-
Improve Your PMO Effectiveness by Walking Around
March 19, 2010
-
Project Management Office Improvement and Lessons Learned
March 18, 2010
-
What Project Management Really Is: A To-Do List With Dates!
March 18, 2010
-
A Simple Plan for Improved Project Results and Increased Maturity
March 17, 2010
-
Communication in International Projects
March 17, 2010
-
On Managing Complex Global Projects
March 16, 2010
-
Fundamentals of Range Estimating in Project Management
March 16, 2010
-
The Multiple Definitions of the Project Charter
March 16, 2010
-
How to Establish a Team Atmosphere On Your Projects
March 15, 2010
-
Avoiding Padding Problems when Scheduling Projects
March 15, 2010
ITIL:What It Is and Why You Should Care - Part I - Introduction
October 26, 2007 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: ITIL
ITIL:What It Is and Why You Should Care - Part I - Introduction (#1 in the series ITIL:What It Is and Why You Should Care)
By Eugene S. Ball, PhD, ITIL Certified Service Manager
Introduction
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has been around for 20 years, but interest within the United States has only increased in the last five years. ITIL is becoming the next big thing in Information Technology. It is the new industry buzz-word, the new certification, the new conference, and the new idea that the IT world feels it needs. This paper will describe the origin of ITIL, who controls the ITIL contents, who are the biggest users of ITIL, and why you should care about it. Throughout this paper, it will be important for you to remember that ITIL describes a framework of processes for the management of IT. Because it is a framework, ITIL does not describe in great detail how any particular process should be implemented.
Where did ITIL come from?
ITIL started in the late 1980s when the British Central Computer and Telecommunication Agency (CCTA), now called the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), made a decision that there should be a better way for Information Technology to function. The CCTA commissioned a study group to develop a new approach to managing Information Technology. From this group came Version 1 of ITIL, which was called GITIM, Government Information Technology Infrastructure Management. Version 1 of ITIL was a great deal different from the present-day version. Part of this difference is due to the gradual maturing of ITIL and changes in the Information Technology industry.
Between the development of Version 1 and the year 2001, the number of documents (books) used within ITIL grew to more than 32. In the year 2000, Microsoft used ITIL as the basis for development of their proprietary Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF). The year 2000 also saw the CCTA merge into the Office of Government Commence (OGC). Version 2 of ITIL was released in 2001. The present day version contains just 8 books:
- Service Support
- Service Delivery
- Business Perspective
- ICT Infrastructure Management
- Applications Management
- Security Management
- Planning and Implementation
- Software Asset Management
Two of these books, Service Support and Service Deliver, are the heart of ITIL and the focus of the present drive for ITIL adoption.
Because ITIL had its start in the British government, ITIL adoption began there; It then quickly spread to nongovernment organizations within Britain. From Britain, ITIL moved to Europe and Canada, where it has seen heavy adoption. From Canada, ITIL finally made its way to the United States. The adoption of ITIL, by both government and non-government organizations within the US, is gaining momentum. ITIL truly is the next big thing. If ITIL is new to you, then now is the time to learn more.
Dr. Eugene Ball has 26 years of experience in the customer service industry. This experience followed 12 years of teaching and research in mathematics, computer science, and statistics at universities both in the US and abroad. During the last 26 years, he has held positions related to the customer service industry that ranged from providing direct telephone support to managing a large help desk. Dr. Ball founded Help Desk Solutions, Inc. in 1993.Working through Help Desk Solutions, he has assisted a variety of organizations in implementing or improving their customer service by improving processes and procedures and selecting, implementing, and integrating tools that support and automate these processes. These organizations have included start-up companies, county governments, higher education, and members of the Fortune 500. Dr. Ball is a regular speaker on both national and local levels on topics related to customer support. He has also published a variety of articles on subjects related to the customer service industry. Dr. Ball is one of the founders and has served as President of the North Carolina, Research Triangle, and Central Virginia local chapters of the Help Desk Institute. In 1998, and from 2002 – 2005, Dr. Ball served on the Help Desk Institute Team Excellence evaluation panel. He is a founding member of the Help Desk Institute Individual Certification Standards Committee. He is a certified HDI training partner, a certified HDI Site Auditor, and an ITIL Certified Service Manager. In addition to teaching Help Desk Institute certification, he trains and consults with clients on ITIL issues.
This article was originally published in Global Knowledge’s Business Brief e-newsletter. Global Knowledge delivers comprehensive hands-on project management, business process, and professional skills training. Visit our online Knowledge Center at www.globalknowledge.com/business for free white papers, webinars, and more.
© Copyright 2007, Global Knowledge. All rights reserved.
Related Articles
- Successfully Interviewing Your Project Customer and Gathering Project Requirements - Part I - Introduction
- Introduction to Emotional Intelligence - Part II
- Introduction to Emotional Intelligence - Part I
- The Purposes and Methods of Practical Project Categorization - Part I - Introduction
- How To Successfully Create An Internal Project Management Certification Program For Your State - Part I - Introduction
No comments yet.
feel free to leave a comment
Comment Guidelines: Basic XHTML is allowed (a href, strong, em, code). All line breaks and paragraphs are automatically generated. Off-topic or inappropriate comments will be edited or deleted. Email addresses will never be published. Keep it PG-13 people!
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
All fields marked with " * " are required.
- Agile Project Management
- Ask the Hut
- Certification
- Change Management
- Communications Management
- Computer Based Information Systems
- Concepts
- Corporate Transformation
- Cost Management
- Critical Chain Project Management
- Delegation
- History
- HR Management
- Implementing Project Management
- Integration Management
- Lessons Learned
- Management
- Miscellaneous
- People Issues
- PMBOK
- PRINCE2
- Procurement Management
- Program Management
- Project Lifecycle Phases
- Project Management Advantages
- Project Management Advantages
- Project Management as a Career
- Project Management Best Practices
- Project Management Charts
- Project Management Definitions
- Project Management Ethics
- Project Management for Beginners
- Project Management Guides
- Project Management Musings
- Project Management Office
- Project Management Proposals
- Project Management Templates
- Project Portfolio Management
- Project Workforce Management
- Quality Management
- Requirements Management
- Risk Management
- Scheduling
- Scope Management
- SCRUM
- Soft Management
- Time Management
- Training
- Uncategorized