ITIL works, not because it's trendy. Results matter!

Do you ITIL? If so, why, to what results? When ITIL is a project we do, "working on Problem Management" today, "Capacity Management Tomorrow.. It is not long before gaps might cause one to feel they are working hard for little gain.

A new order is needed to move ITIL from a project with a focus on fixing the broken processes and gaining acceptance to ITs uniqueness and thus, it's distinct limitations.

The problem is not ITIL itself, at the foundation, ITIL has proven capability to identify, optimize, standardize and delivc service that meets requirements of cost controls and customer perceived value for investment. The problem seems to be in the perception of ITIL and the roles of IT.

IT can do and be more by striving for traditional service management through business integration. Today's IT Professional can no longer hide behind complexity and limitations with an open budget. The supply and demand, in fact the very life cycle of IT Services is a product that can be managed, and IT Professionals are expected to deliver.

Recognizing the costs, capabilities, and expectations for the utilty that is IT Service. ITIL represents the service life cycle of management practices for bringing to market, through knowing when the product is to sunset, be changed or replaced. Imagine what knowledge can do when it is the foundation for how service is perceived, costs managed, and results are proven.

I have heard many professionals talk about "what to do" to start to "do ITIL" better. The art of the long view, is that whatever you elect to explore, identify and implement will be only a start, that is continued through practice.

Thinking about ITIL from a more "pure" business perspective, it is about creating the people, process and technology ready to deliver. Attracting solutions really begins with an honest look of where you are, where you aspire to be and the steps you are prepared to make to take you to that better place.

ITIL Objectives:

Know and standardize the key elements of how you deliver service and support for as long as a product lives. Do this, manage cost, issues, and escalations, and you have delivered value.

Release Management: Orderly plans for change put you in a ready mindset, now cultivate the discipline for what a complete release would do and be to create success.

Configuration Management: Imagine this as your identity and purpose. It is your change of address, change of offering, centralization of agreements to the key elements that comprise the service.

Change Management: Why Change? To mitigate costs, to innovate solutions, etc. Why change? It is essential! Why change without a standard? It is dumbfounding. The key to managed cost and change implications lies in the art of impact assessment, planning and risk mitigation.

Using the notion of Release, Configuration, and Change Management in a real life example outside of IT..
http://hfcn.blogspot.com/2006/11/attracting-readiness-for-successful.html

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An article I really related to by Aidan Lawes in May 16, 2006 COMPUTER WEEKLY: "A new ITIL for the integration age" http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2006/05/16/215902/A+new+ITIL+for+the+integration+age.htm

Dawn Mular
http://linkedin.com/in/dmular