History and Evolution of ITIL Explained

ITIL has established itself as the industry standard for IT service management. It enables businesses in various industries to provide services that are both high-quality and cost-effective. ITIL® 4, the newest edition of the ITIL framework, was launched in February of this year. It’s a major upgrade from ITIL V3, widely used for over a decade. 

Whether you’ve already started your certification path or are just learning about the subject of IT service, learning the fundamental ITIL ideas and terms, as well as ITIL procedures, will help you get acquainted with the exam’s essential components. To learn in depth about the history of ITIL and everything about ITIL, read this article. You can also gain a more in-depth analysis of it through the IT service management certification courses online provided by KnowledgeHut. 

History Of ITIL – The Advent

You may be familiar with ITIL (a global efficient IT framework) and its goals, such as cost reduction and enhanced customer service, but where did ITIL originate? When the British government recognized the quality of its IT services wasn’t up to par in the 1980s, ITIL was born. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC), originally known as the The Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), was entrusted with developing a set of standard practices to connect public and private sector IT systems better. The goal was to create a more efficient framework and a more cost-effective utilization of IT resources. Following is the ITIL history timeline explained in terms of the three versions. 

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ITIL V1 - The Beginning

The first edition of ITIL covered procedures including change management, help desk management, and software distribution and control. Contingency planning, Capacity management, availability management, and cost management were also addressed, some of which are still important today. 

In the early 1990s, large corporations and government organizations all around the world began to use the framework to assist them to improve their IT services and delivery capabilities. IT changed and evolved as ITIL increased in prominence, and ITIL changed and evolved as well. The CCTA amalgamated into the OGC, Office for Government Commerce, in the year 2000, and the first ‘child standard’ arose in the same year, when Microsoft adopted ITIL as the foundation for their proprietary Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF). 

ITIL V2 - The First Major Revision

In 2001, the second edition of ITIL was released. The emphasis in this edition was on removing duplicate entries, improving topic coherence, and adding IT concepts. Problem management, incident management, security management, financial management of IT assets, release management and service continuity management were among the subjects covered in ITIL v2. These are some of the most well-known and widely used ITIL components today. The ideas of call centers and help desks were also introduced in ITIL v2, with three types of service desk structures discussed and compared: local service desks, central service desks, and virtual service desks. ITIL became the most commonly acknowledged IT service management framework in the following years.

ITIL V3 - Introduction of The Service Lifecycle

ITIL version 3 was released in 2007. This took a more lifecycle approach to service management, focusing more on IT business integration. This version is an update that includes 26 processes and functions organized into five volumes that focus on service strategy, transition, design, operation, and continuous service improvement. ITIL V3 nearly quadrupled the scope, nearly tripled the number of processes and functions, and included a couple of new aspects and views. New ideas in the areas of service assets, business case building, service value definition, and information security management were introduced to the service transition and service strategy volumes. Access management, request fulfilment, and application administration are among the new topics addressed in the service operation and service design volumes. Planning and scheduling were added in the ITIL v3 chapter on continuous service improvement. 

The ITIL v3 2011 version was released as an update to the 2007 edition, with the goal of correcting mistakes and inconsistencies in the text and illustrations across the suite. The Service Strategy volume got the most content changes in the 2011 update, with the remainder of the volumes receiving just minor contextual modifications. 

• Service Strategy:

Internal and External Customers and Services, as well as an eight-step method to defining services, were introduced in the ITIL 2011 Service Strategy. Service strategy now encompasses both business and IT strategy management, as well as enhancements to the explanation of how finances are handled in the context of services. ‘Strategy Management for IT’ and ‘Business Relationship Management’ were included as additional procedures.

• Service Design:

The 2011 update included a minor change to Service Design. It now contains instructions on how to organize and coordinate operations as well as advice on how to incorporate a Service Design function into an existing IT company. A new section on the usage of ‘RACI’ charts to assist clarify how to process actors should be recorded was perhaps the most noticeable content update.

• Service Transition:

The Problem Management team is in-charge of performing a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and finding a permanent fix/workaround for recurring incidents. It is best to have an effective communication strategy and to follow a proactive approach to avoid any major incident occurrence. The problem is one or more incidents with an unknown cause. The Problem management maintains a known error database, KEDB whose solution is unknown.

• Service Operations:

In 2011, the Service Operations volume was updated with better advice for events, incidents, problems, access management, and request fulfilment. A fresh debate on how ongoing application administration should interact with application development initiatives was also introduced.  

• Continual Service Improvement:

Moderate revisions were made to the Continual Service Improvement book, as well as more advice on how the seven-step ITIL methodology corresponds with the “data -> information -> knowledge -> wisdom” idea and the PDCA ‘Deming’ cycle. The ‘CSI register,’ a database or structured document used to track and monitor performance indicators throughout their lifespan, is a new addition to this book. It’s worth noting that many people cite the ITIL framework for Continuous Service Improvement as the basis for current DevOps projects.  

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The Current Release - ITIL 4

ITIL 4 was launched in February 2019 as the most recent version of the ITIL framework. With digital transformation driving the modern service sector, this latest update will serve as a complete guide for enterprises to effectively manage their information technology while focusing on the creation of value for consumers. Only the Foundation book has been released so far, with the rest of the books due out in the second half of 2019. 

It states services as: 

Instead of merely delivering services, ITIL 4 focuses on creating value. “A way of allowing value co-creation by supporting outcomes that consumers desire to attain without the client having to handle particular costs and risks.” 

The four elements of service management are also discussed in ITIL 4: Companies and people, Information and technology, Partners and Suppliers, and Value Chain and Processes. It also presents the ITIL service value system (SVS), which explains how various service distribution components work together to co-create value for clients. In other words, rather than operating in silos and optimizing internally, it will emphasize the need of combining diverse methods and work together to produce value. Overall, ITIL 4 continues the lifespan process of transition, with value generation as the primary goal. 

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ITIL 4 Certification

To become certified for ITIL Foundation, ITIL Foundation, ITIL Managing Professional, ITIL Strategic Planner, and ITIL Master are the four levels of the ITIL 4 certification scheme. The foundation course covers the principles of service management as well as basic terminology. It assists you in becoming familiar with the ITIL framework for managing IT services. The Managing Professional course teaches you how to manage successful IT projects, teams, and workflows in a realistic way. The Strategic Leader course is designed for IT professionals who wish to learn how technology impacts and guides company strategy. In addition, the program includes a module called Managing Professional Transition, which is designed for ITIL v3 professionals who aspire to advance to the Master’s level of ITIL 4. The KnowledgeHut ITIL foundation course online can help you become proficient in ITIL by helping you gain certifications in all the above-mentioned areas.  

The Present of ITIL

Before you embark on an ITIL implementation project, it’s essential to have a proper grasp on not just the issues your company is attempting to address, but also how the corporate culture will affect your propensity to thrive. The complexity of the implementation can be influenced by the size of the company, management structure, change appetite, business model and procedures, and the implementation team’s talents. in this regard, understanding and evaluating the ITIL version history and how each version was curated to be better than the previous one can be helpful. 

The ITIL framework is extensive and includes a wide range of IT topics. There’s no need to try to apply everything of ITIL at once; instead, figure out what’s most essential for your company and what you believe you can handle efficiently and start there. Maintain a simple approach. There is sufficient ITIL and implementation expertise to offer you sound guidance and experience. Make use of your knowledge, select what is important to you, and get started. If you’re looking to become an expert in the ITIL suite, you can with ITIL foundation course online by our ITIL experts that take you through ITIL basics. The course helps you in service management best practices, utilizing processes, terminology, and methods used in modern IT.