SOLUTION BRIEF
ITIL isn’t Going Anywhere: Here are 3 Reasons Why 73%
of support teams want more involvement in the development process. — Atlassian Survey
The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has long been the foundation of IT service management (ITSM) processes. This has begun to shift in recent years as DevOps methodologies and a move toward flexible, adaptable IT configurations have left many organisations interested in moving away from the somewhat rigid ITIL frameworks. While there is certainly incentive to adjust IT processes in light of modern business requirements, moving on from ITIL is rarely a good option. In many cases, companies find that using ITIL as a framework for their IT operations gives them the stability they need to then customise and focus on efficiency from there.
The ITIL Conundrum The problem facing organisations is simple. ITIL best practices are built out of a legacy for what IT departments should strive for, namely stability, security, predictability and reliability. This means that the best practices and processes established within ITIL are focused heavily on minimising risk and acting in the best interest of the IT department when it comes to maintaining the integrity of the technology configuration. ITIL standards have evolved in recent years, but not to the degree that this underlying emphasis has changed.
Enterprise technology requirements, on the other hand, have shifted to the point that being a strong, reliable support system for the business isn’t enough for modern IT departments. Technology increasingly needs to drive innovation and revenue creation, making flexibility, adaptability, scalability and a rapid pace of innovation just as important as longstanding IT priorities. ITIL isn’t designed to deliver to these ends, and companies that remain chained exclusively to ITIL can run into significant limitations. However, ITIL is so good at setting a baseline for IT operations and configuration that it shouldn’t be cast aside. Instead, organisations must consider how to use ITIL alongside more strategies like DevOps to drive ITSM innovation without sacrificing control or creating risk.
Three Reasons to Keep ITIL as a Baseline IT Framework: 1. Strong Roots Creating an IT department that responds quickly to business needs is only possible if the IT setup is founded in secure, reliable principles. Think of your IT department like a tree. As branches expand and the trunk sways, all of those changes are possible because roots go deep into the ground and provide stability. In the same way, having ITIL best practices in the core processes and standards of your IT setup will allow you to make all the changes you need to the rest of the configuration because the underlying infrastructure is so steady.
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SOLUTION BRIEF ITIL isn’t Going Anywhere - Here are 3 Reasons Why (continued)
This need for strong organisational and technological roots is particularly noticeable as organisations increasingly mix diverse outsourced and premise-based IT services. This forces IT teams to become service brokers. Having strong ITIL roots ensures IT teams have the process documentation and optimisation needed to handle this transition.
2. Clear Lines of Communication Modern IT departments frequently blend roles and teams to intermix disciplines. DevOps is a prime example of this, as bringing together development and operations teams allows for collaboration that can get solutions into production quickly and with less risk. However, blurring the lines between traditional IT silos introduces risk of miscommunication as key messages can slip between the cracks, especially if users aren’t entirely sure who is responsible. ITIL best practices include an emphasis on clearly defining roles and lines of escalating various ITSM tasks between different user groups. This is extremely handy when trying to deal with blurred IT roles that come when silos start falling in modern technology teams.
3. Automation and Documentation Regulatory compliance demands have combined with a need to be more responsive to end-user demands to put IT departments in a difficult position. Process automation becomes essential as IT teams try to keep up with the pace of the cloud and meet user needs, but many companies lack clearly defined process frameworks. At the same time, stricter regulatory standards are making this standardisation, automation and documentation essential. This is another area where ITIL is strong. The framework is built around the idea of creating refined process models that are highly repeatable within your business to ensure reliability and resiliency. Enacting ITIL best practices while using process automation tools to accelerate operations. ITIL-based ITSM suites often include automated documentation functions once your processes are in place. All told, organisations will often run into situations where they must leave the ITIL script behind and customise IT operations based on their specific needs. Having ITIL as a base to build on creates the stability needed to modernise effectively. However, it also creates a need for skilled ITIL experts within the IT department.
Check out our courses around ITIL to get some inspiration on how you can prepare your staff to use ITIL as part of its toolset.
SE1609 ITILGoing
Sources: 1 https://www.atlassian.com/it-unplugged/devops/it-support-and-devops-report
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