Sometimes there can be confusion between Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and IT Service Management (ITSM) – so let’s clear that up first.
IT Service Management (ITSM) is an idea that empowers an organisation to secure business value from the use of infotech. ITSM positions IT tools as the primary method for conveying and sourcing value, where an internal or external IT service provider works with business clients.
On the other hand, ITIL is a prescriptive formal framework based on standards and governed by an organisation called Axelos, which outlines practices for IT activities including ITSM and IT Asset Management (ITAM).
At its foundation, ITIL is based on several key concepts for best practice for IT systems and the client-supplier business relationship. Some of these include:
- Delivering maximum value to clients
- Optimisation of resources and capabilities
- Offering services that are useful and reliable
- Planning processes around specific goals/objectives
- Defining roles clearly for each activity
Furthermore, ITIL is structured into a framework to define how it enhances service quality:
- Service Strategy: Service strategy starts with evaluating the needs of the business and clients, then figuring out what services the IT firm will offer and what competencies it should advance to meet the firm’s wants. The following questions are often asked; “Is the service strategy in line with business objectives”? “Will it bring value to the customer”?
- Service Design: The designing of services taking into account all supporting elements for introduction into the environment. The areas that are taken into consideration are the “Four P’s of Service Design”
- People
- Processes
- Products
- Partners
- Service Transition: This phase seeks to build and deploy IT services and ensure that changes are carried out in a coordinated fashion.
- Service Operation: Service Operation is a significant phase of the ITSM Solutions ITIL life cycle whose objective is to guarantee that the IT firm’s services are delivered successfully and efficiently. Service Operation incorporates each of the four capacities related to ITIL: Procedural Management, IT Operations Management, Application Management, and the service work area.
- Continual Service Improvement: The goal of this stage is to use quality management to learn from successes and failures to continue to improve all IT processes and services.
ITIL version 4 was launched in February 2019. The main changes provided consideration of end-end Service Management from a holistic and value-centric perspective in order to align with philosophies such as Agile, DevOps and Lean, and to reduce the emphasis on IT Service Management in favour of general Service Management.
Are you getting value for money from your IT Systems Integrator or Managed Service Provider? If not, they may not be using ITIL as the basis for their relationship with you, and your business – formally or informally. If you’d like to know more about ITIL, or how to evaluate your IT partner relationships, reach out today. Contact Us today.
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