Introducing Dave Van Herpen, Independent Agile, Lean & DevOps change consultant, coach, advisor, improver, speaker, facilitator and trainer.
Learn a bit more about Dave before he takes to the stage at SITS Netherlands to deliver the session ‘SIAM, a letter from the future‘.
How did you get into the profession?
I first got in touch with IT at the end of the 90s, where I started in software development in e-commerce environments. Then moving to service operations and support work, doing business process analysis, I started doing product and service management assignments and moved into improvement and change initiatives along the way.
Now, since 2008, I have been mostly doing organizational change, working with teams and leadership, helping them to achieve higher performing ecosystems.
In all these change assignments, I tend to apply my broad business and IT experience, using end-to-end perspectives on the full product and service lifecycles and value streams, from customers to suppliers, from strategy to execution, from people to process to technology.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
It’s the diversity, really. In my 25 years of consultancy work, I have had the privilege to deal with fascinating team dynamics, complex ecosystems, and organizational change initiatives where context is always king.
Never a dull moment. Whether it is a management team struggling with strategic coherence or effective collaboration, or it’s a set of teams striving for (aligned) autonomy, the real solutions to their problems are always different.
This provides me with a continuous learning journey, as well as my clients. I have learned that, in any complex environment, one size never fits all.
What’s your most memorable work moment?
One of the most interesting moments I had in my work, was when a utility company asked me to help them get rid of their release weekends. They were tired of the “cake on Monday for yet another successful release weekend”, neglecting all the hours of (weekend) work put in by IT professionals during those weekends, time they could not spend with their families and friends.
Even people from IT have a life, they came to realize. Instead of rewarding the old behaviors and sustaining risk theatre, this company wanted to know which steps would make it possible for them to actually do the releases during the week.
Of course, this took quite some architecture, cloud and platform work, test automation, and not the least, expectation management in the business.
But the huge value this gave to the IT professionals, attending to their personal well-being, was something to remember forever.
What are the key points you’ll be covering in your seminar session at this year’s SITS NL?
I will be uncovering the future of Service Integration and Management (SIAM), where agility, lean thinking, and DevOps principles reshape how organizations manage complex vendor ecosystems.
I will show how modern ways of working enable flow, collaboration, and continuous value delivery across internal and external teams.
I’ll share examples of modern SIAM through collaborative ecosystems and behaviors. And practical insights for evolving beyond traditional control-based models.
As key takeaways, the attendees will learn how SIAM enables agility and how agility enables SIAM, with innovative strategies and practical instruments.
Next to this session, I will also be facilitating the keynote panel session on AI as well. I have the opportunity to ask some of the brightest minds from the ITSM and AI industries about their visions and practical guidance on AI, particularly on the skills we should develop to fully utilize AI’s current and future potential.
What are you looking forward most at SITS NL?
During my 15+ years of co-organizing the (back in the days) itSMF-NL annual conferences, Service Manager Dag and srvision events, I have heard so many great things about the SITS events in the UK.
I am looking forward to seeing this event now coming to Utrecht, with hopefully the same level of interaction, networking and practical content.
And to seeing old friends and meeting new ones, while being triggered by practical use cases and inspiring visions.