Guidelines for ITIL Implementation : A Framework for IT Service Management

Abstract: Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is the most popular andthe influential framework for IT Service Management (ITSM). It is used for ITgovernance, management and control of IT services. It comprises of definedand best practices, developed in 1980’s by British Government Central ComputerTelecommunication Agency. The purpose of this thesis is to present theguidelines to implement ITIL. Available literature on ITIL discusses the importanceof ITIL, its benefits, facilitating and challenging factors associatedwith implementation. But the steps to implement ITIL have so far not beendiscussed. We take the opportunity to explore empirical data from industry andliterature to get to know different strategies and approaches used by IT professionalsfor implementing the ITIL framework.To fulfil the purpose, we stated three research questions: “What are facilitatingfactors for the ITIL Implementation?”, “What are the challenging factors forthe ITIL Implementation?”, and “Based on facilitating factors and barriers,what are the guidelines for a successful ITIL implementation?”. Literature wasreviewed to extract required factors and senior IT professionals from two organisationswere interviewed to get to know what factors had been facilitators and barriers for them. The extracted factors were compiled, grouped and analysedto develop implementation steps. The result of this thesis is a framework developed implementation steps, which any organisation can use as guidelineto adapt ITIL framework. These steps consist of four phases highlighting significantfactors needed for the successful implementation. Among the highlighted factors were top management support, ITIL skills of implementer, resistanceto change, financial support, staff training, process mapping, documentation,project management and governance are the most important factors which influence the implementation process.