IT Support Insider: How Can ITIL Benefit My IT Services?

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of guidance books developed by the United Kingdom?s Office of Government Commerce (OGC). The guidance, as documented in the set of books, describes an integrated, process-based, best practice framework for managing IT services.

ITIL was created by experts who incorporated the learning experiences and practices of leading organizations, ?best-in class? practitioners and IT service providers from around the world. Since its introduction in the early 1990s, ITIL has proved itself as evidenced by the positive impact that it has brought to businesses that adopt its practices.

ITIL?s importance, centers on the IT service provider, whether it be an internal or external IT department, which understands a customer?s business needs and priorities. ITIL implements a ?lifecycle? method to IT services which includes:

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• Service strategy: collaboration between business strategists and IT professionals to develop IT ?service strategies that support the business strategy;

• Service design: designing the overarching IT architecture and each IT service to meet customers? business objectives by being fit for both purpose and use;

• Service transition: managing and controlling changes into the live IT operational environment, including the development and transition of new or changed IT services;

• Service operation: delivering and supporting operational IT services in such a way that they satisfy business needs and expectations and deliver forecasted business benefits; and,

• Continual service improvement: learning from experience and adopting an approach which ensures continual improvement of IT services.

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The benefits of adopting ITIL

From a business standpoint, the implementation of ITIL by IT service providers ? whether by an internal IT department or an external IT service provider? facilitates many benefits, such as:

• Improving resource utilization
• Being more competitive
• Decreasing rework
• Eliminating redundant work
• Improving project deliverables and time
• Improving availability, reliability and security of mission critical IT services
• Providing services that meet business, customer and user demands
• Integrating central processes
• Documenting and communicating roles and responsibilities in service provision
• Learning from previous experiences
• Providing demonstrable performance indicators
• IT services working better with business needs and objectives, meaning that the business will ??achieve more in terms of its strategic goals
• Known and manageable IT costs, ensuring the business better plans its finances
• Increasing business productivity, efficiency and effectiveness, since IT services are more reliable and work better for business users
• Realizing financial savings from improved resource management and reduced rework
• More effective change management, enabling the business to keep pace with change and drive business change to its advantage
• Improving end-customer perception and brand image.

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Organizations have benefited from ITIL practices in a number of ways. For example:

It has been recognized that most of the cost for delivering IT support came from determining customer issues. By implementing ITIL methods to knowledge-based information and self-help, it was able to reduce costs of support by over 75% while at the same time increasing user satisfaction with the service, and improving user productivity.

You can develop skills and knowledge in IT service management and capitalize through ITIL training and the ITIL qualification method. Many IT consultants across the world have already benefited from ITIL professional qualifications. The method is supported by certified training from a global network of training providers, and examinations run by certified institutes. There are qualifications at Foundation, Intermediate and Expert levels with an advanced diploma for the most experienced IT service management professionals. An excellent way to start adopting best practices is by training staff or hiring staff who are already qualified. Training development staff in IT service management will ensure they focus on developing IT services.

IT service management as a certified practice is here to stay, because it makes sense for businesses. ITIL has already demonstrated its standing in the world and, as more organizations develop and understand its value, ITIL implementation will continue to spread. If you want to improve your organization and get more worth from IT investments, then ITIL is a beneficial place to start.

IT service providers and IT consultants are using ITIL and changing the way the business functions with IT, so that IT services are established and provided in a way that is business focused and value driven. ITIL may require financing in people and tools, but more importantly it requires a service philosophy that should be presented wisely and attentively with back-bone support from senior management.

Written by?IT Support?and?IT Consulting?Professionals at?FedSolutions. Thanks for reading!

About FedSolutions

FedSolutions provides IT Management and Consulting solutions that help organizations leverage technology to achieve their business goals. Based in downtown Washington, D.C., our goal is to enable organizations to achieve their mission by successfully leveraging technology. We see IT as a strategic means for our clients to achieve a competitive advantage. We view our focus as creating smart and simple IT solutions that promote operational harmony. Learn more ?

Source: http://www.fedsolutions.com/2012/09/it-support-insider-how-can-itil-benefit-my-it-services/

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