The series of actions that are executed to produce precise results to a customer is known as a service which is used in the majority of organizations. In the viewpoint of a customer, the end result is crucial rather than the entire process of the execution of actions or the threats involved in the process of executing the actions.
IT department manages the IT services. The management, delivery and the arrangement process of IT services are figured out by the IT department. The processes, methods, policies, threats/risks and additional information needed to provide the desired results to the customer are figured out by the IT department.
The delivery of services always depends on the set of general values and best practices for IT departments. IT Service Management (ITSM) contains a set of values and best practices required for service delivery to customers.
ITSM puts the emphasis on the policies, methods, and activities which are utilized by the organisations to organize, handle, deliver and enhance IT service delivery. The business requirements should be supported by the IT services provided to help both the organisation and people to enhance the development and growth in their business.
There are several ITSM structures and standards which are utilized across numerous organisations. However, the most demanded and used framework in the majority of organisations is the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
ITIL
ITIL is a highly recognised finest ITSM practice. It contains a framework that explains the definite processes and purposes fixated on the improvement inside the service lifecycle. The owner of ITIL at present is AXELOS although it was originated and introduced by Central Computer and Telecommunication Agency back in the 1980s. There were numerous ITIL revisions done over the years, and ITIL4 is the latest and the fourth ITIL certification which was issued a year back in 2019. The existing previous ITIL certifications acquired by thenumerous professionals will stay active even after the implementation of the ITIL 4. There are several courses involved in the certification plans such as:
- ITIL Foundation
- ITIL Strategic Leader
- ITIL Managing Professional
- ITIL Master
The crucial part of ITIL 4 is that it focuses on the creation of value instead of only providing/delivering services to the customers. It also throws some light on the continual improvement process. The four additional service management dimensions are mentioned, such as Partners and Values, Organization and People, Information and Technology, and Value streams and processes. The numerous components machinery included in the delivery of the services can help to produce value for the customers, which is discussed by the SVS or Service Value System, which is presented by ITIL. This will also help in interpreting the importance of the combination of numerous practices and working together in harmony towards providing value. Thus, the important focus of ITIL is to deliver value which is why it continues the process of value creation. ITIL puts an emphasis on enhancing the current IT services and the addition of new services. ITIL also conserves both time and money, which makes it one of the most used frameworks of ITSM.
The Advantages of ITIL for an Organisation’s IT services:
The creation and delivery of the IT services are supported by the ITIL framework depending on the organisation’s definite purposes and requirements inside the scope of its business, industry, and customers. Thus, the ITIL framework is considered one of the best practices for ITSM.
The advantages of the ITIL framework is experienced by numerous industries. There are numerous benefits of ITIL which you can receive on the basis of your specific industry or organisation the business which you put emphasis on. The important advantages of ITIL in general in mentioned below:
1. Customer expectations are met by ensuring a better quality of IT Services
The supplier management process of ITIL is utilized for:
- It guarantees that the customer contracts are supported by the enhanced agreements with the suppliers
- The performance quality of the supplier is controlled and measured
2. It guarantees that the IT services delivered to fulfil the requirements and needs of the customers.
The Service Level Management process of ITIL is utilized for:
- The objective and aim of IT services are explained and measured
- The actions should be planned in an efficient manner to reach the goals faster
- Reporting and determining
- The corrective action prospects must be determined
3. It guarantees the accessibility to IT services anytime they are required.
The Management process of ITIL is utilized to:
- Adaptability and recovery of Service are ideal.
- The inaccessibility of services due to errors should be analysed
- Improvement of service should be run continuously.
4. Guaranties that positive business relationships can enhance customer satisfaction
These processes are utilized to influence best practices, and it allows the teams to control and determine the accurate demands of a customer. The process involved in it is ITIL Service Level Management and Business Relationship Management processes.
5. Utilization and marketing of an organization’s IT services are supported.
The Service Catalogue Management process for ITIL is utilized to:
- Reorganizing the request processes
- Enhance communication skills
- Assist the customers in understanding the processes involved in the production of the end result.
6. Enables organizations to benchmark IT services
The customers need, and requirements are determined with the use of the ITIL Service Portfolio Management process. It allows them to create and provide IT services which fulfil all the necessary requirements of the customers with the focus on high-quality product and affordable cost.
7. Enables the organisation to showcase the quality of the services that are delivered by them
The Financial Management process of ITIL is utilized for:
- Financial Administration
- Represents enhanced authority over investments
8. Allowing authority, response and forecast to demand IT services for the organizations in a cost-efficient manner based on fluctuations caused in demands.
The two different ITIL methods/techniques are utilized for:
- Producing distinguished levels of services and pricing to offer ideal capacity and to handle the ever-changing situations appropriately
- Imitating and Characterizing the demands.
9. The IT service disturbances are reduced.
There are two processes of ITIL involved, which are Incident Management and Problem management process that is utilized for:
- Improvement of efficient workarounds
- Faster service restoration
- The blameless major incident reviews must be tracked continuously
- Root causes of issues should be identified and removed
- The prevention of the disturbances from arising again
10. Enhanced Management of risks involved in the business of IT Services
There is a variety of process which are utilized to locate, determine, prioritize and handle the prospects in IT service enhancement. The processes involved are Availability Management, ITIL Capacity Management, IT Service Continuity Management, etc.
11. The business changes are allowed at a manageable pace.
The quick response and flexibility to changes are acquired by the utilization of the Change Management process of ITIL. It also puts emphasis on minimising the occurrence of risks and the reduction of the possibility of occurrence of any disturbances to the process.
12. Guarantees that some of the unforeseen IT failures do not affect the customers or the organizations
The business continuity plans are associated well with the service continuity plan by the utilization of the IT Service Continuity Management process of ITIL. IT helps in minimising the service level threats, and the verified service recovery strategies are executed to fulfil the needs of a customer.
Implementation of Best Practices ITIL
ITSM has a crucial factor which includes having the knowledge of the roles involved in the processes. In the service lifecycle, several roles are distributed to numerous processes and purposes inside each stage. The numerous processes in the lifecycle are based on ITIL best practices.
The Several Level Agreements (SLAs) included in the Continual Service Improvement and Service Design stages included in the ITIL lifecycle. The expectation of the service contract by IT service provider and customer is thoroughly explained by SLA. Thus, all additional or new feature updates should contain SLA.
Some of the most widely used best management practices are mentioned below:
- Every assessable IT service should acquire a different SLA
- The regular evaluation and modification of SLA must be done
- SLAs are required to assessable and calculable
- SLAs are required to be accurate, executable, equitable, and practical
- SLAs are required to be reliable and researched accurately
Steps required to expertise in ITIL skills
The process of acquiring certification through training allows you to develop new skills and also hone your skills and knowledge. After achieving the certification, you must be able to implement the skills, knowledge, practices, tools and methods on the business. The ITIL certification usually includes five distinct levels or stages. The stages involved in it are the foundation, intermediate, practitioner, expert and master levels. The skills which are crucial for gaining expertise of ITIL are:
- The process of continuous training to acquire hands-on experience on executing the tools, methods and principles of ITIL in business.
- Applying for the ITIL practice exam can help you to accumulate numerous new skills and knowledge in new topics.
- You should be able to execute the learned best practices and additional ideas to your business which will help you to produce services as desired by the customers.
- The effectiveness of communication increases after the implementation of ITIL practices in the business
- You can check the differences amid the training and real-life ITIL, methods, principles and tools implementation. You can also receive the feedback, opinions and advice of the ITIL professionals.
- In case you require guidance or advice, you can acquire the ITIL international community membership.
- Gain the acknowledgement of the employer or the employees who work alongside you
- After acquiring complete expertise in ITIL methods or principles, it will help you to improve your self-confidence as you can utilize those principles or methods to bring about a good change in the business.
- ITIL certification will allow you to verify your skills, experience, knowledge and proficiency to the employers, which will help to set you apart from the rest of the non-certified candidates.
