The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is an IT service management framework that outlines best practices for delivering IT services. ITIL’s systematic approach to IT service management (ITSM) can help businesses manage risk, strengthen customer relations, establish cost-effective practices, and build a stable IT environment that allows for growth, scale, and change.
ITIL has gone through several revisions in its history and currently comprises five books, each covering various processes and stages of the IT service lifecycle. The books contain recommendations and a framework that can help organizations standardize their service management processes. ITIL promises to reduce IT operations cost, improve productivity and employee satisfaction, and manage risk, failure, and disruption throughout the organization.
The goal of ITIL is for organizations to create predictable IT environments and to deliver the best customer service possible to customers and clients by streamlining processes and identifying opportunities to improve efficiency. ITIL has always focused on integrating IT into the business — something that has become increasingly important as technology becomes a vital aspect of every business unit. ITIL 4, the latest iteration of the ITIL framework, maintains the original focus with a stronger emphasis on fostering an agile and flexible IT department.
ITIL has gone through several revisions in its history. The original 30 books of the ITIL were first condensed in 2000 (when ITIL V2 was launched) to seven books, each wrapped around a facet of IT management. Later, the ITIL Refresh Project in 2007 consolidated the ITIL to five volumes consisting of 26 process and functions — this is referred to as the ITIL 2007 edition. In 2011, another update — dubbed ITIL 2011 — was published under the Cabinet Office. The five volumes remained, and ITIL 2007 and ITIL 2011 remained similar.
ITIL 4, which was released in 2019, maintains the same focus on automating processes, improving service management, and integrating the IT department into the business. But it also updates the framework to accommodate and answer to modern technology, tools, and software. Since ITIL’s last update, the IT department has grown to become integral to every business and the new framework accommodates this by being more agile, flexible, and collaborative.
ITIL 4 contains seven guiding principles that were adopted from the most recent ITIL Practitioner Exam, which covers organizational change management, communication, and measurement and metrics. These principles include:
