The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and policies for managing information technology (IT) infrastructure, development and operations.
ITIL is published in a series of books, each of which covers an IT management topic. The names ITIL and IT Infrastructure Library are registered trademarks of the United Kingdom's Office of Government Commerce (OGC). ITIL gives a detailed description of a number of important IT practices with comprehensive checklists, tasks and procedures that any IT organization can tailor to its needs.
ITIL Certifications are managed by the ITIL Certification Management Board (ICMB). The Board includes representatives from interested parties within the community around the world. Members of the Board include (though are not limited to) representatives from the UK Office of Government Commerce (OGC), APM Group (APMG), The Stationery Office (TSO), V3 Examination Panel, Examination Institutes (EIs) and the IT Service Management Forum International (itSMF) as the recognized user group.
TIL Certifications are managed by the ITIL Certification Management Board (ICMB). The Board includes representatives from interested parties within the community around the world. Members of the Board include (though are not limited to) representatives from the UK Office of Government Commerce (OGC), APM Group (APMG), The Stationery Office (TSO), V3 Examination Panel, Examination Institutes (EIs) and the IT Service Management Forum International (itSMF) as the recognized user group.
APMG manage the ITIL Version 3 exams and award qualifications at Foundation, Intermediate and Expert level (with a new Masters level under development).
APMG maintains a voluntary register of ITIL Version 3-certified practitioners at their Successful Candidate Register. A voluntary registry of ITIL Version 2-certified practitioners is operated by the ITIL Certification Register.
Organizations and management systems cannot be certified as "ITIL-compliant". An organization that has implemented ITIL guidance in IT Service Management (ITSM), may however, be able to achieve compliance with and seek certification under ISO/IEC 20000. Note that there are some significant differences between ISO/IEC20000 and ITIL Version 3
ITIL has been criticized on several fronts, including:
- The books are not affordable for non-commercial users
- Accusations that many ITIL advocates think ITIL is "a holistic, all-encompassing framework for IT governance";
- Accusations that proponents of ITIL indoctrinate the methodology with 'religious zeal' at the expense of pragmatism.
- Implementation and credentialing requires specific training
- Debate over ITIL falling under BSM or ITSM frameworks
CIO Magazine columnist Dean Meyer has also presented some cautionary views of ITIL,[20] including five pitfalls such as "becoming a slave to outdated definitions" and "Letting ITIL become religion." As he notes, "...it doesn't describe the complete range of processes needed to be world class. It's focused on ... managing ongoing services."
The quality of the library's volumes is seen to be uneven. For example, van Herwaarden and Grift note, “the consistency that characterized the service support processes … is largely missing in the service delivery books."
In a 2004 survey designed by Noel Bruton (author of 'How to Manage the IT Helpdesk' and 'Managing the IT Services Process'), ITIL adopting organizations were asked to relate their actual experiences in having implemented ITIL. Seventy-seven percent of survey respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that "ITIL does not have all the answers". ITIL exponents accept this, citing ITIL's stated intention to be non-prescriptive, expecting organizations to engage ITIL processes with existing process models. Bruton notes that the claim to non-prescriptiveness must be, at best, one of scale rather than absolute intention, for the very description of a certain set of processes is in itself a form of prescription. (Survey "The ITIL Experience - Has It Been Worth It", author Bruton Consultancy 2004, published by Helpdesk Institute Europe, The Helpdesk and IT Support Show and Hornbill Software.)
While ITIL addresses in depth the various aspects of Service Management, it does not address enterprise architecture in such depth. Many of the shortcomings in the implementation of ITIL do not necessarily come about because of flaws in the design or implementation of the Service Management aspects of the business, but rather the wider architectural framework in which the business is situated. Because of its primary focus on Service Management, ITIL has limited utility in managing poorly designed enterprise architectures, or how to feed back into the design of the enterprise architecture.
Some researchers group ITIL with Lean, Six Sigma and Agile IT operations management.[citation needed] Applying Six Sigma techniques to ITIL brings the engineering approach to ITIL's framework. Applying Lean techniques promotes continuous improvement of the ITIL's best practices. However, ITIL itself is not a transformation method, nor does it offer one. Readers are required to find and associate such a method. Some vendors have also included the term Lean when discussing 'ITIL implementations, for example 'Lean-ITIL'.[citations needed] The initial consequences of an ITIL initiative tend to ADD cost with benefits promised as a future deliverable.[citations needed] ITIL does not provide usable methods 'out of the box' to identify and target waste, or document the customer value stream as required by Lean, and measure customer satisfaction.
