Adopting Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) for IT Service Management

By Hardik Panchal, General Manager – Networking Services & Operations at Rahi

The rapid evolution and advancement in IT service management are transforming enterprise IT ecosystems. It is opening a new window of business opportunities for organizations to expand their footprint. In fact, as per a report from MarketsAndMarkets, the global cloud ITSM Market size is expected to reach USD 12.2 billion by 2025 from USD 4.7 billion at a CAGR of 21.2%. But, along with technological advancements and the adoption of Information Technology Service Management (ITSM), many enterprises are under immense pressure to meet or exceed service expectations.

One way to tackle this situation is by creating consistent and repeatable processes to enhance the services. These advanced procedures are covered in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework that provides the best practices for organizations to implement their own ITSM plans.

By implementing ITIL, an organization can get clear insights into related activities of its IT service management (ITSM) plans. Since its inception in 1980, ITIL has been thought to improve business performance and outcomes by providing better IT delivery and support practices. It provides a comprehensive, consistent, and coherent set of best practices for managing service delivery processes and promoting a quality approach to achieving business effectiveness and efficiency in the use of information systems. ITIL framework provided enterprises with a standard framework to effectively implement their ITSM plans and processes instead of creating ones from scratch. The ITIL framework provides a comprehensive qualification scheme, accredited training organizations, and tools for implementation and assessment. These guiding principles help everyone to work more efficiently by helping them with better collaboration and checks for efficacy.

The framework was first introduced by Axelos (a joint venture between Capita and the Government of the United Kingdom). It has been adopted by a large number of small and large-scale organizations to standardize and streamline their IT services.

The ITIL framework includes five steps/stages that organizations can implement as per their requirements:

1. Service strategy – This stage requires organizations to get a clear understanding of customer and market needs.
2. Service Design – The perfect service design allows organizations to enhance customer satisfaction and usability. This stage includes designing processes such as SLA, change management, availability management, and service continuity.
3. Service Transition – This stage focuses on the service lifecycle and how to handle issues related to the same. A few processes included in this phase are release management and knowledge base management.
4. Service Operations – This is the production stage that ensures how the day-to-day service delivery and consumption of services are taking place. Examples of processes in this stage are incident management and problem management.
5. Continuous Service Improvement – This stage includes the timely process review and improvement of the service lifecycle. Moreover, this stage includes all the service stages to deliver the services in the best possible way.

ITIL 4, the latest version of ITIL, is set to be updated regularly with the inputs from both AXELOS and the ITIL practitioner community. For enterprises already well versed with ITIL, many of the best practices of the ITIL 4 framework remain the same as in ITIL v3. However, making the most of this latest iteration of ITIL requires preparation and the right business acumen.

Recruit the right people

It is the most vital step toward implementing ITIL. No matter how efficient processes the ITIL framework provides, it is the people behind it who execute them. Therefore, IT leaders should have a team in place that strongly believe in ITIL.

A good team will comprise an executive sponsor, process owner, process manager, process team members, a project manager, along with a steering committee.

Prioritize the most immediate issues

Organizations often focus on completing a goal rather than concentrating on the most immediate and important issues at hand. In such a scenario, IT leaders should be transparent and critical when evaluating their performance. They should begin by analyzing the most basic processes such as incident management or administration. This way, they can address other failures that can affect the overall productivity of their team.

Prepare for the future

ITIL is meant to be used as a continuously evolving framework for ITSM. With the rapid pace of technological advancements, there can be new technologies to consider incorporating even after the implementation of the ITIL process. For instance, AI has played a key role in automating repetitive tasks of ITIL and ITSM. Hence, it is important to keep up with the technological trends that will have an impact on the overall ITSM strategy.

Adopting ITIL for a better future

Implementing ITIL can significantly change how an IT enterprise functions. While this change can help in improving outcomes, IT leaders need to keep the people involved and motivated during the process. They should frequently emphasize the benefits of incorporating ITIL for a certain time to ensure that the targets have been achieved.