All you need to know about ITIL Training (and more)

So, what is ITIL?

Well, let’s begin with what the acronym stands for; The Information Technology Infrastructure Library. ITIL is a framework which guides the design of IT services for companies and businesses. ITIL has actually been around since the 1980’s when it was first developed by the UK Government of Commerce.

Why was the ITIL Certification developed? Well, it’s quite simple really. There were problems in the IT department as the processes were inconsistent. This was not acceptable as IT and computing was become an essential part of the success rate of business. Therefore a new, innovative method desperately needed to be introduced in order to ensure the success would carry on. ITIL allows a set of rules and regulations to be put in place in order to manage the IT department. Therefore ITIL provides a sturdy foundation to IT Services Management – but what does this mean? In short, ITIL provides a structure to manage the IT department in light of what the customer wants and needs from the company. Therefore the company has a much tighter relationship between processes and systems.

But how does ITIL manage to do this? To begin with ITIL training was a number of books which covered the sections which needed to be learnt.  Over the years these books turned into over 30 volumes! However, this was changed in 2006 when ITIL v2 grouped these volumes together into just 8 books. Yet, now the new version of ITIL; ITIL v3 has turned this into 5 volumes. These volumes are vital in order to understand that ITIL is not simple a process which begins and ends. Rather it is a life cycle which evolves over time. Furthermore, what companies like about ITIL is there is no need to implement all stages at the same time; rather it is possible to simply employ some of the stages in order for ITIL to function well. It is important to note that ITIL does not replace procedures which are employed within institutions; rather it simply works to improve them so that the company wreaks the benefit. ITIL training also works to compliment other business frameworks such as COBIT and Six Sigma.

So, who uses ITIL? Since it was created it has been adopted worldwide, not just by governments but also large corporations. Examples of ITIL v3 fans are; HSBC, NASA, and Disney. All companies who have embraced ITIL have gained the financial benefits massively. However, now it is not just companies who are using this training method, ITIL training has now entered into higher education to colleges and universities in order to improve their IT systems. The truth is, as ITIL is becoming more and more understood a lot of smaller institutions are beginning to adopt it within their organisation in order to benefit from the structure it creates.

But, why is ITIL so significant? Well in today’s IT world we are presented with chaos and disorganisation. ITIL abandons chaos and provides a framework in which all can work within. It has the ability to keep in mind the original goal and produce a frame in which to work within in order to achieve that goal. This method can also be valuable to any size of organisation.

So, in case you haven’t guessed; ITIL is the next big thing in the world of business!