IT Services Are Dead – Long Live IT Services 2.0!

Back in March 2004 I was pleased to be invited to give a talk at the UCISA Mangament Conference on “What Can Internet Technologies Offer?“ in which I introduced a raft of collaborative and communications technologies which are now referred to as Web 2.0 to about 350 senior managers in IT Service departments. Two years later I was invited back and I gave a talk on “IT Services: Help Or Hindrance? ” in which I argued that IT Services needed to actively engage in providing access to services such as blogs and wikis, otherwise there would be a danger that central services would be marginalised.

I’m pleased to say that IT Service directors seem to like my talks as I’ve been invited back again this year to speak at the UCISA 2008 Management Conference. The title of this year’s talk is Digital Natives Run by Digital Immigrants: IT Services are Dead, Long Live IT Services 2.0!” and the talk will be given on 13 March 2008. Unfortunately I have another meeting already arranged  for that date – but rather than this being a problem I regard it as a useful opportunity to make use of another set of technologies and approaches to presenting. So I have prepared the initial draft of my slides, and have made it available as a Slidecast (i.e. with an accompanying audio track) on Slideshare.

This 15 minute presentation only provides a high-level view of my thoughts on why IT Service departments need to engage with use of third party services. But I’m pleased to say that Andy Powell will be a co-presenter and will be attending in person. Andy will be giving his views on the implications of Web 2.0 on IT Service departments,  and will be able to respond to questions form the audience.

But rather than my talk simply being presented on the day, in the spirit of openness which I write about recently in the context of open science, I would like to invite comments on my talk in advance of the conference, which Andy may be able to integrate in his presentation. And, as an article on Technology Populism: Risks & Rewards points out, there can be risks to the organisation when users circumvent IT Service departments.