This world has become data-driven where organizations in various sectors are using data for their daily business operations. With all this data being produced continuously, from business records to customer logs, managing the IT services, and delivering products to the customers can be a hassle. This is where ITIL comes in.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework helps organizations to manage and deliver their IT services efficiently and economically. Therefore, professionals who have completed ITIL Certification are in high demand as companies look to hire more IT service managers.

What is ITIL?

Developed by Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) in the UK in the 1980s, ITIL is the de facto standard for IT service management and is used by companies to serve their customers in a quality-driven way. The ITIL framework is a set of the best practices that allow organizations to manage their IT infrastructure to fulfill business requirements, manage risks, strengthen customer relationships, and develop a stable IT environment. This allows growth and implementing organizational changes easily.

Let us understand some key ITIL terms –

Capabilities

These are the special abilities an organization applies to its resources to create value aimed at the end-user.

Processes

These are a well-defined set of activities that are aimed to achieve some objectives. Characteristics of processes are:

• Measurable
• They convert inputs to outputs
• They can be triggered by specific events
• They are aimed at delivering specific services to customers/ stakeholders

Functions

Functions can be considered as a group of professionals and the tools they use to carry out processes.

Resources

These are raw materials required to create a product or service such as staff, funds, time, and equipment.

Roles

Responsibilities assigned to professionals or teams for the creation of services

Services

The means of providing the customers’ value

Core concepts of ITIL

The ITIL framework is divided into different phases which are described below –

Service strategy

A service strategy is the set of strategies required to achieve the business objectives. This defines the services and how to implement the strategies to create the services. Service strategy addresses issues such as corporate governance, policy/ decision making, business processes and service improvement.

It has the following sub-categories:

• Service Portfolio Management
• Demand Management
• Strategy Operations
• Financial Management
• Business Relationship Management

Service Design

In this phase, the ideas and strategies generated in the first phase will be used to design the services. All the supporting elements required to launch the service in a live environment are discussed here. The 4 Ps of service design – People, Processes, Products, and Partners are also considered.

The processes under service design are:

• Service Catalog Management
• Service Level Management
• Availability Management
• Capacity Management
• Service Continuity Management
• IT Security Management
• Supplier Management

Service Transition

All the IT services are developed and deployed here. It is also ensured that service management processes and changes made to the services are both in sync. The subcategories under this phase are –

• Change Management
• Change Evaluation
• Project Management
• Release and Deployment Management
• Service Validation and Testing
• Service Asset and Configuration Management
• Knowledge Management

Service Operation

The main aim of the Service Operation stage is to deliver services efficiently to the customers and meet their expectations. Handling customer requests, resolving service errors, failures, and carrying out operational tasks – are all included in this phase.

The different processes of this phase are –

• Event Management
• Incident Management
• Request Fulfillment
• Access Management
• Problem Management

The functions of this phase include

• IT Operations Management
• Application Management
• Technical Management

Continual Service Improvement (CSI)

As the name suggests, this phase is about the steps taken to continuously improve the services and enhance their efficiency. The different steps under CSI are –

• Determining strategies for improvement
• Gathering, processing and analyzing data about the service
• Properly presenting the information acquired from the data
• Analyzing the information to perform improvements to the service

Benefits of ITIL framework

Using the ITIL framework does not only improve the IT services of a company but also helps in solving other business issues. The advantages of using this framework are mentioned below –

• Aligning the IT infrastructure with the current business strategies
• Enhancing collaboration and communication between different teams is simpler, as the framework is compatible with other project management systems
• Better product delivery and assessing customer requirements
• Better cost management using detailed metrics and proper utilization of existing resources
• The best practices and processes of ITIL enable companies to adapt to this rapidly changing technological scenario and take more customer-centric strategies
• The framework offers businesses a stable environment where they can grow, change and scale-up

Companies who use the ITIL framework –

• Bank of America
• Bank of New York
• Boeing
• Capital One
• IBM
• Disney
• Hewlett-Packard
• Honda
• JP Morgan Chase
• Microsoft
• Sony
• Toyota
• Wall-Mart
• British Airways
• Visa

Importance of an ITIL certification

The ITIL certification has 5 levels – Foundation, Practitioner, Intermediate, Expert, and Master. All levels need to have in-depth knowledge about the framework. But, the new ITIL 4 certification only has ITIL Foundation and the ITIL Master exams.

If you are a professional looking to enter the IT service management department or just looking to enhance your capabilities, ITIL Training is the way to go. A certification can help you earn almost 40% more than others. You will be able to apply for job positions such as –

• ITSM Service Manager
• Solutions Architect
• Service Delivery Manager
• System Administrator

Companies such as Adobe, Barclays, Accenture, Amazon, IBM, Capgemini, Google, and Oracle hire professionals with ITIL certification. On average, an ITSM Service Manager earns INR 1,353k per year. So, enroll in an ITIL course today to begin your exciting career in IT service management!