ITIL Information Technology Infrastructure Library

In response to ever-growing dependence on IT the UK Government CCTA (Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency) developed a set of recommendations in the ‘80s.  It did so in recognition of the fact that without standard practices, both government agencies and private sector contracts were independently creating their own IT management practices.  The goal of IT Infrastructure Library is to standardise these practices.

So, what is ITIL? 

ITIL is used to provide a cohesive set of IT best practices that have been drawn from both public and private sectors across the globe.  It is a framework for IT service management that provides guidance to businesses and individuals on how to use IT to meet business needs and deliver value.   As a tool, it facilitates business change, transformation and progress by describing procedures, processes, tasks and checklists that are neither organisation nor technology specific, but that can be applied by either to establish a baseline from which to plan, implement and measure.  It is also a tool for demonstrating compliance and measuring improvement.

In terms of value, ITIL is becoming an increasingly desirable best practice because of the speed at which IT is constantly developing.  An ITIL course will allow candidates to obtain the knowledge necessary to navigate their way through the constantly changing technological advances allowing them to be better equipped to manage resources and improve or optimise the product, service and delivery.  As such, ITIL is a means of managing IT services, rather than managing a specific project.

Although very brief, this post was only ever meant to be a short explanation of what ITIL is.  If you would like to know more about the history of ITIL and the differences between version 3 and the newly arrived version 4, then see my post entitled ITIL®: The history, the evolution and the differences between versions 3 and 4.  If you are interested in taking an ITIL® exam, then see ITIL 4 Qualifications and the benefits of gaining them.  If, however, you hold an ITIL version 3 Foundation certificate then look out for ITIL® Transition from version 3 to version 4.