Dear Bob ...I just inherited a team of folks that run a rather large financial notification system for a couple of big players. These is strictly an operations team. No development work.Where do I find out what "mainframe discipline" is and how to instill it in the team? We seem to have a lot of cowboy activity going on here and our customer is concerned (as am I).It seems that discipline is in enforcing standar Dear Bob …I just inherited a team of folks that run a rather large financial notification system for a couple of big players. These is strictly an operations team. No development work.Where do I find out what “mainframe discipline” is and how to instill it in the team? We seem to have a lot of cowboy activity going on here and our customer is concerned (as am I). It seems that discipline is in enforcing standards related to:* Production Acceptance* Change Control * Problem ResolutionIs this the case and if so, where can I find out how to do this the right way?– Fencing in the cowpokes Dear Fencing …Several thoughts on the subject:* While I’d stop short of calling it the “right way,” ITIL (it stands for “Information Technology Infrastructure Library” if anyone cares) defines accepted practice for these processes (and other data center/operations processes as well). The relevant section is titled “ITC Infrastructure Management,” ITC standing for “Information Technology and Communications.” It certainly provides a framework and guidelines. If you’re willing to spend enough, it supposedly includes actual process flows as well. I don’t know for sure since I’ve never been willing to spend enough to find out. * ITIL doesn’t include any assessment of compliance or conformance. The CobiT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology, and no, I can’t explain the strange capitalization) IT audit framework does. “Here’s what we have to do if we want to pass an IT audit,” is a pretty strong message to an operations team. * ITIL and CobiT will provide guidance for your processes. As with most “best” practices, they are pretty good practices for Fortune 1000 companies. Your mileage may vary. Use them as a starting point, not as unquestioned gospel.* No matter how you go about this, don’t start with the processes and procedures anyway. First create a process culture – a thought process instilled in your staff that for tasks they perform on a regular bases there should be a standard way of doing them, and a standard way of reviewing and improving them. If you don’t create the culture, everyone will ignore the processes as “just a bunch of bureaucracy.” And while it might sound self-serving, think about bringing in outside help. Especially since you sound unclear about the specifics, short-term hired expertise can be very helpful in jumpstarting a program like this and getting it headed in the right direction. (Well, okay, it sounded self-serving because it is self-serving. It’s still a good idea, even if you call one of our competitors.)– Bob Technology Industry