Best Practice White Paper

ITIL V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

ITIL has become the most widely adopted Best Practice framework
for ITSM. The recent ITIL V3 refresh has sparked renewed interest but,
although many are aware of the new version, the majority are
unsure as to how, or even if, it will affect them. V3 has prompted IT
organizations to look at existing processes, ITIL maturity and future
strategic plans, including ISO/IEC 20000 accreditation. This White
Paper uses the IT Maturity Model to compare each ITIL version and
identify which approach is best suited to individual IT organizations.
Findings of this report indicate that V3 is not suited to every
organization, but provides elements that can be used to drive
improvements and can act as a benchmark. The level of IT maturity
within an organization can be linked to its predominant focus,
whether process or service-driven. Thus, V3 should be seen as
evolving from V2, as opposed to replacing it. The basic V2 processes
must be in place to a sufficient IT maturity level before the V3
Service Lifecycle Approach can be considered. The decision to
embrace V3 is also dependent on the overall business strategy,
which may not necessarily tie in with the V3 mindset.

So, is V3 right for you?

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 ITIL® V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

Executive Summary
This White Pape r aims to give yo u a fe w things t o po nder, but will ho pef ully answe r mo re
questions t han it c reates.

With t he launch o f t he t hird inc arnatio n of ITIL, c o mmo nly calle d V3 , we no w have an indust ry
standard roadmap to take ITSM Best Practic e to the ne xt lev el. V3 shows a signific ant c hange
in e mphasis; f ro m IT as a se ries of inte rlinked proc esse s, t o IT being co nside re d as a value-
adding se rv ice, whether t o int ernal o r ex te rnal business custo mers.

This White Pape r argue s that the V3 appro ach will not be right f or many organizations, no w or
possibly e ver. It s suitability is c lose ly linked t o t he direction o f t he busine ss and IT’s ro le wit hin
this to ac hie ve the org anization’s st rategic goals. Its adoption is also c ruc ia lly re late d to the
curre nt IT mat urit y of the org anization, thus if a business has not mature d its processes
suff icie nt ly and atte mpt s t o imple ment a V3 se rvice appro ach, it will find it co mple x and
proble matic . Furt he rmo re , it may co nflict with the c urre nt o rganizational cult ure and work ing
pract ices, re sulting in much o f the v alue of the Best Pract ice appro ac h being lost . Inde ed, it
may beco me a value- destroying ex erc ise rathe r t han t he intende d, v alue-c re ating exe rcise .

Importantly, ITSM prac tit io ners should co nside r if this is an eithe r/ or sit uat io n, o r a ro admap t o
move throug h a V2 proc ess-f ocused appro ach wit h the ult imate go al of achiev ing a V 3
serv ice and v alue- based f ocus. If IT f unc tio ns are cle ar on t he end objec tive , mindful o f t he
busine ss st rateg y, o rg anizat io nal be nefits will be realize d faste r and at lo we r cost, while
minimizing t he o rganizational c halle nge f ro m t he re quired cult ural mind-shift .

ITIL is no t an e nd in it self but a means to an end. If t he key business drive r is cost and process
effic ienc y, t he n it may be adv isable to fo cus o n improving inte rnal IT process e ffect ive ness
and st ay wit h t he mo re t raditional approac h (V2 ). Ho weve r, if se rv ice qualit y and agilit y are
the primary drive rs, businesses should perhaps be more f ocused o n a V3 mode l.

So , is V 3 rig ht fo r you?

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 ITIL V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..............................................................................................................2
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................4
HISTORY OF ITIL® .......................................................................................................................4
ITIL V1 .............................................................................................................................................................................4
ITIL V2 .............................................................................................................................................................................4
ITIL V3 .............................................................................................................................................................................6
BENEFITS OF ADOPTING ITIL ...............................................................................................................................................6
V3 SERVICE LIFECYCLE APPROACH ....................................................................................................................................6

MATURITY ADOPTION OF ITIL....................................................................................................9

CHAOTIC: ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10
REACTIVE: ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10
PROACTIVE:................................................................................................................................................................... 10
SERVICE: ....................................................................................................................................................................... 10
VALUE:.......................................................................................................................................................................... 10

ITIL V2 VERSUS V3 ....................................................................................................................11

PROCESS AND SERVICE APPROACHES ............................................................................................................................. 11
ITIL V2 OR V3 – WHERE ARE YOU? ................................................................................................................................ 11
WHEN ITIL V3 IS WORTH IT .............................................................................................................................................. 12

CONCLUSION .........................................................................................................................13
FURTHER READING ......................................................................................................................................................... 14
ABOUT THE AUTHOR ....................................................................................................................................................... 14

Copyright Notice
© Copyright Axios Systems 2007. The information, which is contained in this document, is the property of
Axios Systems. The contents of the document must not be reproduced or disclosed wholly or in part or used
for purposes other than that for which it is supplied without the prior written permission of Axios Systems.

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 ITIL® V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

Introduction then in e arly 200 1, Se rvic e D elive ry was

launc he d. The se t wo main book s c ove re d:

The purpose o f t his White Paper is no t t o

impart k no wledge of what is included in Service Support: Service Delivery:
the ITIL V3 lifec ycle ; this c an be f ound in Service Desk Service Level
many ot her Whit e Pape rs and we bsites. (Function) Management
Instead, this White Paper is intende d to
Incident Availability
trig ger discussion as t o whet he r yo ur
Management Management
org anizat io n is ready f or, o r indee d should,
make the le ap f ro m V2 t o V3 . Problem Capacity Management
Management
In order to unde rstand the re asoning Change IT Service Continuity
behind ITIL V3 , it is important to understand Management Management
the hist ory of ITIL.
Release Financial Management
Management for IT Services
History of ITIL® Configuration
Management
Inf ormat io n Tec hnology Inf rast ruc ture
Library (ITIL) e me rge d f ro m an area wit hin
Above is no t t he full set of V2 book s; t he re
the U K Go vernme nt , the Ce nt ral Co mpute r
are nine ot her boo ks in t he library,
and Te lec o ms Age ncy (CCTA) with t he
spec ific ally:
main object ive s being to re duce co sts and
inc rease the quality o f IT se rvice s and
suppo rt ing reso urces in the public secto r. Other Books within ITIL V2
Int ro duction to ITIL Planning to
ITIL V1 Imple me nt
The f irst ve rsion of this guidanc e c ame
Sec urity ICT Inf rast ruct u re
unde r t he guise o f Gov ernme nt
Manag e ment Manag e ment
Infrastructure Manage me nt Me thod
(G ITMM ) in 19 88 wit h t he init ial foc us o n Business Business
Se rvic e Leve l Manage me nt . Later t hat Pe rspective Pe rspective
year, t he guideline s we re ex panded t o Volume 1 Volume 2
inc lude He lp De sk, Co nt inge ncy Planning Applic ation Sof tware Asse t
and Change Manag e me nt and, in 1 989 , Manag e ment Manag e ment
Proble m, Config urat io n and Cost
Small Sc ale
Manag e ment. Software Control and
Imple me nt ations
Dist ribut io n, Capacity and Av ailabilit y
Manag e ment we re subsequently
int ro duc ed in 1991 and 1992 . Peo ple t end to e quate V2 wit h the t wo
core book s, Se rvic e Suppo rt and Se rvic e
The upt ake o f t hese B est Practice Deliv ery, mainly bec ause the V2
guidelines to ok ro ot in no n-gov ernme nt Foundation c ourse only cove rs these two
org anizations and hence the ‘G ove rnment’ main are as. The ot her book s within t he
label was droppe d and t he who le set o f library tend to be ove r-looke d.
45+ bo oks was rename d ‘ITIL’.
ISO/ IEC 200 00 was t hen int ro duc ed as the
ITIL V2 first worldwide standard spec ific ally
With t he widespre ad adoption in the 19 90s focused on IT Service M anage ment (ITSM ).
of t he se B est Pract ice guide lines, they Predo minately base d on B S15 000 , (no w
we re re- wo rke d and modernize d in 2 000 ISO/ IEC 200 00) t he st andard de velope d by
int o 1 1 bo oks fo r Ve rsion 2 (V2 ). Nov e mber the B SI (B ritish Standards Institute ), it was
2000 saw Se rvice Suppo rt publishe d and fou nde d o n, and evo lve d fro m, the a bo ve
ITIL princ iples. Thus, it inco rpo rat ed t he

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 ITIL V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

basic ITIL proce sse s and evo lve d the m to

the nex t stage.

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 ITIL V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?
ITIL V3
A key f ailing with V 2 was that , althoug h

 – ITIL is o wne d
details as to ho w be st to delive r and
suppo rt t he se rvice s to the business we re
give n, litt le at tentio n was paid to t he are as
of desig ning service s suitable f o r t he
busine ss and c re ating a st rateg y around
this. In addit ion, V2 did little in t he way of
assist ing co mpanies improv e the quality in
Se rvic e D elive ry. While it g ave t ips on




– ITIL has proven its
managing levels of se rvice, it did not giv e
adv ice o n Continual Service Impro ve me nt .
Fro m t his we c an se e missing pie ces in the
full Se rv ice Delive ry lifec ycle; f ro m t he
strateg y to the de liv ery and suppo rt , rig ht
throug h to t he re tire me nt of t hat service .
ISO/ IEC 200 00 st art ed t o inv est igate the se
are as, but in a very presc ript ive manner. In
2004 , t he ITIL V3 R efresh Prog ram was
conce ive d tak ing int o c onside rat io n bo th
ITIL and ISO/ IEC 2 0000 , and a ne w lif ecyc le
approac h was c reated. Three years of
wo rk co nclude d in May 2007 wit h the
launc h of V3 .
Benefits of Adopting ITIL
Whet her you are a business c ust o me r, a
serv ice pro vide r, a CIO o r CEO , ITIL Se rv ice
 – ITIL is we ll aligne d
Manag e ment Prac tice s offe r be nef its t hat
de mo nstrate t heir value and Ret urn o n
Inv est me nt (RO I). These are applic able
reg ardless of which v ersio n is being
follo we d. The result s of a rece nt surve y by
Ax ios Syste ms s ho w that o ver o ne-t hird of IT
professio nals hav e alre ady ado pte d the
ITIL f rame wo rk, while another o ne-t hird
plan to ro ll-o ut the frame wo rk wit hin a
 – ITIL suppo rts t he ITSM
year. Respo ndent s ident ified bette r
busine ss se rv ice fro m IT, process alig nme nt,
Se rvic e D esk co nso lidation and a highe r




 –
leve l of custome r satisfac tion as the key
drive rs fo r the uptake o f ITIL 1. So me of the
wide ly publishe d be nef its are :


by the Office of G ove rnment Co mme rce , a
depart me nt of t he U K Gov ernme nt . ITIL
doe s not require a lice nse t o pract ice and
is inde pe nde nt of any solut ion or platfo rm.
It is t herefo re sing ularly f ocused o n Best
Practices without a hidde n co mmerc ial
agenda.

value in re duc ing t he ov erall c ost o f
managing se rv ices and c an help IT
org anizations de mo nstrate their RO I and
me asurable v alue to the business. This
helps to establish a case f o r ne w or
cont inuing invest ment in IT. A rece nt
industry study showe d that
‘Best-in- Class’ o rganizations, t he majo rity
of who m have adopt ed ITIL, have realize d
a hig he r RO I than t hose in t he ‘Av erage ’
an ‘Laggard’ c ateg ories 2.

 – ITIL he lps impro ve the
quality of IT service s t hrough so und
manage ment pract ices. In t he same
rese arch, 70% o f B est-in- Class businesse s
had the ability to measure end-user
sat isf action and 60% se rv ice delive ry
standards against SLA prov isions 3.



to the ISO/ IEC 2000 0 standard. A rec ent
survey co nduct ed by Axio s Syste ms sho wed
a c onside rable inc rease in c o mpanie s t hat
hav e achieve d ac cre ditatio n and are no w
reaping the be nefits. In fact 89 % of
respo nde nt s said ITIL, with ISO/ IEC 200 00
accredit ation, was a ke y enabling too l 4.

professio nal wit h a line of acc redite d
training c ourse s.
outsourcing , ofte n wit h multiple se rv ice
provide rs is inc re asing ly co mmon t oday.
ITIL is wide ly pract iced amo ng se rvice
provide rs and offe rs a c o mmon prac tice
 – ITIL can be adapte d f or any base for improve d service c hain
size of o rganizat ion. Since it is a frame work , manage ment .
rat he r than a rigid set of rules, it can be
tailo re d to suit the c ont ext of t he individual
busine ss.
2
ITSM: IT Transforms itself into a Service, page 10
3
ITSM: IT Transforms itself into a Service, page 12
1 4
ISO drives rise in ITIL adoption ISO drives rise in ITIL adoption
Page 6 of 6
 ITIL V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

V3 Service Lifecycle Approach

Figure 1 s ho ws the ne w V3 L ifecycle
Appro ach t o de live ring se rv ices. The five
stage s are :







• Defines the policies and strategies to

implement Service Management in line
with the overall business strategy.






• Describes how to use the strategy to

create designs and specifications for the
service.





• Details how to get the specification into

the live environment.






• Now in the live environment, this stage

defines how to best support the day-to-
day running of the service throughout its
life.








figure 1 V3 Service Lifecycle
• Service performance is measured at each
Approach
stage ensuring that IT align and
continually realign to the needs of the
business.

As me ntioned e arlie r, the ke y ele ment s
missing in prev io us ve rsions of ITIL we re t he
strateg y and design e le me nts of Se rvice
Deliv ery. V 2 det aile d the delive ry o f the
process e le me nts around t he suppo rt and
delive ry aspects eff ectively but lack ed t he
assist anc e in st rateg y, design and quality
of service . The pre do minant foc us was t hus
on the c ost and e ffic ie ncy of IT Se rv ice
Manag e ment. It trie d t o off er so me of t he
missing aspects in late r bo oks but the se
we re see n as disjo int ed and no n-co hesive .
The basic pro cesses fro m V2 have ,
ho weve r, bee n carrie d thro ugh t o V3.
Figure 2 (page 7) illust rates how t he V2
processes lie within the V3 approac h.

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 ITIL® V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

figure 2 Existing processes from ITIL V2 mapped to ITIL V3

V3 is not a re-write but a co mbinatio n of all
the key are as o f V2 with t he addit io n of the
conce pt of Se rvic e Lif ecyc le, suppo rt ing a
serv ice f ro m ince ption t o ret ire me nt. There
has thus bee n a shift in foc us from proc ess
effic ienc y and co st , t o cre at ing serv ice
value and impro ving the quality of se rv ice .
In o rder t o ach iev e t his, f igure 3 de tails t he
new areas which hav e bee n introduce d in
V3 and whe re they sit within t he lifecycle
stage s:

figure 3 New processes within ITIL V3 and where they sit

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 ITIL V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?
Maturity Adoption of ITIL
IT o rg an izat io ns t hat hav e imp le me nte d ITIL
processes do so to v arying degrees of
maturity. As prev iously discusse d, V 3 has
evolved f ro m V2 and has int ro duc ed new
ele me nts f or a more service- orie ntated
focus. The se ne w ele ments are not re lev ant
to e ve ryo ne howeve r. As a c onsequence
of t he V3 launc h, many o rganizations have
the refo re been posing t he be lo w quest io n:
Are our processes matu re en ou gh to
consi der im pl em en tin g ITIL V3 or sh oul d w e
focu s on gettin g th e V 2 basi c support
processes i n pl ace first an d th en w orry
abou t strategi es and desi gnin g services?
It may sound st range that t he above
question foc use s on imple me nting
processes into your o rganization f irst and
only subse que nt ly co nside rs t he st rategy
and de sig n. B ut this is t he quest io n
org anizations will have to co nte mplat e if
they are part way thro ugh imple me nting
ITIL processes aro und V2 . A lot of ef fo rt will
hav e bee n put int o de sig ning these
processes and they should be ke pt! The
processes imple mented in V2 will st ill
support an organization’s delive rables if it
moves across t o V3.
figure 4
5
Gartner Poll Suggests IT Management Processes aren’t Maturing, page 2
Many Axios Syst e ms custo mers have
imple me nte d the majo rit y of the V2 Serv ice
Support proce sses plus Se rv ice Le vel
Manag e ment. They will no t have to t hrow
away these processes and start afre sh
using the ne w V3 proce sses. In addit io n, if
an IT o rg anizat io n is, or is conside ring, f or
inst ance , imple me nt ing an IT se rv ice
catalog , a k no wle dge manage ment
facilit y, or utilizing Service Le vel Ag ree ment
(SLA) manage ment t ools effect ive ly, the
like lihoo d is t hat the basic proce sse s are
already in place. Thus , the IT org anization’s
focus will have e volved and the leap f ro m
V2 to V3 may, c ulturally at le ast, not be so
gre at.
Many find it hard enoug h to delive r the
suppo rt proc esse s into their organizations
due to the barrie rs within, neve r mind
considering t he pro visio n of value and
serv ice to t he business. These are se en as
so met hing whic h will co me much late r
afte r the building blocks hav e bee n
embe dded into the org anization. In
additio n , f o r many o rganizations, t he re is
no re quire me nt fo r the m to evo lve t o suc h
leve ls; t he basic support processes are
suff icie nt fo r their nee ds.
IT Process Maturity Model5
Page 9 of 9
 ITIL® V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?
Figure 4 (page 8) sho ws the 5 diffe rent
org anizat io nal IT maturit y lev els f ro m Leve l
0 (Chaot ic) to Leve l 4 (V alue). It is a goo d
indic ato r as to what processes and
functions are typically in place fo r eac h
leve l of IT maturit y.
The diag ram re pre sents the ability o f an
org anizat io n to pe rf orm in a structure d and
repeat able manne r. The hig he r t he
maturity, the more e ffect ive and effic ie nt
an IT org anization will beco me.
Chaotic:
Org anizations often st ruggle to c ontrol the
wo rk be ing c arried o ut . They hav e lit tle
doc ume nte d and use diffe rent, o r ve ry
few, to ols t o assist . Usually run o n an ad-
hoc basis with litt le st ruc ture o r planning ,
they are seen as ve ry reac tive . Custo me rs
tend t o be unaware of who m t o call fo r
support and usually try to rect if y issues
the mselv es and f ail. Henc e leve ls of
custo me r sat isf act ion are neg lig ible. F ew
busine sse s t oday c an affo rd to o pe rat e t his
way.
Reactive:
There is usually a Service De sk in place with
technology being used as an e nabler. The
beginnings of a CM DB will hav e bee n
imple me nte d, pot ent ially with an auto-
disc ove ry tool to he lp populate it. Alerting
tools may also be in ex iste nce to c re ate
incide nts and measure do wnt ime . Activ it ies
are still react ive and c ust o me rs may have
to c hase be fo re the y get an issue reso lve d.
This will so metimes result in t he m bypassing
the Service De sk t o a tec hnician who will
log a ret rospect ive c hange reco rd.
Predo minately Small to M edium- size d
busine sse s (SMBs) are in t his c at ego ry and,
acco rding t o G art ne r re searc h 6, t he
majorit y of o rganizations, currently ope rate
in this way.
Proactive:
The t oo ls used are more def ine d wit h a
custo me r-foc use d ro le . The Service De sk is
established and rec og nize d as t he main
6 7
Gartner Poll Suggests IT Management Processes aren’t
Maturing, page 3
cont act point fo r IT-relate d issues and
requests. Proce sses are in plac e and
follo we d t he majority o f the t ime . Ho wev er
unde r duress, t hey c an st ill be
circ umve nte d. Pro ble m Manag e me nt has
usually been imple me nte d and t re nd
analysis on t he incidents carrie d out. O nce
the unde rlying cause is fo und, it is passed
to Change M anage ment to analyze , assess
the impac t, aut ho rize and schedule t he fix .
Specif ic lev els o f service hav e bee n
agreed with the c ust o me rs but pe rhaps not
always met . Re searc h has shown this is t he
seco nd mo st popular level 7, mainly
populate d by enterprise- size d
org anizat io ns.
Service:
The f ocus has move d to planning and
inve sting time in wo rking wit h the busine ss
to desig n service s around its needs.
Planning the f ut ure c apacity fo r these
serv ices, est ablishing what availability is
require d and e nsuring sufficie nt budg ets
are in plac e are also co nside rations. Ot her
activit ies include the monito ring and
me asuring of the serv ice le vel provide d
and act ing upon are as of poo r
perfo rmance . So me e nte rprises have
adopt ed ce rt ain aspect s of this lev el, but
very f ew hav e achiev ed t he m all.
Value:
IT is no w see n as a st rat egic part of t he
org anization with true business /IT
inte gration. It has t hus bee n tie d into t he
busine ss st rateg y and se rvices are be ing
built aro und what the business requires. All
the proce sse s are no w imple mente d and
inte grate d with plans in place to build, test
and manag e service s thro ughout t heir
ope ratio nal life until re tire me nt . The foc us
is no t pure ly o n manag ing t he current
leve ls of se rv ice , but c onstantly lo oking to
inc rease the m.
Ag ain very fe w organizations c an claim to
hav e f ully achieve d this le vel.
Gartner Poll Suggests IT Management Processes aren’t
Maturing, page 3
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 ITIL® V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

ITIL V2 versus V3
Process and Service Approaches

figure 5 IT Process Maturity Model with Focus

As is displaye d in f igure 5 , t he re is a natural
fit on t he maturity sc ale f ro m t he V2 p ro cess
wo rld to t he V3 se rv ice world. The ke y
dif ference sliding up the leve ls is t hat IT is
initially viewed as a cost c ent er to be
manage d down. On mo ving thro ugh t he
leve ls ho we ve r, IT is reg arde d as a mat ure
serv ice and/or a v irt ual/actual profit
cente r. The abilit y t o acc urate ly me asure
aspects of service , suc h as e nd-use r
sat isf action and meet ing SLA t arg ets, will at
this po int beco me t he ke y f ocus in o rder t o
improv e service quality.
Co mpanies c an find the mselves in eithe r
such a service f ocus – pe rhaps due to t he
org an izat io na l cultu re o r re quire ments of IT.
Many will be co nte nt to re main in t he
ope ratio nal proc essing are a of t he maturit y
scale and maybe ove r time lo ok at
improv ing t ho se proce sse s.
ITIL V2 or V3 – Where are you?
Org anizations have v arying de gre es of
require ment s f ro m the ir IT de part me nt and
are at various leve ls of ITIL adopt io n. The
follo wing de tails sample questions t hat
Ax ios custo mers have bee n asking and
whe n V3 may be c onsidered:
camp depende nt on their le vel of maturity 










and organizational require me nt s. So me are
still imple menting the underlying suppo rt










and de liv ery se rvic es of V2 , whe re as so me
V2 processes are st ill valid and c an be
hav e move d on f ro m that and are striving
carried across t o V3. V 2 sets t he
for se rv ice exce lle nce . Howe ve r, it may not
foundat ions that ne ed to be in place
be the o rg anizat io n’s intent to mov e to
befo re ISO/IEC 2000 0 acc re dit ation and the

Page 11 of 11
 ITIL V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?
V3 Life cyc le Appro ac h c an be co nside re d.
Many o rganizat ions feel t hat the processes
already put in plac e with V2 are suff icient
for current/f uture require me nts and have
no inte ntion of e mbrac ing V 3 at present , if
at all.










been c onsidered o r may no t be applic able .
V3 is not a co mplete re-write, more of an
effect ive re- o rganization of t he o ld book s
wit h the addition of ne w areas t o bring the
guidelines in line with c urre nt indust ry
tre nds. If yo u have ac hie ved, o r are
wo rking to wards, ISO /IEC 20000
accredit ation, the like lihoo d is t hat yo u will
already be fo llowing many ele ments of V3 ,
so the additio nal invest ment to fully
embrace this approach is not so daunting .
Many o rganizat ions c onside r the mselves to
be ITIL expe rt s. Ho weve r, on deeper
inve stigat io n, t hey are still deve loping t he
basic support proce sses in co njunc tio n wit h
ele me nts o f Se rv ice Lev el and Cont inuit y
Manag e ment. Processes such as Availability
and Financial Manag e me nt have st ill not
Ce rt ain principles of the V 3 Life cyc le
Approach may be practice d alre ady and
sinc e it is a set of Best Prac tice g uideline s,
you are able to pick and c hoo se the
ele me nts which are applicable t o yo u.
When ITIL V3 is worth it
Since t he introduct ion of V2 , t he
enviro nme nt in general has ev olv ed. When
V2 was launche d, issues such as
outsourcing , off-sho ring and the c apability
of t he inte rnet were not co nside rations. V3


 



ITIL is a set o f Be st Practic e
reco mmendations t o ado pt and adapt as is
require d fo r yo ur spec ific co mpany. Thus ,
org anizat io ns can st ill f ocus on t he areas
which are of main co nce rn t o t he m. This is
what diffe re nt iat es the g uidelines fro m an
inte rnat io nal st andard suc h as ISO/ IEC
20000 whe re eve rything must be
imple me nte d in orde r to be reco gnized. If
the re is a re quire ment in your spec if ic
org anizat io n to mo ve to a se rv ice-ce nt ric ,
lifec ycle appro ach and t he rele vant basic
processes are suffic ie ntly est ablishe d, t he n
V3 will provide you wit h the g uidelines and
example s of ho w best to align your IT
org anization with the business. For othe r
org anizat io ns, V3 will prov ide e le me nt s
which c an help drive improve me nts in yo ur
ITSM de liv ery.








 
With an increased f ocus on attaining t he
Tec hnically no t ool is ITIL V3 , V2 o r indee d
V1 ‘co mpliant ’. A product cannot be
co mpliant to a set of B est Practice
reco mmendations. G ood to ols are built
around what these reco mmendations ask
for and what the ir customer base desires.
To ols built aro und ITIL principles enable
org anizat io ns to e stablish t he ir se lect ed
processes as and whe n re quire d.





takes all of the above into acco unt in what
is no w a more c o mplex e nviro nme nt and
provides assist anc e on ho w t o inco rporate
these f act ors int o the strateg y.
Inc re asingly in many businesses, IT is no
longer seen as just a co st center, but an
inte gral co mpone nt of t he business and is
moving fro m back off ice to f ro nt of house .
Whe re V2 foc use d o n separate process
silos, V3 lo oks at the bigge r picture and
inc reasing the quality o f service provide d.
Since IT plays such a vital role within the
org anization, a better unde rstanding of the
busine ss is re quire d to suppo rt the c hang ing
needs from the sta rt. V3 p rovides g uidance
on current IT pract ices such as to how t o
inc rease integ ration and alignment
bet wee n IT and busine ss st rat egie s so t hat IT
supports the direction the business is
heading .
ITSM indust ry st andard ISO /IEC 20000 , V3
can p ro vide the t oo ls to ach ieve
accredit ation as the mindset re quire d fo r
bot h are clo sely alig ne d.
Recent research has sho wn that ‘B est- in-
Class’ org anizations, whic h tend to be at
the high e nd o f t he IT maturity sc ale ,
achieve 86 % of their SLA g oals, whic h is
139% be tte r than t he ot he r org anizatio ns




questione d. In additio n, t he y expe rienc e
83% eff icie ncy f or IT processes, 1 12% bette r

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 ITIL V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

than the othe rs 8. The V 3 Se rv ice Lifecyc le org anizat io ns that are in IT maturit y le vels 0-
Appro ach provides t he guidelines f ro m 2 are pre do minat ely f ocused on
which t hese stat ist ics c an be wo rke d establishing the basic proce sse s. It is o nly
towards. It also he lps the IT o rg anizat io n to for t he fe w who have manage d to ac hieve
establish itse lf as a value- adding e ntity, leve ls 3 and 4 that are perhaps ready to
rat he r than a c ost ce nte r. embrace V 3. V 3 is an evo lut io n of V2 , rat he r
than a replace ment and both v ersio ns can
Currently, o ne of t he key pre ssure s f or IT happily c o-exist . V3 may no t ho wev er be
org anizations is satisf ying cust ome r suit ed t o e ve ry o rganization and the
expect at io ns and t hus achiev ing bette r decision as t o whet he r to ado pt this
busine ss se rv ice fro m IT. In o rde r t o ac hie ve approac h will be depe ndent on t he ove rall
this, many IT organizations ide nt ify busine ss st rateg y, which may not
inc reasing alig nme nt be twe en IT and the necessarily tie-in with the V3 mindset.
busine ss as the pre dominant means to Regardle ss of t his, V3 c an ac t as a
inc rease custome r satisfaction. This ag ain benc hmark and prov ides ele ments to help
ties in with t he V3 se rv ice mindset . drive ITSM impro ve me nts in all
org anizat io ns.
Finally, in orde r to adopt a V3 approach,
the re is a re quire ment f or buy- in f ro m all
parties co nce rne d, inc luding se nior
manage ment which has histo ric ally been a
recog nize d barrie r t o proce ss maturit y. Thus ,
the re is direct correlation bet wee n the
maturity o f t he o rg an izat io n’s c ult u ra l
maturity and that of t he assoc iat ed
processes. If all parties have fully e mbraced
the co ncept of improv ing se rv ice qualit y,
V3 prov ide s the t ools fro m whic h to ac hieve
this.

Conclusion
During the 20 ye ars of practic e, ITIL has
established itse lf as t he wo rld’s most wide ly
recog nize d and adopte d f rame wo rk fo r IT
Se rvic e Manage me nt . It has g ro wn f ro m a
cott age indust ry in the 1 980s t o no w having
a g lo bal influenc e. Ov er t his t ime , the many
bene fit s of ITIL have be co me wide ly known
and continue t o g ro w as the c o mmunity of
practice matures.

With e ach ITIL ref resh, ne w e le me nt s have

been int ro duced t o bet ter ref lect and assist
in fo llowing ITSM Best Pract ices. ITIL V2
provide d guidanc e on t he basic processes
require d fo r ITSM and set the f oundat io ns
for achieving ISO/IEC 2000 0 acc redit ation.
Only onc e the basic V2 proc esse s are in
place and are o f a suffic ient IT mat urit y
leve l, c an the V3 se rvic e-centric lifecyc le
approac h be f ully e mbrace d. Generally IT

8
ITSM: IT Transforms itself into a Service, page 2, 5, 9
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 ITIL V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

Further Reading About the Author

Thro ug hout this White Paper, a numbe r of Dale B ro wn has wo rke d in t he IT indust ry f or
rese arch papers have bee n refe renc ed. the last 16 years, st art ing in t he public
These are detailed below alo ng wit h secto r in a He lp Desk suppo rt e nviro nme nt
co mple me nt ary do cume nt ation o n this and the n o nto delive ring ITIL pro jects. Ove r
topic: the last 9 ye ars, D ale has de liv ere d IT
• V2 versus V 3 W ebinar. Available on the Se rvic e Manage me nt pro ject s ac ross t he
Axios Systems website, November 2007. UK, Euro pe , North Ame ric a and t he M iddle
East, mainly f or large mult inational
• Pock et Guide to V3. Can be requested
org anizat io ns. He is a certif ie d Se rv ice
through the Axios Systems website,
Manag er and ISO/ IEC 20 000 qualif ie d
November 2007.
consultant and heads a te am of ex pe rts
• ITSM : IT Tran sform s Itsel f in to a Servi ce
delive ring custo mized ITSM B est Pract ice
Aberdeen Group Research, August 2007. solutions f or o rg anizat io ns of any size .
Available to download, along with a
complementary onDemand Webinar on the
Axios Systems website. (Research surveyed
300 organizations. 29% of respondents were
from large enterprises, 25% from mid-sized
enterprises and 46% from small businesses of
$100 million or less. Of this 20% were
categorized ‘Best-in-Class‘, 50% ‘Industry
Average’ and 30% ‘Laggards’.)
• Gartn er Poll Su ggests IT M an agem en t
Processes Aren’t M aturin g. Garter
Research, April 2005.
• UK leads the way i n ITIL adopti on . Axios
Systems, October 2007. Available on the
Axios Systems website.
• ISO drives rise in ITIL adoption . Axios
Systems, August 2007. Available on the Axios
Systems website. (The research was
conducted by Axios Systems at a leading
ITSM event and was based on the responses
of IT Directors/Coos and Help Desk
Managers at leading European and
International organizations across a variety
of industries including energy and utilities,
healthcare, manufacturing, financials
services, high-tech, retail and government.)
• Report on th e ITSM and Hel p D esk
Chal lenges for 2007
Axios Systems,
December 2006. Available on the Axios
Systems website.
• ITIL V3: Th e Fu ture i s Here Wh ite Paper,
by Sharon Taylor, Chief Architect of ITIL V3.
Axios Systems, May 2007. A Webinar by
Sharon Taylor is also available onDemand.
Both are available for download from the
Axios Systems website.

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ITIL V2 to V3 – Is it worth it?

About Axios Systems

Ax ios Syste ms is a le ading prov ider of

Best Practice based c onsolidate d IT
Se rvic e Manage me nt (ITSM) solutions.
The c o mpany’s custo mer-ce nt ric
approac h co mbine d with its award-
winning e nte rprise so lutio ns e nable s
custo me rs worldwide t o alig n t he ir
Se rvic e and Support org anizatio ns wit h
the ove rall g oals of t he business.

Benef iting fro m ne arly 20 ye ars of

deve lo pme nt and inve st me nt aro und
Best Practice princ iples, Axios Syst e ms’
core solution, assy st, intuitively stee rs
use rs thro ug h all IT Infrast ructure Library
(ITIL) processes. Axios Syste ms’ Best
Pract ice Div is io n wo rks with custo mers t o
ensure IT Se rvice Manage me nt success.
The divisio n prov ide s a wide rang e of
consult ing, pro jec t manage ment and
training service s to he lp maximize
inve st me nt .

The c o mpany’s co mmitment to B est

Practice is furthe r de mo nstrate d through
being first in the wo rld to achieve
BS15 000 (no w ISO /IEC 2 0000 )
cert ific at io n, t he international st andard
for ITSM.

Ax ios Syste ms is he adquarte re d in the

UK, with o ffic es ac ro ss the Ame ricas,
Euro pe, M iddle East and Asia- Pacific .

www.axiossystems.com

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