What is ITIL?
ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a framework for IT service management (ITSM) that helps organisations design, deliver, manage and improve IT services.
ITIL describes best practices to align IT services with the needs of the business — in a structured, scalable and customer-focused way.
ITIL is used in IT environments worldwide, and increasingly in OT contexts to support industrial systems and processes.
🎯 Purpose of ITIL
- Professionalising IT service delivery
- Continuously improving processes and service quality
- Bringing incidents, changes and capacity under control
- Providing transparency, accountability and standardisation
- Supporting compliance with standards such as ISO 20000 and ISO 27001
🧱 ITIL core concepts
| Concept | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Service | The means by which value is delivered to a customer |
| Value | What a service delivers to the user or organisation |
| Process | Structured activities to achieve a goal |
| Practice | A combination of processes, people and tools within a domain |
| Continual Improvement | Cyclical improvement based on measurement and feedback |
🔄 Key ITIL practices
| Practice | Description |
|---|---|
| Incident Management | Restoring disruptions as quickly as possible |
| Problem Management | Investigating and resolving underlying causes |
| Change Enablement | Managing changes to systems |
| Service Request Management | Handling standard queries or requests |
| Asset Management | Visibility of hardware, software and configuration items |
| Configuration Management (CMDB) | Managing relationships between systems |
| Monitoring and Event Management | Detecting outages and anomalies |
📐 ITIL in IT and OT
In OT environments (e.g. manufacturing, energy, infrastructure):
- ITIL supports standardised management of systems such as SCADA, PLC and HMI
- Incidents and changes can be handled safely and repeatably
- CMDBs and Asset Management also apply to OT assets
- ITIL aligns with ISO 27001, IEC 62443 and NIS2 requirements
🏗️ ITIL 4 vs. earlier versions
| Version | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| ITIL v3 | Process-oriented, hierarchical, IT-focused |
| ITIL 4 | More flexible, includes Agile, DevOps, Lean, and value-focused |
ITIL 4 introduces:
- The Service Value System (SVS)
- 4 dimensions of service management
- 34 practices instead of fixed processes
- Greater focus on end-to-end collaboration and continuous value creation
✅ Benefits of ITIL
- Better control and standardisation of IT/OT services
- Faster incident handling and fewer recurring issues
- Clear roles, responsibilities and processes
- Support for audits and certifications
- Flexibly applicable, including in hybrid or industrial environments
📌 In summary
ITIL is a globally recognised framework for making IT and OT service delivery structured, predictable and customer-focused — built on continuous improvement.