
IT service
operating models
in an agile world
how to facilitate the dialogue for business-led IT — and how it complements (rather than replaces) the bi-modal IT idea.
oct 2017 ·
architecture
how to source for
secure and reliable
IT services
sourcing is the first step on a long relationship. include opsasto requirements in RFI and RFP documents and start the relationship on the right terms.
oct 2017 ·
contracts
doing the right thing —
trias politica
of information security · part i
the story of james and how he learned that separation of powers is a good practice for the governance, risk and control of IT services.
oct 2017 ·
security
the service
cutover plan
its purpose, structure, and a guide for getting the agreement right. the cutover period is where every other chapter is tested.
sep 2017 ·
cutover
the
support model
workshop
a workshop that surfaces support needs and aligns stakeholders — through the act of discovery, priorities and views come into focus.
sep 2017 ·
support
the business impact
assessment
in the digital economy
most investment decisions are driven by the expected benefit and return. as operations become more reliant on IT, the BIA is the question that doesn't ask itself.
sep 2017 ·
security
stop debating different
perspectives
of the truth
effective issue management in projects. our guidance has always been quite simple and effective: do a risk assessment on the issue, then prioritise.
aug 2017 ·
process
sourcing for
operational readiness
an organisation that doesn't prepare for the operational phase struggles with issues long after the introduction and earns a lower return on its investment.
apr 2017 ·
contracts
are you using the service performance
scorecard
correctly?
(hint: don't use it as a disciplining tool.) a scorecard can be a great tool to focus attention where it matters — it's a worse one if it's used to assign blame.
apr 2017 ·
process
about
opsasto
the opsasto approach is a write-up of good practices from seven years at shell as supportability & transition management lead. the canonical introduction.
apr 2017 ·
practice
infographic — the
eight
opsasto assurances
the foundational diagram: eight assurance areas for enabling operational readiness, on one page.
apr 2017 ·
practice
infographic —
mixing
agile and waterfall
the practical question: how do you run a project that has both, and what does each ceremony actually deliver? the wall-chart version.
mar 2017 ·
process
three
golden rules
for formulating quality requirements
notes from drafting an enterprise standard for non-functional requirements — and why most NFRs fail the first time they meet reality.
mar 2017 ·
architecture
do ITIL processes still have value in devops?
yes
— short rant.
how often did i read or hear this question, and every time wonder whether the person asking it understands the purpose of the processes.
mar 2017 ·
process
how to run
mixed
waterfall and agile projects
often we hear that agile is the modern way of project delivery — that waterfall is wasteful and slow. is it? a working answer.
feb 2017 ·
process
2016
does your process still
make sense
?
the process pragmatist — a short video on revisiting the processes you've inherited from a previous version of the team.
oct 2016 ·
process
the
process pragmatist
— infographic
the worldview, on one page: intent and outcome over method and precedent.
jul 2016 ·
practice
introducing the
process pragmatist
why process pragmatism, and why it matters for the governance of cloud services. the opening statement of intent.
jul 2016 ·
practice
the eight
opsasto
assurances
the original infographic introducing the eight, before the framework had its proper write-up.
jul 2016 ·
practice
opsasto — an approach to enhance
operational readiness
how we can get more value out of IT services through sourcing them with secure and reliable operations in mind. berlin, june 2016.
jun 2016 ·
practice