Is it real? Thoughts on the difference between ITIL v2 and v3...

I am sure a lot of consultants (me included) are in the race to declare the world's first v3 implementation.

Now that the dust has settled down and the v3 basics are known, what exactly is the difference between an ITIL v2 vs an ITIL v3 implementation?

ITIL implementations all over the world are based on ITIL v2 which primarily means that there have to be 10 processes, a CMDB and a service desk, a service catalog, and models for prioritization, categorisation and escalation. So, if someone is trying to do an ITIL v3 implementation, then the only difference is that there will be 23 to 28 processes and other bits and pieces like four functions instead of the solitary one in v2. The old service catalog is likely to be re-cast as a Service Portfolio with the active services listed under a Service Catalog and lo! we have a v3 implementation.

I think it would be apt to lable such efforts "extended v2 implementations" or to distort a popular phrase, v2 wine in a v3 bottle!

So, what does an ITIL v3 implementation look like?

Is it merely a matter of including the additional processes and generating evidence about the so called v3 trappings?

Can we convert an ITIL v2 setup to v3 by reconfiguring the existing processes to complete the v3 list?

Fundamentally, is the effort for v3 sufficiently capturable in "more process work" or is there something more to it?

Where should one look for evidence of an ITIL v3 Implementation?

As the world moves on to v3, this v2 hangover will persist for quite some time. Till consultants and client managers all over the world realize that the essential difference between v2 and v3 is not in the structure of the implementation, but in the practices (functioning) of the PEOPLE in the client organisation.

I think ITIL v3 is all about installing practices which ensure that the service lifecycle is managed properly in all its distinct phases with a decisive approach taken by the stakeholders. The decisiveness would come from a heightened understanding of the generic service lifecycle. Vitally, having a shared ability to communicate meaningfully about where each service is in its own lifecycle.

v3 differs from some significant aspects which I will take here one by one:

Integrated Service Design

SDP: The service design package template, when stabilized in an organisation will help them to design services in an integrated fashion. v3 propounds 5 major areas of service design - mostly different teams work on these areas.

Currently, any service is designed by people from one or more of these teams, therefore, there is a strong bias on that area - viz. Technology and architectural design. However, this doesn't obviate the need for designing other items. Therefore, the organisation 'discovers' the design problems in the other areas. e.g. for offering a wi-fi service, we need to design the billing processes along with the technology and architecture design. If we forget to design the billing process earlier, we will sooner or later discover that and end up designing or assembling the service somehow. This discover and resolve approach to service design takes more time and energies. It also suffers from lack of an integrated service design approach thereby leading to additional effort required to iron out inconsistencies amongst the various design elements.

The service design package (SDP) will ensure that all the five areas of design are adressed simultaneously giving us the benefits of an integrated design approach.

More in the second part. Please feel free to comment on this one, though

Cheers!

Atul Kherde

Please see my earlier blog to understand this scheme... this new nomenculature will simplify the model for newbies. I think this will enhance the acceptability of the certification model.

AtulKherde's version of ITIL qualifications scheme...

One of the most complex things in the ITIL world today is the qualifications scheme. Especially for every new-comer, finding his / her place on the map and setting future aspirations becomes an arduous task.

The newbie into ITIL is presented with a very complex picture of ‘where exactly’ they are going to land by ‘doing what’. I think one of the main reasons is the names which are practically meaningless to anyone who has just entered ITIL premises. So, I propose a simplified nomenculature for the same ITIL triangle. I think it completely conveys the progression without bogging them down with names which don't really make sense to them when they are just learning about ITIL.

ITIL Advanced Diploma = ITIL Diamond Course
ITIL Diploma = ITIL Gold (So, I get an ITIL Gold Pin. Ah!)
ITIL Managing Through the Lifecycle (Course leading to ITIL Gold)
ITIL Lifecycle Modules = ITIL Silvers (People will say, “Got my first silver”, “second silver”, etc.)
ITIL Capability Modules = ITIL Palladiums (Took the First PLDM, etc.)
ITIL V3 Foundation = ITIL Bronze (This is where everyone starts, unless they have…)
ITIL V2 Foundation = ITIL Green Badge (already known)
ITIL V2 Practitioner = ITIL Blue Badge (already known)
ITIL V2 Manager's = Red Badge (already known)
ITIL V3 Manager's Bridge = Red -> Gold Course
It is obvious that this model will be easier to explain and understand due to
1. the natural progression of Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond and
2. the incorporation of Green, Blue and Red badges already well-known over the world into the scheme.

Hereafter, two things can happen:
1. It the powers that be find this scheme simple enough, they might incorporate it into one of the coming versions
2. More likely, if the people like it, this will become a word-of-mouth and thus become a De-Facto Standard, something which ITIL already is..!

Thought I will share this in the open and see how people react to this.

Thanks and regards,
Atul Kherde ¨ Practice Head (ITSM) ITIL/ITSM Training and ISO 20 000 Consultancy
Vyom Labs Pvt. Ltd. Consulting Outsourcing Training BMC Remedy BSM ITIL
An ISO 20000 certified company( (91) 20 6632 1000, Extn. 1037 * atul@vyomlabs.com

w w w . v y o m l a b s . c o m

What do we blog for...? What drives bloggers...? For bloggers who do it very frequently, might be a good idea to think what drives us.
Now this is my first posting on a formal "blog" but I have been in the writing (writhing as Lewis Carol's Gryphon would say) since quite some time. BTW anyone who knows about Gryphon, gets a chocolate from me on email..!
Child development shrinks say that when children talk to themselves, parents should not chide them to shut-up but actually talk to them (not 'down on' them), as the child is refining his control over a new cognate object - (C.O. means something which our cognition - 'mind' in simple words - can manipulate like an object). So, a child talking to itself is a good sign of the child's strong desire to learn the language and to learn to communicate. The poor child has a lot of emotions / feelings in its mind, but does not know how to express them correctly. Also, there is no-one with whom to share these feelings, so the child talks to itself (or dolls if they are available). Much like when someone who has recently learnt to ride a bicycle. They like the fact that they are riding so much, that they don't care where they are going..!

Well, to me, blogging seems very very similar to children talking to themselves! i.e. we bloggers think about great profound things from flea's fleas to saving the world from rampant capitalism to greenhouse gases. But since others too are busy thinking about their own profundities, nobody around is willing to listen. Hence, a blog seems the ideal way to tell the world what we think of it anyway, regardless of whether the world reads us or not.
See how great sounding the title of this blog is and as I was writing this blog, someone came to me and whispered in my ear.."are you getting that piece completed today or not?"

Wowwww.. seems I have done it..!

More to come with abandon - since nobody is likely to read it anyway... what the hell!

Cheers!