ITIL which stands for IT Infrastructure Library, is a framework which is used to describe the best practices for delivering IT services.
There are currently five books in ITIL and each of those books describe the different processes in each stage of the IT service lifecycle.
ITIL’s systematic approach to IT service management can help manage risks, improve customer relations, reduce costs and build a sustainable IT environment.
There have been numerous versions of ITIL and the latest version is ITIL V4. ITIL 4 has seven principles and these principles are:
- Focus on value.
- Start where you are.
- Progress iteratively with feedback.
- Collaborate and promote visibility.
- Think and work holistically.
- Keep it simple and practical.
- Optimize and automate.
The latest version of ITIL supports collaboration between IT and the other departments and also encourages customer focus.
But why is ITIL so important to an organization ?
The IT department of any organization is a vital part of the business structure. which has to run efficiently in order to help the organization achieve their organizational goals.
ITIL practices can be used to help guide the organization on how to effectively manage their IT services.
ITIL does this by providing a systematic approach to the IT service management and this in turn can help yield the following benefits:
- Help reduce IT costs.
- Help improve IT services.
- Help increase customer satisfaction.
- Help improves employee productivity.
- Provide best practices which can help guide the employees.
What are some of ITIL’s practices ?
Some of ITIL’s practices are:
- Service Request Management: Service request management is a iterative process that is used to manage a vast range of customer service requests, such as application access requests, application change requests, hardware requests and software improvements.
- Knowledge Management: Knowledge management is a process that is used to create, share, and manage the organizational information.
- IT Asset Management: IT asset management is the process that is used to confirm that the organizational assets are accounted for, utilized, maintained, upgraded, and disposed of when they reach the end of their lives.
- Incident Management: Incident management is the process that is used to manage service disturbances and restore service operations.
- Problem Management: Problem management is the process that identifies and manages the root causes of IT service incidents.
- Change Management: Change management is the use of standard processes that to ensure the efficient management of IT infrastructure.