This year’s Service Desk & IT Support Show (SDITS) features a huge education programme, with visitors given free insight from the top ITSM practitioners and experts.  This year, the event will also allow visitors to decide topics for two of the mostly hotly anticipated round table debates. Welcome to Back2ITSM.

One of the key tenets of Back2ITSM, the concept introduced by Stephen Mann last summer, is collaborative problem solving.  The thinking goes that most best practice is currently delivered as a one-way communication, with the ‘teacher’ – whether it be a book, a trainer, or a qualification – giving ideas, processes and examples to the ‘student’ who then applies it to their work.

The historical way of learning within ITSM is flawed because too much of the material is generated by the ‘teachers’, who deliver material they believe their audience needs.  Back2ITSM is designed to break the tradition by asking the practitioners what they really need, and for the ‘teachers’ to become equals as both parties combine their intelligence to fix issues.  Therefore, rather than pushing a definitive ‘solution’, best practice becomes a fluid, two-way communication process in which both practitioners and experts challenge each other, suggesting solutions for common problems by considering its true value in the real world, rather than the pedigree of the person that made it available.

Stephen and his colleagues on ITSMWPROW have already surveyed the community and are working on materials to answer some of the most requested problems, but as Pat Bolger from Hornbill explained to ServiceDesk360, this is simply to get the ball rolling.  “We want to create some solid examples of the kind of work that Back2ITSM can provide, but I want to stress it’s not about us producing content or gurus pontificating.  The materials we are working on are designed to start the dialogue and help people understand what we are trying to do.  The aim of Back2ITSM is simple: get vendors, practitioners, trainers and consultants working together to find solutions to ITSM challenges.  This may manifest as a paper, a case study, a process, or perhaps just even a conversation between two people – as long as it gets results.”

This is where you come in.  ServiceDesk360 readers have been invited to suggest topics, either via the comment section below this article, or through Twitter (send topics to either @servicedesk360 or @SDITS, using #SDITS12).  The most popular topics will be chosen for two of the Hot Topic round table discussions at SDITS12.

You may already have a subject in mind, perhaps an important ITSM issue which you feel is often overlooked, or an issue specific to your business.  Alternatively, take a look at the SDITS12 seminar programme to see some of the key issues already being covered; you might feel that some of the really hot issues (mobile, social, SaaS) need the Back2ITSM touch or other areas that need expanding upon.  Or you might want to take part in a live discussion about the three topics that Back2ITSM is already working on – metrics – what should be measured; incident categorisation and structuring; and service catalogue – what’s the best place to start?

Ultimately, the choice of round tables will be driven by what you and your peers want to see, so make sure you get involved or make sure you tell us your views.