What ITIL 4 means for you and your team

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) ― the most commonly used ITSM framework ― is experiencing its biggest update in over a decade. Crowd-sourced by over 2,200 IT professionals across roles and industries, the ITIL 4 release represents a major paradigm shift for IT teams. What’s new is that ITIL 4 moves from the overly-prescriptive frameworks associated with the old ways of working to a more flexible and adaptive approach.

While IT teams used to operate with heavy and burdensome requirements, ITIL 4 offers more practical guidance that integrates Lean, Agile, and DevOps concepts. Think best practices like continual improvement, value streams, and visual boards. Shifting from step-by-step processes to more holistic practices, ITIL 4 embraces an integrated approach to managing work.

In addition to the guidance laid out by the ITIL 4 Foundation, here are three helpful principles to enable you and your team to move from cost center to revenue driver, and helping you become a tech leader in the process.

Tip #1: We recommend a familiar concept from lean methodology-the value stream. By visualizing the end-to-end process, your team can identify wasteful steps, bottlenecks, and ways to improve. It can be as easy as using a stack of Post-its and a conference wall.

Tip #2: Building an open and collaborative culture can seem daunting. Based Atlassian’s experience working with thousands of high-velocity teams, they created the Atlassian Team Playbook. Start with a Health Monitor, which provides a baseline for team health, allows you to track progress, and builds trust among team members.

Tip #3: Continual improvement is one major component in ITIL 4. Instead of a single “big bang” release, teams work iteratively by breaking work into smaller, two-to-four week cycles. Implement faster feedback loops by learning, adjusting, and building capabilities for later phases.

Want to know more? Watch this webinar to learn:

• What’s new in ITIL 4―and why it matters.
• The top practices used by high-velocity service teams including:
  • Continual improvement with retrospectives
  • Customer-centric service and request management
  • Adaptive incident management with post-incident reviews
  • Streamlined change control with automation, and more! 
• Tips and resources to bring agility and collaboration into ITSM.