Branimir Valentic Maybe it’s not that common to write a review of events within the ITIL and ISO 20000 domain, but there are some interesting topics worth mentioning. The fact is that ITIL particularly, but ISO 20000 as well, have had an interesting year. Here I don’t mean implementation of projects or standards, but events that influenced ITIL and ISO 20000 in general. You’re probably asking “What’s in there for me?” Let’s go step by step.
Extract of 2013 events and their development in 2014
AXELOS – Most probably, the most interesting event in 2013 was the creation of AXELOS, a joint venture between the UK Cabinet Office (until then the owner of ITIL and some other best practices) and Capita PLC (now Capita owning 51% of the joint venture). We were all very curious to see what would happen – the first six months passed and this time was spent on preparation for the operational phase (which began on 01.01.2014), which means that so far not much has happened. As always, a change in business model brings changes in daily operational life. In the first phase, there will be more changes on the training and IPR (Intellectual Property Right) side. The next steps of AXELOS will affect the wide ITIL user base – some of the products are already published (Maturity Model). Of course, the most interesting question is: Is there a new ITIL version on the horizon? So far, no. According to AXELOS, there will be no immediate update to the ITIL core guidance, but more modular framework. What does that mean? I think we have to be patient. That does not mean that there is nothing in the strategy phase, but until the new organization passes the forming phase, revolutionary moves are not to be expected. AXELOS is working hard on improving offerings for the existing version.
itSMF (IT Service Management Forum) – continuing on a previous topic, itSMF and AXELOS signed a memorandum of understanding, or if we put it simply – cooperation. This is important due to the fact that AXELOS owns ITIL, ITIL is the de facto standard in IT Service Management, and itSMF is the only internationally recognized forum for IT Service Management. itSMF is a bridge between professionals from all sides – users, vendors, consultants and experts – as well as a knowledge provider (in the form of events and publications) in the area of IT Service Management. Therefore, it would be a real problem if AXELOS and itSMF couldn’t find common interests (which, I believe, they have).
ISO/IEC 20000-10 – if you check our blog about ISO 20000, we said that there are many parts of ISO 20000 which are not mandatory for implementation (basically, only ISO 20000-1 is mandatory, and the rest is supporting material). Well, ISO 20000-10 (full name ISO/IEC TR 20000-10:2013 Concepts and terminology), published in 2013, is one such non-mandatory document. ISO 20000-10 is a technical report (which means it is entirely informative in nature) used as a framework to help you to understand:
- how different parts of ISO 20000 (both mandatory and non-mandatory) are related and how to use them to support ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011
- terminology used throughout the standard
- relationship between ISO 20000 and other International Standards and Technical Reports
For someone who is serious about ISO 20000 implementation, it is useful reading.
ITIL & ISO 20000 Blog – yes, that’s us and that fact makes it more ungrateful to write about. We started at the beginning of the year, and by the end of 2013 we had enriched the world of ITIL and ISO 20000 to become a secure place where readers can always find interesting ITIL and ISO 20000 topics – which are regularly updated and saturated with experience from the real world (we published 45 blog posts in 2013).
ITSMPedia – an online encyclopedia for IT Service Management (ITSM). This is also one of our sites (www.itsmpedia.info) and aims to provide ITSM knowledge for beginners, and contributor opportunities for experienced ITSM experts.
Tools – IT Service Management tools are the liveliest part of the ITIL world. It’s not just that a new tool pops up (at least considering major players) every now and then, but it’s more that existing tools are getting new functionalities that don’t necessarily belong to ITIL. Market leaders started (or continued) implementing, for example, project management, collaboration platform or even customer relationship management modules as an integrated part of their tools. Since ITIL is not changing, this trend (of adding non-ITIL functionalities) will continue. I think this is a great benefit for users of the tool and makes waiting for significant change in ITIL even more pleasant.
What to expect in 2014?
That’s a very difficult question at this moment. Why? Because AXELOS now owns ITIL and, as a newly formed company, they have to:
- take their time to get organized
- show their intentions
In addition to that, since ISO 20000 follows changes in ITIL… you know – it’s hard to tell when we will face changes and, as logic dictates, we don’t have to expect changes soon.
From my point of view – ITIL, as is, is still very useful and adoptable. Maybe because companies are not keen to invest in internal development, maybe because IT organizations (from an IT Service Management point of view) don’t seek new challenges, or maybe after cloud technology there are no “inventions” in IT which need to be covered. Additionally, we get an excellent chance to master the existing framework and tool vendors get an opportunity to provide new functionalities (and win new customers), which will underpin the usage of ITIL.
It is obvious that ITIL and ISO 2000 remain attractive tools to manage IT services. To get a better idea about implementation possibilities, check out these Comparison matrices.
