The ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is an internationally recognized best practice standard in IT Service Management (ITSM). ITIL is a universal framework designed to increase efficiency throughout your service delivery lifecycle.
The ITIL framework provides companies with an ITSM-first approach, instead of the traditional Product-First approach. Using ITIL service delivery for ITSM streamlines processes and drives optimum efficiency. In this article, we will talk about the basic concept of ITIL and ITSM and, how they can benefit your organization.
What Is The Value In Adopting An ITIL Approach To ITSM?
ITSM covers all aspects of IT service delivery from planning to execution. By adopting the ITIL framework within your ITSM plans, you will ensure that all the processes are designed, delivered, and managed at optimum efficiency.
Service delivery companies have to deal with multiple variables during an ongoing project. They understand the value of achieving customer success. Growing consumer expectations and increased competition offering similar services, has made service delivery organizations prioritize ‘service quality’ as their key differentiator. By streamlining processes and taking a proactive approach to IT, you will be able to cut costs and reduce response times. This will ultimately lead to greater returns on investment and more satisfied customers.
The ITIL Service Delivery Lifecycle
The ITIL Service Delivery Lifecycle can broadly be divided into 5 stages:
Stage I: Service Strategy
The first stage deals with strategizing about the best way to design and develop an efficient IT environment. By evaluating and analyzing the various costs and risks connected to their service portfolios, you can use this data to build efficient operational procedures.
Stage II: Service Design
The service design stage deals with designing the actual services and processes with a holistic approach using 'service oriented thinking'. This stage aims to bridge the gap between an organization’s strategic goals and customer needs through a common architecture and high service maturity processes. This stage is comprised of the following phases:
- Service Portfolio Management
- Service Level Management
- Service Catalogue Management
- Availability Management
Stage III: Service Transition
Once the planning and designing stage is complete, it is time to implement those processes. These new processes require expert guidance and accurate timing to increase adoption. The changing of processes will include the transfer of control of the processes between clients and service providers that need managing. This stage integrates all your service delivery components together. This stage typically includes:
- Knowledge Management
- Change Management
- Release and Deployment Management
- Asset Management
- Configuration Management
Stage IV: Service Operation
This stage deals with the practical aspects of running the newly implemented processes. The primary goal of this stage is to reduce operational redundancies, and minimize interruptions. This enables you to carry out SLAs as efficiently as possible. This stage contains phases like:
- Incident Management
- Event Management
- Request Fulfillment Management
- Problem Management
Stage V: Continual Service Improvement
This is in essence an extension of the previous service operations stages, the continual service improvement stage of the ITIL service delivery lifecycle completes a company's switch to a proactive approach to ITSM. By continually monitoring processes and integrating the latest technologies, companies gain a competitive edge and the transformation is complete.
If you’re struggling to streamline processes and adopt an ITIL approach to service delivery, why not ask for expert help? By outsourcing your IT needs to a Managed Service Provider (MSP) like ProV, you get step-by-step guidance through each stage of the ITIL lifecycle that leads you towards digital transformation and greater returns on your investments, all at a flexible and reasonable fee.
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