FOREWORD

Will Rogers said “A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.” I feel like I hit “two for two” after reading this book. Written by two of the smartest people I know, Dr Suzanne Van Hove (AKA “Doc”) and the debonair Mark Thomas, I knew I was onto a winner.

After almost two decades of service management experience one may be forgiven for thinking there is little left to learn about the subject; one would be wrong. There were many aha moments and much note taking as I made my way through this great handbook.

In the world of service management, practitioners and consultants alike are frequently overwhelmed with the variety of frameworks, standards and methodologies at their disposal. Gargantuan amounts of material often accompany these useful tools and wading through it takes time, a commodity most of us have in short supply these days. The authors hit their first large score here for me. Concentrating on three of the most popular approaches they have provided a succinct guide that will enable individuals and teams to get up to speed quickly.

The second big score is the focus on practicality vs. theory. Employing their unique “Five Anchor Approach” in a variety of mini case studies or “caselets”, the authors demonstrate how ITIL® (a registered trademark of AXELOS Ltd), COBIT® and ISO/IEC 20000 can help companies improve. Many people will recognize challenges faced by their own organizations and will benefit from the focused solutions to common problems.

The “Doc” and Mark score again with their valuable mapping of the three techniques. As a consultant I often use all three in assessments and am frequently asked by my customers how they complement each other or whether one is a better choice over the other. The authors not only explain the ideal and purpose behind each one, but clearly show how the different parts meld together to provide a more comprehensive whole, with gaps in one being overcome by solutions in another.

If you are looking for a navigation guide to help expedite your way through the mountains of information on service management, then look no further than this book. But be warned, you will need to put a tracking device on it as it will be in high demand from your colleagues.

Jeanette Smith

CEO, One-3-Right

Service Management Consultant

Certified to ITIL® Expert level

ISO/IEC 20000 Consultant

Accredited IT Service Management Instructor