FREE WHITE PAPERS - PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. These White Paper listings are dedicated to all things related to Project Management including the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) standard and more.
I am continuously searching the web and finding new content for this section. Please review the content references listed below and stop by again.
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TITLE: Four Steps Toward Planning a Successful Email Migration
DESCRIPTION: Few email migration projects are as simple as buying new hardware and moving current user accounts and other
resources to the new environment. Rather, most email migrations involve complexities such as consolidating servers and ensuring the seamless coexistence of the old and the new environments during some period of time.
Careful and thorough planning is crucial to success and so is choosing the right tools. This document explains how Quest MessageStats can help you plan and execute four key steps in your email migration.
SPONSOR(S): Dell, Quest Software
[DOWNLOAD]
resources to the new environment. Rather, most email migrations involve complexities such as consolidating servers and ensuring the seamless coexistence of the old and the new environments during some period of time.
Careful and thorough planning is crucial to success and so is choosing the right tools. This document explains how Quest MessageStats can help you plan and execute four key steps in your email migration.
SPONSOR(S): Dell, Quest Software
[DOWNLOAD]
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TITLE: Data Center Projects: Standardized Process
DESCRIPTION: As the design and deployment of data center physical infrastructure moves away from art and more toward science, the benefits of a standardized and predictable process are becoming compelling. Beyond the ordering, delivery, and installation of hardware, any build or upgrade project depends critically upon a well-defined process as insurance against surprises, cost overruns, delays, and frustration. This paper presents an overview of a standardized, step-by-step process methodology that can be adapted and configured to suit individual requirements.
SPONSOR(S): Schneider Electric
[DOWNLOAD]
SPONSOR(S): Schneider Electric
[DOWNLOAD]
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TITLE: ITSM: It’s about managing change
DESCRIPTION: IT Service Management (ITSM) is a proven and effective framework for helping IT organizations become more adaptive, flexible, cost-effective, and service-oriented. It does this by driving fundamental change within the IT organization, from how it manages its processes, technology assets, vendors and deploys personnel, to how IT staff view their organizational roles.
ITSM provides the tools and templates to transform IT organizations into adaptive, service-oriented entities that contribute measurable results to the business. This white paper describes critical steps IT executives must take to prepare for change and manage an ITSM implementation to maximize its value and ensure that it achieves the full transformational effect it is capable of delivering.
SPONSOR(S): HP
[DOWNLOAD]
ITSM provides the tools and templates to transform IT organizations into adaptive, service-oriented entities that contribute measurable results to the business. This white paper describes critical steps IT executives must take to prepare for change and manage an ITSM implementation to maximize its value and ensure that it achieves the full transformational effect it is capable of delivering.
SPONSOR(S): HP
[DOWNLOAD]
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TITLE: What a Project Manager Needs to Know About Business Process Analysis
DESCRIPTION: Enterprises, whether they are commercial, non-profit, or government entities, are operational organizations. These organizations operate through the execution of hundreds, if not thousands, of processes. The quality of these processes affects every aspect of the enterprise and these processes are rarely static. In fact, processes must change over time due to enterprise or external changes or because the processes degrade over time. Business Process Analysis (BPA) is the discipline of examining processes so that they may be changed to align with enterprise objectives. While BPA is usually considered a business analyst (BA) discipline, it is really a discipline that any enterprise resource, especially process owners or subject matter experts (SMEs), may have to employ. This, of course, includes project managers (PM). There are a number of reasons why PMs, in particular, must understand the BPA discipline. Project Management is a discipline full of processes that are targets for improvement. Also many projects originate from BPA, and the project implements the improvements, or the BPA is the project itself. This paper will explain BPA and why it is important to Project Managers.
SPONSOR(S): Global Knowledge
[DOWNLOAD]
SPONSOR(S): Global Knowledge
[DOWNLOAD]
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TITLE: Top 10 Trends in Project Management for 2013
DESCRIPTION: ESI International, a leading project management training company, recently announced the release of its top 10 trends in project management for 2013. The 2013 trends reveal that expert leadership is lacking in all areas of project management, portfolio management and program management.
“This year’s trends bring a murky problem into specific light,” said J. LeRoy Ward, Executive Vice President, ESI International. “Leadership skills are lacking within the project community, and until project managers learn how to properly lead teams and their projects, project execution will continue to be a problem.”
SPONSOR(S): IT BusinessEdge
[DOWNLOAD]
“This year’s trends bring a murky problem into specific light,” said J. LeRoy Ward, Executive Vice President, ESI International. “Leadership skills are lacking within the project community, and until project managers learn how to properly lead teams and their projects, project execution will continue to be a problem.”
SPONSOR(S): IT BusinessEdge
[DOWNLOAD]
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TITLE: How to Chart Your Critical Path for Project Management
DESCRIPTION: Do you know how to deliver business value to your project management customers in the shortest amount of time? No? Then, you need to start with a critical path.
A project’s critical path includes all the items that must be delivered, as well as the projected effort needed to complete these items.
SPONSOR(S): DICE.com
[DOWNLOAD]
A project’s critical path includes all the items that must be delivered, as well as the projected effort needed to complete these items.
SPONSOR(S): DICE.com
[DOWNLOAD]
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10 things you should do when moving to online collaborative project management
DESCRIPTION: Takeaway: Online collaborative project management solves many traditional PM problems — but it can also introduce a few of its own.
IT projects quickly become tangled if they’re not performed with a good project management methodology. PM tools are critical because they define and track tasks, note task dependencies, and identify the mission-critical chain of events that must be minimally completed before a project goes live.
Of course, PM tools also bring their own challenges. In classic project management, if your project team exceeds 30 people and contains hundreds of tasks, a part-time or even full-time project administrator is dedicated to keeping the project management software updated. At best, the project team can expect to see one project update per week. All of this makes the idea of collaborative, online project management — where project task definitions and updates are decentralized and owned by staff members — very enticing.
Cloud-based online project management facilitates social networking, and it gives the entire project team access to real-time data and a set of standardized project tools. But activating this approach is by no means automatic. There is a list of things that CIOs and their project managers should consider before making the move to online collaborative project management.
SPONSOR(S): TechRepublic
[DOWNLOAD]
IT projects quickly become tangled if they’re not performed with a good project management methodology. PM tools are critical because they define and track tasks, note task dependencies, and identify the mission-critical chain of events that must be minimally completed before a project goes live.
Of course, PM tools also bring their own challenges. In classic project management, if your project team exceeds 30 people and contains hundreds of tasks, a part-time or even full-time project administrator is dedicated to keeping the project management software updated. At best, the project team can expect to see one project update per week. All of this makes the idea of collaborative, online project management — where project task definitions and updates are decentralized and owned by staff members — very enticing.
Cloud-based online project management facilitates social networking, and it gives the entire project team access to real-time data and a set of standardized project tools. But activating this approach is by no means automatic. There is a list of things that CIOs and their project managers should consider before making the move to online collaborative project management.
SPONSOR(S): TechRepublic
[DOWNLOAD]
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TITLE: Manage software deployments across complex environments
DESCRIPTION: When I started my IT career as an application developer three decades ago, it was common to take six months or longer to enact a simple upgrade to an enterprise application. First we'd develop code, then test it, then put it through quality assurance (QA), and then give it to the operations team to finally deploy the updated code.
Back then, having "only" six months to do all this put real pressure on our team. In today's world, taking that much time to develop and deploy a much-needed upgrade is simply inconceivable.
To overcome these issues, KLM uses the application deployment automation tool Deployit from XebiaLabs. Deployit allows both development and operations teams to manage their software deployments in an efficient and predictable manner
SPONSOR(S): NetworkWorld
Back then, having "only" six months to do all this put real pressure on our team. In today's world, taking that much time to develop and deploy a much-needed upgrade is simply inconceivable.
To overcome these issues, KLM uses the application deployment automation tool Deployit from XebiaLabs. Deployit allows both development and operations teams to manage their software deployments in an efficient and predictable manner
SPONSOR(S): NetworkWorld
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TITLE: Overview of Agile Management & Development Methods
DESCRIPTION: This paper presents an overview of Agile Project Management & Development Methods. The paper will describe the deficiency of normal project development processes, who started Agile Management & development method, what is it made up of and who should use it, differences between Agile development processes and normal development processes, analogies of Agile project development & management methods in contrast with Normal development Processes, and the effectiveness of Agile development processes. The paper will also give examples of Agile project development methods, methods like Extreme Programming and Scrum, discuss the drawbacks of Agile development methods and suggest ways in which the limitations of these Agile development methods can be overcome.
SPONSOR(S): Project Perfect
SPONSOR(S): Project Perfect
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TITLE: Agile Software Development Methodologies: An Overview of the Current State of Research
DESCRIPTION: Under the current economic conditions many organizations strive to continue the trend towards adopting agile processes, in order to take advantage of the numerous benefits that these can offer. Those benefits include quicker return on investment, better software quality, and higher customer satisfaction. To date, however, there is no structured body of research that can guide organizations in adopting agile practices. To address this situation, the current paper identifies and structures the main theoretical contributions to the field of Agile Methodologies research, by presenting Agile Methodologies, by analyzing the main papers on social implications of using Agile, by presenting the main studies on implementation of Agile and by synthesizing the research with regard to communication in Agile projects.
SPONSOR(S): Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies
SPONSOR(S): Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies
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TITLE: The Scrum Reference Card
DESCRIPTION: Scrum is a management framework for incremental product development using one or more cross-functional, self-organizing teams of about seven people each.
Scrum provides a structure of roles, meetings, rules, and artifacts. Teams are responsible for creating and adapting their processes within this framework.
Scrum uses fixed-length iterations, called Sprints, which are typically two weeks or 30 days long. Scrum teams attempt to build a potentially shippable (properly tested) product increment every iteration.
SPONSOR(S): CollabNet Inc.
Scrum provides a structure of roles, meetings, rules, and artifacts. Teams are responsible for creating and adapting their processes within this framework.
Scrum uses fixed-length iterations, called Sprints, which are typically two weeks or 30 days long. Scrum teams attempt to build a potentially shippable (properly tested) product increment every iteration.
SPONSOR(S): CollabNet Inc.
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TITLE: Six Common Mistakes that Plague IT Projects and Three Keys to Avoiding Them
DESCRIPTION: What do you get when you cross General George S. Patton, Henry Ford, and the world of IT project management? An assertive and effective way of facing and tackling potential risks and problems in projects. When it comes to IT projects, there are a number of common mistakes that are made frequently – and too often project managers either avoid facing the problems that those mistakes create or they choose to dance around them. What they should be doing is emulating great leaders like Ford and Patton by having the leadership skills and courage to face problems head on. How? Through creating an environment of trust in their team, having the courage to admit mistakes and deal with risks as they come, and learning how to communicate more effectively with everyone involved in their projects.
How to “Bounce”—Three Keys to Attacking these.
Common Mistakes
SPONSOR(S): @task
How to “Bounce”—Three Keys to Attacking these.
Common Mistakes
SPONSOR(S): @task
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TITLE: Organizing shapes to create better diagrams in Visio 2010
DESCRIPTION: Learn how to organize the shapes in your Visio 2010 diagrams quickly and easily with built-in structured diagram shapes: containers, lists, and callouts.
SPONSOR(S): Microsoft
SPONSOR(S): Microsoft
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TITLE: The Business Case for Project Portfolio Management
DESCRIPTION: Learn PPM Best Practices from Best-in-Class IT Organizations
Based on research from the Aberdeen Group on Best-in-Class IT organizations, this whitepaper presents industry best practices and real-world examples of how companies are using Project Portfolio Management and IT Governance solutions to help drive innovations within their IT organization.
The documents highlights strategies and tactics used by leading IT departments to deliver on the following IT Performance goals: being on time, on budget, on quota, and on target.
Best practices featured in this whitepaper are chosen from highly effective IT organizations in government, health care, and financial services.
SPONSOR(S): Innotas
Based on research from the Aberdeen Group on Best-in-Class IT organizations, this whitepaper presents industry best practices and real-world examples of how companies are using Project Portfolio Management and IT Governance solutions to help drive innovations within their IT organization.
The documents highlights strategies and tactics used by leading IT departments to deliver on the following IT Performance goals: being on time, on budget, on quota, and on target.
Best practices featured in this whitepaper are chosen from highly effective IT organizations in government, health care, and financial services.
SPONSOR(S): Innotas
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TITLE: The Department of Justice Systems Development Life Cycle Guidance Document
DESCRIPTION: Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) emphasizes decision processes that influence system cost and usefulness. These decisions must be based on full consideration of business processes, functional requirements, and economic and technical feasibility in order to produce an effective system. The primary objectives of any SDLC are to deliver quality systems that: 1) meet or exceed customer expectations when promised and within cost estimates, 2) work effectively and efficiently within the current and planned information technology infrastructure, and 3) are inexpensive to maintain and cost-effective to enhance. This SDLC establishes a logical order of events for conducting system development that is controlled, measured, documented, and ultimately improved.
This document does not prescribe a single method applicable without change to every system. Because there is wide variance in the methods, techniques and tools used to support the evolution of systems, and project scopes vary greatly, the SDLC presents guidance for selecting appropriate methods, techniques, and tools based on specific factors.
One methodology does not fit all sizes and types of system development efforts. Therefore, the DOJ SDLC methodology provides for a full sequential SDLC work pattern and for alternative SDLC work patterns. Components involved in smaller projects could use these alternative SDLC work patterns, where the documentation is shortened and even combined. It also provides a work pattern to accommodate the acquisition and implementation of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products.
This is the definitive text book on SDLC.
SPONSOR(S): U.S. Department of Justice
This document does not prescribe a single method applicable without change to every system. Because there is wide variance in the methods, techniques and tools used to support the evolution of systems, and project scopes vary greatly, the SDLC presents guidance for selecting appropriate methods, techniques, and tools based on specific factors.
One methodology does not fit all sizes and types of system development efforts. Therefore, the DOJ SDLC methodology provides for a full sequential SDLC work pattern and for alternative SDLC work patterns. Components involved in smaller projects could use these alternative SDLC work patterns, where the documentation is shortened and even combined. It also provides a work pattern to accommodate the acquisition and implementation of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products.
This is the definitive text book on SDLC.
SPONSOR(S): U.S. Department of Justice
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TITLE: QuickStudy: System Development Life Cycle
DESCRIPTION: Once upon a time, software development consisted of a programmer writing code to solve a problem or automate a procedure. Nowadays, systems are so big and complex that teams of architects, analysts, programmers, testers and users must work together to create the millions of lines of custom-written code that drive our enterprises.
To manage this, a number of system development life cycle (SDLC) models have been created:
SPONSOR(S): Computer World
To manage this, a number of system development life cycle (SDLC) models have been created:
SPONSOR(S): Computer World
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TITLE: 10 ways to make ITIL work for you
DESCRIPTION: Want to know how companies such as DHL, General Motors and Nationwide Insurance achieve operational excellence, maintain high levels of IT efficiency and keep their systems compliant with myriad regulatory requirements? They adopt best practices, and more times than not, they choose ITIL as part of their plan to streamline IT processes and improve overall network performance.
The U.K.-born IT Infrastructure Library had a slow start in the United States, but now adoption is reaching critical mass among American IT shops as vendors continue to pump up their management software suites with ITIL-based workflows to appeal to today's process-minded network executives. Who would have thought process improvements could save millions of dollars? Procter & Gamble, for one. The company quickly saved $500,000 by putting processes in place.
Read more on how ITIL and other best practice frameworks can make your operations run more smoothly and keep cash in your pocket with Network World's series of ITIL case studies and news reports:
SPONSOR(S): Network World
The U.K.-born IT Infrastructure Library had a slow start in the United States, but now adoption is reaching critical mass among American IT shops as vendors continue to pump up their management software suites with ITIL-based workflows to appeal to today's process-minded network executives. Who would have thought process improvements could save millions of dollars? Procter & Gamble, for one. The company quickly saved $500,000 by putting processes in place.
Read more on how ITIL and other best practice frameworks can make your operations run more smoothly and keep cash in your pocket with Network World's series of ITIL case studies and news reports:
SPONSOR(S): Network World
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TITLE: Data Center Project Management
DESCRIPTION: Rolling out a new data center can prove a far more difficult task than you signed up for. With so much to manage and stay on top of, sometimes you don't even know where to start. Read this white paper for advice on how to manage a data center project and keep your priorities in check. It will help you ensure your data center project stays on target and doesn't get jammed up with inefficiencies.
SPONSOR(S): APC
SPONSOR(S): APC
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TITLE: Five tips for starting your meetings on time
DESCRIPTION: Meetings that start late are often inefficient and disorganized, and they tend to run over. Here are some ways to get your meetings off to the right start — and right on time.
SPONSOR(S): TechRepublic
SPONSOR(S): TechRepublic
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TITLE: Post-Migration Best Practices: Exchange Environment Operation
DESCRIPTION: Preparing for a migration to Microsoft Exchange requires a lot of time and effort. Are you ready to apply the same amount of rigor to the administration of your new messaging platform?
In this paper, authored by industry experts Nelson Ruest and Danielle Ruest, you'll learn why it's important to focus on four key aspects of post-migration management:
- Performance and availability
- Compliance, audits and security
- Recovery and email discovery
- Automation and ongoing administration
SPONSOR(S): Quest Software
In this paper, authored by industry experts Nelson Ruest and Danielle Ruest, you'll learn why it's important to focus on four key aspects of post-migration management:
- Performance and availability
- Compliance, audits and security
- Recovery and email discovery
- Automation and ongoing administration
SPONSOR(S): Quest Software
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TITLE: What is The Difference Between Good & Great Project Manager
DESCRIPTION: The job of a project manager is often described as managing the triple constraints: scope, resources and schedule. In reality this represents the realistic goal of a project manager. The project manager must manage the defined deliverables (scope) while being mindful of the cost as well as caring for the people and feeding the people working on the project. These all must be done in the desired project framework (schedule).
However, the presence of risk, business concerns, technical issues, individual perceptions and priorities present frequent obstacles to the project managers, who measures success by the three constraints. Many of these difficulties could be overcome by diligence and communication, which comes naturally to those in project managers’ role.
Overcoming the difficulties posed is what separates great project managers from good or average project managers. Here, we look into some of the habits that put a distance between the good and the great project managers.
SPONSOR(S): projectmanagementwatch.com
However, the presence of risk, business concerns, technical issues, individual perceptions and priorities present frequent obstacles to the project managers, who measures success by the three constraints. Many of these difficulties could be overcome by diligence and communication, which comes naturally to those in project managers’ role.
Overcoming the difficulties posed is what separates great project managers from good or average project managers. Here, we look into some of the habits that put a distance between the good and the great project managers.
SPONSOR(S): projectmanagementwatch.com
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TITLE: Most Common Reasons of IT Project Failures & Their Solutions
DESCRIPTION: IT Project Management has given a great success to produce products and services but still it is most common phenomena that more than 70% of the IT projects fails due to many reasons. In this article we will have a short discussion on:
* Why IT projects fails?
* What are the most certain reasons of failure?
* How to remove the reasons of failure?
According to project Management Watch these are the most probable reasons of project failure. Let’s discuss these reason and solution to these problems
SPONSOR(S): Project Management Watch
* Why IT projects fails?
* What are the most certain reasons of failure?
* How to remove the reasons of failure?
According to project Management Watch these are the most probable reasons of project failure. Let’s discuss these reason and solution to these problems
SPONSOR(S): Project Management Watch
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TITLE: What is Project Management Really?
DESCRIPTION: A project management is an interrelated set of activities with a definite starting and ending point, which result in unique outcome for a specific allocation of resources. Project management is all about the scheduling activities and monitor progress within strict time, cost, and performance guidelines.
Project management has mainly three kinds of goals:......
SPONSOR(S): Project Management Watch
Project management has mainly three kinds of goals:......
SPONSOR(S): Project Management Watch
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TITLE: Proper Project Planning = Direction and Perfection
DESCRIPTION: The ability to plan projects, both large and small, simple and complicated, is essential in today’s business environment. Without the tools to do so, people tend to flounder, “wing it,” or wander off course, resulting in delayed success, missed deadlines, or failure. Read on to learn about the steps you can take to plan a successful project.
SPONSOR(S): Dale Carnegie Training
SPONSOR(S): Dale Carnegie Training
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TITLE: Introduction to SCRUM Methodology
DESCRIPTION: SCRUM methodology is one of the most famous project or program management methodologies. Agile methodology is a new methodology of software development and has many advantages compared to the classical methods.
SPONSOR(S): scrummethodology.org
SPONSOR(S): scrummethodology.org
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TITLE: What clients should bring to project kickoff meetings
DESCRIPTION: IT project managers want to believe that their clients will thoroughly prepare for the upcoming engagement; however, I’m constantly amazed by how unprepared some customers are when they come to a kickoff meeting. The following list is what I deem the minimum for what clients should bring to a project kickoff meeting.
If you start a project before both parties are prepared, you’ll find yourself behind schedule very quickly as you work with your customer to identify and fix these weaknesses. It’s not the way you want to start an IT project.
Author: Brad Egeland
SPONSOR(S): techrepublic
If you start a project before both parties are prepared, you’ll find yourself behind schedule very quickly as you work with your customer to identify and fix these weaknesses. It’s not the way you want to start an IT project.
Author: Brad Egeland
SPONSOR(S): techrepublic
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TITLE: SAFEGUARD THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGY: REDUCE IMPLEMENTATION RISK AND OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE
DESCRIPTION: Poor integration testing in complex IT environments can lead to high costs and risks for implementation projects and subsequent operations. SAP Safeguarding for Integration Validation improves integration testing by using a systematic methodology and advanced root-cause analysis provided by the SAP Solution Manager application management solution. This helps to identify, analyze, and resolve issues earlier in the testing cycle, thereby minimizing the cost impact of extended test cycles.
SPONSOR(S): SAP
SPONSOR(S): SAP
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TITLE: Best Practices in Reconciliation: 10 Steps to Improving Efficiency and Reducing Risk
DESCRIPTION: Now more than ever, increasing operational efficiency is a firm’s best hedge against marketplace volatility and its impact on revenue and profitability. And one area that's ripe for productivity improvements is reconciliation—an often overlooked back office function that offers relatively easy wins in the quest for greater efficiency.
This information-packed, 12-page white paper explains why automated reconciliation is becoming a competitive necessity. It details the costs and risks associated with manual reconciliation, the benefits you can expect from automation, and the best reconciliation workflow model. It also outlines a 10-point checklist on optimizing efficiency in reconciliation and weighs the pros and cons of alternative solutions.
SPONSOR(S): ADVENT
This information-packed, 12-page white paper explains why automated reconciliation is becoming a competitive necessity. It details the costs and risks associated with manual reconciliation, the benefits you can expect from automation, and the best reconciliation workflow model. It also outlines a 10-point checklist on optimizing efficiency in reconciliation and weighs the pros and cons of alternative solutions.
SPONSOR(S): ADVENT
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TITLE: ITIL V3: Making Business Services Serve the Business
DESCRIPTION: The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a collection of information technology best practices, published for the unique purpose of providing guidance for the management of IT. Originally consolidated from both the private and public sector, ITIL has become the most widely accepted approach to IT Service Management (ITSM) in the world. ITIL v3 brings us ever closer to managing IT in a manner that makes business services serve the business.
SPONSOR(S): EMA
SPONSOR(S): EMA
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TITLE: Business Drivers and Job Scheduling: The Smart Guide to Building World-Class Applications
DESCRIPTION: In today’s business climate, there is a demand for process automation that spans a wide range of platforms and applications and, at the same time, offers comprehensive functionality and is easy to use. Users need to be able to take advantage of the implemented solution without spending countless hours in training sessions with the vendor or worse, bogging down their own internal help desk.
This white paper discusses the central role in the data center that job scheduling has played over the years and how that role is evolving. The paper highlights what users should look for as the market moves from traditional batch job scheduling to cross-platform and event-driven workload capabilities.
The paper addresses key concerns driving IT management and how they translate into needs that can be addressed through job scheduling and process automation. The paper also looks at the role of JAMS in addressing the automation requirements of the various personnel in IT: data center managers, operations staff, and application developers. Read the white paper to learn how JAMS helps IT organizations optimize the performance of batch processing across the enterprise. Key capabilities of JAMS include
- cross-platform scheduling
- event-driven workloads
- Microsoft Workflow Foundation integration
- and PowerShell and SharePoint support for application developers.
SPONSOR(S): MVP Systems Software
This white paper discusses the central role in the data center that job scheduling has played over the years and how that role is evolving. The paper highlights what users should look for as the market moves from traditional batch job scheduling to cross-platform and event-driven workload capabilities.
The paper addresses key concerns driving IT management and how they translate into needs that can be addressed through job scheduling and process automation. The paper also looks at the role of JAMS in addressing the automation requirements of the various personnel in IT: data center managers, operations staff, and application developers. Read the white paper to learn how JAMS helps IT organizations optimize the performance of batch processing across the enterprise. Key capabilities of JAMS include
- cross-platform scheduling
- event-driven workloads
- Microsoft Workflow Foundation integration
- and PowerShell and SharePoint support for application developers.
SPONSOR(S): MVP Systems Software
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TITLE: Change Management: Best Practices
DESCRIPTION: This document presents leading practices in change management. It is intended for managers, network operations personnel and practitioners in IT service management.
The objective of the change management process is to minimize service downtime by ensuring that requests for changes are recorded and then evaluated, authorized, prioritized, planned, tested, implemented, documented and reviewed in a controlled and consistent manner.
SPONSOR(S): Cisco
The objective of the change management process is to minimize service downtime by ensuring that requests for changes are recorded and then evaluated, authorized, prioritized, planned, tested, implemented, documented and reviewed in a controlled and consistent manner.
SPONSOR(S): Cisco
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TITLE: Project Management Methodologies
DESCRIPTION: The reality is that the project management methodologies available to a project manager are often decided on long before a project starts. In many cases the decision is based on nothing more than "this is what we've always done". At other times, the decision is based on an enterprise-wide initiative to adopt a particular process like the Rational Unified Process. Regardless, it is important to know the various project management methodologies if for no other reason than to be aware of the where their strengths lie and where they fall short.
This section describes project management and software development methodologies that I've used or have read about over the years. Some are fairly mature in that they've been around for quite some time. Others are relatively new and have been developed to recognize the challenges that are inherent with many modern software development initiatives. All are worth reading about.
SPONSOR(S): mariosalexandrou.com
This section describes project management and software development methodologies that I've used or have read about over the years. Some are fairly mature in that they've been around for quite some time. Others are relatively new and have been developed to recognize the challenges that are inherent with many modern software development initiatives. All are worth reading about.
SPONSOR(S): mariosalexandrou.com
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TITLE: Be Smart. Get Ahead with Software Asset Management (SAM)
DESCRIPTION: How SAM Benefits You
A well-implemented SAM plan can help you control IT costs, optimize IT resources, and grow systems that will be more flexible and agile in the future.
SAM can help your IT department:
•Control security risks
•Reduce training time
•Automate manual processes
•Optimize efficiencies with centralized asset tracking
•Attain faster time-to-market
•Increase IT staff morale and motivation
•Streamline procedures and develop efficient upgrade plans and deployments
•Grow your business infrastructure with systems that can easily adapt to future needs
SPONSOR(S): Microsoft
A well-implemented SAM plan can help you control IT costs, optimize IT resources, and grow systems that will be more flexible and agile in the future.
SAM can help your IT department:
•Control security risks
•Reduce training time
•Automate manual processes
•Optimize efficiencies with centralized asset tracking
•Attain faster time-to-market
•Increase IT staff morale and motivation
•Streamline procedures and develop efficient upgrade plans and deployments
•Grow your business infrastructure with systems that can easily adapt to future needs
SPONSOR(S): Microsoft
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TITLE: Strategies for Successful Enterprise Collaboration: Balancing People, Process and Technology
DESCRIPTION: Over the last decade the trend towards external collaboration with the value chain has been increasing and soon collaboration outside the firewall will exceed collaboration with colleagues
in the enterprise. Collaboration in the enterprise requires a triumvirate of people, process and technology to be successful. With the plethora of collaboration applications available today, both IT professionals and collaboration business users alike need to take a holistic approach to be successful with collaboration. This paper lets you know about some of the common pitfalls and how to avoid them.
SPONSOR(S): Akamai
in the enterprise. Collaboration in the enterprise requires a triumvirate of people, process and technology to be successful. With the plethora of collaboration applications available today, both IT professionals and collaboration business users alike need to take a holistic approach to be successful with collaboration. This paper lets you know about some of the common pitfalls and how to avoid them.
SPONSOR(S): Akamai
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TITLE: Best Practice Insights; ITIL Service Strategy
DESCRIPTION: This booklet highlights key elements of the ITIL Service Strategy book, and includes commentary on important concepts from BMC ITIL experts. BMC commentary is highlighted in blue text.
SPONSOR(S): BMC Software
SPONSOR(S): BMC Software
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TITLE: 15 Useful Project Management Tools
DESCRIPTION: There is a huge variety of project management applications out there. Most are general purpose apps, not aimed at any one industry. But there is a growing number of project management apps aimed specifically at one industry or another. Applications geared to creative types are becoming more readily available, and some of the offerings are really quite good.
Here are 15 useful project management applications, almost all of which are targeted directly at Web developers, designers (both Web and print) and other creative types. The last one is not geared specifically to creative types but is the most unique project management application I’ve found and is included on that basis as well as because of its potential usefulness for designers and developers.
SPONSOR(S): SMASHING Magazine
Here are 15 useful project management applications, almost all of which are targeted directly at Web developers, designers (both Web and print) and other creative types. The last one is not geared specifically to creative types but is the most unique project management application I’ve found and is included on that basis as well as because of its potential usefulness for designers and developers.
SPONSOR(S): SMASHING Magazine
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TITLE: 9 Tips to Get Incredible Power for Project Management
DESCRIPTION: Nine tips to help you be successful: #1. Management of Time Duration: Estimate how long each activity will take. Be aware that research points out we are notoriously bad at estimating. You estimate a task will take 3 days. Identify how confident you are that you can deliver in 3 days by....
SPONSOR(S): companiesmanagement.com
SPONSOR(S): companiesmanagement.com
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TITLE: Mastering Complexity in Aerospace & Defense: The Case for Total Lifecycle Systems Management (TLCSM)
DESCRIPTION: Developing high-quality, successful A&D products and programs–on time and within budget–has always been a tremendous challenge for organizations serving the A&D industry. Yet today, due to the economic downturn, globalization, product sophistication, and the emergence of powerful new technologies, the level of complexity in A&D product development is becoming mind-boggling. A&D companies are up against numerous obstacles including Complex Products, Complex Design and Supplier Networks, and Complex Economic Times.
How are top A&D companies responding to this complexity? Download this report by IBM Rational and Parametric Technologies Corporation for an overview of the many issues facing A&D today, along with a set of best practices that are now working for many of the leaders in the global Aerospace & Defense market.
SPONSOR(S): IBM
How are top A&D companies responding to this complexity? Download this report by IBM Rational and Parametric Technologies Corporation for an overview of the many issues facing A&D today, along with a set of best practices that are now working for many of the leaders in the global Aerospace & Defense market.
SPONSOR(S): IBM
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TITLE: Data Center Projects: Standardized Process
DESCRIPTION: As the design and deployment of data center physical infrastructure moves away from art and more toward science, the benefits of a standardized and predictable process are becoming compelling. Beyond the ordering, delivery, and installation of hardware, any build or upgrade project depends critically upon a well-defined process as insurance against surprises, cost overruns, delays, and frustration. This paper presents an overview of a standardized, step-by-step process methodology that can be adapted and configured to suit individual requirements.
SPONSOR(S): APC
SPONSOR(S): APC
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TITLE: Chaos Report
DESCRIPTION: In 1995 The Standish Group surveyed IT executive managers for their opinions about why projects succeed. The resulting report makes interesting reading.
This report includes statistics and case studies.
SPONSOR(S): The Standish Group
This report includes statistics and case studies.
SPONSOR(S): The Standish Group
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TITLE: Earned Value Lite: Making Earned Value Management Work for Every Project
DESCRIPTION: Earned Value Management (EVM) allows you to predict your project results within 15-20% of completion, in time to make a difference. Yet the criteria for EVM tends to be overly prescriptive for smaller projects. This discourages many organizations from adopting them. Oracle has achieved an effective and streamlined formula that works for all projects—not just major, complex systems—by distilling the formal criteria of EVM into 10 fundamental steps that constitute a simplified form of EVM called earned value lite.
Read this paper to learn how the implementation of these 10 steps can help your organization reap the rewards of EVM and give you the visibility you need to complete your projects on time and within budget.
SPONSOR(S): Oracle
Read this paper to learn how the implementation of these 10 steps can help your organization reap the rewards of EVM and give you the visibility you need to complete your projects on time and within budget.
SPONSOR(S): Oracle
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TITLE: While hundreds of project management tools exist in the market today, few are versatile enough to accommodate a wide range of customer needs
DESCRIPTION: Even fewer have proven to consistently increase efficiencies at a portfolio level. This guide outlines categories of Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) solutions, including guidance on how the Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) solution addresses the equivalent needs of each category and demonstrating the distinct benefits Microsoft offers.
SPONSOR(S): Microsoft
SPONSOR(S): Microsoft
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TITLE: Four Starting Points for effective IT Project and Portfolio Management
DESCRIPTION: Analysts reports indicate only 30% of all IT projects are successful and even fewer are strategic to the business. This paper illustrates a step-by-step approach to optimizing project and portfolio management enabling you to increase the number of projects that deliver measurable business results.
SPONSOR(S): HP
SPONSOR(S): HP
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TITLE: Project Management Office Best Practices, A step-by-step plan to build and improve your PMO
DESCRIPTION: According to Gartner research, the best-performing project management offices (PMO) reduce business risk, optimize resources and contribute to business growth through portfolio management tools and best practices.
This white paper serves as a step-by-step guide to establishing or enhancing a PMO. It also explores PMO best practices including how to recognize problems and their affect on business improvement. Read more and learn about the key business benefits that stem from a highly effective PMO.
SPONSOR(S): Oracle Corporation
This white paper serves as a step-by-step guide to establishing or enhancing a PMO. It also explores PMO best practices including how to recognize problems and their affect on business improvement. Read more and learn about the key business benefits that stem from a highly effective PMO.
SPONSOR(S): Oracle Corporation
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TITLE: Data Center Projects: Commissioning
DESCRIPTION: Failure to properly commission a data center leaves the door wide open for expensive and disruptive downtime that could have been avoided. Integrated commissioning of all physical infrastructure components assures maximum data center performance and justifies the physical infrastructure investment. This paper reviews the desired outputs and identifies the standard inputs of the commissioning data center project step. The commissioning process flow is described and critical success factors are discussed. The commissioning process inputs and outputs are also placed in context with other key data center project process phases and steps.
SPONSOR(S): APC
SPONSOR(S): APC
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TITLE: Six Sigma - What is Six Sigma?
DESCRIPTION: Six Sigma at many organizations simply means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving towards six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process -- from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service.
SPONSOR(S): isixsigma.com
SPONSOR(S): isixsigma.com
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TITLE: Harnessing the Power of ITIL
DESCRIPTION: ITIL is quickly becoming the global standard in IT service delivery, and for good reason - it offers IT leaders a robust, flexible, and transparent way to manage technology services and align with the business. Read this brief for advice on it's proper implementation.
SPONSOR(S): SkillSoft Corporation
TITLE: Harnessing the Power of ITIL
DESCRIPTION: ITIL is quickly becoming the global standard in IT service delivery, and for good reason - it offers IT leaders a robust, flexible, and transparent way to manage technology services and align with the business. Read this brief for advice on it's proper implementation.
SPONSOR(S): SkillSoft Corporation
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TITLE: Project Management Best Practices - Defining Stakeholder Roles and Responsibilities
DESCRIPTION: Discover industry leading best practices for managing your projects to ensure that you have established and achieved a clear definition of your project stakeholders' roles...
SPONSOR(S): ZDNet
TITLE: Project Management Best Practices - Defining Stakeholder Roles and Responsibilities
DESCRIPTION: Discover industry leading best practices for managing your projects to ensure that you have established and achieved a clear definition of your project stakeholders' roles...
SPONSOR(S): ZDNet
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TITLE: Project Management Best Practices: Key Processes and Common Sense
DESCRIPTION: Organizations continue to look for the key to unlocking the mystery of project management (PM) best practices, but the steps that go into successful project management are not mysterious at all — they are standard procedures that, if executed, will improve a project’s chances of success. The key word here is “if.” Projects fail because of poor planning and fuzzy requirements that cause a chain reaction of poor productivity. Regardless of size, good projects benefit from careful planning and active management.
SPONSOR(S): Giga Information Group, Inc.
TITLE: Project Management Best Practices: Key Processes and Common Sense
DESCRIPTION: Organizations continue to look for the key to unlocking the mystery of project management (PM) best practices, but the steps that go into successful project management are not mysterious at all — they are standard procedures that, if executed, will improve a project’s chances of success. The key word here is “if.” Projects fail because of poor planning and fuzzy requirements that cause a chain reaction of poor productivity. Regardless of size, good projects benefit from careful planning and active management.
SPONSOR(S): Giga Information Group, Inc.
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TITLE: Project Management and the Organisational Strategy
DESCRIPTION: Project management is rapidly becoming a standard way of doing business in organisations. We accomplish a considerable portion of our typical firm's effort through projects. Projects are becoming the tools of implementing the business strategy of an organisation. Every project in an organisation should contribute to its strategic plan. How can we ensure this linkage? We need to make sure that we integrate projects within the strategic plan. This integration requires a process for prioritising projects by their contribution to the plan. In this white paper, we will introduce the strategic planning process, how it relates to project management, and how to implement a project selection and prioritisation process.
SPONSOR(S): ESI International
SPONSOR(S): ESI International
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TITLE: The Rapid Assessment and Recovery of Troubled Projects
DESCRIPTION: This white paper guides the experienced project manager in the application of successful techniques for assessing the status of a project, determining if a recovery is possible, and turning the project around.
SPONSOR(S): ESI International
SPONSOR(S): ESI International
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TITLE: 10+ keyboard shortcuts to help you deliver a smooth PowerPoint presentation
DESCRIPTION: You don’t need to get distracted by the mechanics of presenting a slide show. Learn just a few shortcuts and you can focus on your audience and your message instead.
SPONSOR(S): TechRepublic
TITLE: 10+ keyboard shortcuts to help you deliver a smooth PowerPoint presentation
DESCRIPTION: You don’t need to get distracted by the mechanics of presenting a slide show. Learn just a few shortcuts and you can focus on your audience and your message instead.
SPONSOR(S): TechRepublic
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TITLE: Project Management Office Best Practices: A step-by-step plan to build and improve your PMO
DESCRIPTION: The road to project portfolio management begins with recognizing the problem and its affect on business improvement. The next step is building the right project management office (PMO) for your company. According to Gartner research, the best-performing PMOs reduce business risk, optimize resources and contribute to business growth through portfolio management tools and best practices.
This white paper serves as a step-by-step guide to establishing or enhancing a PMO. It also explores PMO best practices and illustrates the key business benefits that stem from a highly effective PMO.
SPONSOR(S): Oracle Corporation
TITLE: Project Management Office Best Practices: A step-by-step plan to build and improve your PMO
DESCRIPTION: The road to project portfolio management begins with recognizing the problem and its affect on business improvement. The next step is building the right project management office (PMO) for your company. According to Gartner research, the best-performing PMOs reduce business risk, optimize resources and contribute to business growth through portfolio management tools and best practices.
This white paper serves as a step-by-step guide to establishing or enhancing a PMO. It also explores PMO best practices and illustrates the key business benefits that stem from a highly effective PMO.
SPONSOR(S): Oracle Corporation
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TITLE: Managing the IT Service Lifecycle: The HP Approach
DESCRIPTION: As long as there have been computer systems, and demanding users of computer systems, IT executives have had to deal with the challenges that go with serving multiple masters. Users need timely support for their systems, and business units need complex technology delivered reliably in order to generate revenue or lower costs. Therefore, IT executives’ big challenge continues to be ensuring a secure, reliable IT infrastructure that fully supports and adjusts to an organization’s dynamic business needs in a cost-effective manner. In the past few years, IT executives have increasingly turned to integrated IT service management solutions based on the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and other process standards that allow them to optimize IT service performance and availability while reducing operational costs.
SPONSOR(S): IDC, Hewlett-Packard Company
LINK:
TITLE: Managing the IT Service Lifecycle: The HP Approach
DESCRIPTION: As long as there have been computer systems, and demanding users of computer systems, IT executives have had to deal with the challenges that go with serving multiple masters. Users need timely support for their systems, and business units need complex technology delivered reliably in order to generate revenue or lower costs. Therefore, IT executives’ big challenge continues to be ensuring a secure, reliable IT infrastructure that fully supports and adjusts to an organization’s dynamic business needs in a cost-effective manner. In the past few years, IT executives have increasingly turned to integrated IT service management solutions based on the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and other process standards that allow them to optimize IT service performance and availability while reducing operational costs.
SPONSOR(S): IDC, Hewlett-Packard Company
LINK:
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TITLE: IDC Report on ITIL: How to manage the IT Service Lifecycle
DESCRIPTION: Read this IDC white paper to learn more about IT Infrastructure Library implementation and the ITIL service management lifecycle.
SPONSOR(S): Hewlett-Packard Company
LINK:
TITLE: IDC Report on ITIL: How to manage the IT Service Lifecycle
DESCRIPTION: Read this IDC white paper to learn more about IT Infrastructure Library implementation and the ITIL service management lifecycle.
SPONSOR(S): Hewlett-Packard Company
LINK:
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TITLE: Understanding ITIL® Service Portfolio Management: An Approach For Implementing Effective Service Lifecycle Management
DESCRIPTION: IT executives and their teams need a comprehensive and accurate view of IT services. A service catalog includes all relevant details about your services, including which service level agreements (SLAs) are associated with it, who is able to request it, how much it costs, and how to fulfill it. This paper describes the IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL®) Version 3 (V3) approach to service portfolio management and examines the various components, such as the service catalog.
SPONSOR(S): Business Week, BMC Software
LINK:
TITLE: Understanding ITIL® Service Portfolio Management: An Approach For Implementing Effective Service Lifecycle Management
DESCRIPTION: IT executives and their teams need a comprehensive and accurate view of IT services. A service catalog includes all relevant details about your services, including which service level agreements (SLAs) are associated with it, who is able to request it, how much it costs, and how to fulfill it. This paper describes the IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL®) Version 3 (V3) approach to service portfolio management and examines the various components, such as the service catalog.
SPONSOR(S): Business Week, BMC Software
LINK:
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TITLE: ITSM guidance: ITIL V3 Update (Video)
DESCRIPTION: In an exclusive interview with Sharon Taylor, you'll hear her address the negative user comments about ITIL V3, the improved potential for ROI and the new V3 certification path.
SPONSOR(S): SkillSoft Corporation
LINK:
TITLE: ITSM guidance: ITIL V3 Update (Video)
DESCRIPTION: In an exclusive interview with Sharon Taylor, you'll hear her address the negative user comments about ITIL V3, the improved potential for ROI and the new V3 certification path.
SPONSOR(S): SkillSoft Corporation
LINK:
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TITLE: Taking Network Configuration and Change Management to the Next Level
DESCRIPTION: This E-guide addresses configuration and change management in a partially virtual environment. Topics include: reporting on and managing virtual servers, the effects of physical changes on servers, how to extend change management processes like ITIL to cover the SAN, and handling human problems between the networking, datacenter, and storage teams.
SPONSOR(S): Dorado Software
LINK:
TITLE: Taking Network Configuration and Change Management to the Next Level
DESCRIPTION: This E-guide addresses configuration and change management in a partially virtual environment. Topics include: reporting on and managing virtual servers, the effects of physical changes on servers, how to extend change management processes like ITIL to cover the SAN, and handling human problems between the networking, datacenter, and storage teams.
SPONSOR(S): Dorado Software
LINK:
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