MMS 2010-> The European Volcanic route to Microsoft System Center Service Manager

This year’s event promised to be the best of all MMS due to the number of product releases and the opportunity to experience delivery of the vision from MMS 2008.

In this blog I will share

• How I finally made it to Las Vegas following the Volcanic eruption in Iceland
• Service Manager 2010 updates and what it means to organizations

How I made it to Las Vegas:

• Originally scheduled to fly out of London Heathrow Saturday 17^th April
• Flight cancelled – no way to leave the UK
• Sunday Night caught the ferry to Dublin (Ireland) – All flights cancelled. Met our guide to Dublin on the train (Amy – thank you for all your assistance and yes we are still going to Vegas)
• Monday news flash – Full schedule of flights announced for Tuesday
• Tuesday – checked out of the Arlington Hotel (the one on Dame street)
• All flights cancelled – checked back into the same hotel different room lower volcanic rate
• Wednesday in our favourite coffee spot in Dublin – news flash flights available from London Heathrow
• Secured flight for Las Vegas on British Airways – scheduled for Thursday to Las Vegas (gets to Las Vegas for 18:50 local – I might make the closing party)
• Back on the ferry to the UK Wednesday night, scheduled to arrive in Holyhead (technically Wales) at 00:20 Thursday.
• Quick detour via Worcester to freshen up for the flight. Train to Paddington and then Heathrow
• Made the Party in Vegas with an extra bonus!!!
• Checked into Bob Muglia’s suite at the Palazzo for one night – What a view!! (49^th floor this room rocks thank you Stephanie!!!)
• Now time for some geek stuff — Something about this Service Manager thing…..

Service Manager Updates:

My number one objective for this year’s MMS 2010 was to attend Service Manager Deep Dive session on April 23^rd.

The latest entry in the System Center suite, System Center Service Manager 2010 , went RTM on 23rd April 2010. I believe Service Manager delivers on the service enabled, process led and user focused story of the dynamic IT initiative. As a platform for integration, organizations with investments in Active Directory, SCCM and or Operations Manager gain an immediate business benefit by leveraging the configuration items provided by these investments to create a unified view of these investments.

Key takeaways from the Service Manager session

• Step away from the tools – Focus on getting the organizations processes aligned to ITIL and MOF
• Know your IT Service Management Goals
• Organization wide coverage – Requires buy in from all stakeholders including your prime customers – End users
• Business driven approach to implementation – “this is an enabling technology not a process creator/enforcer”

I am playing catch up with the sessions delivered during the week of MMS due to the Volcanic eruption. I fulfilled my goal of attending MMS this year; well I made the after party.

The Service Manager Deep dive session was worth the trip and I believe it is not about arriving at the destination but how well you travel. The Service Manager journey has began!!!