A tailored approach, not ITIL for ITIL’s sake
ITIL is the best practice approach to IT service management, but can it deliver genuine business benefits and will survive the recession intact? Adrian Polley, CEO at Plan-Net suggests a tailored approach.
ITIL – the IT Library Infrastructure – was created in the 1980s by the UK Government’s CCTA (Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency) with the objective of ensuring better use of IT services and resources. It was very different to the current ITIL, but still focused on service support and delivery.
During the boom years the uptake in implementing ITIL increased dramatically in both government and commercial organisations as companies strived to deliver best practice. It reached a level where some form of the discipline was in evidence in between 40 and 60 percent of IT departments, depending on which industry figure you choose to believe.
However, with the recent sharp downturn in economic conditions, ITIL implementations have become one of the first projects to be scrubbed off the list by those who hold the purse strings. So why has ITIL suffered more than many other projects under these circumstances? Perhaps it is simply that people do not believe that it will actually deliver the benefits that its advocates would have us all believe. Certainly they have reason to think that when success stories showing tangible business benefits seem few and far between.
In my experience, the problem does not lie directly with ITIL. In fact it can be used very effectively to generate efficiencies and make improvements to services. Few would dispute that implemented properly, a best practice approach will deliver benefits and ITIL is still the industry standard when it comes to best practice in IT service management. Where the problem lies is with the kind of full-scale, by-the-book implementations that were typically carried out before the downturn started to raise questions.
The danger with this kind of untailored, off-the-shelf approach is that a large number of the processes and procedures implemented do not take into account the specific requirements of the organisation in question. This means they can be unnecessary, or worse still inhibitive and directly at odds with the needs of the business. The extra work and unnecessary expense of a by-the-book implementation could be swept under the carpet when times were good and money wasn’t a problem However, now, when minds become focused on the bottom line and pencils are sharpened, there is nowhere to hide for projects that promise much, cost the earth but place their focus on the journey rather than the end result.
This revelation has led to some casualties. With the substantial financial rewards on offer to an IT service management consultancy involved in a full-scale, untailored, by-the-book ITIL implementation there were no shortage of suitors promoting this approach. The problem for many of these consultancies is they have not been able to adapt to the changes in economic conditions and the simple fact that there are far fewer businesses willing to undertake projects of this nature. Since the focus has turned to a more service-orientated, efficiency-driven way of thinking it is no longer enough to simply use ITIL certification as the justification for a project. Consultancies that previously used this method have found themselves unable to provide the examples of measurable return on investment that its prospective clients now demand.
However, it is not all doom and gloom for ITIL. Far from it; in fact the shift in thinking has forced ITIL to evolve into something better. While the recession has undoubtedly uncovered some huge issues with a certain type of ITIL implementation, it has also shown how to get the most from it. While ITIL projects seem to have become less common, ITIL is still thriving as a standard for tailored, best practice-aligned projects with clear business goals in mind.
So where does this leave an organisation that recognises the benefits best practice can bring and is looking to use ITIL standards within their service? The outlook is surprisingly positive. Best-practice need not be tossed by the wayside; in fact quite the opposite. ITIL still has a major part to play in improving efficiency and service levels, and as such is a perfect fit as a guide for surviving the downturn and capitalising on the upturn when it eventually comes.
It should, however, always be considered as a guide and always tailored selectively to the specific needs of each organisation. Best practice is beginning to be replaced by ‘fit-for-purpose’ and the industry will be all the better for it. The secret is not to make the same mistakes as last time when the cycle begins again. Whatever the economic conditions, IT will maximise its use to the business by running in the most efficient way possible and as such, all ventures into the world of best practice should be conducted with this in mind.
It is also important to remember that the best practice approach does not begin and end with an ITIL implementation. One thing we always communicate to our clients is that an ITIL implementation alone does not automatically deliver a best-practice IT department, and is even less likely to deliver a fit-for-purpose one. Processes and procedures are enablers for the improvement of service, and it is in using them that an organisation will see their benefit. With this in mind, it is just as essential for a best practice environment to possess the right people and the right technology in the right place as it is to implement a standard such as ITIL – in any form.
Where the recession has given another unlikely helping hand is by forcing many organisations into cutting away everything but the necessities of service; in doing so they have often discovered the most streamlined way of running their IT service. There are some caveats involved. It obviously requires the right cuts to be made, and that service levels do not diminish as a result of these cuts; but with the right guidance a framework for a super-efficient, high-performance IT service can rise up from the ashes of budget-led cuts to the department.
It cannot be said too many times that disciplines such as ITIL should always be tailored to the needs of the organisation in question and it can therefore be seen as one of the few positives of the unfortunate economic situation that the industry has been forced to examine the way it approaches best practice. In order to ensure momentum is not lost the industry should say good riddance to ITIL for ITIL’s sake once and for all, and embrace the tailored, ITIL-aligned approach to service management that will enable us to survive the downturn and capitalise on the future.
