ITIL : Best Practices for ®

Managing Your IT Infrastructure

Cheryl E. Simpson
IT Service Management Consultant

Revised January 2009

1-800-843-8733
www.learningtree.ca

ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries.
IT Infrastructure Library® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries.
©2009 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
1.0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 The Challenges of IT
and the Business .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2.0 What is ITIL®.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.1 Overview/Who Owns ITIL® .. . . . . . . . 2
2.2 Choosing the Right Framework
for Your Organization .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.3 IT Service Management .. . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.4 The Library .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.5 Ongoing Development .. . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.0 Benefits of ITIL® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.1 Managing the IT Infrastructure .. . . . . 3
3.2 Integrating IT and the Business.. . . . . 3
3.3 Return on Investment .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4.0 Implementing Best Practices.. . . . . . 4
4.1 Where Do You Start? .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.2 Essential Ingredients .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.3 The Implementation Journey . . . . . . . 5
4.4 Keeping the Momentum Going . . . . 5
5.0 Certification and Training .. . . . . . . . 5
5.1 ITIL v3 Qualification Scheme . . . . . . 5
5.2 Credit for ITIL v1 and
v2 Certifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6.0 More Information .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7.0 Bibliography/Reference/
Further Reading .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8.0 Resources.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
About Learning Tree International.. . . . . . . 8
About the Author.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1-800-843-8733 • www.learningtree.ca
ITIL®: Best Practices for Managing Your IT Infrastructure
©2009 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL White Paper
1.0 Introduction
1.1 The Challenges of IT and the Business
“Pressures to decrease cost, increase reliability and comply with
local regulations conspire to make it harder than ever for IT to
deliver business services efficiently. We are fast approaching the
stage of IT’s evolution at which innovation must translate into
overall process improvements, as it did in the mainframe world
20 years ago. This quest for process improvement is the root
cause of a universal interest in best practices and in frameworks
such as IT Infrastructure Library ® (ITIL).”
Forrester, September 1, 2005
To ensure smooth operation, businesses depend on
Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This
dependency ranges from availability of systems, and ability
to handle computing and information capacity requirements,
to the simpler break/fix of end users’ computers.
It is essential that IT understands the business that it
serves in order to deliver cost-effective and cost-justified
IT service provisioning.
Benefits realized by many IT organizations
through the implementation of ITIL and processes
based on best practice guidelines are:
• Greater alignment of IT services, processes and
goals with business requirements, expectations
and goals
• Improved business profitability and productivity
• Support staff that are more aware of business
processes and business impact
• A reduction in overall management and support
costs leading to reduced Total Cost of Ownership
• Improved service availability and performance,
leading to increased business revenue
• Improved service levels and quality of service
Source: An Introductory Overview of ITIL® v3, itSMF 2007
1
 1-800-843-8733 • www.learningtree.ca LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
2.0 What is ITIL
2.1 Overview/Who Owns ITIL
ITIL refers to the Information Technology Infrastructure
Library®. It is a collection of best practices written by
industry consultants, practitioners and experts for the managing
of the IT Infrastructure. It is the de facto standard for IT
service provision and will assist in an organization’s
efforts to achieve formal ISO standardization through
ISO/IEC 20000 IT Service Management certification.
ITIL was developed by the CCTA, now called the Office
of Government Commerce (part of the British Government),
in the late 1980s. ITIL can be implemented as a whole or
in small pieces, depending on an organization’s needs.
Even implementation of only one or two processes may
provide a positive impact on service provisioning.
2.2 Choosing the Right Framework
for Your Organization
When organizations realize the need for standards and
best practices, they often ask which ones are right for them.
Fortunately, many standards complement one another.
CMMI: The Software Engineering Institute’s Capability
Maturity Model Integration is used within an organization’s
software development area. It measures the maturity of
the software development process. This powerful Process
Maturity Scale has been adopted and adapted within
other frameworks, including ITIL (see ITIL’s Planning to
Implement Service Management book).
COBIT®: Control Objectives for Information and related
Technologies can be seen as an IT auditor’s toolkit. It
consists of control objectives for many areas within an IT
organization. It includes Audit guidelines, Descriptions
of each control objective, Maturity Models (based on
CMMI’s Model) for each area, Critical Success Factors,
Key Performance and Key Goal indicators. Version 4 of
COBIT better aligns the control objectives with ITIL,
especially among the Service Support and Service
Delivery processes and Information Security. A joint
publication entitled Aligning COBIT 4.1, ITIL® V3 and
ISO/IEC 27002 for Business Benefit can be downloaded
from http://www.isaca.org
COBIT ® is a registered trademark of the Information Systems Audit and
Control Association (ISACA) and the IT Governance Institute.
ITIL®: Best Practices for Managing Your IT Infrastructure
©2009 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
White Paper
ISO: The International Organization for Standardization,
ISO, has published more than 17,500 standards, including:
ISO 9004 Quality Management, ISO/IEC 27002 Information
Technology Security Techniques and ISO/IEC 20000 IT
Service Management.
2.3 IT Service Management
IT Service Management: “Service Management is a set of
specialized organizational capabilities for providing value to
customers in the form of services. These may include all of the
processes, methods, functions, roles and activities that a Service
Provider uses to enable them to deliver services to their customers.”
Source: An Introductory Overview of ITIL® v3, itSMF, 2007
2.4 The Library
The five core titles in the Version 3 library (published
May 30, 2007) are:
Service Strategy:
Strategy and value planning, linking IT service strategy to
business needs, planning and implementing service strategy.
Service Design:
Objectives, design and cost models, benefit/risk analysis,
implementing guidance.
Service Transition:
Organizational and cultural change, knowledge management,
methods, practices and tools.
Service Operation:
Application, Change, and Operation Management, control
processes and function, scalable practices.
Continual Service Improvement:
Drivers for improvement, justification, business, financial and
organization improvement.
Each book in the Version 3 library follows the same structure,
which should make navigation easy. In addition, each book
includes measurement and control to ensure you are achieving
what you set out to do.
The Official Introduction to ITIL Service Management, © 2007
The Stationery Office, provides an overview to the five core
titles. It explains basic concepts for IT Service Management
and how ITIL fits into it. It has many new concepts now
found in previous versions of ITIL, such as the Lifecycle Model.
In addition, it includes a section on governance, lifecycle
stages, decision making, operation and optimization.
2
 1-800-843-8733 • www.learningtree.ca LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
IT Service Management has matured since Version 2 was
published in 2000, and Version 3 addresses this in the
following ways:
Version 2 talked about: Version 3 emphasizes:
• Business and • Business and
IT Alignment IT Integration
• Value Chain • Value Network
Management Integration
• Linear Service • Dynamic Service
Catalogues Portfolios
• Collection of • Holistic Service
Integrated Processes Management Lifecycle
Source: TSO, www.best-management-practice.com
2.5 Ongoing Development
The original set of approximately 30 books from the late 1980s
is now known as Version 1. Version 2 began in 2000,
and the last book in the set, The Business Perspective,
Volume 2 (published Summer 2006), is the last book
in that revision.
The development of the five core books in Version 3 took
approximately three years to complete, beginning in
July 2004.
The Version 3 library has been followed by Key Element
Guides.
3.0 Benefits of ITIL
3.1 Managing the IT Infrastructure
Areas within IT have evolved because of a need. Take
the Service Desk, for example. A computer is placed on
someone’s desk. When users require assistance, they go to
the person who is having the most success with their PC, or
the one who installed it, and the next thing you know, that
person doesn’t have time to do their assigned tasks because
they’re fielding questions from others. Soon, they justify
hiring another body to assist them, then another. Behold
the evolution of a Service Desk.
ITIL®: Best Practices for Managing Your IT Infrastructure
©2009 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
White Paper
The challenge IT often faces is that a need exists and
someone steps up, or is assigned, to fill the need. As the
organization grows, over years and even decades, it can
become less and less effective because the additions of duties
and staff have been done without the bigger picture in mind.
Without formal processes, a simple request for service could
take days or weeks to complete, leaving the end user, some-
one from the business, waiting impatiently. In either case,
their ability to function at optimal efficiency is compromised.
Enter ITIL, documented best practices, with high-level
processes and descriptive advice for managing the
infrastructure. It describes the best practices for the
common areas within the infrastructure and advocates
a key message. The message: align IT with the business
requirements.
3.2 Integrating IT and the Business
The integration of IT with the business enables the
business to better meet its goals. Downtime can be reduced,
and recurring errors in the infrastructure and panic buying
can be eliminated. What IT may perceive as a logical
prioritization of issues the business is experiencing, may
not be. The partnership between IT and the business
ensures that business priorities can be better addressed.
3.3 Return on Investment
As organizations implement ITIL best practices, they
immediately begin to look for a return on investment. Some
organizations claim to have saved millions of dollars,
crediting ITIL.
“To get more value from service providers, CIOs need to push their
partners to develop a more systematic advisory approach around
calculating ITIL ROI and preparing ITIL business justifications that
point to the longer-term benefits of implementation.”
Forrester, September 1, 2005
3
 1-800-843-8733 • www.learningtree.ca LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
4.0 Implementing Best Practices
4.1 Where Do You Start?
As with any type of change, there must be a compelling
reason, a great need for the change. ITIL best practices can
be implemented as a whole or in part. Many organizations
do not set out to implement processes in all disciplines
within ITIL. Often the area causing the most grief is tackled
first. That area may include controlling changes to IT
systems or improving the Service Desk.
What is the ideal state? No matter where you start, having
a clear vision and alignment with business objectives is
essential. Define what the ideal state will look like for your
organization. Remember that the ideal state for one organi-
zation is not the same for every organization. The end state
will be unique to your business.
What is the current state? If an organization is not
currently calling what it does ITIL, that doesn’t mean it does
not already have some aspects of ITIL’s best practice
guidance in place. These are best practices after all. The
organization must be doing something right. An assessment
of the current state with a mapping of best practices often
reveals some aspect of best practice in addition to other gaps.
Getting to the ideal state: Treat an ITIL implementation
like a project. Define the road map, deliverables and the
milestones. Check the progress frequently and ensure the
accomplishments correspond to the vision. Depending on
the resources dedicated to the process improvement task,
it could take six months or more to simply document all the
policies, processes and procedures for a single ITIL process.
ITIL®: Best Practices for Managing Your IT Infrastructure
©2009 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
White Paper
Measuring Accomplishments: Understanding the
effectiveness of the implementation should not be
overlooked. How will you know when you have reached
the ideal state? Have all the proposed accomplishments been
achieved?
In many cases, the ideal state will be achieved through
a series of small milestones. This approach allows
organizations to absorb the changes slowly—however,
it also involves a longer journey of continuous change.
4.2 Essential Ingredients
ITIL implementations must address four ingredients
to be successful: People, Process, Products/Technology
and Partners/Suppliers. All four are important to success.
Defining the processes, and purchasing, updating or
customizing the technology often to support the processes
in conjunction with internal or external partners, may in fact
be an easier task than moving people in the direction of
change. In many cases, the people aspect is one of the
most difficult aspects of an ITIL implementation. Defining
roles and responsibilities is an essential ingredient.
Critical success factors and key performance indicators
will play a key part in your ITIL implementation. Measure-
ment and control make up parts of the Service Design,
Service Transition, Service Operation and Continual Service
Improvement books.
4
 1-800-843-8733 • www.learningtree.ca LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
4.3 The Implementation Journey
The Service Strategy book includes a section on planning
and implementing a service strategy along with linking the
strategy to business needs. Management commitment from
as high up in the organization as possible, as well as project
awareness and training, will be the key to success. It is not
unusual for middle management to see ITIL as a benefit and
a way to improve current situations within IT. In an effort to
improve the situation, they begin promoting the benefits of
ITIL and begin using it. They eventually realize that only the
areas in which they have direct influence are participating.
To be successful, all areas of IT, as well as the areas of the
business that are touched by the processes, must be on board
and following the ITIL processes defined.
4.4 Keeping the Momentum Going
As with any change, the need to keep momentum going
is great. Because of the significant amount of change that
may be required in your organization, it will be necessary
to closely monitor the progress of the processes being
implemented.
It is not enough to define the processes, install the tools
and train the personnel. Before long, shortcuts will be
taken, and processes or process steps will be skirted and
lost. They may even end up on the corporate list titled
“We tried that and it didn’t work.”
An ongoing continuous improvement resource may help
ensure that documentation is updated, distributed and
being followed. The resource may also advise on process
improvements, analysis metrics and key performance
indicators.
ITIL and IT Service Management is a big investment, and
once up and running, provides great benefits to the IT
organization and, even more so, to the business.
ITIL®: Best Practices for Managing Your IT Infrastructure
©2009 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
White Paper
5.0 Certification and Training
Certification and accreditation for training is governed by the
APM Group. They are the official ITIL accreditor and exam
provider (http://www.apmgroup.co.uk). APM Group also
accredits training organizations (ATOs) and Exam Institutes
(EIs). The APMG Web site contains a complete list of all ATOs
and EIs and the material covered in each certification.
5.1 ITIL v3 Qualification Scheme
There are multiple levels in the ITIL v3 Qualification Scheme.
The Foundation level provides a general awareness of ITIL
v3’s Service Lifecycle and all the key elements within.
Successful candidates will have demonstrated knowledge in
ITIL terminology, basic concepts, structure and core principles.
It is not intended to enable holders of the certification to
apply ITIL without further guidance. This certificate will earn
the holder two credits towards the 22 required for ITIL Expert
in IT Service Management certification.
The Intermediate level consists of two streams:
The Service Lifecycle stream (five certifications) is
intended to delve into the specific areas in the context of
the entire Lifecycle. Each certificate will earn the holder
three additional credits.
The modules include: Service Strategy, Service Design,
Service Transition, Service Operation and Continual Service
Improvement.
The Capability stream (four certifications) provides an
in-depth understanding of v3 process activities, roles and
execution, in relationship to the Service Lifecycle.
The Modules include: 1) Planning, Protection and
Optimization, 2) Service Offerings and Agreements,
3) Release, Control and Validation, 4) Operational Support and
Analysis. Each certificate will earn the holder four credits.
Candidates who wish to obtain the ITIL Expert in IT Service
Management certification will require the Managing Across
the Lifecycle course. It includes additional knowledge and
skills to implement and manage the Service Lifecycle and
will earn the holder five credits.
ITIL Service Management Expert Certification can be
obtained by earning 22 credits in Foundation, Intermediate
and Managing Across the Lifecycle.
The Master Level Certification—which will likely be renamed—
is the highest Certification and is still under development.
5
 1-800-843-8733 • www.learningtree.ca LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL White Paper

5.2 Credit for ITIL v1 and v2 Certifications
The new qualification structure recognizes ITIL v1 and
v2 certifications. Most will earn credits towards the 22
credits required for the ITIL Service Management Expert
Certification via bridging routes. There is a Foundation
bridging course to upgrade an individual’s knowledge
from ITIL v1 or v2 to ITIL v3. For anyone who has
obtained the Managers Certificate in IT Service
Management, v1 or v2, there is an additional ITIL v3
Managers Bridge course that will lead directly to the ITIL
Expert Certification. For v2 Practitioners, qualification
for the ITIL v3 Managers Bridge course can be achieved
via 12 credits earned from holding three v2 clustered
Practitioner qualifications and the v2 Foundation.
The most recent information regarding the ITIL v3
Qualification Scheme and ITIL Certification, as well
as ITIL v1/v2 credit, can be obtained from
http://www.best-management-practice.com
6.0 More Information
The Best-Management-Practice Web site ensures a reliable
and up-to-date source of information on ITIL and its
current and future development. It is provided by the
Office of Government Commerce in partnership with
AMP Group (OGC’s official accreditor) and TSO
(OGC’s official publisher). In addition, this site has many
great resources such as the introductory overview of
ITIL v3, available to download in PDF format as well
as a Glossary of ITIL terms in several languages.
See: http://www.best-management-practice.com
The IT Service Management Forum (itSMF) is an
international not-for-profit organization dedicated to
IT Service Management. Initially formed in 1991 in the
United Kingdom, the itSMF now has national chapters
in more than 40 countries. Most national chapters
resell the ITIL publications and may even provide their
membership with a discount on the purchase of ITIL
related publications.
The aim of the itSMF is to develop and promote IT
Service Management best practices. With this mandate,
the itSMF is a major contributor to, as well as a major
influence on, ITIL.
Many national chapters are contributing to the better-
ment of ITIL through the sharing of information in
meetings and conferences, and the publishing of related
publications, newsletters, etc.
National itSMF chapters host conferences annually in the
UK, USA and Canada. Traditionally, all take place in the
fall each year. Along with an exhibition that includes tool
vendors and implementation consultants, the conferences
host a variety of vendor and practitioner presentations.
Ultimately, there’s no better way to learn about ITIL
implementations than from actual case studies.
National chapters often produce a publication/newsletter
on a regular basis and host regular meetings with local
branches and local interest groups where networking with
peers can take place.
In addition to itSMF conferences, several vendors around
the world also host IT Service Management Conferences,
offer Webcasts and have created white papers.
itSMF International is located on the Web at:
http://www.itsmfi.org
7.0 Bibliography/Reference/Further Reading
Service Strategy
The Stationery Office, ©2007
Service Design
The Stationery Office, ©2007
Service Transition
The Stationery Office, ©2007
Service Operation
The Stationery Office, ©2007
Continual Service Improvement
The Stationery Office, ©2007
ISO/IEC 20000: A Pocket Guide
Van Haren Publishing, ©2006
An Introductory Overview of ITIL®
The Stationery Office, ©2007

ITIL®: Best Practices for Managing Your IT Infrastructure 6

©2009 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
 1-800-843-8733 • www.learningtree.ca LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL White Paper

8.0 Resources

Best Management Practice: the definitive source of COBIT® resources can be found at the Information Systems
ITIL information. Audit and Control Association (ISACA).
http://www.best-management-practice.com http://www.isaca.org

ITIL®: Best Practices for Managing Your IT Infrastructure CMMI: Training and frequently asked questions about
Office of Government Commerce OGC: The owner of ITIL. Capability Maturity Models.
http://www.ogc.gov.uk http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/cmmi.html

The Stationery Office: Where the ITIL books can be purchased.
Many titles in the first ITIL set can still be purchased in PDF
format. Called the Back Catalog, they are sold as one of the
three following groups: the Manager’s Set, the Complementary
Guidance Set, or the Environmental Management, Strategy and
Computer Operations Set.
http://www.tsoshop.co.uk
OGC’s official ITIL accreditor and exam provider.
http://www.apmgroup.co.uk
ITIL People is an independent Web site containing
discussion groups, job postings and Tool (Product) providers
relating to ITIL.
http://www.itilpeople.com
ISO: The International Organization for Standardization
has published over 15,000 standards, including ISO 9000
Quality Management, ISO 17799 Information Security
Management and ISO 20000 IT Service Management.
http://www.iso.org

The IT Service Management Forum International

(itSMF). ITIL Publications and other useful ITIL-related
books and resources can be purchased from your local
itSMF. You will also find resources, conference
information and meeting information.
http://www.itsmfi.org
ITIL® and Information Technology Infrastructure Library® are
registered trademarks of the Office of Government Commerce.

ITIL®: Best Practices for Managing Your IT Infrastructure 7

©2009 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
 1-800-843-8733 • www.learningtree.ca LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL White Paper

About Learning Tree International About the Author

Learning Tree International is a leading worldwide Cheryl Simpson

provider of vendor-independent training to managers IT Service Management Consultant
and IT professionals in business and government CSimpson@sympatico.ca
organizations. Since 1974, over 1,900,000 course
participants from over 65,000 organizations worldwide
Cheryl Simpson is an ITIL/IT Service Management
have enhanced their skills and extended their knowledge
subject matter expert who was directly involved with
under the guidance of expert instructors with real-
the process design and implementation of all areas of
world experience. Learning Tree develops, markets and
ITIL Service Support and Service Delivery Processes.
delivers a broad, proprietary library of instructor-led
She is a frequent conference presenter and contributor
courses focused on the latest information technologies,
to ITIL and related publications, including ITIL The
management practices and key business skills.
Business Perspective, Volume II and HDI Implementing
Learning Tree International annually trains over Service and Support Management Processes. She has
94,000 professionals in its Education Centers around been providing expertise on IT Service Management
the world. Learning Tree also provides training in a deficiencies identification, process maturity, continual
number of additional cities and on site at customer service improvement and governance since 2000.
locations in 43 countries. For more information
Ms. Simpson holds certifications in versions 1, 2 and 3,
about Learning Tree products and services, please
including the ITIL Manager’s Certificate in IT Service
call 1-800-843-8733, or visit our Web site at
Management and multiple ITIL IT Service Management
www.learningtree.ca
Practitioner Certificates.

Alexandria, VA Atlanta Boston Chicago

Dallas Los Angeles New York City Philadelphia

Reston, VA Rockville, MD London Ottawa

Paris Tokyo Toronto Stockholm

©2009 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved. ITIL®: Best Practices for Managing Your IT Infrastructure 8
WP ITIL 0901CA Final