Adoption of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) for IT Service Management

Hardik Panchal, General Manager – Rahi Networking Services & Operations

The rapid evolution and advancement of IT service management is transforming enterprise IT ecosystems. A window of new business opportunities is opening for organizations to expand their footprint. In fact, according to MarketsAndMarkets report, the global cloud ITSM market size is expected to reach US$12.2 billion by 2025 from US$4.7 billion at a CAGR of 21.2%. However, with the advancement of technology and the adoption of Information Technology Service Management (ITSM), many businesses are under tremendous pressure to meet or exceed service expectations.

One way to deal with this situation is to create a consistent and repeatable process for hardening your services. These high-level steps are covered in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework, which provides best practices for organizations to implement their own ITSM plans.

Implementing ITIL gives organizations clear insight into the relevant activities of their IT Service Management (ITSM) plan. Since its inception in 1980, ITIL has been believed to improve business performance and outcomes by providing better IT delivery and support practices. Provides a comprehensive, consistent and coherent set of best practices for governing service delivery processes and promoting a quality approach to achieving business effectiveness and efficiency in the use of information systems . The ITIL framework provided companies with a standard framework for effectively implementing ITSM plans and processes rather than creating them from scratch. The ITIL framework provides comprehensive qualification schemes, accredited training organizations, and tools for implementation and assessment. These basic principles help everyone work more efficiently by helping to better collaborate and check effectiveness.

This framework was first introduced by Axelos, a joint venture between Capita and the UK government. It is used by organizations large and small to standardize and streamline IT services.

The ITIL framework contains 5 steps/stages that an organization can implement according to their requirements.

1. Service Strategy – At this stage, the organization should have a clear understanding of customer and market needs.
2. Service Design – A perfect service design enables an organization to improve customer satisfaction and usability. This stage includes designing processes such as SLAs, change management, availability management, and service continuity.
3. Service Migration – This phase focuses on the service lifecycle and how to handle the issues associated with it. Some processes included in this phase are release management and knowledge base management.
4. Service Operations – This is the stage of production that sees how day-to-day service delivery and service consumption are conducted. Examples of processes at this stage are incident and problem management.
5. Continuous Service Improvement – ​​This phase includes timely process reviews and service lifecycle improvements. In addition, this phase includes all service phases to serve you in the best possible way.

The latest version of ITIL, ITIL 4, is set to be regularly updated with input from both AXELOS and the ITIL practitioner community. For companies already familiar with ITIL, many of the ITIL 4 framework best practices remain the same as ITIL v3. However, getting the most out of this latest edition of ITIL requires preparation and good business acumen.

hire the right people

This is the most important step towards implementing ITIL. No matter how efficient the processes provided by the ITIL framework are, it is the people behind them who carry them out. Therefore, IT leaders should deploy teams that strongly believe in ITIL.

A great team consists of an executive sponsor, process owner, process manager, process team members, project manager, and steering committee.

prioritize pressing issues

Rather than focusing on the most pressing and important issues at hand, organizations often focus on achieving their goals. In such scenarios, IT leaders must be transparent and critical when evaluating performance. You should start by analyzing the most basic processes such as incident management and management. In this way, you can address other roadblocks that can affect your team’s overall productivity.

prepare for the future

ITIL is intended to be used as a framework for continuously evolving ITSM. With rapid technological advances, there may be new technologies that should be considered for inclusion even after the ITIL process is implemented. For example, AI has played a key role in automating repetitive tasks in ITIL and ITSM. Therefore, it is important to keep up with technology trends that influence your overall ITSM strategy.

Adopt ITIL for a better future

Implementing ITIL can significantly change the functioning of your IT enterprise. This change helps improve results, but IT leaders need to keep people engaged and motivated during the process. The benefits of incorporating ITIL over time should be emphasized frequently to ensure that goals are met.