A recent feedback comment sent to the IT Skeptic read:
Quote:
Isn't withholding your name the same as lambasting ITIL for not providing ROI? If you have something and believe in it, then show the facts. The lack of identification makes any statements highly suspect. I see no obvious reason for withholding your name other than you have no confidence in its validity. Very similar to many IT persons who have sponsored ITIL projects without justification Be anonymous and take credit only if it works out.
What alternatives do you prescribe to ITIL? You only provide one screaming side and no alternative. You can't be saying that operating in an orderly and repeatable fashion has no benefits? I'm open, but you sound like you have a serious chip on your shoulder.
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I have the correspondent's permission to reproduce it here and respond.
She raises an important question. Why be anonymous? Three reasons:
1) I can comment without restraints that might be imposed by other roles I perform in my profession
2) I can avoid nasty emails and heated debates at conferences and meetings. I imagine my physical safety could be an issue with a few of the comments I have made
3) it's fun
I believe (and hope) that anonymity does not reflect on credibility. People can judge me by the quality of my content and my arguements, and the integrity of my position. I stand behind those. I welcome debate and criticism like this in order to refine those further.
One of my main criticisms of the ITIL movement is
the attitude of some of the most senior people that we should listen because of who they are, and that they know better because of who they are. (And they know who they are
) Who I am is irrelevant; judge me on what I say and do.
Turning to her second question, what alternatives do I prescribe to ITIL? I am not anti-ITIL. I have never said "ITIL sucks". ITIL is a Good Thing. If I have one mission it is to get some objectivity into what is becoming
a cultish zeal around the ITIL movement, to ensure that people undertake ITIL when it is appropriate and a good use of other people's money, and don't when it isn't. And when they do, I want them to do so with their eyes open. So in the case of
the article that provoked this feedback, I want people, especially approvers, to understand that the decision they are making is not evidence-based.
I also like to keep the vendors on their toes and remind the techies that the business exists.
Finally, yes I do have a chip on my shoulder: I'm a Skeptic. I am irritated by fuzzy irrational thinking wherever it manifests itself. Do I have a chip on my shoulder re ITIL? No. I make some of my living consulting on ITSM and - where appropriate - I heartily recommend ITIL to my clients.
I give credit to what has been done - and I will give more as V 3 comes out - because I believe ITIL is a most impressive undertaking... just not above criticism. I'm sure I annoy a lot of people but self-satisfaction is fatal in any movement so I will persist in being the gadfly ... anonymously.
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