What are the ITIL4 practices?
Introduction
So you are here for a career in service management? You want roles as a service provider, service relationship manager to attract stakeholders and customers. Quite ambitious, you are, but you must know that it is not impossible as they gossip. And yes, it is difficult because you have to show your wizardry in the product, and services, outputs, and outcomes, keeping in mind the cost and risk with utility and warranty!
The ITIL has solved all the issues on service offerings, relationships through its service relationship model. The sole pedagogy force comes from its core of focusing on the value and progression with feedback.
Organization and people, information and technology, partners and suppliers, value stream, and processes they all rely on the service value system and its chain as a whole. Continual improvement and change control in service management is the purpose of ITIL4.
Congratulations!
And start appreciating your awareness and interest, and rest assured you are in the right trail. You must be known to the fact that the way IT understands business, no other discipline does.
But you may be skeptical about its presence and efficiency in this digital world? Isn’t it? And this is so because you must know that DevOps and Agile are in continuous improvisation while the world revolves around its axis.
Verism that’s a new service management approach has dealt with the digital change very aptly and rejuvenates the ITIL as ever before.
Services and its types
The malleability of IT services in ITIL has a shared viewpoint giving customers a voice to represent their thoughts and make their requirements straight. Customer pays the service providers for owning their risks and correcting them. And this is how we create trust in our customers for preferring our services over a plethora of other service providers.
However, if you desire for core services or you aim to be in enabling service or you want to polish the existing system and want to be a part of enhancing services.
You don’t need to be a consultant. You may be an aspiring student or a business owner or a business student who is striving to make service management as a career or use ITIL services to enhance your productivity.
The ITIL4 foundation has taken all its practitioners and consultants a step ahead by invoking its users to adopt and understand the service management framework and its paradigm.
And why it should not transmute look around you what you see is cloud computing, IaaS, machine learning, blockchain, so service management is also evolving, and hence ITIL is implementing its principles in ITSM globally.
Tracing the roots
ITIL has been in the big picture of ITSM for more than three decades. It is known for its certification programs, training, and guidelines in shaping the much of the ITSM that we see and use today. The prime challenge comes in the form of modern management problems and devising new technologies in the system, making effective Governance, and managing the IT-enabled services thoroughly.
Today ITIL4 framework is widely acclaimed for its ITIL service value system, the four dimension model of organizations & people, information & technology, Partner & suppliers, Value streams & processes. It divides congruent focus to each dimension, ensuring SVS to form an equilibrium.
The Message for the future.
ITIL concepts can be applied to all organizations and services regardless of their line of business and area of business. Earlier, the ITIL V3 had 26 service lifecycle processes, but now, with new and improved ITIL V4, it has 34 management practices.
We shall discuss now all the updates of ITIL V4 practices:
The ITIL Service Value System (SVS)
This functionality of ITIL V4 gives an advantage to the service provider. And its customers by giving them the power to co-create through the use of products and services and its management. Thus it creates the ITIL service value chain with the best practices through plan, engagement, design, and transition and delivery and support.
The ITIL V4 can integrate with other frameworks like Lean, Agile, DevOps, and Digital transformation. This multi facto model has connected all other components of the ITIL V4.
In a grid out of all the Governance and practices form the core and the guiding principles, a continual improvement form the crust of the matrix. It interconnects them and helps in delivering desired values in products and services.
The Processes
Earlier it had 26 grouped processes across the paradigm touching the five important phases of the service lifecycle. Now, it comes with a sauté of 34 practices under three categories of general, service, technology. And includes the other 26 processes of the V3. This gives an opportunity of demands in adding value for customers and improve and improvise the existing one. It has an outcome that brings everyone under an umbrella. With these sets of processes practices, organizational resources are designed to perform work and accolade satisfaction.
The 7 Guiding Principles
As we have discussed earlier, these guidelines are condensed in the core itself. And to give co-creation advantage to both consultants and business customers, stakeholders, and end-users. These principles focus on value and give equal weight to both the parties involved through an iterative feedback loop. This collaboration is visible to promote work and make ideation to practical use and automating the processes.
For instance, think of the general management practices, they are useless without service management practices and technology. The best of ITIL we can presume from the current day situation of the pandemic. With this the all the pressure comes under Governance that has power over directing and controlling the organization’s trajectory.
These principles are futile without every other factor in the comprehension, planning the value chain, engaging, and designing. The transition is the crux for a situation like today.
All we have, all we do know is over compatible computer systems that necessarily are not capable for organizations. But due to ITIL’s adaptability, remote work is ushered and not remorse.
Companies worldwide are planning to take a strong step by giving access to employees to work from their comfort zones. However, they are required to come to the office only when it is necessary!
This shows continual improvement into the unknown future. But with ITIL, we have at least a cushion to fall when struck with a setback.
Moreover, businesses are quite aware as of now that it is not easy at all to make the transition all of a sudden. We need to have a prompt plan B ready always to recover and serve as insurance of recovery.
The dimensions
Ultimately it is all for, of, and by the four virtual and physical factors. These factors tend to support and give a holistic solution to issues, and they are:
- Organization & People
- Information & Technology
- Partners & Suppliers
- Value Streams & Processes.
With them, small business and flourish, think of start-ups. Why do you think out of 100 start-ups, only a margin of 5-11% tend to grow? And they not just grow, but they grow meteorically? There are immense examples of start-ups who are a unicorn company now. They earn in billions and have restricted failures from their paradigm.
They have well planned each step. But before they launch themselves, they launch them in simulations. This is necessary to know and better predict the future of their products and services and their business as a whole.
An ITIL practitioner or a consultant makes their moves safe and secure with his practice and knowledge of the framework. Businesses have never stopped to thank the practices of ITIL that have enabled them to create along the journey.
It not only helps in managing customers’ expectations. But it also helps in procurement, management of budgets, comply legally, and manage their scaling.
The present image of ITIL is not restricted to IT or technology alone; it is a management practice now. Universities all over Europe and some in the USA have added the gist and practices in service management curriculum. In today’s world, awareness is the key, and only those survive who are prepared.
Internal Audit
The standard set by ISO management system helps in categorizing and implementing the principles. Although the ISO has also borrowed principles in its revised doctrine of service management.
And it has, by far, become metric or standard to assess the health of the organization’s IT systems. With ITIL V4 organizations are Agile and certain to function effectively.
Conclusion
There are ample of reasons that can validate an aspirant’s choice of coming into ITIL. But before we commit to doing something, we need to consider all the consequences deeply henceforth, and it’s implications.
However, experts and counseling gurus in IT have always advocated for ITIL certifications, even if you do project management.
The knowledge and the understanding of the ITIL practices will not only shape your perception. But it will also make your motives and moves more customer-centric, which equals profit and recognition. If you are an aspirant of ITSM, then it is wise for you to enter the sphere with an ITIL V4 certification as all others are outmoded by now.
Above all, this gives you an earning potential that not only is a gravy train but also improves your job responsibilities.