The Role of ITIL in IT Service Management

If we talk about the top strategic assets of any organization, then people, ability, processes, and technologies top the list. Such assets are responsible for the execution of the vision of every entrepreneur.

Companies need to align their resources and assets with their strategies to enjoy benefits in the long run.

If you are suffering misalignment, lack of productivity, less output, etc., Information Technology Infrastructure Library is all that you need.

ITIL is a framework specially designed and formulated for IT organizations. Its major benefit is vested in streamlining complex IT systems that often hamper work, productivity, and quality. ITIL is gaining traction worldwide and, therefore, many professionals go for ITIL Foundation Certification, an entry-level ITIL certification, to present their expertise in delivering scalable IT services.

What is ITIL?

ITIL is designed for IT professionals who seek an advanced approach to service management practice to cater to ever-changing business requirements. With the implementation of ITIL across an organization, you can get measurable results in industrialization, delivery, and consumerization from beginning to retirement.

ITIL involves the following five phases:

1. Service Operation
2. Service Transition
3. Continual Service Improvement
4. Service Design
5. Service Strategy

These stages support each other throughout the ITIL lifecycle. The service does not specify different capabilities each organization needs to have. However, when you plan on your roadmap, ITIL helps you come up with a solid strategy to set the stage for growth.

What is the core idea of ITIL?

• Make customers experience full benefits and lower risks during the delivery of a product.
• Delivers the highest level of satisfaction to  customers
• Upgrade the current infrastructure along with resources optimization
• Increase the level of productivity
• Top notch quality with a trustworthy warranty
• A defined process in place to complete tasks and achieve end goals.
• Defining tasks and goals associated with it to let others know how much the total effort is required.

Experts have used the following five stages of ITIL to come up with its three versions- V2, V3, and V4.

# Service Strategy

ITIL services present the right strategy regarding the asset service, maintenance, and management to organizations. The principle helps resolve pertaining issues of corporate governance and obedience, policies, business processes, decision making, service improvement, and corporate culture.

# Service Design

Service design offers solutions for problems related to continuity management, catalog management, capacity management, supplier management, etc.

# Service Transition

Service transition keeps a check on project management, releases, and deployment, service assets management, service validation, knowledge management, evaluation changes, management changes, application development, etc.

# Service Operation

It accounts for application management, facilities management, technical management, incident management, event management, access management, request fulfillment, IT operations control, problem management, etc.

# Continuous improvement

Here comes the role of DevOps in ITIL and you get a gateway to monitoring CSI initiatives, managing service reviews, processing evaluation, etc.

Who can benefit from using an ITIL service?

No matter what the size of your company is, ITIL can be beneficial for you in many ways. However, if you have a defined process in place, you can easily make the most out of it.

Some of the sectors that availed themselves of huge benefits with the implementation of ITIL are healthcare, finance, and insurance companies as IT and revenue are interrelated to each other.

ITIL Versions

There are three versions of ITIL you need to understand.  Version 2 of ITIL signifies things to be done to improve the whole process of operational working. Version 3 of the ITIL is a blend of version 2 principles and offers guidance on the continuity of the process. Though version 4 has recently been launched, version 3 is currently being used.

Version 3 differs from version 2 in aspects of the structure of the life cycle. ITIL V3 is the latest version and encompasses feedback loops and turn the process into circular motion. Version2 is only restricted to support and service for delivery; however, new core disciplines of version 3 have replaced it.

1. Service Strategy: It determines services that markets and customers look up, per their requirements and goals.
2. Service Design: It deals with the requirement and new devices that are part of services and how they need to be delivered to customers.
3. Service Transition: It helps you migrate to the successful delivery of IT services without any hassles.
4. Service Operation: It improves your multitasking ability on the whole.
5. Continuous service improvement: It improves your process of working integrating efficiency and speed into it and by acknowledging to your past experiences.

Version 3 ITIL involves the ideas of Version 2 processes and also includes new ideas to drive new business values.

Top Benefits of ITIL

If you are confused about whether you need the ITIL framework or not, read the benefits mentioned below and decide on your ITIL requirements.

• ITIL has a proven track record of success worldwide

ITIL is a standardized framework that encompasses a set of practices that trigger the continual improvement cycle and enable organizations to achieve their goals. Organizations have adopted ITIL to deliver the best in their services.

Since ITIL is scalable; therefore, organizations with varying business structure can implement it to get better at each stage of development and ensure continual deployment throughout the ITIL lifecycle.

Teams are likely to gain confidence after the implementation of ITIL as it will scale up the whole process. Implementation of ITIL is not hard; however, the associated training, education and qualification schemes can definitely contribute to success.

• Improved Quality and high reliability of Service

The structure of ITIL enables organizations to focus on customer needs and user experience and resolve problems so that customers can rely on a brand. ITIL fosters customer compliance and, therefore, companies enjoy long term benefits, for example, customers’ loyalty, credibility, etc.

• Optimization of resources

The ITIL satchel is full of opportunities that can standardize and improve relationships with fellow partners. Since you get a handful of models and processes, service providers can run customer-centric businesses while focusing on cost optimization, decision making, and risk management.

Some of the major benefits businesses can get are:

1. 30% reduction in support costs
2. 20% increase in sales at the beginning
3. Lower risks and lesser issues
4. A higher value of ITIL service portfolio

• Outpace your competitors

When you follow the practices of ITIL within an organization, you are likely to welcome changes and deal with them quickly as teams work in a cohesive manner. Organizations are able to manage and define the requirements of the customer which further leads to a successful transformation of the industry while outshining competitors.

Some of the major advantages are:

1. 30% reduction of cycle time
2. Faster results and customer compliance
3. No upfront costs and better results

Businesses, nowadays, face so many challenges on a regular basis related to quality, services, management, compliance, the return on investment, etc. Sometimes, these problems shut down many potential business opportunities. Here comes the role of ITIL.

If you really want to optimize your IT processes and expect continuous delivery and deployment, you need to implement ITIL in your organization. You will get to know your loopholes and, therefore, take the right steps to streamline your sales funnel.