ITIL V3

ITIL V3

With the widely publicised re launch of ITIL many companies are considering the value of updating their processes in line with V3 or considering an initial implementation. Before stepping into a full project to move to the updated framework a brief understanding of the differences between the two should assist in making the decision on how to proceed.

Many believe that ITIL v3 provides a richer overall framework in many areas that v2 was lacking. For example Service Strategy is placed at the core of all Service.  Its purpose to understand that a service provider must provide services of value to the customer; this includes understanding customer needs, the general market place, what is value to the customer and how service performance should be measured. Creation of Service Catalogues, Service Pipelines are all of consideration as well as sourcing strategy and value creation.

Service Design has taken on various elements embedded within v2 which most should be familiar with, whether or not it has been implemented in their organisation. The processes within this stage are concerned with designing new or changed services ensuring a holistic approach is taken. Areas such as service solution, service management tools, technology architecture, processes, metrics and measurements are all considered and included in this stage.  This includes Service Level Management, availability management and Capacity management. ITIL v3 now also includes Information Security management and Service Catalogue management. The holistic approach looks to take all these into consideration and also IT Service Continuity Management, an area often overlooked. This is not simply the creation of a ITSC plan but to ensure it is managed throughout its service lifecycle. Not kept in the drawer but maintained, updated and tested periodically. Although already part of ITIL v2, including this in a distinct design stage should encourage service providers and customers alike to recognise the significance of this process.

Service Transition is all about that step between design and live environments. Change Management and Release Management are still key processes to this but have been complemented with an improved Service Asset & Configuration Management process.  The CMDB is no longer used as the single repository for configuration item information. It has been recognised that with the large and complex IT Services and infrastructures it is sometimes necessary to have more than one CMDB. Therefore a supporting system known as a configuration management system (CMS) has been introduced. The scope of this has been expanded to include non-IT assets as these may need to be controlled in the same manner as IT assets. Change and Release Management offer the same challenges in v3 with some slight changes on terminology but in essence the same processes.

Actual operation of service still hinges on incident management and problem management processes. Other processes have been introduced such as request fulfilment and event management which handle areas such as requests for standard change and automated monitoring in the service operation environment in a better manner than v2 could. The function of Service Desk is retained but the overall concept of an IT organisation is acknowledged with functions of Technical Management, IT Operations and Application Management. These changes assist in better aligning of ITIL processes to the IT organisation.

Finally, Continuous Service Improvement (CSI) has been recognised as a key component to aligning services to the changing needs of business.  Maintaining value for the customer through continual evaluation and improvement of services delivered and maturity of the Service Management lifecycle.  Service Measurement and Service Reporting are key to CSI and are areas that are often overlooked. Even more overlooked are using this to further identify improvements and I would say that this is key to a successful service provider.

Companies that have worked hard to implement processes in line with V2 need not be alarmed at the thought of rework to fit into the V3 lifecycle approach. It remains the case that ITIL is a framework of best practices and that pragmatism is still appropriate when considering what is important to your business. Indeed there is an increased focus on Continuous Service Improvement in V3 which can focus your organisation on improving pain points.

Xicon have extensive experience in helping organisations achieve best practice under the ITIL model and have developed an assessment and implementation framework that can support the initial transition to ITIL and update to v3.

For more information or for an informal discussion with one of our ITIL certified consultants please click here.