What is ITIL®?
ITIL® is the only consistent and comprehensive documentation of best practice for IT Service Management. Conceived in the 1980's, it was originally developed to improve IT service management within the UK Government, however it has become relevant to all organisations, whether Public or Private sector.
ITIL®, which is documented in a set of books, demonstrates an integrated process based, best practice framework for managing IT Services. ITIL® consists of a series of books giving guidance on the provision of quality IT services, and on the accommodation and environmental facilities needed to support IT.
The ethos behind the development of ITIL® is the recognition that organisations are becoming increasingly dependent on IT in order to satisfy their corporate aims and meet their business needs. This leads to an increased requirement for high quality IT services.
ITIL® provides the foundation for quality IT Service Management. The widespread adoption of the ITIL® guidance has encouraged organisations worldwide, both commercial and non-proprietary, to develop supporting products as part of a shared 'ITIL® Philosophy'.
Is the information in some of the older ITIL titles still relevant today with all the changes in technology?
ITIL® best practices are constantly being updated. This is done to ensure that the advice is
consistent with the basic ITIL® process model and to take into account changes in
technology and business practice. However, the best practice messages in the older books
are as valid today as when they were written.
Does ITIL work in an e-business environment?
Absolutely. The processes to provide an e-business application are no different to any
other application. In fact, numerous organizations use the ITIL® framework to increase
stability in their IT infrastructure to keep e-business operating smoothly.
How can I purchase ITIL Books?
Books can be purchased from specialized on-line booksellers at www.ITILbooks.com.
Some of the books are also available from Amazon Books at www.amazon.com.
Are the books available in electronic format?
The books are available on CD ROM and in the future they will be available at:
www.clicktso.com
Why is it so highly relevant to India, right now?
India is growing not only as a software developer country/hub but also as an IT Infrastructure service provider/Service Delivery Centre. Lot of companies today are remotely managing the infrastructure of various other companies across the globe.
Application of ITIL® best practice in their day-to-day work will ensure the quality of service provided is high. Today's mantra for any successful business is low cost and high quality. Since in India, the labour is pretty cheap compared to other countries, lot of companies are setting up offices here to provide remote management services.
But quality is the key factor, which decides the successful one among the huge number of companies, and applying ITIL best practices itself is an indication of seriousness of the business they are in.
How would ITSM benefit India, in particular? How would it help take India to a position of global dominance?
Globally certain locations, like India, Malaysia, Singapore, Barcelona etc are developing as "global delivery centres".
Integration of ITIL® best practices in the day to day activities for service delivery indicates not only professionalism but also have customer oriented approach, structured support mechanism in place, justifiable costs and adherence to Service level agreements.
Are there documented cases of ITSM benefiting companies?
http://www.hpsoftware-europe.com/successes/download/2004/roche.pdf
http://www.purplegriffon.com/news.htm
http://www.hpsoftware-europe.com/ch/ger/success/success2.php?
searchstring=&solution=1&industry=&country=&date=&language=
http://www.enterprisenetworksandservers.com/monthly/art.php/36
What credibility does ITSM/ITIL provide?
Some of the salient features of a service provider who is into ITSM are the following:
The organisation will become more competitive, reducing the risk, cost and time to market new products and services, whilst improving value for money and service quality.
Service providers will become more responsive, with services, which are business lead rather than technology driven.
The ability to manage suppliers more effectively.
It will provide enablers to visibly support the business strategy, with opportunities to improve the efficiency of services in all areas, impacting on costs and service.
An operational benefit is to clearly demonstrate service reliability and consistency, which in any environment is critical to business survival and potential growth.
When will ITIL® be refreshed?
Current guidance in the seven core books will be reviewed and updated starting in late 2005. The intention is to clarify the guidance and improve its relevance to business needs today, not to rewrite it. This will be done in conjunction with changes to the syllabuses of the ITIL qualification scheme, and in alignment with development work by BSI on ISO20000. The planning process is underway and the complete set of core guidance will be reissued by mid-2007. Click here for further information on the future of ITIL.
What is the difference between ITIL® and ISO9001?
ISO9001 is a Quality Assurance process that essentially asks, are you doing what you say, you are doing? Whereas ITIL® defines what you should be doing in the first place.
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What is ISO 20000?
ISO 20000, will be the International Standard for IT Service Management. This has been taken from the British Standard, BS15000, with minor but not significant changes primarily to correct errors and inconsistencies. ISO 20000 was published late in 2005. The accreditation scheme for BS15000 run by ITSMF has been updated to become the scheme for ISO 20000.
How are ITIL® and ISO 20000 related?
ISO 20000 incorporates all the ITIL® Service Support and Service Delivery processes but goes further, by separating out Service Reporting and introducing 3 new processes covering Business Relationship Management, Supplier Management and Information Security Management.
ITIL® is best practice guidance but it is not possible to be accredited as a company against ITIL®. ISO 20000 is a specification which provides the company level accreditation to demonstrate the consistent use of best practice.
Will ISO 20000 be readily understood by anyone with ITIL® qualifications?
ISO 20000 and ITIL® share common terminology so the short answer is yes. Remember that conformance is also based on demonstrating appropriate training and skills to deliver the services being accredited so ITIL® should form a significant part of your Best Practice programme.
Our IT Is Distributed Around India (and even overseas). Can Sites Be Certified Separately?
Yes. Eligibility is based on demonstrating management control of all processes within the ISO 20000 standard relative to the scope of certification. A certification may be scoped by specific sites, departments, or by IT services irrespective of location.
What Are the Benefits of ISO 20000 Certification?
Developing a ISO 20000 standard compliant IT service organisation will take time and will often lead to some organisational change, however the benefits of having a proven, conformant best practice IT service provision are:
A more competitive business
Aligned IS/IT strategy with the overall business strategy
Managed and reducing risk
Managed and reducing costs
Faster time to implement change
Improved reliability and availability of service, leading to improved customer satisfaction
Suppliers and partners will become more integrated and service focused
Possibility of benchmarking with other organisation.
Who has certified QAI as an Accredited ITIL® training provider?
ISEB (Information System Examination Board)
