How ITIL Practitioner Helps You Handle the Increasing Demands on ITSM?

In the Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) business, there is an ever-increasing need for high-quality services to be delivered quickly by IT service companies. To meet such high demands without having to compromise on the quality of service and also to realize and align business goals with IT goals, the role of an ITIL practitioner is increasingly on demand.

In fact, many huge companies have adopted an ITIL program to better manage their IT teams. Such companies include the Bank of America, Disney, Hewlett-Packard, Honda, Sony, Shell Oil, IBM, Toyota, Target, and much more. So, if you want your business to keep up with IT demands that will only continue to rise in the future, making use of the services of an ITIL practitioner seems to be the way to go. Much of the IT service management industry has done so.

Who is an ITIL practitioner?

For the uninitiated, ITIL stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library. It is a framework designed for IT service management (ITSM) to deliver better, more effective results in such a way that the IT services are in alignment with the business goals. In other words, an ITIL practitioner is one who has a deep knowledge and understanding of the detailed set of practices laid down in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Currently, the latest and updated form available is the ITIL 2011.

ITIL contains a series of five volumes, which are regularly updated to keep up with technological trends and advancements. Each volume deals with a different stage or lifecycle of IT service management, and an ITIL practitioner has a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of all five volumes, thereby possessing the much-required skill to deliver better services in an efficient manner at a faster rate.

ITIL lays down, in a detailed, descriptive manner, all the general processes, tasks, procedures, and checklists that all IT service management companies can apply to their practices. It is like a basic structure for an organization to not only plan and implement but also to deliver and measure quantifiable improvements. The main goal of IT Infrastructure Library is to provide an IT service management company to be a legitimate business partner, as opposed to being just a means to an end or back-end support.

Benefits of utilizing services of ITIL practitioner :-

IT service management (ITSM) can greatly benefit from the services of an ITIL practitioner who has extensive knowledge of the ITIL process cycle. ITSM and ITIL go hand in hand, complimenting each other, and the practitioner is the entity that brings both elements together. As of now, the ITIL process cycle is divided into five main categories – service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation, and continuous improvement.

Below are the various ways an ITIL practitioner can benefit and help handle increasing demands of IT service management (ITSM):

1.  An ITIL practitioner helps to align business goals with IT goals:-

One of the major benefits of hiring the services of an ITIL practitioner is that they can help ITSM align their business goals with their IT services. This means that, as mentioned before, IT service management will work towards being a legitimate business partner, instead of being seen as just a means to an end or back-end support. This way, IT can play a core integral and core role in the business strategy, while delivering high-quality services. And an ITIL practitioner is the one who makes this happen.

2.    An ITIL practitioner can help ITSM to mitigate and manage business risks:-

An ITIL practitioner can help in mitigating business risks for IT service management as they greatly enhance the ITSM workflow. Even in the case of issues like service disruption, an ITIL practitioner can manage these efficiently manage these with skill and expertise. Monitoring and managing such process are all included in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, which enables the practitioner to resolve issues through root cause analysis and problem management. This will help in preventing such issues in the future.

3.      An ITIL practitioner can help with systems integration :-

ITIL is easily compatible with external or third-party systems of project management. This optimizes ITSM workflow to a great extent. It also allows for a better, more effective and smooth collaboration, as well as visibility between various teams working together in the organization. An ITIL practitioner, being well-versed in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, therefore adds a great contribution to IT service management when it comes to systems integration and collaboration.

4.      An ITIL practitioner can help reduce operational costs:-

Another way an ITIL practitioner benefits ITSM is by reducing operational costs. They help to make better, smarter budget decisions that will reduce costs and expenses while still maximizing profits and not having to compromise on the quality of service. Moreover, since IT is a deeply service-oriented field, customer bills can easily add up. But with an ITIL practitioner, you can keep costs transparent using detailed metrics, gaining your customers’ trust.

5.      An ITIL practitioner helps ITSM create business agility:-

An ITIL practitioner helps IT service management create business agility, which is an important quality for any business today. Times and trends are changing fast, and in order to keep up with all these advancements, and stay ahead of competitors, any business with an ITIL program will be able to react and adapt quickly and smoothly. Moreover, the transition process will be managed with expertise, to ensure a smooth flow without any disruptions of any kind. This enables businesses to focus on their work and innovation.

6.      An ITIL practitioner helps provide better customer experience and satisfaction:-

With all the benefits mentioned above, an ITIL practitioner helps ITSM to provide an improved customer experience and thereby, achieve higher customer satisfaction. Aligning business goals with IT goals, mitigating risks and better management of problems and fast resolution, creating an agile business environment, cutting down costs – all these ultimately lead to customers who are satisfied with your service delivery.

Future of ITSM:-

It is safe to say that with increasing IT demands, IT service management will also be more in demand,meaning that to keep up, Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) will be required more than ever. Therefore, both ITSM and ITIL have a great future ahead of them.

This will, hopefully, further result in the IT team being perceived as an integral and essential part of any business strategy, rather than an external, separate entity, with little to no interest in business objectives and plans.