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To ITIL® V3 and Beyond: Travels with Rob Stroud
Is the “IT” Label Limiting?
The IT Skeptic recently wrote a blog entitled “Perhaps one day Service Management will become a universal discipline: ITIL 4?” It starts, “Who left the IT in itSMF? What a shame we have kept our focus narrow.”
Some of you may be thinking that’s absurd, of course there should be an “IT” in “itSMF.” But I can tell you that as part of the COBIT v4.1 discussions, we seriously considered the relevance of “IT” and the possibility of removing those letters. Something that many people forget is that the “IT” in COBIT is actually “information and related technology”, not “Information Technology” as many assume.
As the COBIT “IT” represents that the information we manage, and how we manage it, are key, we decided to keep it, excuse the pun. COBIT V4.1 provides an appendix on mapping Business goals to IT goals and IT processes. I don’t believe we went that far in Service Strategy in V3, although good guidance on driving the IT strategy from the business strategy and constraints is well documented. So the “IT” in COBIT is fair, but what about ITIL….
IT and the business are becoming more integrated and dependent on each other. As the skills required by our IT professionals incorporate more business knowledge, the line between what is IT and what is not will become increasingly blurred.
In the Governance space, we have already seen the adoption of Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) processes, historically employed for IT, adopted by the business for new business initiatives. The same is true in the Service Desk area. I recall a recent visit with at an organization that is using its Service Desk product to track and manage not only IT incidents but also calls from external customers about products purchased at the organization’s website—clearly a business function.
Of course, “IT” will always be a must in certain applications, for example, the t-shirt sold by the IT Skeptic that declares “If IT ain’t broke don’t fix it.” We’ll table that discussion for the time being, but the question as to when to label something “IT”--be it a process, a practice, or an organization--will be raised with increasing frequency.
I must order one of the IT Skeptic’s t-shirts soon.
About Robert Stroud
Robert Stroud is Vice President and IT Service Management and IT Governance Evangelist at CA. In this role, he helps ensure that the company’s solutions adhere to best practices and mentors organizations on driving maximum business value from their ITIL initiatives. A 25 year IT veteran, Robert was recently elected International Vice President of ISACA (previously known as the Information Systems and Control Association) and Vice President of ISACA’s research affiliate, the IT Governance Institute (ITGI). He is a recognized industry speaker and leader, serving on the USA itSMF Advisory Board, its Governance Committee and the COBIT Steering Committee. He worked on the ITIL Version 3 project as part of the ITIL Advisory Group and as a Mentor and Reviewer for some of the newly published ITIL V3 volumes. He has authored several titles on ITIL and COBIT and served as a reviewer of the COBIT 4.0 to ITIL Version 2 mapping document.
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Lisa Meegan said:
You bring up great points about business and IT becoming more integrated. In fact I’ve noticed in the market the general maturation of information technology as the business enabler, and therefore owning a true seat at the business table, rather than the sunken-cost operation that has been misunderstood, under-appreciated, and underutilized to drive innovation and competitive advantage in past years. As IT becomes more about executing and supporting the business process and less about the nuts and bolts that keep the lights on, perhaps the term information technology will appear less of a limitation or utility, and be interpreted as another integrated part of the business.
Keith Aldis said:
Rob
Good stuff and very thought provoking. Integrating IT into the wider busines is key to the success of Service Management as a concept - a concept that's been around for years but only relatively recently articulated in a way which is clear and understandable to both IT people and non-IT people alike! Long gone are the days of "self help" IT, thankfully and we as a community are more about getting together at every level to deliver what ought to be simple business solutions. Besides, I would not want to wear a Self Help IT t-shirt! The acronym is self apparent!
Keep up the blogging - it's more balanced than most blogs I read!
Keith Aldis
Chief Execitive
itSMF