Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a framework for service management.
ITIL is a set of detailed practices for IT service management (ITSM) that focuses on aligning IT services with the needs of business.
ITIL was formed as an acronym for Information Technology Infrastructure Library, but it no longer corresponds to it.
There are different versions of ITIL practices. As this is being written, he latest version is ITIL 4.
ITIL is owned by AXELOS since 2013. AXELOS is a joint venture of the company Capita and Cabinet Office of the Government of United Kingdom.
Axelos designs the licensed examination institutes and training organizations,
ITIL Concepts
ITIL main concepts:
- Service Value System (SVS)
- Service Value Chain (SVC)
- Dimensions and Factors
- Principles
- Continuous Improvement
- Practices
An output is a deliverable produced in an activity.
An outcome is the result for the stakeholders for one or more output.
As an example, a photobook is a deliverable, and the outcome would be keeping the memories of a given moment.
Dimensions are:
- Organizations and people
- Information Technology
- Partners and suppliers
- Value streams and processes
Service Integration and Management (SIAM) implies managing external and internal services as one.
The value stream can follow different paths withing the SVC.
There are external factors that can affect, anad the are called PESTLE:
- Politic
- Economical
- Social
- Tech
- Legal
- Environmental
Service Value System (SVS) is composed of:
- Guiding principles
- Governance
- Service value chain (SVC)
- Practices
- Continual improvement
The guiding principles are:
- Focus on value
- Start where you are
- Progress iteratively with feedback
- Collaborate and promote visibility
- Think and work holistically
- Keep it simple
- Optimize and automate
Activities of Governance:
- Evaluate
- Direct
- Monitoring
SVC starts with a demand, and generates a value.
SVC activities:
- Plan
- Engage
- Obtain/build
- Design and Transition
- Deliver and support
- Improve
ITIL defines 34 practices grouped by:
- General Management Practices
- Service Management Practices
- Technical Management Practices
Portfolio Management are the total catalogue of products, including internal, old and under development.
Catalogue Management are only the products available to the customers.
Incident management is about recovering the service after an incident.
Swarming means gathering different stakeholders during an incident to understand what happened.
Problem management is about understanding what caused an incident.
In change management, there are different types of changes:
- Standard changes
- Normal changes
- Emergency changes
Standard changes are pre-authorised and simple.
Normal changes are bigger changes that are not urgent. It can be approved by the Change Advisory Board (CAB).
Emergency changes are those that are urgent.
IT Asset Management (ITAM) is focused on asset lifecycle.
Service configuration management is focused on the service itself having the right information.
Configuration Item (CI)
Configuration Management Database (CMDB)
Configuration Management System (CMS)
Asset management > ITAM > Software and Asset Management (SAM)
Service Asset and Configuration Management (SACM) includes configuration management.
Release management manage version control before the deployment.
Deployment management focuses on delivering the new versions.
Continuous improvement steps:
- What is the vision?
- Where are we now?
- Where do you want to be?
- How do we get there?
- Take action
- Did we get there?
- How do we keep the momentum going?
Continual Improvement Register (CIR) is a database for improvement actions.
ITIL Versions
There are different versions of ITIL:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
As of 2024, ITIL 4 is the latest version.
ITIL Certifications for Professionals
You may read this post about ITIL certifications.