What is ITIL?

ITIL (the IT Infrastructure Library) is all about which processes need to be realised within the organisation for the management and operation of the IT infrastructure to promote optimum service provision to the customer of the services at justifiable costs.  ITIL is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world.   ITIL provides a cohesive set of best practice, drawn from the public and private sectors internationally. It is supported by a comprehensive qualifications scheme, accredited training organisations, and implementation and assessment tools.

Current IT Trends:

• Increasing costs of IT services (Delivery and Maintenance)
• Increasing requirements for quality and value for money from IT services
• Increasing complexity of IT infrastructure
• Increasing frequency of IT changes
• Increasing dependency on IT Services

Business Perceptions of IT today:

• Dissatisfied with IT Service Provision
• Lack of communication and understanding between IT and customers
• Expenditures on the IT infrastructure are excessive and felt to be excessive for the business
• Costs of IT service provision lack justification and cannot be tied to benefits of the business
• IT Projects are delivered late and over budget
• The business feels that the provision of IT is out of control

The Top 10 Strategic Benefits of ITIL are:

• Provides a single, definable, repeatable, and scalable documented framework for IT best practices, that flow across the IT organisation.
• Clearly identifies roles and responsibilities for IT Service Management.
• Supports reducing IT costs and justifying the cost of IT quality.
• Supports ability of IT to measure and improve performance and service provisioning.
• Defines IT in terms of services rather than systems.
• Supports improvement of user productivity.
• Improves communication and information flows between IT and business departments.
• Provides a framework for IT to support regulatory challenges.
• Improves ability of IT to adjust as business opportunities and challenges are presented.
• Improves relationship of IT with the business – builds trust.

Examples of some of the savings made by other organisations include:

• Over 70% reduction in service downtime
• ROI up by over 100%
• Significant cost savings per annum
• New product cycles reduced by 50%.

ITIL Champion

When ITIL being implemented it is recommended that the organisation appoint an internal staff member to become an ITIL champion.  This person should have the following characteristics:

• be from the IT department;
• Have enough authority to make a difference and enforce authority;
• Be well respected by all key players at all levels;
• Must be a believer in ITIL and its benefits; and
• Must be dedicated to implementing ITIL.

To facilitate this process effectively the ITIL champion will need to undertake recognised training in the following courses:

• ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management Course – (3 days)
• ITIL Managers Certificate in IT Service Management Course – (12 days)

ITIL Implementation Options

Business Success offers the following options to implement ITIL into organisations:

• Hire an external ITIL Coach
• Hire an external ITIL Consultant

Option One – Hire a Business Success ITIL Coach

Business Success provides organisation ITIL coaches to help them implement the improvements.  Working with in house appointed ITIL champion the coach will assist this individual with the implementation providing their the experience and knowledge as required.  The coach will define goals, arrange priorities, and develop action plans; while outlining the ITIL methodologies.  The coach’s goal is to motivate, enthuse and drive the ITIL champion to implement management strategies.

The advantages of this option are that:

• The appointed ITIL champion will learn as they implement it;
• The training cost and time away from the office is not required; and
• Hiring a coach is cheaper than hiring a consultant.

The disadvantages of this option are that:

• The appointed ITIL champion may still need some training to supplement the coaching;
• It may take a long time to get the ITIL systems implemented and they may not get fully accepted; and
• The champion will need to be dedicated to the task if it is going to be implemented successfully.

A Business Success ITIL coach should be engaged for one day a week for 6 months.  All the work will be completed by the ITIL champion and he alone is responsible for the results.  The coach will encourage, motivate, guide and help the ITIL Champion to achieve success, but overall the real work is performed by the ITIL Champion and how far they go and how fast they get there is up to them.

Option Three – Hire Business Success ITIL Consultant

Business Success can provide ITIL consulting services.  Organisations will still need to appoint an ITIL champion but they will not be required until ITIL is fully implemented across the business to ensure it is maintained and enforced.  The consultant will take control of implementing ITIL with the final objective to handover the reigns to the appointed ITIL champion for ongoing management.

The advantages of this option are that:

• The appointed ITIL champion will not need to learn the complexities of implementing ITIL;
• The training cost and time away from the office is not required;
• ITIL will be implemented as soon as logistically possible ensuring systems are accepted and effective; and
• Hills can be assured that ITIL is implemented as per the International Standards.

The disadvantage of this option is that the appointed ITIL champion may still need some training provide the ongoing management.

A Business Success ITIL consultant should be hired on a full time basis or for a minimum of two days at week.  The duration is difficult to estimate since there are many factors that contribute to the success of the ITIL implementation.  A normal engagement for an ITIL consultant is 6 months with reviews being conducted on a monthly basis.  The difference will be that you see results within the first month of the engagement.