What is ITIL?

To many, Service Management is synonymous with ‘ITIL®’, the Information Technology Infrastructure Library.  “Service Management is ITIL®“.  This is not totally accurate.

ITIL® originates from work carried out under the auspices of the UK government at the end of the ‘eighties’ and has been the most visible element of Service Management.  As suggested by its name, ‘library’, ITIL® is a set of books providing guidance and good practice for Service Management.  In 2007, version three of ITIL® was introduced and presented a lifecycle approach to the provision of services, thinking holistically of services ‘from cradle to grave’.  Following this logic, ITIL® Version 3 consists of five core volumes based around the Service Lifecycle: Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation and Continual Service Improvement.

ITIL® is not a strict, constraining set of directives, nor is it a panacea to solve all your problems.  ITIL® is a framework, a reference model, a source of advice, guidance and inspiration, a quality approach to the management of IT services.  It defines and describes the essential processes needed to provide efficient and cost-effective IT services.  It provides ‘good practice’ from which you can learn instead of having to start with a blank piece of paper.  It defines the vocabulary and allows a common understanding of basic Service Management concepts.

The key to successfully using ITIL® is to ‘adopt and adapt’ it.

ITIL® is totally scalable and is suitable for adoption by all sizes and types of companies.  It is considered as the de facto standard for Service Management and is used by many public and private, small and large organisations worldwide.  ITIL® is compatible and complementary to the ISO 20000, the international standard for Service Management.

Learn more about ITIL® on www.itil-officialsite.com

ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries