Abstract:

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) was developed as a set of best practice guidelines, procedures and processes aimed at improving IS&T service management within an organization. This paper aims to determine whether organizations that implement ITIL achieve the desired improvements in IS&T service management. The IT popular press, ITIL related web sites and industry white papers form the basis for this investigation. After defining the ITIL framework, the factors driving organizations to adopt ITIL, and the benefits to be gained and the challenges faced when implementing ITIL are presented. Five examples of ITIL initiatives are also detailed. The paper concludes by drawing on these areas to support the premise that ITIL does have the desired effect for those IS&T departments that take the time to implement this best practice framework and suggests areas for future research.