Most enterprises consider their employees, processes, and technologies to be vital assets which helps in supporting the organization’s goals.
Proper alignment of resources and capabilities can help them to be ahead of their competition in the marketplace.
This is where ITIL, i.e. Information Technology Infrastructure Library comes into play. It is considered the most popular service management across the globe which helps businesses to examine their growth.
Its primary objective is to improve how Information Technology supports and provides value-added business services.
What is ITIL and its Evolution?
ITIL or Information Technology Infrastructure Library is a set of service management frameworks of Information Technology whose focus is to deliver what the client or customer needs.
It enables to deliver cost-effective service management, process, technology and work as a single point of contact between the customers and service providers.
Organizations who adopt ITIL benefits grow faster as compared to other businesses due to pre-defined processes and the right technology. It continuously reviews other existing procedures to improve further.
ITIL was first developed in the year 1980 by CCTA which consisted of 30 books. It was revised continuously into different versions for improved business alignment and efficiency, and currently, it has just five books.
ITIL’s first book released in the year 1989, the second version of the book was released in 2000 and third book in the year 2007. The updated version of its third version was released in the year 2011.
Different Certifications of ITIL
ITIL certification has five levels along with some particular training content. The certifications are given to individuals who become expert in some key areas of ITIL.
- Foundation Level – It is the beginner-level which enables you to learn all the basic terms and concepts of Information Technology Infrastructure Library. It also helps you to use the practices of ITIL for improving further.
- Practitioner Level – This is the next one after the foundation level which helps you to adopt ITIL framework easily.
- Intermediate Level – The intermediate level helps to provide deep insights into several modules on service management.
- Expert Level – The expert level is designed for working professionals who have in-depth knowledge and understanding of ITIL. To reach here, you have to give foundation and intermediate level exams.
- Master Level – The Master level certification is given to professionals who have years of experience in working with ITIL and its processes.
Key Concepts of ITIL
Some of the key ITIL concepts are:
- Provide the best value to clients and customers without any price surge and risks.
- Optimize the resources available.
- Services offered should be of top quality with warranty.
- The processes should be made in advance with clear objectives.
- Every individual should know their roles for the best collective effort.
There are primarily five concepts of ITIL:
- Service Strategy – It enables enterprises to set plans and goals along with a proper strategy to meet the customer needs and requirements.
- Service design – It deals with processes, functions, capacity management, supplier and service management, etc.
- Service Transition – It helps businesses to maintain the current state of service along with managing changes in strategies and services.
- Service Operation – It ensures that every day operational works are working smoothly and monitors any changes in infrastructure and services.
- Continual Service Improvement – It aims towards continuous improvement of services, CSI initiatives, and processes in a positive way.
How to put ITIL into practice
ITIL is a collection of books, but just reading it will not improve anything. You have to execute the learnings one by one to see any results.
ITIL provides a wide range of services including training, certification and consulting. The certification is only given by two prominent bodies EXIN and ISEB. In the year 2006, they both merged to improve IT further service management.
Accredited Training Organizations or ATOs manages the owner ITIL personnel certification, Axelos since 2014.
If you want to implement ITIL strategies and certifications in your business, then you need to observe the problems which your business is solving along with the necessary steps for continuous improvement.
Is ITIL certification worth?
The ITIL certification has primarily five levels. Each level tests individuals understanding and knowledge about the subject.
The ITIL v4 has made it compulsory to include the foundation and master levels exam. The foundation level consists of ITIL Managing Professional and ITIL Strategic Leader which have their exams.
The ITIL MPl examination is developed for professionals who are involved with ITIL throughout the enterprise and not just in the Information technology department.
The ITIL SL examination is designed for those who deal with digitally enabled services and not just IT services and operations.
With the help of these two examinations, you can reach up to the highest level of certifications, i.e., the Master level.
Cost of ITIL?
If you want to get started with ITIL, buy the book as pdf or hardcopy directly from the website of Axelos.
There is an ITIL certification Cost which is different for foundation level as well as other higher levels. The entry level certification is for two days whereas the higher certifications can be of more than seven days.
In addition to the processes cost, a software or help desk is made to collect the information you need for generating metrics.
Some of the ITIL software and services are Samanage, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, Vision Helpdesk, and many more.
How will ITIL boost businesses performance?
An organization which is run efficiently not only saves money but also helps in performing tasks smoothly.
For example, the well-known brokerage firm of New York Pershing was able to reduce its response rate by more than 50 per cent in its first year. It helps its users to solve their problems and get back to work.
ITIL allows a systematic approach to the provisions of IT service, with the following benefit:
- Low IT costs
- Improved services by following best practices.
- Consumer satisfaction
- Proper standards and guidelines
- Improved efficiency and productivity
According to Axelos, businesses can use ITIL to improve their services through:
- Managing risks, problems, and failure.
- Strengthening consumer satisfaction by meeting their needs and requirements.
- Cost-effective practices.
- Creating a stable system for growth.
There are several case studies available including the big organizations like Sony which can be used to learn and implement ITIL in your business.
Final Thoughts
You cannot consider ITIL as an assignment because it is a continuous process of improving IT service management. All the best practices need to be followed, and you have to be updated with the latest improvement in the technologies.
Businesses should train their IT-staff regularly to make the process efficient so that we could see some positive results quickly.
However, most of the organizations have reported substantial savings in their first year. For example, the IT service management company, Pink Elephant reports to save more than $500 million in four years by improving its operational process.
Changing the process takes time, but once you start following the bad practices, it will be difficult for you to get the necessary benefits.
Predicting an exact ROI on ITIL is not possible until you implement effectively with your organization.
As ITIL is a library, it can only be used for business buy-in laws. Getting proper certifications and training will increase the chances of your business success.
