Overview of the ITIL 2 library

The IT Infrastructure Library originated as a collection of books each covering a specific practice within IT Service Management. After the initial publication, the number of books quickly grew within ITIL v1 to over 30 volumes. In order to make ITIL more accessible (and affordable) to those wishing to explore it, one of the aims of ITIL v2 was to consolidate the publications into logical 'sets' that grouped related process guidelines into the different aspects of IT management, applications and services.

While the Service Management sets (Service Support and Service Delivery) are by far the most widely used, circulated and understood of ITIL publications, ITIL provides a more comprehensive set of practices as a whole. Proponents believe that using the broader library provides a comprehensive set of guidance to link the technical implementation, operations guidelines and requirements with the strategic management, operations management and financial management of a modern business.

The eight ITIL version 2 books and their disciplines are:

The IT Service Management sets

1. Service Delivery
2. Service Support

Other operational guidance

3. ICT Infrastructure Management
4. Security Management
5. The Business Perspective
6. Application Management
7. Software Asset Management

To assist with the implementation of ITIL practices a further book was published providing guidance on implementation (mainly of Service Management):

8. Planning to Implement Service Management

And this has more recently been supplemented with guidelines for smaller IT units, not included in the original eight publications:

9. ITIL Small-Scale Implementation


ITIL is built around a process-model based view of controlling and managing operations often credited to W. Edwards Deming[citation needed]. The ITIL recommendations were developed in the 1980s by the UK Government's CCTA in response to the growing dependence on IT and a recognition that without standard practices, government agencies and private sector contracts were independently creating their own IT management practices and duplicating effort within their Information and Communications Technology (ICT) projects resulting in common mistakes and increased costs.[citation needed] In April 2001 the CCTA was merged into the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), an office of the UK Treasury.[8]

One of the primary benefits claimed by proponents of ITIL within the IT community is its provision of common vocabulary, consisting of a glossary of tightly defined and widely agreed terms. A new and enhanced glossary has been developed as a key deliverable of the ITIL v3 (also known as the ITIL Refresh Project).

The ITIL Toolkit

The much acclaimed ITIL Toolkit is essentially designed to help guide you through the ITIL/ITSM minefield. It contains a series of components and resources to help simplify, explain and manage ITIL and the ITIL process.

It comprises a series of discrete resources:

* An ITIL Guide
This is a detailed and comprehensive introduction to ITIL, targetted at both beginners and seasoned practitioners.

* An ITIL Management Presentation
This is a full presentation on ITIL and service management. It explains how, what and why through a series of PowerPoint foils with detailed notes.

* The ITIL Fact Sheets
This is a unique reference kit comprising a series of 12 ITIL (2 page) fact sheets. These cover each of the main ITIL disciplines. The Factsheets are described here as a separate offering if preferred.

* An ITIL Compliance Assessment Kit
This is a comprehensive Excel based questionnaire set, designed to help assess the compliance position with ITIL and identify which areas are in need of some attention with respect to best practice

* ITIL Presentation Template
These items are designed to help you interpretation compliance assessment scoring from above, and to create a high quality presentation from the results.

* ITSM Reference Guides
These are intended to introduce a range of other ITSM related frameworks and approaches.

* ITIL Version 3 Bridging Kit
These documents explain the differences between the old version (v2) and the current.


THE ITIL TOOLKIT
Essentially, this is a substantial and co-ordinated kit, covering a host of basic requirements. It is targetted at both the beginner and those who are already seriously implementing ITIL within their management regime. For the former it is an excellent tool to 'get you going' with ITIL. For the latter, it provides a number of extremely useful items and reference materials to give practical assistance in a number of areas.


MORE INFORMATION
The ITIL Toolkit is actually documented on its own dedicated site: The ITIL Toolkit. On here you will find a more complete description, along with a series of sample snapshots from each of the components.


NEW - PURCHASE ONLINE
The whole kit can now be purchased online for only: 199 USD and downloaded straight to your PC. It is our recommended support tool for ITIL.