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no surveillance devices

So you’ve heard all about Google Glass, how amazing it is, and how you should think “wow this is awesome!” and want to get a pair for Christmas (as long as the price comes down a bit…).

From a privacy perspective, Google Glass scares the hell out of me! It’s not that the person wearing the glasses chooses to share their entire life with Google (if that’s what floats your boat, then go for it!), it’s the fact that they’re sharing stuff about other people with Google, and most of the time this will be without their consent. I may bump into you in the shop, and because you’re wearing your Google Glass, Google now knows which shops I like to buy my socks from. Cue more relentless ‘personalised’ advertising for me, and more money for Google. I’m not in control of my information at this point, and that’s what frightens me.

The good news is, from an ITSM perspective I really don’t think Google Glass is going to be causing us any headaches any time soon (the only headaches will be for the people who wear them, if the early reviews are correct!). There is already a backlash of shops and businesses in the US pre-emptively banning the use of Google Glass on their premises. You think your workforce will be wearing Google Glass in the office, meetings, or boardroom? Sharing everything that goes on in your company with Google? I doubt that’s ever going to happen – do you?

So if you’re like me and fear for the loss of control of your information and privacy, or you simply don’t want your already difficult job as an IT Manager getting any more difficult, rest easy – I don’t think Google Glass will be on your list of supported hardware any time soon!

(Image courtesy of Stop The Cyborgs)

The common myth with a lot of IT Service Management people is that DevOps is simply a case of letting Developers go wild on the production systems, with no change control or testing or anything! Furthermore, most ITSM peeps think that this anarchistic version of DevOps is exactly what Developers want! It means they [...]

Here are the slides for the presentation entitled “Social IT Support can Compliment your Service Desk” (presented by Maff at the Service Desk and IT Support Show 24th April 2012): Social IT Support can Compliment your Service Desk View more presentations here.

Many organisations struggle when it comes to understanding IT Support Management. When done correctly it’s a business enabler, yet when it’s done badly then IT Support is regarded as painful and costly. Whether your IT Support is outsourced or you manage it in-house, you should still understand the basics, which I’ve outlined below! Prioritisation [...]

Incident Management is an extremely important function for any business. It is highly reactive by its nature, which means if you’re involved in it, you don’t always have time to stop and review how you’re doing. Here are a few pointers to help ensure you’re not neglecting some of the critical areas of Incident [...]

What is the difference between an IT Helpdesk and IT Service Desk?

No it’s not a bad joke (though I’m sure some people would disagree) – there is a difference between the two, and this often leads to confusion. Here’s my take on the two descriptions: First off – whether you’re talking about a Helpdesk OR a Service Desk, remember these are both business functions and not [...]

There’s lots of talk about Social IT, and like ‘cloud’ or ‘SaaS’ before it, the term itself is in danger of becoming confused, misunderstood, and misused! That would be a great shame, because I believe Social IT is transforming how we work in ways we never imagined possible only a few years ago! So [...]

How Social Media is turning IT Service Management on its head

Here are the slides from the session I presented yesterday at the itSMF UK conference. During this presentation I looked at the concepts that have emerged through Social Media over the past 15 years, and how we can apply these to improve IT Service Management. How Social Media is turning IT Service Management on [...]

Maff being interviewed by Barclay Rae for ITSM TV

I spent an interesting hour talking with Barclay Rae at the beginning of October about IT Service Management, and in particular how Social Media is impacting current practises and toolsets. Barclay is a really nice guy, and a very experienced ITSM consultant (check out www.barclayrae.com for more info). Here’s some of the highlights of our interview: [...]

IT Service Management software – then and now...

I remember my first IT Support system – Outlook Express. It was an awesome piece of software – you received emails from people, and then replied to them too. It could cope easily with the 5 or so support emails I would get every day; it didn’t require a server, configuration, and technical consultancy [...]

Why you won’t see Google Glass in the office any time soon…

Do developers actually want DevOps?

IT Support Management Basics

Incident Management Basics

What is the difference between an IT Helpdesk and IT Service Desk?

IT Service Management software – then and now…