V6? Did I miss something you may be asking yourself…? Okay, so it went from origination to version 2 (V2), then version 3 (V3), and now it’s known as ITIL 2011, but on the IT Service Management superhighway, ITIL really is still king of the road.
Since 2011 (ITIL’s latest release), it’s true that we have seen a landscape of incredible change in information and technology. The increasing pervasiveness of information technology into our modern lives - business, personal and social - is self-evident. But it’s not exactly a case of being forced upon us, supply driven. What we are seeing all around us every day is symptomatic of the exponentially growing demand from users and customers the world over. The demand for information has never been greater, people want all the information they need or desire, whenever and wherever they want it, accessible from their device of choice to boot! Whatever that may be…
Boom, suddenly there’s a plethora of IT services available and delivered from the cloud, as the thirsty ever-mobile ‘consumers’ demand better, cheaper, faster. Employee ‘John’ no longer goes into the office five days a week but one. Nowadays he’s a mobile worker, from home, the train, the plane and yes… you guessed it – the automobile. He uses an impressive array of technologies and devices primarily dependent on his locale – he’s got a PC, a laptop, a tablet, a smart phone… not to mention he’s cottoned on to BYOD, and what about his company Magic Manufacturing and Development? With best of breed applications in the office, an ERP in the cloud, a technology eclectic workforce, and customers scattered to all corners of the earth. Did I mention they’re a global company requiring 24 x 7 IT support delivered using ‘follow-the-sun’ … I could go on. Yes, it is after all the 21st century.
To keep pace in this new millennium, IT Service Management needs to be more than efficient and effective, it needs to be… supercharged, enabling and empowering competitive advantage for the organization of today. Sound like a challenge? If you haven’t already, it may be time you brought out V6!
ITIL has been the dominant force in IT Service Management for as long as I can remember, and can comfortably lay claim to being the most widely accepted and in use approach to IT service management in the world. Being ‘everything’ agnostic, ITIL is there for your business, no matter what type of organization it is or industry vertical it operates in, how big or small it is, or when, where and how its IT services are delivered. Whether you are looking to develop your IT Service Management into a strategic asset for the organization, introduce a Service Desk function, or simply improve the provision of your existing IT Services for now, look no further than ITIL 2011.
ITIL is an integrated solution for the full service lifecycle management of any and all IT Services, a truly best practice framework, drawn from both the public and private sectors of an extensive global pool. It describes how IT resources should be organized to deliver business value, documenting the processes, functions and roles of IT Service Management. In addition to the comprehensive documented framework material which is available, ITIL is supported by an industry recognized, international qualifications scheme, accredited training organizations, and implementation and assessment tools – all to help get your IT Service Management firing on all cylinders.
Your organization is probably like any other (machine), sharing a common thirst for exactly what ITIL can bring to the table:
- - Delivering value for customers through services
- - Integrating business and service strategies
- - Monitoring, Measuring and optimizing service provider performance
- - Improving the relationship with customers
- - Reducing costs…
ITIL 2011 is indeed well spec’d, defining and providing comprehensive guidance on the IT service management lifecycle. Beginning with the identification of customer needs and drivers of IT requirements, through to the design and implementation of the service and finally, the monitoring and ongoing improvement phase of the service. ITIL’s service lifecycle comprises five key phases to empower your enterprise with a supercharged IT Service Management engine:
- Service Strategy – where the focus is on how to design, develop and implement service management as a strategic asset, essentially marrying services to business outcomes and customer demand
- Service Design – where the focus is on designing and developing high quality, cost effective services and service management processes
- Service Transition – where the focus is on the development and improvement of capabilities necessary to transition new and or changed services into operations
- Service Operations – where the focus is on ensuring value is realized for the customer by achieving effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery and support of services
- Continual Service Improvement – where the focus is on sustaining the creation and maintenance of customer value through better design, introduction and operation of services and improvements & enhancements to them
So yes, it’s 2015 and the market is more competitive and dynamic than ever before, and the information technology landscape is in a constant state of evolution. But even today in this millennium, I don’t think there is any question that ITIL is (still) the globe’s most widely accepted and adopted approach to IT service management – and for good reason. By aligning to the needs of the business and supporting its core processes, and providing best practice guidance, ITIL delivers a powerful vehicle to help individuals and organizations utilize IT to realize business change, transformation and growth. They say it’s what’s under the hood that counts, and even though it may only be called ITIL 2011, in my opinion it’s a V6 all the way! So if you’re interested in supercharging the IT Service Management in your organization, why not test drive the very best, you may well find its capabilities exceed your expectations!
Additional reading available at https://www.axelos.com/itil