For those still starting in the I.T. industry, ITIL may ring a bell. It stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library, a set of concepts and practices for dealing with IT. It was established in the 1980s when the then-called Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), now titled Office of Government Commerce (OGC), was instructed to create an approach for efficient and cost effective use of IT resources. Their goal was to develop an approach that is not dependent on any supplier, which resulted in what we call now as ITIL.

The said approach is now being employed for over twenty years around the world.

In a nutshell, the concept gives thorough account of IT practices that can fit to any IT system. It offers a collective framework for all the activities of an IT department, of which activities are split into operations that provide framework to make the IT service more mature. The approach identifies what must be involved in the IT Service Management to give the required IT services.

There are 5 components that the concept deals with. The first one of them is the business perspective, wherein it focuses on areas such as partnership, adapting the business to change, outsourcing, business continuity management, and surviving changes.

Another element is the IT infrastructure management, which deals with areas like systems and environmental management, computer installation and acceptance, network service and operations management, and management of local processors.

For application management, ITIL stresses on software life cycle support and screening IT service for operational application.

The elements of service support and delivery is called its core.

So why apply it? Businesses laud ITIL because of its cost efficient benefits. With it, the provisions of IT functions are more focused on the customers. The services are also described as clearer, in an easier to understand language, and in thorough details.

The IT organization also benefits from ITIL in a way that they acquire a clearer formation and become effective. It also offers a consistent frame of reference for communications within the organization and with providers. The good thing about this is that not only is it customer-centric, it is focused on the corporate objectives too.

Learn more about ITIL and enroll in courses about becoming a PMP. Also published at Definition And Basics Of ITIL.