What is ITIL (and what it's not!)

-- End Ad Box --->				level and therefore the ROI in ITIL must be deliberately
As a qualified and experienced ITIL Consultant - I'd like				planned and realized
to set the record straight on a few points.				- It's transformational’ change - so that
The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is an excellent set of				means people change roles; people have new ways
best practices, carefully organized and edited to				of working and communicating; the organization begins
provide readers with information and structure for how				to hardwire the voice of the customer into the heart of
to plan, implement, maintain and improve the service				IT/Technology
delivered to an organizations customers.				Some further considerations:-
ITIL is owned by the Office of Government				- It's tough to do; people play politics with their empires;
Commerce (OGC) and is copyright and trademark				people protect their functional silo's; people resist
protected. The IT Service Management Forum (itSMF)				change
is the leading, independent, not for profit, organization				- It takes time; to plan, to design, to build, to test; to 'DO'
that is owned and run by it’s worldwide				Essentially you have to change the 'planes engine
members — to promote and exploit the benfits				whilst the 'plane is still in flight - meaning — YOU
of ITIL.				have to transform the way Technology delivers
Oftentimes, when people first read one of the core				service - without impacting the quality and availability of
ITIL books; ITIL is always classed as common				Service.
sense’ particularly by so called practitioners that				ITIL's all about Service. Not Tools. Not Technology. Not
say to themselves, "yeah, we do that already —				Process. In my opinion, they are just by-products of
so what?"				what the end goal is.
Well guess what. It IS common sense - but				[Incidently - there's NO such thing as an ITIL compliant
unfortunately it is found all to UNCOMMONLY.				tool. ITIL is a set of best practices - not a 'standard'
At the heart of ITIL are a set of processes and				that can be complied to. Vendors always incorrectly
procedures that any organization can review,				say their tool is 'compliant'. Gartner agrees with me on
customize and configure to their own content. These				this.]
have been written and enhanced over 15 years from				ITIL makes you think deeply about who's doing what,
a variety of ITIL/Service/Process experts. This is the				when, how, with what tools, how well are they doing,
whole point of ITIL — it’s a best practice				could they do better, how does the customer perceive
starting point — to be considered, re-worked				us... these are just some of the constant questions that
and carefully implemented into an organization to				are raised EVERYDAY when you are implementing
match that businesses needs. No verbatum,				and running an ITIL based Organization.
to-the-letter-of-the-book, style implementation will				These are the RIGHT questions for IT Service
ultimately be more than 50% effective for any				Success!!
organization. Every place is different. Every Business is				The benefits of ITIL are many - but here are a few of
different. Every customer is different.				commonly reported ones:-
Over the last ten years, many thousands of IT Service				- ITIL breaks down functional silo's, gets people and
professionals have provided feedback and helped to				information flowing; gets people talking; all for the
enhance the core OGC ITIL texts - so you can rest				benefit of the Customer (service recipient).
assured that it is THE #1 place to start when				- ITIL helps to re-organize IT/Technology to be
implementing strategic IT Service Management.				Customer focussed. The roles, responsibilities,
Moreover, recently, ISO20000 has been fast				information and reporting requirements all converge to
tracked’ through the International Standards				push meaningful and timely information towards the
Committee to become the worldwide standard for IT				right Customer interfaces.
Service Management. A lot of ISO20000 requires key				- ITIL makes people think from a Service perspective;
aspects of ITIL to be implemented, namely IT Service				not a technology silo perspective.
Support and IT Service Delivery processes. Note:				- ITIL reduces costs and helps with automation to
ISO20000 does NOT specify that ITIL is a pre-requisite				further reduce cost. ITIL also lets you do more with
for certification — but it is the logical starting				less over time - avoiding future staffing cost increases.
place for best practice adoption.				- ITIL can be rolled out in 'groupings' of best practice to
A few home truths about ITIL - having observed its				achieve organizational 'quick wins'
implementation in various guises into many clients over				- ITIL should be fun. A way of doing things around here
the last 10 years:-				with people fully involved and included in key decisions.
- It requires investment in time, effort and				It boils down to this...
people’s energy — therefore				Will the person sitting on a seat do the right thing at the
there’s a cost				right time at the lowest possible cost - in order to play
- It requires capable and experienced people —				their part in delivering the service that the customer
people who are ITIL foundation and ITIL managers				pays for - keep on doing it right first time - and
certified				improve things where-ever possible?
- It requires a transformation programme to own and				Holy Grail?
guide the effort of many smaller, but still significant				No.
projects.				Already being achieved?
- It requires active, senior buy-in. No buy-in — no				Absolutely! In lot's of different companies around the
ITIL. It’s that harsh.				world. ITIL's been around for years!!
- It therefore requires to be understood at a senior