itil v3: Delivering Better Service
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (itil) is designed to help information technology groups provide better service and describe proper practices and checklists for nearly any procedure an organization needs. It is published in a book series and is a registered trademark of the UK’s Office of Government Commerce. Published in May of 2007, itil v3 is the newest version of this library.
The itil v3 is comprised of five volumes covering service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation, and continual service improvement. These volumes provide detail on how information technology organizations can be better. Separating out these five purposes makes the process more simple and clear than previous versions of itil, or any other library.
Volume one of itil v3 is titled “Service Strategy” and is about planning the service provided by an information technology department. It helps organizations focus on improvement over the long term, and how to develop a more robust management of the information technology group. This is based on a market-driven approach and covers a broad group of topics from management of services to suppliers.
Volume two of itil v3 is titled “Service Design” and it describes how the information technology services are modeled. It helps to show how solutions interact with the company as a whole, not just inside the technology group. This helps keep all processes in the big picture, and allows for the information technology group to be a full part of the organization, instead of a silo on its own and without support.
Volume three of itil v3 is titled “Service Transition” and it shows how to best implement the services provided by information technology groups. This helps make the solutions more user friendly and can manage changes to doing things as they have always been done. This encompasses both the projects, and the evaluation and release of those projects. Knowledge management is also covered in this volume.
Volume four of itil v3 is titled “Service Operation” and it clarifies management of the information technology services. This describes the best practices for making your end users satisfied with the provided services. Topics from initial incident management through request fulfillment are covered in this volume, and it strikes the balance between cost and reliability of service.
Volume five of itil v3 is titled “Continual Service Improvement” and discusses measurement of information technology services. The volume realizes that business needs are changing, and that great service yesterday does not necessarily mean great service today or tomorrow. It encourages realignment as necessary to provide better support to other Business Processes. Continual service improvement requires proper planning and training, as well as ownership of the process by the responsible parties.
It is possible to receive itil v3 certification in four levels: Foundation, Intermediate, Expert, and Master. This is a change from v2 certification levels, and will be the new model moving forward. The five volumes encompass information technology lifecycles and describe capabilities to optimize a group’s information technology capability. Master Certified individuals are the best trained people to help a company improve its information technology department.