ITIL is an acronym for Information Technology Infrastructure Library. It is a set of detailed practices for IT Service Management (ITSM) that focuses on aligning IT services with the needs of the business. ITIL was established by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) under the guidance of the British government in the 1980’s. In short, the ITIL processes form a governance to manage the IT delivery.
ITIL has evolved over the years and continues to evolve. The current version is ITIL v3.
What are the ITIL processes? ITIL Process: The 5 ITIL Service Management Processes in the ITIL Service:
- Service Strategy – Service Strategy process determines which services the IT organization is to offer and what capabilities need to be developed.
- Service Design – to design new IT services and changes to existing ones
- Service Transition – How to build and deploy IT services for the business
- Service Operation – To make sure that IT services are delivered effectively and efficiently for the business. Deploying IT services, products efficiently with no or minimal disruption to business functions.
- Continual Service Improvement – Develop improvement processes to continually improve the effectiveness and efficiency of IT processes and services
These processes support the IT service and support of the IT delivery. IT is part of the business function. Providing a guide to organize the various steps, phases to deliver an IT Product or Service and the continuous support needed to maintain that service for the business is the goal of ITIL. This reflects how much Information Technology has grown and become a part of the success of any business where technology is depended on just like any other business service like accounting and finance.
When you review the ITIL processes you can see there’s a clear goal to ensure Information Technology is delivering a valued service to the business consistently. Having a standard to build on allows for continuous improvements to the Information Technology Service lifecycle and applies controls to ensure value is being maintained and managed. Not having an organized approach to manage IT service delivery and support places the quality of IT delivery at risk and runs the risk of adversely affecting the business IT supports.
ITIL offers a number of certifications that ensures its processes are taught so it can be practiced and even matured over time: ITIL certification levels are: Foundation, Intermediate, Expert and Master.
For more information see – https://www.itlibrary.org/
