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What’s new in ITIL V4
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework remains one of the leading frameworks in the area of Information Technology Service Management (ITSM). Given that IT is a domain in constant flux, it is vital that supporting frameworks like ITIL continue to adapt and upgrade to stay in line with modern technologies. The ITIL foundation (Axelos) has recently introduced a new version of ITIL i.e. ITIL V4, replacing ITIL V3. Read below to know what’s new in ITIL V4 and overall a comparative of ITIL V3 vs. V4.
The third version of the ITIL framework which is a collection of best practices in managing IT globally. ITIL emphasizes the concept of IT as a service assisting businesses in meeting their goals. It is considered one of the best ITSM frameworks since its release in 2007.
One of the best features of ITIL is in its ability to always evolve to fit better in today’s business ecosystems. As various demands on ITIL from DevOps, Lean, and primarily Agile began to grow, it was evident that another evolution was required. ITIL V4 was created to work with the aforementioned services to meet new IT organization requirements.
ITIL V4 in general, now provides guidance to organizations in addressing new service management challenges. It supports utilizing the potential of modern technology in the era of Cloud, Agile DevOps and Transformation. The core components of the ITIL framework remain in the ITIL Service Value System (SVS) and the four dimensions model. The main elements with the introduction of ITIL SVS are:
Service Strategy
General Management Practices
There are five stages to V3’s Service Lifecycle based on the waterfall model:
The ITIL V3 CSI model is now updated in ITIL V4 and renamed as the CI model. This now provides for a continual improvement structured approach for the identification and implementation of various improvements applied at different levels of the organization. There are seven steps (guiding principles) comparable to the previous ITIL V3 framework.
Changes made in the ITIL V3 framework, reformatted to meet V4 requirements
Advocates the need for more AI and Automation within ITSM to “optimize and automate” as a guiding principle. This is described as:
“Resources of all types, particularly human resources (HR), should be used to their best effect. Eliminate anything that is truly wasteful and use technology to achieve whatever it is capable of. Human intervention should only happen where it really contributes value.” (ITIL Foundation, ITIL 4 Ed published by Axelos Ltd)
ITIL V4 present a governance framework present in the service value system and discusses the ways of directing and controlling any organization. In the earlier framework, this area was relegated as a sub-topic and hold importance very much. With the update, it now sits prominently in the SVS and a full chapter is dedicated to Governance.
With ITIL V3, the framework defines a ‘service’ as a means of delivering value to the customer. This is accomplished by facilitating the outcomes that need to be achieved without undergoing and specified cost or risk.
In the new ITIL V4 framework, ‘service’ is now a means of value co-creation by facilitating outcomes that a customer seeks to achieve without cost or risk. Further to this, Value Co-Creation in ITILV4 framework need both the Service Provider contribution but also an equal participation and contribution from regular consumers, regulators and suppliers.
ITIL V4 is a very promising upgrade to V3. As more content roles out, it is apparent that there is more construct to V4 than the previous V3 which was seen at times as a bit too theoretical and overly process-oriented which was losing touch with today’s challenges.
While ITIL V4 does a great job of relating to topics like customer experience (CX), value, people focus and collaboration. It would be helpful to see more elaborate guidelines to assist with these topics.
This can be said of ITIL’s interactions with DevOps and Agile. Though there are a number of mentions, the updated framework does not clearly offer substantive information on the subject. More guidelines on achieving better collaboration would help in this area.
While the specification does adopt a few best practices from other frameworks, it still seems to reference DevOps without explaining the “how to’s” when overcoming misunderstandings or challenges from DevOps-oriented teams in need of collaborating with ITIL-oriented teams.
Enterprise Service Management (ESM) also needs to be a bit more fleshed out. ITIL V4 material does speak to collaboration much better and continues to break down silos, except where ESM is concerned as there is no actual discussion on how to collaborate within the organization with non-IT service departments.
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