Are you ITIL compliant?
Are your tools and teams ITIL compliant? Can you be? In this post, we explore the benefits of the ITIL framework and what it actually means for businesses.
- April 9, 2018
It’s a question we hear a lot: Are we ITIL compliant?
We work with a lot of organisations looking to optimise their IT service management, whether that involves helping them implement and configure the right software, or helping to empower teams with support and training. One of the most important things we can do in these engagements is listen. It means we’re able to tailor an organisation’s solution to specific requirements — and it also gives us insight into what it is businesses need from ITSM.
And as more and more businesses realise the benefits of great ITSM, the question of ITIL compliance frequently arises.
There is no such thing as ITIL compliant
David Morgan, Clearvision’s Service Desk Solutions Manager, elaborates:
“One of the first things we are taught when taking the ITIL foundation is that that there is no such thing as being ITIL compliant. The important thing to remember about ITIL is that it is a framework for a set of best practices.”
The belief that a tool can be “ITIL compliant” is a popular misconception. How can it be when it isn’t a standard nor a governance framework?
ITIL: A closer look
ITIL stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library and covers a range of best practices, designed to align IT services with the wider business. For over twenty-five years, ITIL has been providing guidance on how to use IT as a tool to facilitate business change, transformation and growth.
Learn more: Download ‘The Secret to Legendary IT Service’, a white paper from Atlassian
According to ITIL, businesses should be “adopting and adapting the framework to address their specific needs.” By its nature, ITIL is flexible. It should act as a guide to encourage best practice and the optimisation of ITSM processes, which of course can be different from company to company.
You can be certified in ITIL at multiple levels, but the framework guides how teams can approach ITSM. There’s no simple tick-box; you can be aligned with ITIL’s guidance, but it’s not a case of following a particular set of rules and being declared compliant.
That’s no reason to be put off. Indeed, ITIL’s adaptability is one of the reasons it’s the world’s most widely used ITSM framework, and why it is able to bring so many benefits to the teams who follow its guidance.
ITIL: The key benefits
The benefits of ITIL are numerous, but here are some of key benefits organisations will see — across the whole business, not just IT — by following ITIL best practice in choosing the right software and implementing ITSM processes.
- Manage business risk for services
- Minimise service disruption and improve customer satisfaction
- Ensure the quality of services matches customer needs and expectations
- Build and maintain positive business relationships with customers
- Quantify and demonstrate the true value of the services you provide
- Benchmark services and maximise return on investment
- Support business change at the speed your customer needs while ensuring a stable and low-risk environment
It’s easy to see why ITIL is so highly regarded.
ITIL in practice
While you won’t find a tool that is officially “ITIL compliant” (and should perhaps be wary of any claiming to be), there are tools designed to align with the ITIL framework as ITSM software vendors recognise its importance.
When it comes to service desk software, we recommend Jira Service Management It’s a flexible tool that delivers a user-friendly experience with great self-service features, and significantly, it is now ITIL certified in four processes from PinkVerify™ and Axelos™:
- Request Fulfilment
- Incident Management
- Problem Management
- Change Management
Atlassian has some great pointers on where to get started with Jira Service Desk and ITIL, but if you’re looking for some help setting up a comprehensive service desk solution, Clearvision offers expert advice on everything from implementation to integration with other tools.
As an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner, we provide a number of ITSM services. Why not check out:
- Clearvision’s service desk solutions
- Clearvision’s service desk training courses
- Clearvision’s consultancy sevices
Or get in touch to find out more about how to be ITIL aligned.
Download ‘The Secret to Legendary IT Service’
In this white paper, the team at Atlassian share their secrets to legendary IT service. Covering service to customers, internal IT support, and even how to scale services beyond IT, discover all you need to take your IT services to the next level.
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