Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

Today’s IT systems require a disciplined and controlled approach to system management. The ITIL framework provides a great guide for organisations seeking to streamline processes, improve service delivery and enforce controls. However, a rigid one-size-fits-all strategy to ITIL is not the right answer for all.

The IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL) is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world. ITIL is a best practice framework that has been drawn from both the public and private sectors internationally. It describes how IT resources should be organised to deliver business value, documenting the processes, functions and roles of IT Service Management (ITSM).

ITIL is a set of books that provide a practical, no-nonsense framework for identifying, planning, delivering, and supporting IT services to the business. The framework is based on proven best practices developed by IT experts around the world and has evolved over the past two decades. ITIL is the most widely adopted approach for IT service management.

ITIL is a public framework that describes IT service management best practice.  It “provides a framework for the governance of IT, the ‘service wrap,’ and focuses on the continual measurement and improvement of the quality of IT service delivered, from both a business and a customer perspective”.

ITIL was first developed in the 1980s by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), a branch of the British Government. It has become a de facto global standard, with thousands of organizations worldwide adopting it as the framework for establishing IT processes .ITIL comprises of five chapter namely  first Service Strategy, provides an overall strategy for IT services and IT service management. The remaining chapters are Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation, and Continual Service Improvement.

It’s important to note that the ITIL tell you what to do but not how to do it.