Since 1989, the OGC has issued a series of books on ITIL. Each of the books covers a topic of IT service management.

The core ITIL process have basically stayed the same since v1, however the way they are put together has evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of the organization.

Since v3 was introduced in 2007, many IT service managers have wondered about the key differences between v2 and v3.

For one thing, the library has been consolidated to five new books, each dealing with a phase of the service lifecycle. In ITIL v3, the concept of IT service delivery has been expanded from the day-to-day operations of those services to the following five phases of the service lifecycle:

• Service Strategy: Developing and implementing service management as a business strategy.

• Service Design: Designing the right IT services to support the business strategy.

• Service Transition: Transitioning the new system to production.

• Service Operation: Developing effective services to support operations.

• Continual Service Improvement: Continuing to improve IT services.

For another, while v2 is organized around process, v3 is centered around service and helping IT provide value to the business. Version 3 calls on IT to develop, design and expand IT services based on what’s best for the business. Version 3 is more about making IT a business partner, rather than just a department that provides the technology to support the business. One benefit of v3 is that it closes the gap between the IT organization and the business. In v3, the success of the business depends on its relationship with IT.

Although v2 talked about using IT to save money, it focused on how much the IT services cost, rather than the return on investment realized by integrating IT services with the business needs.

Version 2 also focused on the best practices for incident management, change management, capacity management and configuration management to help companies improve and standardize their data center operations. But while v2 told organizations what to do, it really didn’t explain how to do it. And for some, that just wasn’t good enough.

Version 3, however, provides more specifics on how to reach the goals advocated in v2, including offering examples of various business cases. What v3 does is integrate the different ITIL components much better than v2, making them all equally important.

Version 3 is also less complicated and more easy to understand than v2. Additionally, organizations can customize it to meet their specific business needs. And because v3 provides more structure than v2, organizations can incorporate other best practices and standards like Six Sigma.

ITIL v3, therefore, is a change in mindset from v2. It provides the framework for IT to work more closely with the business so it can design and develop the appropriate services to move the business forward efficiently and effectively. Version 3 is about integrating IT services with the business for the good of the business.

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