One example of where ‘business needs’ and ‘IT needs’ can be out of alignment is the area of availability, or ‘up-time.’ The typical IT approach is to get as much equipment approved by the business as they can to minimize the chances of an outage, improving up-time statistics. While this sounds like a good thing, the cost of improving up-time increases exponentially as you approach 100% up-time, so at some point the cost of guaranteeing up-time outweighs the benefit provided to the business. The ITIL Availability Management process in contrast, follows a structured process to make sure that the appropriate amount of up-time is provided in the specific areas that are important to the business. This is just one of many areas where the ITIL approach can benefit the organization.

If you fit into any of the following categories, ITIL is something that you should be looking into:

• You are a business person concerned about making sure Information Technology is supporting your business cost-effectively
• You are an IT professional that needs to make sure you are in tune with the business needs and industry direction
• You are involved in sales or customer support and want to make sure that your organization is competitive  (see our upcoming webinar series for more information)

ITIL was started over 10 years ago by the British government to improve the quality of IT within the government.  It has since become a de facto world standard, embraced by much of the European Union and Canada, and acceptance is spreading quickly in the United States.  Contact us if you are interested in ITIL consulting, training, events, or software.

ITIL® is a Registered Trademark and a Registered Community Trademark of the Office of Government Commerce, and is Registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office.