ITIL, or Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is a framework that allows you to select, plan, maintain, and deliver IT services in a business. This framework comprises five core publications, all of which are regularly reviewed and updated with advancements in technology. These core concepts include:
- Service strategy – This describes the business goals and client requirements
- Service design – It contains IT policies and architecture outlines
- Service transition – This outlines the change management practices
- Service operation – Here you can find ways to manage IT practices on daily, monthly, and quarterly basis
- Continual service improvement – It includes how to introduce IT updates
ITIL service management has a set of guidelines that businesses can follow to optimize their service quality and create value for customers. ITIL service management is essential for organizations since it contains some of the most effective techniques for providing end-users with optimal customer experiences. To launch and maintain ITIL practices in an organization, a trained IT professional is needed. Taking the training in ITIL 4 Foundation certification can help IT professionals manage the infrastructure library in an organization. Top companies like Microsoft, IBM and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) use ITIL practices regularly, which means the certification can open advanced job opportunities for you.
ITIL best practices
While knowledge and experience can go a long way in helping professionals navigate the IT service structure. Further, having an idea of the best practices commonly used by experienced professionals can make the learning curve easier.
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Streamline Service Desk
In an ITIL structure, tickets are used for managing the flow of incidents. Your help desk can track ticketing functions which help the team reserve resources for other complex operations. Using this feature, the tickets are automatically routed and assigned to the appropriate help team, making the workflow quick and efficient. This process is among the most important in an IT service infrastructure since it allows for creating and assigning tickets easily.
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Integrate with ITIL tools
ITIL offers a variety of tools that help make your service tasks easier and efficient. So, make sure that your team integrates all the ITIL tools to the ITIL-based software. This also makes it easier to identify and address issues and communicate between various ITIL tools. These tools allow you to import data from one platform and export it to another platform, making the maximum use of IT assets.
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Troubleshoot Using Knowledge Base
ITIL has a built-in knowledge base that makes it easier to search and track saved requests. The FAQs in the knowledge base can support users and organizations to efficiently manage their IT services.
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Analyze Current Process Maturity
When implementing ITIL, make sure to analyze the process maturity to identify the areas that need improvement. To utilize ITIL to its full capacity, businesses need to stay updated with the process changes in the infrastructure. Adopting necessary ITIL processes can help achieve desired, realistic outcomes for IT services.
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Manage Change
Any changes in the IT infrastructure should be made in a formal change environment since changes can lead to outages and rework. If a change is poorly managed, it can also cause more downtime than required, which affects the business production and budget. Consult with a change advisory board to discuss high-risk changes before executing them. Planned work needs to be assessed through an end-to-end service perspective.
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Track Software Licenses
Software asset management is an important part of an organization’s capability, which impacts its legal, financial, and its reputation. This management allows an organization to understand the reason behind the installation of a software. As a starting point, focus on the biggest risk area, such as Microsoft or Adobe software and gradually expand the project scope over time.
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Implement CMDB
CMDB, or Configuration Management Database, is crucial when it comes to solving incidents, identifying problems, and assess the impact of change. Try to expand the CMDB to every area of your organization instead of limiting it to a single department. This allows you to link incidents to related services more easily. Further, you can add service incidents as you come across changes or incidents.
Conclusion
ITIL focuses more on the application of knowledge in the right way. For beginners in the field, the above best practices can go a long way in helping to navigate the initial learning curve. The ITIL 4 foundation training can further help apply your IT knowledge and skills in the right way.
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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