IT Management Reference Guide

During the past two years I have certified over two hundred IT professionals on the fundamentals of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Before and during that time I have also offered consulting services to dozens of clients who wanted to implement some or all of the ITIL processes. These experiences have offered me the opportunity to witness first-hand a number of myths about the implementation of ITIL.

This two-part series describes ten common myths about implementing ITIL that I have encountered with organizations in recent years. In this first part I explore the first five of these myths; the second part explains the remaining five. Figure 1 summarizes these ten myths.

Figure 1 Ten Common Myths About Implementing ITIL

1. Must implement all or nothing – Many individuals who first learn of the ITIL set of processes believe that all ten of them, in addition to the function of the service desk, need to be implemented at the same time in order to gain the full benefit of the framework. This is not only not true, it is not even recommended by many of those who specialize in assisting with ITIL implementations. The ITIL framework is an extensive series of IT management best practices, and few believe that what is involved with it can be effectively implemented all at the same time. While it is true that all of the processes interact and integrate well with each other and should be designed with that in mind, many shops implement only what they need at the outset to ensure a successful early win.

2. Based on infrastructure management principles – Because ITIL is a library of books describing best management practices for infrastructure processes, many erroneously believe that ITIL is based primarily on the principles of sound infrastructure management. Responsible IT management certainly plays an important role when ITIL processes are being designed and implemented. But in fact, ITIL is based primarily on the principles of IT service management. The business value of basing IT support and delivery on service management may seem obvious today. But that was not the case back 15-20 years ago when originators developed the first version of ITIL.

The premise of having IT managers partner with customers to solve their business problems, and to offer them service levels that they negotiated and agreed to with IT representatives, was a fairly radical notion at the time. Not everyone is aware that this was the real basis for the development of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).

3. Applies mostly to data center operations – The fact that ITIL is involved with infrastructure processes and the management of them leads some to presume that ITIL pertains primarily to data center operations. In reality, ITIL pertains to all areas of IT in which deliverables are provided. This includes the service desk, database administration, applications deployment, hardware upgrades, and network provisions. ITIL also goes far beyond the data center in terms of service level agreements and financial management. Service level management involves regular meetings and sometimes extensive negotiations between customers and the service level manager. In many shops the service level manager is not even a member of the data center staff but instead may be on staff to the CIO.

4. Everyone needs to be trained on the fundamentals – This myth applies to some infrastructure managers, and several of the engineers reporting to them. IT professionals occasionally feel that to take advantage of the benefits of ITIL all personnel must be trained on its fundamentals. I know of some IT organizations that have implemented the ITIL framework very successfully with only a handful of their staff formally trained on ITIL fundamentals. The key here is to ensure that everyone involved with the design, implementation, use and maintenance of ITIL processes is familiar with the fundamental concepts of the framework. These concepts include the principles of IT service management, the integration of processes, and the use of metrics and management reporting. Not everyone needs to be formally trained on ITIL fundamentals to gain an understanding of these key concepts.

5. Full understanding of ITIL requires purchase of library – The IT infrastructure library is in fact a set of books prescribing best practices for managing an IT infrastructure. The intent of these books is to maximize the quality and value of IT services, and to ultimately reduce their costs. Some believe that to acquire a thorough understanding of ITIL and to realize its full benefits, all of the books in its library need to be purchased, read, understood and applied.

This is a myth in that many organizations acquire a deep understanding of ITIL and profit from its benefits without ever purchasing a single book. An understanding of ITIL and knowledge on how to apply it can be obtained in a variety of ways. Some of these methods include searching the Internet, attending user forums, participating in seminars, having discussions with other ITIL shops, signing up for training and contracting with subject matter experts.

The initial version of ITIL contained 42 books and covered areas in far greater detail than what many felt were practical. Many of the books, such as those that described how to install power supplies and how to design fire suppression systems, were dropped when later versions of ITIL were published. There currently are seven books in the library of which the two on Service Delivery and Service Support contain the majority of information needed to effectively utilize the ITIL framework.

This first installment of a two-part series on common mis-understandings about the implementation of ITIL described the first five of these myths. In Part Two I explain the remaining five.