ITIL ® is a series of comprehensive, consistent publications that are
used to aid the establishment of a quality ITSM framework within an
organization, aligned with the international standard, namely, ISO/IEC
20000. The ITIL philosophy has evolved and is globally recognized as the
foundation of IT Service Management best practices, supported by a
professional qualification scheme.
The latest version of ITIL ® (v3) consists of a core set of five
publications that replaces the previous version of ITIL ® (which was
published in 2000). The core publications, providing the guidance
necessary for an integrated approach (ref ISO/IEC 20000), are:
• Service Strategy
• Service Design
• Service Transition
• Service Operation
• Continual Service Improvement
The core volumes will be supported by complementary titles, addressing
the application of the generic core guidelines in particular markets or
technological contexts.
As IT services become more closely integrated with the business
function, ITIL v3 assists in establishing a business management approach
and discipline to IT, stressing the complementary aspects of running IT
itself as a business. Service Management is a set of specialized
organizational capabilities for providing value to customers in the form
of services.
These capabilities take the form of functions and processes for managing
services over a lifecycle, through strategy, design, transition,
operation, and continual improvement (as per the volumes). Without these
capabilities, signifying capacity, competency, and confidence for
action, a service organization is merely a bundle of resources that by
itself has relatively low intrinsic value for customers.