• New Services: On-line Self-Assessment and Capacity Management Audit
• Workshop: Excel for Effective Capacity & Performance Management
• Forthcoming training courses and seminars
• New Article: Capacity Management Assessment: the need for a baseline
• New Presentations: Windows Server 2008, Vista, ITIL and Virtualisation
• Forthcoming Conferences & Exhibitions (Software & Systems Quality, itSMF)

Capacitas have recently launched two new services:

1. A free on-line self-assessment
2. A comprehensive new Capacity Management Audit service (CMA)

Capacity Management Self-Assessment

This is a web-based service that allows the user to answer questions relating to their organisation’s Capacity Management discipline. The user then receives an emailed report presenting the results as a radar diagram comparing the user’s results to the target, average and best previous results so far.

The questions are combined into five categories:

• Interfaces
• Organisation
• Resources
• Capacity Management Infrastructure
• Deliverables and Services

The service has been designed to be an improvement on the ITIL V2 Capacity Management Self-Assessment, which has 58 questions but only yes/no options as answers. The major flaw in the ITIL version is that it does not allow the user to describe the extent to which their practices are compliant with the ITIL practices. This confusion reduces the value in comparing one’s results to other organisations as it is unclear if the same understanding has been reached by each respondent.

The Capacitas Capacity Management Self-Assessment avoids this confusion by asking unambiguous questions that should allow any user to clearly understand how they should answer (assuming of course that they know enough about their own organisation). Furthermore each question has a useful ‘hovering’ help tip to give further advice.

Capacity Management Audit

For customers who need more assistance in bringing their Capacity Management discipline to the target level Capacitas offer a Capacity Management Audit.

This service offers much more than the self-assessment. Capacitas consultants will work on site with the customer’s staff and collect evidence of which activities are carried out and to what extent and quality standard they’re carried out to.

Depending on the customer’s requirements comparisons will be made to:

• Best Practice
• Previously audited customers
• Previously audited customers in the same industry sector
• Previously audited customers with a similar technology mix
• Previous audits of the same customer
• Different levels of process maturity (based on a maturity model)

A score will be calculated for approximately twenty broad categories but the customer can drill down to each category to compare their scores at a detailed level for each individual element. These scores will form a basis for a gap analysis that will focus on the differences between the current status and the target.

Using Microsoft Excel for Effective Capacity & Performance Management

Capacity and performance practitioners traditionally used SAS to undertake analysis and reporting. However, Microsoft Excel is widely available but its capabilities are surprisingly underused, especially its ability to analyse and report on capacity and performance data. This seminar gives practical advice on how to undertake a multitude of tasks using Excel. The workshop is platform independent, using various sources of data in demonstrations, and focuses on providing a value-for-money approach to capacity and performance analytical tools. Topics covered include pivot tables, filtering, batch modelling, surface plots, forecasting functions, automation and charts.

Feedback from attendees of previous events can be found by following this link. This workshop will cost £500+VAT. Those registered on or before 1st August will quality for a discount of £100+VAT. To register please email Excel for Capacity and Performance Workshop, or call 020 7841 7431. More details...

London, UK, Training Centre:

Please click on the above links to review the course descriptions or email us at Capacitas Training. More details...

Programme of half-day Capacitas Seminars

The Performance or Capacity Analyst faces many challenges such as changing business processes, new technology and standards. The Capacitas 2007 seminar programme is designed to provide the Performance and Capacity Analyst with an understanding of important current capacity and performance issues they face. The seminars will be run in central London close to our offices.

Please note: although we previously advertised the seminars would be run in Edinburgh we have been unable to secure sufficient attendees from our Scottish client base to do this. Our apologies to those that had booked the Edinburgh seminars.

Capacitas Seminar Programme 2007

Feedback from attendees of previous events can be found by following this link. All seminars will cost £125+VAT. Those registered a month before the seminar date will quality for a discount of 20% (£25+VAT). To register please email Capacitas Seminars, or to pay by card click here or call 020 7841 7431. More details...

Capacity Management Assessments: The need for a baseline

ITIL, now in version three, recommends a Continual Service Improvement Plan or CSIP for services and processes. The Capacity Management process is one such process that can be strengthened by such a plan. Before any improvements can be made to an existing process or service it is important to understand what the target is and more importantly where one starts from. This article shows two methods that will allow a Capacity Management department to undertake a review of its current status and compare that to its target, other Capacity Management departments, its own previous performance or best practice.

Please see our Research section for a selection of white papers, presentations and articles on various areas of performance assurance and capacity management.

itSMF Seminar on Capacity Management, 11th July, Chester

Paul Seaton-Smith, Principal Consultant at Capacitas presented on Cost-Effective Capacity Modelling: A Real-Life Case Study at the one-day itSMF seminar on Capacity Management, at Craxton Wood Hotel, near Chester.

UKCMG Annual Conference, 25th-27th June, Whittlebury Hall

Capacitas staff gave three presentations and a half-day workshop at the UKCMG 2007 Annual Conference:

• Windows Server 2008 and Vista Performance Monitoring
• Using ITIL to build a successful Capacity Management process
• Application Virtualisation - the future of distributed computing?

Please see our Research section for a selection of white papers, presentations and articles on various areas of performance assurance and capacity management.

Software and Systems Quality Conference, 2nd-3rd October, London

Capacitas will be exhibiting at the Software and Systems Quality Conference on 2nd-3rd October at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. Please come along to our stand (E1) to find out more about our Performance Assurance services and how to add value beyond performance testing.

itSMF Conference and Exhibition 2007, 12th-14th November, Brighton

The itSMF 2007 Annual Conference is being held at the Hilton Metropole in Brighton. Capacitas will be exhibiting at this event and can be found at Stand D15 in the Durham Room. Our staff will be available to discuss performance assurance, ITIL capacity management and other related areas of interest.

Recent customers of Capacitas include: BSkyB, easyJet, JPM Chase, RBS, PITO, BT, John Lewis, Nationwide, DWP, Norwich Union, CapGemini, Unilever, Orange and GlaxoSmithKline. For more details on what some of our customers have to say about us please have a look at our testimonials and training feedback pages.

"After more than five years doing Capacity Planning and attending different courses and conferences, I think the course, "Capacity Planning: Tools and Methods" should be a must for everyone working on this subject. It's the first time I have seen all the terms, ideas and techniques presented in a comprehensive order. Attendees only need a basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel.

It was my first course with Capacitas and, probably, not the last. Next month two colleagues will attend at the same great course." Read more...

Josep Miquel Oliver, la Caixa

If you are interested in learning more about our services please email Enquiries, or call +44 (0) 20 7841 7431.