ITIL (previously and also known as Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a framework with a set of practices (previously processes) for IT activities such as
IT service management (ITSM) and
IT asset management (ITAM) that focus on aligning IT services with the needs of the business.
ITIL describes best practices, including processes, procedures, tasks, and checklists which are neither organization-specific nor technology-specific. It is designed to allow organizations to establish a baseline and can be used to demonstrate compliance and to measure improvements.
There is no formal independent third-party compliance assessment available to demonstrate ITIL compliance in an organization. Certification in ITIL is only available to individuals and not organizations. Since 2021, the ITIL
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...
has been owned by PeopleCert.
History
Responding to growing dependence on IT, the UK Government's
Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) in the 1980s developed a set of recommendations designed to standardize IT management practices across government functions, built around a ''process model''-based view of controlling and managing operations often credited to
W. Edwards Deming and his
plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle.
* In 1989, ITIL was released. It grew to a series of 30 books that recommended and provided IT best practices that focused on and catered for client and business needs.
* In 1993, the examination institute
EXIN developed the first certification scheme for ITIL.
* In April 2001, the CCTA was merged into the
Office of Government Commerce (OGC), an office of the
UK Treasury.
* In 2001, ITIL version 2 was released.
* In May 2007, ITIL version 3 was released (also known as the ITIL Refresh Project) consisting of 26 processes and functions, now grouped into only 5 volumes, arranged around the concept of Service lifecycle structure. ITIL Version 3 is now known as ITIL 2007 Edition.
* In 2009, the OGC officially announced that ITIL Version 2 certification would be withdrawn and launched a major consultation as per how to proceed.
* In 2009 and 2011, researchers investigated the benefits of the ITIL implementation.
* In July 2011, ITIL 2011 was released.
* In 2013, ITIL was acquired by
AXELOS, a
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
between
Capita and the UK
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...
.
* In February 2019, ITIL 4 was released. With this release, the nomenclature of using a version number was replaced simply with the numerical number (v3 became 4) in a reference to the 4th industrial revolution. The main changes were: to consider end-to-end Service Management from holistic and value-centric perspectives, to align with philosophies such as Agile, DevOps, and Lean, and to reduce the emphasis on IT Service Management in favor of general Service Management.
* In June 2021, PeopleCert completed the acquisition of Axelos.
Guiding principles
ITIL 4 contains seven guiding principles:
*Focus on value
*Start where you are
*Progress iteratively with feedback
*Collaborate and promote visibility
*Think and work holistically
*Keep it simple and practical
*Optimize and automate
Framework content
ITIL 4 consists of 34 practices grouped into 3 categories:
*General management practices: some examples are: Strategy management,
Portfolio management,
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
management and
Risk management
Risk management is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks, followed by the minimization, monitoring, and control of the impact or probability of those risks occurring. Risks can come from various sources (i.e, Threat (sec ...
*Service management practices: examples are:
Service-level management, Availability management and
Capacity and performance management
*Technical management practices: including three practices:
Deployment management, Infrastructure and platform management and
Software development
Software development is the process of designing and Implementation, implementing a software solution to Computer user satisfaction, satisfy a User (computing), user. The process is more encompassing than Computer programming, programming, wri ...
and management.
Certification
ITIL 4 certification can be obtained by different roles in IT management. Certification starts with ITIL 4 Foundation, followed by one of two branches:
[https://goodelearning.com/articles/who-uses-itil/ , title= Who Uses ITIL? The Applications of ITIL 4 , last1=Omniplex Learning, website= Omniplex Learning , access-date=21 December 2024]
ITIL 4 Managing Professional
* ITIL 4 Specialist: Create, Deliver & Support (CDS)
* ITIL 4 Specialist: Drive Stakeholder Value (DSV)
* ITIL 4 Specialist: High Velocity IT (HVIT)
* ITIL 4 Specialist: Monitor, Support, and Fulfil (MSF)
ITIL 4 Strategic Leader
* ITIL 4 Strategist: Direct, Plan & Improve (DPI)
* ITIL 4: Digital & IT Strategy (DITS)
See also
*
Application Services Library – A similar framework for
application management
*
Business Information Services Library (BiSL) – A similar framework for
information management
Information management (IM) is the appropriate and optimized capture, storage, retrieval, and use of information. It may be personal information management or organizational. Information management for organizations concerns a cycle of organiz ...
and
functional management
*
ISO/IEC 20000 – An international standard for IT service management
*
Tudor IT Process Assessment – A framework for assessment of IT service management maturity
References
External links
IBM.com - "What is IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)?"
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Information technology consulting
Method engineering