Does Version 3 expand ITIL beyond Operations?
Originally posted in a response to a comment on my article on CIO.com
From a practical standpoint, I have always viewed the discipline of IT Service Management as an ongoing continuum with periodic intersections from the discipline of Project Management. In ITIL v2 the intersection between ITSM and PM was mostly isolated to the “Release Management” process, when a new or revised configuration item moves into the live environment.
With the introduction of the Service Lifecycle concept in ITIL v3, however, there is much more interaction between IT and other areas of the business. Service Transition still covers the change and release procedures, largely as defined in v2, but Service Design adds greater IT involvement in, for example, requirements elicitation. This brings players from IT operations into collaboration with Business Analysts and Project Managers at the beginning of a project, rather than waiting until release.
This earlier collaboration should be of great benefit to the enterprise. In v2 processes like capacity management, continuity management, and availability management were encapsulated in “Service Delivery” (Operations, more or less). Version 2 acknowledges that availability, capacity and continuity are easier (and cheaper) to build in at the beginning than to add later, but the v3 revision actually facilitates this by putting these processes into the “Service Design” phase of the ITIL Service Lifecycle.
Financial Management for IT services moves also migrates from Service Delivery to Service Strategy, reflecting the need for accurate cost forecasting in the formulation of strategy.
What other interactions have you noticed, and what have you found missing from the V3 revision?
ITIL V2 did need updating or tweaking. I feel that ITIL V3 has gone too far the other way. The Service Strategy book is a difficult read, whilst some of it makes sense, how many people can relate to it on a daily basis? On a typical ITIL course you will not get the ‘Strategists’ attending. In my experience there are very few organisations adopting V3 at present, they are sticking with V2 until V3 is established. So what is missing? A real life view of how Service Management works at grass roots.
Thanks for your comment. I agree with the sentiment, in that a lot of the people who attend my ITIL v3 Foundations courses are from a service desk or technical background. If I’m not careful, part of that group will glaze over a bit during the Service Strategy portion of the course.
I think this is partially because, frankly, IT departments have been historically bad at making strategic decisions based on business needs. The executives who take my classes love the Service Strategy section, but beyond that it’s relatively new territory for a lot of IT staff members.
The other problem I see is that some people seem to think that the ITIL Service Lifecycle has to be done in order, and that it starts with Service Strategy. While that’s a nice thought, in practice it doesn’t usually work that way. We start an ITIL implementation or a process redesign with the simple notion that we want to get better at something. Thus, I really think the Continuous Service Improvement module is the base upon which the rest of ITIL v3 builds. We start with CSI, progress into improving service transition, Operations, Design, and finally Strategy. Much like Maslow’s heirarchy of needs, Service Strategy is most effectively implemented once we have all of the other pieces in place.
Medicamentspot.com International Legal RX Medications. Special Internet Prices (up to 40% off average US price). NO PRIOR PRESCRIPTION REQUIRED!…
Combivir@buy.online” rel=”nofollow”>.…
Buy:Cialis Professional.Soma.Viagra Super Active+.Cialis Soft Tabs.Maxaman.Super Active ED Pack.Cialis.Viagra Professional.Tramadol.VPXL.Levitra.Viagra Super Force.Viagra.Zithromax.Viagra Soft Tabs.Propecia.Cialis Super Active+….