Most organizations consider themselves accomplished with ITIL implementation once their incident, problem, and change management processes are in place. It gives a picture of functioning perfectly once they can handle their incidents better, problem management processes are standardized and change management is functioning smoothly. However, this is an amateurish interpretation considering the fact that there is a lot more to ITIL than incident, problem, and change management.
There needs to be a plan – certain processes beyond incident, problem, and change management need to be implemented for ITIL to really mature in your organization. The following are a few processes that will help any organization achieve ITIL maturity.
Key ITIL Processes Beyond Incident, Problem, Change Management
1. Service Catalog Management:
The primary objective of service catalog management is to bring transparency to the costs involved in delivering a service and the ensuing returns. The service catalog will contain all the IT services delivered to internal customers, together with relationships with the business units and the business processes that rely on IT services. The service catalog is a critical element since it brings structure to the way forward. A service catalog clearly depicts the services that are in function currently, the services that have been planned, the costs, and the resulting financial impact of these services. This brings about lesser duplication in effort, transparency, and IT productivity. For example, the organization needs services such as accounts payable, systems security, employee onboarding, etc. The organization will want to know what exactly they are getting in return for the amount of money they are paying for the service to be delivered.
2. Configuration Management:
It is almost impossible to maintain a service catalog and deliver services to the levels expected by the organization without being able to manage the resources linked with it. Configuration management comes into the picture. ITIL defines a configuration item as a service asset that may vary widely in complexity, size, and type, ranging from an entire service or system including all hardware, software, documentation, and support staff to a single software module or a minor hardware component. Configuration management will require a tool – Configuration Management Database. The CMD will help you identify configuration items, control and manage them, maintain their status and verify data. The ROI for configuration management would not have been possible to demonstrate with incident, problem, and change. However now, when the service catalog is implemented, it makes business sense to proceed to configuration management.
3. Financial Management:
Business accountability has always been the Achilles heel of IT. This is mainly because IT has never been able to quantify its benefits to the business. There has not been any kind of financial transparency. The service catalog acts as the perfect starting point for financial management. The catalog will have all information with regard to the costs associated with critical services delivered. For example, if the organization wants to enhance its disaster recovery and business continuity, the service catalog will tell you what has been the improvement associated with the costs of implementing it. Once transparency is brought about, financial management becomes simpler and IT can now demonstrate its value to the organization.
4. Service Portfolio Management:
Service portfolio management is the final step towards ITIL maturity. The Service Portfolio is the complete set of services that are managed by a service provider.
It is used to manage the entire life cycle of all services and includes the following three categories
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- Service Pipeline (proposed or in development)
- Service Catalog (live or available for deployment)
- Retired Services
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The service portfolio represents the commitments and investments made by a service provider across all customers and market spaces, keeping in mind the following objectives.
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- Maintain the definitive portfolio of services provided, articulating the business needs each service meets and the business outcomes it supports
- Control which services are offered, under what conditions, and at what level of investment
- Track the investment in services throughout their life cycle
- Analyze which services are no longer viable and when they should be retired
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Service portfolio management will help IT organizations make the transition from a reactive mode to proactive actions while implementing ITIL processes
5. Continual Improvement:
Continual improvement is one of the key principles of ITIL. Continual improvement helps individuals to:
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- Look for improvement opportunities and work towards achieving them
- Increase their skills and capabilities by which they can engage in problem-solving activities
- Evaluate the current situation with regards to existing resources, control, and risks
- Standardize and formalize change and implement them to similar products and processes down the line.
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ITIL is not just about implementing incidents, problems, and change management. The other processes in this vast best practice guidance can be implemented to enhance the overall maturity level of an organization. Do let us know in the comments section if your organization has implemented ITIL to processes beyond those mentioned above in the article.
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1. 6 Essentials for a Successful ITIL® Implementation
2. How Cultural Dynamics Play an Important Role in ITIL Implementation
3. ITIL Implementation Roadmap: 6 Tips to Adopt ITIL Effectively
4. 10 Common ITIL Implementation Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
