ITIL - What is it? This is the question on everyone’s lips. The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) contains a comprehensive description of the processes involved in managing IT infrastructures as services. ITIL is a best practice for IT service delivery and infrastructure management. It was developed in the late '80s when IT professionals gathered to develop a comprehensive, integrated life cycle for all areas of IT service management.

Process

In recent years IT developments have had a major impact on business processes. Since the introduction of the PC, LAN, client/server technology and the Internet, organisations can bring their products and services to markets more quickly. These developments are responsible for the transition from the industrial to the information age. In the information age, everything has become faster and more dynamic. Traditional hierarchical organisations often find it difficult to respond to rapidly changing markets, and therefore there is now a trend towards less hierarchical and more flexible organisations. The emphasis is now on horizontal processes, and decision-making authority is increasingly granted to personnel at a lower level.

CCTA vs OGC

IT Service Management operating processes were developed against this background. In the 1980s, the quality of the IT services provided to the British government was such that the then CCTA (Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, now Office of Government Commerce, OGC) was instructed to develop an approach for efficient and financially effective use of IT resources by ministries and other British public sector organisations. The aim was to develop an approach independent from any supplier. This resulted in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).

Best Practice

ITIL grew from a collection of best practices observed in the IT service industry. ITIL gives a detailed description of a number of important IT practices, with comprehensive checklists, tasks, procedures and responsibilities which can be tailored to any IT organisation. Where possible, these practices have been defined as processes covering the major activities of IT service organisations. The broad subject area covered by the ITIL publications makes it useful to refer to them regularly and to use them to set new improvement objectives for the IT organisation. The organisation can grow and mature with them.

This creates a common language for your IT team to put services into business terms and align them with key objectives. With a combined focus on customer value and integrated communications programs, ITIL sets the stage for consistency in IT strategy, design, development, and delivery.