Article 6 in the ITIL Series: ITIL Q & A
by David Moskowitz
In this article I’ll answer your questions generated by the previous postings. I’ve already responded to every question directly, the ones I’ve included below were the most frequently asked in one form or another. The name shown was the first person to submit the particular question.
Question (submitted to Ariel): Can you edit the first article in the series to include Good / Best and REAL practice?
Answer: The ITIL is drawn from real world experience, not theory or academic exercise. So real practice, that is also best/good practice, is included. The only real practice I could add would be examples of practice that don’t add up — which wasn’t the intent of the posting. One additional point, based on my experience in IT (going back to the days when mainframes were king), what is described in the Library is a decent expression of best/good practice.
Question (Davey): We’re thinking about adopting the ITIL in our organization. We’ve heard that V2 is bigger and more complex than V3, and that organizations should start with V2 and grow into V3. Your articles suggest challenges with the V2 approach. Where is the right place to start, ITIL V2 or V3?
Answer: From a logistics perspective, ultimately V2 will be retired (i.e., difficult to find certification and the existing V2 certifications will likely have diminishing value). This will make getting appropriate and complete training for V2 difficult as time passes. I recommend you consider V3 as the starting point for your ITIL adoption efforts. The lifecycle organization of V3 is compelling, even if your initial plans are only to adopt a process or two. So, start with V3. See the next question for more information.
Questions (from Caitlin K): Can we get any benefit by adopting an ITIL process or two without trying to adopt everything?
Answer: It really depends on your goals. If your organization wants to either achieve or move to IT Service Management, then ultimately it will take more than a process or two. If the initial goal is to fix something perceived as broken (or at least something that needs repair) then adopting the processes that make the business work better, or improve/fix a business relationship is the place to start.
If you initial goal requires just a process or two, you should plan the processes to fit into the lifecycle context suggested by V3. This will make expanding the number of the ITIL process adopted easier. It will also help make the answer to the question, "What’s next," easier.
Question: (from Joesph M): We’ve tried to implement ITIL and it failed. We couldn’t get everyone in IT to agree, so with different agendas, nothing really got done. I didn’t see this specifically mentioned in your contra-indicators so, is this typical? What could we have done differently that might have had more success?
Answer: One of the challenges with any reengineering effort is getting everyone involved and committed. So, the experience you’ve related isn’t unique. It’s important to address the people/culture issues associated with this type of organizational change.
Regarding what you could do differently, that’s harder to answer since I don’t know what you did. Your question didn’t indicate how many people might have received ITIL training and certification. It also didn’t indicate whether or not this was an IT only or an organizational change. How was the effort presented to every one? Who (and at what level) was the champion for the effort. Was management committed to the effort? Were there competing priorities and/or messages (e.g., "We’re going to adopt ITIL, but your first priority is your existing job.")? A related question: Was there some other major change going on (e.g., new business initiative, change in market, merger/acquisition, etc.)? How did the organization attempt to adopt the ITIL?
In other words, I need more information before I can answer the rest of your question. If you’ll send me another message with more details, I’ll be happy to answer the question directly, and if you allow, in a future posting.
Question (from John R): Do we have to switch from V2 to V3, if so, how do we do that?
Answer: There is nothing compelling you to switch from the ITIL V2 to V3 unless there is a business need. Once the need is established, then you have to look at what it would take to arrange the existing processes into the lifecycle sequence suggested by ITIL V3. Use some of the suggestions from Service Transition Chapter 8 (Implementing Service Transition), but viewed from a broader context of the proposed organizational change. Also consider guidance from the Continual Service Improvement volume. Note: It starts with the business case and obvious buy-in from all stakeholders.
Consider the comment above about which version of ITIL to adopt. It may help develop the business case for the migration. Don’t even attempt to change from V2 to V3 without a business case — and don’t wait until you have no choice to develop one.
Question: (from Vicki P): I’m currently out of work (laid off from financial industry). Is there value in getting an ITIL certification? Do I have to be ITIL Expert certified?
Answer: A couple of months ago I wrote a piece about the value of ITIL Certification. I’ve already sent you a copy; a slightly revised version will appear on Ariel’s blog next week. In the mean time, yes there is value in getting an ITIL V3 certification. Other than the Foundation level (a prerequisite for any other ITIL certifications) you’ll need to look at your own career path, goals and ambitions. A quick search for the keyword "ITIL" at dice.com got over 800 hits and a similar search at monster.com returned over 700 hits. I didn’t try to refine the search any more than the single keyword. In other words, there are jobs available for people with demonstrated ITIL knowledge.
The second part of your question about being certified at the ITIL Expert level depends on what you want to do and who ends up paying for it. You can find reasonably priced training from various vendors including: itSM Solutions. (Disclosure, I’ve taught their material in live and virtual classes.)
My online friend, Rob England (aka The IT Skeptic) has posted valuable resources to study, take, and pass the ITIL Foundation exam for free here
Questions (from RSM): How do we know if our (ITIL) adoption efforts are working?
Answer: This is an easy question to answer, but harder to actually measure. It starts by defining business-based Critical Success Factors (CSF) defined this way in the ITIL Glossary: "Something that must happen if a Process, Project, Plan, or IT Service is to succeed. KPIs are used to measure the achievement of each CSF." KPIs are Key Performance Indicators defined this way: "A Metric that is used to help manage a Process, IT Service or Activity. Many Metrics may be measured, but only the most important of these are defined as KPIs and used to actively manage and report on the Process, IT Service or Activity."
I recommend you consult the Service Design and Continual Service Improvement books for more information.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to write with comments and suggestions.
Next week I’ll send Ariel the article mentioned about about the Value of ITIL Certification.
Comments or more questions:
David.Moskowitz@gmail.com
Follow me on Twitter @DavidM2
###
