What are the differences between ITIL V2 and ITIL V3? What has changed?
ILX Group have put together a set of ITIL V3 information resources to guide you through the differences between ITIL V2 and ITIL V3 and the new ITIL qualification path.
Amongst the key changes you’ll see in ITIL V3 is a wholesale shift towards a service-driven lifecycle approach and guidance which aims to be more prescriptive.
Where ITIL V2 outlined what should be done to improve processes, ITIL V3 explains clearly how you should go about doing it.
Another key ITIL V3 addition is demonstrating return on investment to the business. This was one of the most frequent requests from the industry consultations, carried out as part of the version three project.
Structural Changes
ITIL V3 includes some significant structural changes.
The library now consists of five volumes, these are:
- Service Strategy
- Service Design
- Service Transition
- Service Operation
- And Continual Service Improvement
The foundation level exam syllabus has been expanded to include content from all five volumes.
The new library also includes greater detail on the key roles, and outlines the responsibilities attached to each, along with clear focus on the importance of communication throughout the lifecycle.
Greater focus on the use of process models and the identification of the constituent parts is all new to version three.
Finally Continual Service Improvement or CSI, explains the use of process improvement models and identifies metrics to support improvements.
4 ITIL V2-V3 High Level Evolutions
There are four high-level evolutions identified between ITIL V2 and ITIL V3:
Alignment > Integration
For many years, organisations have been discussing how to align business objectives with those of IT.
These discussions assumed that while the business and IT shared the same corporate brand, they were somehow two separate and very distinct functions.
The line between business processes and supporting technology has faded to a point where there is no longer a true ability to separate them.
Consider banking as an example, the financial management business processes and their supporting technologies are now so inter-dependent that they have become inseparable.
As a result of this growing realisation, the term alignment is being replaced with the concept of integration.
Change Value Management > Value Service Desk Integration
When reading ITIL version two guidance, you get the impression that the relationship between business and IT is primarily about a business customer being supported by a single internal IT service provider in other words Value Chain Management.
Life is never quite that simple, and little acknowledgement or guidance is provided about what happens in day-to-day reality.
The service provision relationship between business and IT is much more complex today than the concept of a single provider meeting all business needs.
We need to consider that yes, there are internal IT functions, but some are found within a business unit structure, where others are providing a shared service model to multiple business units.
Add to this the option of using different external outsourcing options or leveraging software as a service – or SaaS model, and you end up with, what ITIL 3 refers to as, an Integrated Value Service Network.
Linear Service Catalogues > Dynamic Service Portfolios
While ITIL has always been referred to as an IT Service Management Framework, the primary focus until now, has been on the ten Service Support and Delivery processes. In previous versions of ITIL, the concept of a "service" has almost been an afterthought or at least something you would get to later.
Consider that in ITIL version 2 the process of Service Level Management has, as one of its many deliverables, a Service Catalogue which can be summarised as a brochure of IT Services. Where IT publishes the services it provides with their default characteristics and attributes or Linear Service Catalogue.
In contrast to this, a Dynamic Service Portfolio can be interpreted as the product of a strategic process, where service strategy and design conceive and create services that are built and transitioned into the production environment based on business value.
From this point, an actionable service catalogue represents the published services, and is the starting point for service operations and ongoing business engagement.
Collection of Integrated Processes > Service Management Lifecycle
Based on publicly available information, we know the ITIL V3 core books are structured around a Service Lifecycle.
This new structure organises the processes we recognise from ITIL version 2 with additional content. While processes are important, they are secondary and only exist to plan for, deliver and support services.
This moves the importance and profile of the Service Catalogue from being an accessory of the Service Level Management process to being the cornerstone of IT Service Management.
As organisations evolve from a technology focus to a service orientation focus, these core changes to ITIL provide the context and ability to support this emerging reality.
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