The pitfalls of ITIL

To find out why ITIL implementations fail, one must firstly understand what ITIL is, and what it is not. ITIL was first implemented in 1987 by the British government, and is a set of books that document best practices for IT services management.

According to BMC Software global best practices director, Ken Turbitt, ITIL is the most widely accepted approach to IT Service Management (ITSM) in the world. It aims to provide a cohesive set of best practice, drawn from the public and private sectors internationally - supported by a comprehensive qualification scheme, accredited training organizations, implementation and assessment tools.

But what is ITSM? Turbitt explains it as: "A top-down, business-driven approach to the management of IT that specifically addresses the strategic business value generated by the IT organization, and the need to deliver a high quality IT service." He notes that ITSM is designed to focus on the people, processes and technology issues that IT organizations face.

Furthermore, ITIL is a framework, describing the contours of organizing service management. Says Turbitt: "The models show the goals, general activities, inputs and outputs of the various processes which can be incorporated within IT organizations. ITIL does not cast in stone every action required on a day-to-day basis, because that is something which differs from organization to organization. Instead it focuses on best practice that can be utilized in different ways, according to need."

Turbitt stresses that ITIL is not a methodology for implementing ITSM processes, it does not contain detailed process maps, and, says Turbitt, does not, and cannot, provide work instructions.