Fix It Fast vs. Fix It Right
This article is also published on Project Connections.
Topic: ITIL, Management   •   Date Published: 13 Nov 2009

They were already doing Root Cause Analysis (RCA), but they were failing to get any real benefit from it. The heart of the problem with their RCA process lies in the fact they were mixing and confusing the two distinct and different ways that you can respond to any problem that comes along: 1) fix it fast, or 2) fix it right. They were trying to do both of them at the same time, which often isn't possible. They learned how to fix things fast, and so the "fix it right" part of the equation kept failing, even though they were trying to make it work. A deliberate Root Cause Analysis process will help them get to the bottom of a problem and fix it permanently, not just quickly.

ITIL: A Foundation for Project Success
This article is also published on Project Connections.
Topic: ITIL, Management, Requirements, Quality   •   Date Published: 9 Oct 2006
At its heart, quality is a matter of meeting the business need. Can the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL^®) -- a process model for IT Service Management -- help us with our development projects? Absolutely! ITIL can help us to assure the quality of the systems we develop by providing the basis for understanding the business need and taking action on that understanding. ITIL can be our foundation for project success by defining the context for our project and for the product we will build!

ITIL^® – Why Should I Care?
This article is also published on Project Connections.
Topic: ITIL, Management   •   Date Published: 27 May 2011
ITIL (the Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a framework of good practice in IT Service Management. You needn't look far to find articles and presentations that explain ITIL. But those explanations may leave you with many more questions. Cinda Voegtli, CEO and Founder of Project Connections engaged in a long-distance conversation with me about this. We invite you to listen in.

Software Quality – Service Quality: What's the Difference?
This article is also published on CM Crossroads.
Topic: ITIL, Management, Quality   •   Date Published: 16 Oct 2006
We have spent many years talking about building high-quality software products. But a high-quality application will not meet the needs of our customers if it exists in a context that is otherwise quality-challenged. And more importantly, we are unlikely to understand all of the quality attributes that are required of our software unless we examine them while considering the entirety of those IT Services. ITIL shows us how to do this.