Enterprise Digital - the podcast Barclay Rae and Ian Aitchison

This episode picks up on the debate that was started at the recent HDI conference between Charlie Araujo and Ken Gonzales. This looked at the existential proposition about the future and existence of the ‘ITSM’ industry…!? Are we just talking about words and definitions? The various Industry elements of ITSM are gradually disappearing – does this even matter? We agree that the functions and needs for core elements of Service Management will not disappear, but is there really a coherent industry? Charlie Araujo is an industry analyst, writer, podcaster and commentator, and author of The Quantum Age of IT. This is a brilliant must-hear conversation..!

We revisit the discussion on the future life or death of the Service Desk – after getting a lot of feedback from the session in Episode 84. What will survive? There’s some stuff about predictive AI and also the need for human contact. We also do a short pre-SITS preview, with some surprising results about ESM and key topics…

Ian and Barclay discuss the current status of ESM – the original inspiration for the podcast. Is this still a viable and living ‘ology’? We focus on the original definitions that we discussed and look at whether or not these are applicable now and whether ESM is alive or dead? We look at the reality of what is in use around this area and also whether our own taxonomy and definitions really reflect this.  There’s also some clarity on the relative standing of ESM and ITSM. We also include some discussion about recent and upcoming events.

This session includes a detailed discussion of some of the ethical questions and impact associated with AI. Can we ascribe ethics to AI technology? Or is are these issues a further exposure of human frailty and ethical behaviour? Does the AI have a conscience and moral compass, or is it just a mirror to us as humans? This is the 3rd of the Entdig AI series, and we use a variety of experience and knowledge to tray and wrestle with these philosophical questions. We also talk about trains…

This week we discuss and explore the Service management and AI ‘Elephant in the room’. We hear a lot of very practical and senior discussions around the future of the Service Desk – do we really need this function if we can automate out the work? What are the implications, how realistic is this? What does this mean for the IT career path if Service Desk is an entry point? How do we continue to manage relationships with users? We discuss all the options including the ‘progressive’ service desk. Needless to say, although we have some differing view on this, we also have a lot o agreement… Well maybe. Is it inevitable, or should we be careful what we wish for..??!!

Our guest is industry analyst Eveline Oehrlich – who has significant analyst experience in previous roles with Forrester, RIA, DevOps institute and Peoplecert. We discuss and debate where the analysts fit in in the development of thought leadership, data and direction. The discussion also focuses on printed burgers, analyst relations, and how we need more flexible understanding and knowledge of how to make tools and frameworks work for us - i.e. how to ‘slice the tomato’ according to the type of cuisine… Listen in for more insight and a great discussion.