ITIL is a set of best practices books for building a robust framework in IT service delivery. […]
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What is ITIL? The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is an IT service management (ITSM) framework that describes best practices for the delivery of IT services. ITIL's systematic approach to IT service management can help organizations manage risk, strengthen customer relationships, implement cost-effective practices, and build a resilient IT environment that supports growth, scaling and change.
ITIL has been revised several times throughout its history and currently comprises five books, each covering different processes and phases of the IT service lifecycle. The books provide recommendations and a framework that can help organizations standardize their service management processes. ITIL promises to reduce the cost of IT operations, improve productivity and employee satisfaction, and manage risk, outages, and disruptions across the enterprise.
The aim of ITIL is to create predictable IT environments and to offer customers and clients the best possible service by streamlining processes and identifying opportunities to increase efficiency. ITIL has always focused on integrating IT with the business – something that is becoming increasingly important as technology becomes an essential aspect of every business unit. ITIL 4, the latest version of the ITIL framework, maintains the original focus, with a greater focus on fostering an agile and flexible IT department.
What does the ITIL include?
ITIL has gone through several revisions in its history. ITIL's original 30 books were reduced to seven books in 2000 (when ITIL V2 was introduced), each dealing with a facet of IT management. Later, as part of the ITIL Refresh Project in 2007, ITIL was consolidated into five volumes with 26 processes and functions – this is referred to as ITIL 2007 Edition. In 2011 another update – called ITIL 2011 – was published under the direction of the Cabinet Office. The five volumes were retained, and ITIL 2007 and ITIL 2011 remained similar.
ITIL 4, released in 2019, puts the same focus on automating processes, improving service management and integrating the IT department into the business. But it also updates the framework to reflect and respond to modern technologies, tools, and software. Since ITIL was last updated, the IT department has become an integral part of every business and the new framework reflects this by being more agile, flexible and collaborative.
What are the basic principles of ITIL 4?
ITIL 4 contains seven guiding principles, adapted from the last ITIL Practitioner exam, which addresses organizational change management, communication, and measurement and metrics. These principles include:
Focus on adding valueStart where you areIterative progress with feedbackCollaborate and drive visibilityThink and work holisticallyKeep simple and practicalOptimize and automate
ITIL 4 focuses on corporate culture and the integration of IT into the overall business structure. It encourages collaboration between IT and other departments as other business units increasingly rely on technology to get their jobs done. Another focus is on customer feedback, as it is now easier than ever for businesses to understand their public perceptions and customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
How do I put ITIL into practice?
ITIL is a collection of e-books, but a mere binge reading will not improve your IT operations. To implement ITIL effectively, you need to get everyone involved to adopt the new procedures and best practices. Also, consider what type of counseling, training, and certification you would like to use to prepare for the transition.
Since the early 1990s, certifications have been managed by two independent organizations: EXIN and ISEB, depending on your location. At the end of 2006, the two organizations merged to promote IT service management.
Before introducing ITIL in your company, you should answer a few questions, e.g. B. what problems your company is trying to solve and what path you want to take for continuous service improvement.
What is an ITIL certification and is it worth it?
The ITIL 4 certification scheme includes the ITIL Foundation and ITIL Master exams. After passing the ITIL Foundation exam, the certification scheme splits into two tracks with the option of ITIL Managing Professional (MP) or ITIL Strategic Leader (SL) certification, each with their own modules and exams. Those who complete both paths qualify for the ITIL Master, the highest level of certification.
The ITIL Managing Professional (MP) exam is designed for IT practitioners who are involved with technology and digital teams not just in the IT department, but across the organization. In this way, professionals learn everything they need to know about the successful implementation of IT projects, teams and workflows.
Modules include:ITIL Specialist – Build, Deploy and SupportITIL Specialist – Add Value to StakeholdersITIL Specialist – High Speed ITITIL Strategist – Lead, Plan and Improve
The ITIL Strategic Leader (SL) exam is designed for those dealing with “all digitized services” and not just those that fall under IT operations. This course focuses on how technology drives business strategy and how IT plays a role in it.
Modules include:ITIL Strategist – Lead, Plan and ImproveITIL Leader – Digital and IT Strategy
How does ITIL help companies?
A well-run IT organization that manages risk and keeps infrastructure running not only saves money, but enables everyone in the organization to do their jobs more effectively. Brokerage firm Pershing, for example, reduced incident response time by 50% in the first year after restructuring their service desk to conform with ITIL guidelines, allowing users to get back to work much faster when problems arise.
ITIL offers a systematic and professional approach to managing IT service delivery and offers the following benefits:
Reduced IT costsImproved IT services through proven best practicesIncreased customer satisfaction through a more professional approach to service deliveryStandards and guidelinesImproved productivityImproved use of skills and experienceImproved delivery of third party services by adopting ITIL or BS15000 as the standard for service delivery in procurement of services
How much does ITIL cost?
To get started you need to purchase ITIL directly from Axelos either in hard copy, PDF, ePub or via an online subscription. Then there is the cost of the training, which varies from year to year. The course leading to the first Foundation certification typically takes two days, and courses leading to higher certifications can take a week or more.
Add to that the inevitable expense of redesigning some processes to conform to ITIL guidelines and customizing helpdesk or other software to capture the information you need for tracking and metrics.
The History of ITIL
In April 2001, the CCTA was merged with several other agencies into the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), now known as the Cabinet Office. The OGC took on the project as part of its mission to work with the UK public sector as a catalyst to achieve efficiencies, value for money in commercial activities and greater success in program and project delivery.
The goal was not to develop a proprietary product that could be marketed commercially. Rather, best practices should be collected to address the government's increasing reliance on IT coupled with a lack of standard practices that drove up costs and allowed for errors. It quickly became clear that the dissemination of these best practices would benefit both public and private organizations.
Over the years, the credibility and usefulness of ITIL has been recognized and in 2005 ITIL practices contributed to the ISO/IEC 20000 Service Management standard, the first international standard for IT service management to be based on the UK Standard BS15000 based.
Since 2013, ITIL has been owned by Axelos – a joint venture between Cabinet Office and Capita. Axelos licenses companies to use the ITIL framework and manages updates and process changes. However, companies do not need a license for internal use of ITIL. ITIL v3 was released under the Cabinet Office in 2011, bringing updates to the version released under OGC in 2007.
In 2018, Axelos announced ITIL 4 – a major overhaul of the entire framework and the biggest change since the release of ITIL v3 in 2007. ITIL 4, launched in Q1 2019, offers a more agile, flexible and customizable version of ITIL , which has been updated for modern businesses. The latest version encourages fewer silos, more collaboration, communication across the enterprise, and the integration of Agile and DevOps into ITSM strategies.
*Sarah K. White writes for CIO.com. There she primarily takes care of all topics related to IT careers and healthcare IT. Her previous professional positions included working for the B2C platform TechnologyGuide and the job portal Monster.com.
