Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

March 2022

How to use ITAM to support your IT support game

Historically IT asset management (ITAM) is the practice that was forgotten about by IT service management (ITSM) practitioners because it wasn’t considered a “core” ITIL process. This changed with the publication of ITIL 4, and now ITAM sits firmly in the ITIL management practice section of the service value stream. Done well, ITAM can help organizations to manage, control and support their IT services.

Chrome zero-day: find devices with vulnerabilities across your inventory

If you’re an asset manager or an application administrator, you must have had - or are about to have - a lot of work since there’s a new Chrome zero-day vulnerability in the wild. Google issued an emergency security update due to the severity of exploit CVE-2022-1096. A few days later, Microsoft joined the recommendation, advising Chromium Edge users to update their browsers as well.

Chrome Zero Day: Find vulnerable devices for patching

Google issued an emergency security update due to the severity of exploit CVE-2022-1096. A few days later, Microsoft joined the recommendation, advising Chromium Edge users to update their browsers as well. Therefore, if you haven’t already, you should check your browser details to check if it’s updated to version 99.0.4844.84 of Chrome or version 99.0.1150.55 or higher of Edge. Matt Beran shows you how you can find vulnerable devices across your inventory for proactive patching using InvGate Insight.

How to Use Automation to Streamline IT Support

Though change is not a new concept in IT -- one might say it is intrinsic to the very nature of it -- the rate of change has accelerated dramatically over the last few years. We’ve recognized that people are everything and that we need to use technology to do more of the heavy lifting. This blog will look at how to automate customer service, streamlining IT support and improving your organization’s overall service delivery.

What to Look For in Configuration and Change Management Tools?

In an industry already loaded with jargon, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. If you've never heard of Configuration and Change Management (CCM), you might be wondering: Is it the same as run-of-the-mill change management? Is it a combination of the dual concepts of change management and configuration management? A new, third thing entirely? Our guide will help you navigate these troubled waters with ease.

Swarming, Scrum, and How They Can Benefit Your Organization

Project management is hard. Even if you arm yourself with the best team and the best resources, unexpected issues may arise creating delays or other bottlenecks. In fact, according to a 2021 report, the role of project managers is so stressful that 37% of them have considered leaving their jobs. The good news is that, over the decades, the industry has developed frameworks to consistently deliver projects without exceeding the resources or missing the deadlines.

The Best ITSM Blogs You Should Be Following

With so much information that’s repurposed, repackaged, and frankly, not worth even a passing glance, it makes sense to be a bit cynical when it comes to blog content. When everybody seems to be doing the same thing, originality and good writing are rare features that should be celebrated. Since we’re content snobs ourselves, we thought we’d share our take on the 10 best ITSM blogs with you.

Asset Inventory Management Tips & Best Practices

There are many aspects to keeping your IT house in order. And IT asset inventory management is just one of the many heads of this ever-shifting hydra. It’s also one of those practices that managers may sometimes gloss over in their effort to go after “the big issues.” In this guide, we’ll clue you into some best practices that you absolutely have to take into account to run things smoothly.

5 Steps to Creating an ITIL Maintenance Plan

It was Einstein who once said “the secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” The world of IT isn’t exactly known for being a creator’s paradise but navigating obstacles within problem management or incident management may take creative solutions. Regardless, it helps to borrow ideas, or in this case systems. One such popular system in IT service management is ITIL.

CMDB Benefits for Service Delivery Across Your Organization

A configuration management database or CMDB can be a game changer in terms of service delivery. Done well, a CMDB benefits incident resolution, speeds up request fulfillment and makes change assessment safer. Implementing a CMDB is a significant task and it’s something that many IT departments struggle with. It’s very easy to make things complicated or difficult to maintain.

Metrics for Problem and Incident Report Managers

Many IT professionals are familiar with the popular metrics and measures of IT operational success. Such metrics as Customer Satisfaction, Average Handle Time and First Contact Resolution are typically memorized by service desk managers and stored for quick reference during planning and other types of meetings. But how do we measure the effectiveness of the processes that support those teams?

What Are the ITIL Change Categories?

ITIL is widely considered the gold standard when it comes to IT Service Management (ITSM) best practices and some of the most successful companies in the business have been using it and its multiple iterations over the years. Though we won’t go into detail as to what ITIL is (we’ve got a Definitive ITIL Guide for those who want a complete rundown), it could be quickly defined as a set of suggestions, best practices, and different approaches of how to do ITSM.