ITSM forum to be launched

With India gaining prominence in software services, industry
watchers expect Indian services majors to take the lead in creating standards in
delivery of IT infrastructure management services. To initiate steps in this
direction, the Information Technology Service Forum (itSMF) will be set up
shortly.

Dr S Sadagopan, director, International Institute of
Information Technology (IIIT), Bangalore said, "It is time that Indian
companies move up to the next level. They should look at differentiated
offerings with a level of predictability." He added that this would help
them perfect the global delivery model.

"Most companies have internalized their software
development processes through standards like SEI-CMM. If they can use the
similar procedures for IT infrastructure management, we can do much
better," he said.

GS Sridhar, president, Techvoyant, and one of the conveners
of the soon-to-be-launched forum said that around 300 large companies including
major Indian IT services vendors were keen on joining the forum.

The forum would be a not-for-profit organization for industry
professionals and will work on codifying industry best practices. Dr Sadagopan
will be the chairman of the itSMF board. He said that the forum would initiate
educational programs to promote ITSM-Information Technology Infrastructure
Libraries (ITIL). Both Hewlett-Packard and IBM have taken a lead on this front.