The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of internationally recognized principles aimed at assisting enterprises in properly delivering their services. ITIL is a methodology for delivering services by combining four dimensions: personnel, procedures, goods, and associates. The ITIL framework is being used by businesses of all sizes and across all industries to provide high-quality and efficient services.

The stability, agility, and integration of IT components and services can have a substantial impact on business success. If networks, databases, or servers go down, or if incidents aren’t resolved or risks aren’t handled, it can have a significant impact not just on the company’s internal operations, but also on all services and end-users. If a company can supply services to clients more efficiently and reliably, it will have a far better chance of succeeding. In today’s world, when customer expectations and technologies are continuously changing, it’s critical to have a set of policies in place to assist your company to adapt swiftly.

In today’s world, when customer expectations and technologies are continuously changing, it’s critical to have a set of policies in place to assist your company to adapt swiftly. This is where ITIL comes in because its practices can provide services with flexibility, creativity, and add value in a straightforward and customer-focused manner. ITIL may assist you in ensuring that your IT process standards support your entire company strategy.

Aspects of ITIL

ITIL was created by the British government in the 1980s as a collection of defined guidelines to help enhance IT performance. These uniform guidelines gained popularity over time and were adopted by both government and non-government organizations. ITIL standards have undergone numerous updates and alterations since their introduction. ITIL is now in its fourth version, which is known as ITIL 4. The most recent version is more focused on meeting the needs of modern-day business requirements, including decreasing silos, boosting collaboration throughout the entire organizational structure, and incorporating agile software development and DevOps into ITSM.  ITIL 4 talks about four aspects capable of helping businesses successfully provide value to clients and other stakeholders.

• Organizations and People This dimension focuses on the human aspect of service offerings that firms should consider while developing, operating, or altering them. This element analyses the structure, culture, and communication methods of the organization. It also considers the skill of the organization’s personnel, as well as their ability to create and deliver value.
• Information and Technology This dimension focuses on the information that organizations require to create and transfer value, as well as the processing and storage components required to do so. Skills and security are one part of this, which evaluates whether firms have the proper people to go through and support technological developments.
• Value Stream and Processes This dimension focuses on the actions that businesses should do to add value, as opposed to processes that add no value. It also aids companies in considering actions or operations that can be automated as well as those that are carried out by third-party providers.
• Partners and Suppliers Every firm is viewed as a service provider and a consumer in this sense. It delves into issues such as which competencies a company wants to keep and which it wants to outsource. It also urges companies to assess whether their employees have the necessary skill sets or if they need to collaborate with partners. If that’s the case, it’s also important to consider the expense. It also examines if companies have positive connections with supplier representatives and whether their performance meets expectations.

ITIL Processes

When it comes to processes, what is ITIL? Earlier editions of ITIL provided a set of processes to follow while implementing ITIL, however, the most recent version includes 34 practices as part of the ITIL service value system (SVS). Axelos defines the Service Value System as “how all of the organization’s components and operations operate together as a system to enable value generation”.

“Each organization’s SVS has interfaces with other organizations, generating an ecosystem that can facilitate value for those firms, their customers, and other stakeholders”, they add. ITIL is meant to represent a set of values, such as value, transparency, cooperation, simplicity, holistic methods, and a focus on the user experience. IT processes and designs are expected to be better integrated into the overall business structure and needs, rather than working in a separate silo with no clear function in business goals and aspirations.

The SVS is made up of five main parts:

• Service Value Chain (ITIL)
• ITIL Procedures
• Guiding Principles for ITIL
• Governance
• Continual Development

There are three types of ITIL practices: general management practices, service management practices, and technical management practices. All of these practices are also part of the ITIL value chain’s six sections:

• Plan
• Improve
• Engage
• Design and Transition
• Obtain/Build
• Deliver and Support

The “4 P’s of Service Design” were featured in previous versions of ITIL: People, Products, Partners, and Processes. Instead, the most recent edition of ITIL employs four dimensions to incorporate these concepts while also connecting them to ITIL principles and the value chain.

General Management Practices

Following are some of the general management practices:

• Strategy management
• Portfolio management
• Architecture management
• Service financial management
• Workforce and talent management
• Continual improvement
• Measurement and reporting
• Risk management
• Information security management
• Knowledge management
• Organizational change management
• Project management
• Relationship management
• Supplier management

Service Management Practices

Following are some of the service management practices:

• Business analysis
• Service catalog management
• Service design
• Service level management
• Availability management
• Capacity and performance management
• Service continuity management
• Monitoring and event management
• Service desk
• Incident management
• Service request management
• Problem management
• Release management
• Change enablement
• Service validation and testing
• Service configuration management
• IT asset management

Technical Management Practices 

Following are some technical management practices:

• Deployment management
• Infrastructure and platform management
• Software development management

These procedures are meant to aid the IT team and service delivery while also having an impact on business efficiency and operations. For example, by separating distinct management duties, responsibilities, tools, and roles, you may boost the efficiency and productivity of your IT staff by arranging your company IT services using an ITIL framework.

You can also follow established rules for managing issues, processes, or troubleshooting, which can aid in the speedier resolution of issues and the easier management of modifications. IT issues and events will have a lower impact on the business as a result of improved management and resolution. All of these advantages may contribute to increased stability, service levels, and productivity.

Furthermore, ITIL techniques can aid in more flexible service delivery and faster transitions between old and new technology. The ultimate conclusion is that service delivery is streamlined and improved, and customer happiness rises as a result. Cost reductions may arise from resource and process streamlining, which is a positive side impact. The last benefit is that with increased visibility into IT processes and services, business risks may be identified more readily, allowing you to take steps to avoid service delays or shutdowns.

Tools for ITIL Implementation

ITIL software tools are a must-have for businesses looking to increase productivity while also adding value. Even though the market is flooded with tools, finding the perfect one can be a difficult task. The two most popular tools are shown here, along with the features that make them so effective.

1. SolarWinds Web Help Desk – FREE TRIAL

SolarWinds Web Help Desk is a cost-effective and adaptable option that provides an interactive interface for managing service issues. It also allows businesses to streamline and automate help desk tasks for their technical staff. It’s a highly scalable system that can be used by any business of any size.

It also automates the entire help desk ticketing process, making it simple for users to generate, escalate, and manage problems. Organizations can utilize the simple web console to locate and manage their software and hardware assets, as well as asset assignments, previous records, and associated service requests.

It enhances security by allowing FIPS mode SSL connections for data in transit and supporting cryptography compliant with FIPS 140-2 in high-security IT environments.  Another feature of Web Help Desk worth mentioning is its availability as a native mobile application on the iPad and iPhone, where team members can view alerts in the form of push notifications for new and updated tickets. It also comes with a fully built knowledge base users can easily search.

Additionally, this tool provides the option to allow end-users to resolve tickets on their own to help scale down the number of inbound tickets. Employees can also customize change approval workflows, which can vary from a single user to multiple approval levels. To provide a complete solution to the incident and problem management, the Web Help Desk lets users link various incidents to a problem.

Web Help Desk also enables businesses to meet their service-level agreements (SLAs) by allowing them to set up SLA breach notifications and SLA reminder alerts that can be linked to certain dates. Furthermore, utilizing help desk data, firms can track the performance of their technical teams and see the status of tickets raised.

The platform excels at keeping track of customer support needs by using elements such as the customer’s location and real-time invoicing data, as well as automating recurring tasks using configurable tickets that include parent-child relationships. Organizations can also use the active and LDAP directories that are already in place.

Pricing: To get a quote visit https://www.solarwinds.com/web-help-desk

Download: You can try SolarWinds Web Help Desk for a fully functional 14-day free trial.

2. SolarWinds Service Desk – FREE TRIAL

SolarWinds Service Desk is a platform that can help you simplify the procedures of maintaining and delivering services to your company. This solution, like the Web Help Desk, caters to the needs of all enterprises, regardless of size.

This application is provided with several sets of modules, including change, release, incident, and problem management modules, as well as variable page layouts, to accommodate each organization’s unique management processes. This application also allows businesses to tailor their employees’ service experiences when they’re submitting requests and tickets, as it gives them access to self-help resources and the option to monitor company announcements.

On iOS or Android smartphones, users can utilize the Service Desk agent mobile application to access the tool’s key functions. Service Desk can be integrated into business workflows across the entire organization thanks to its extensive integration options and open REST API.

It can also assist businesses in formalizing their service offerings by allowing them to construct dynamic submission forms that are backed by a workflow engine that automates the entire process. The tool’s usage of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is one of its distinguishing features. Through an AI-driven ticket routing procedure, the Service Desk can distribute tickets to the appropriate teams. Service Desk can assist eliminate bottlenecks by allowing enterprises to create custom automation rules to assign, route, and categorize incoming tickets.

Organizations may receive a real-time picture of their service desk key performance metrics with the aid of its simply customized widgets (KPIs). This information also aids businesses in visualizing patterns, analyzing performance indicators, and gathering information for future decisions. This application isn’t just valuable for IT; it’s also useful for other departments that provide services to employees, such as HR, finance, and many others.

Through the feature service catalog in Service Desk, which can be used to automate activities and approvals, many departments can collaborate to produce a smooth interdepartmental workflow. Organizations can save time and effort by using this functionality.

By gathering device audit histories and allowing them to access their comprehensive inventories, Service Desk assists enterprises in managing their IT assets. In addition, the Service Desk can deliver automated alerts about any potential threats to the organization’s devices. Businesses can also use this tool to generate software compliance reports.

Furthermore, Service Desk addresses procurement management by assisting businesses in aligning their assets with purchase orders and vendor management capabilities. Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer are all supported in the browser version of Service Desk, as long as they’re version 11 or newer. Aside from these fantastic capabilities, the Service Desk is simple to set up.

It was built on the codeless architecture idea, which means no coding is required, and it comes with a variety of straightforward and flexible setup choices. As a result, enterprises may swiftly adopt Service Desk and make system changes to fit their business’s ever-changing demands. The technology allows employees freedom when interacting with Service Desk by providing numerous channels of communication, such as email, phone calls, and service portals.

SolarWinds Service Desk received the top rating in the most recent edition of the Grid® Report for Service Desk from G2. G2 collects ratings and reviews from thousands of verified users of Service Desk platforms in order to produce this quarterly report which also provides insights into the pros, cons, and benefits of leading Service Desk offerings.

Pricing: To get a quote visit https://www.solarwinds.com/service-desk

Download: You can try SolarWinds Service Desk for a fully functional 30-day free trial.

Conclusion

ITIL is a very valuable framework for understanding and organizing your corporate IT management practices. It blends your IT team’s capabilities with your customers’ needs, business procedures, and structures, all while keeping the goal of high-quality service delivery at the forefront.

You may easily adapt and facilitate the framework ITIL provides by using proper supporting tools, which can have substantial and long-lasting good benefits for your organization. You can ensure that your clients receive high-quality services and that your IT teams and operations are tightly integrated into your business processes by following ITIL guidelines and using good software and IT tools.