Information Technology and Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

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Service Strategy

The first phase of ITIL is considered as being the core of the lifecycle. It provides guidelines to both service providers and customers to operate in long term by setting out a service strategy with clear understanding of what and to whom services should be offered, how these services should be developed, and what is the existing competition in the market. Furthermore, it describes how value should be differentiated, how the value is perceived by customers and stakeholders, how the value is achieved by control over financial management, how available resources should be allocated for services, and how the service performance will be measured (ITIL Overview, 2015).
Service providers may exist within an organisation and deliver services to specific business units or may operate as an external service provider and serve multiple businesses outside their own organisation boundaries.

Service Design

The Service Design phase ensures that the newly designed or changed services are in accordance to business needs. This phase transforms the requirement from service strategy t design to meet the business objectives. Main activities of this phase are planning and coordination of design activities, service management information system, architecture, technology, processes, information and metrics, production of service design packages (SDP), interfaces management, and improvement of service design processes.
This phase starts with the set of business requirements and ends with service solution design. Handover at the end of this phase is the Service Design Package to the succeeding phase, i.e. the transition phase (ITIL Overview, 2015).

Service Transition

The phase of Service Transition ensures that new, changed or retired services are in accordance to business needs as stated in the Service Strategy and Service Design phases of the lifecycle. Main activities performed during this phase include planning and managing changes and releases, managing risks, transferring knowledge, setting expectations and making sure that business value is delivered. To deliver as expected in this phase requires clear understanding of potential customer business value, identification of all involved stakeholders (supplier, customer and third party) and implementation and adaption of service design and making required modifications in the design if needed during the transition (ITIL Overview, 2015).

Service Operation

The phase of Service Operation is responsible for delivering agreed services to users and customers, and to support delivery services by managing installed applications, technology and infrastructure. During this phase the actual value is delivered to the customers, as the service design decides the service to be delivered, service transition brings service to production, whereas service operation staff ensures that service value is delivered. Service Operation is the phase where user interaction occurs with IT staff, as this phase has IT functions defined in it, such as service desk (helpdesk), technical management, application management and, most importantly, IT operations management. All these functions support other phases of the service life cycle (ITIL Overview, 2015).

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Continual Service Improvement

This phase maintains value for the customers through continuous evaluation and improvement of quality of services throughout the ITSM lifecycle and all underlying processes. Principles, methods and practices from quality, management, change management and capability improvements are applied to improve each step in the service life cycle and also for current services, technology and related processes. Continual service improvement is not a new concept, as many organisations use this approach when something failed and impact their business negatively. However, to be successful it should be part of the overall organisational culture and business routines. It is an approach where the organisation identifies its current position, the value it is delivering, its long term goals and objectives and identify existing gaps in services (ITIL Overview, 2015

Lifecycle Processes

Each phase of the ITIL life cycle described above defines key set of processes and functions (Service Operation). Below, table 3.1present the ITIL lifecycle phases and their defined key processes and functions (ITIL Overview, 2015).

1 Introduction .
1.1 Background
1.2 Problem Discussion
1.3 Purpos
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Delimitations
1.6 Definitions
2 Methodology
2.1 Methodology Philosophy
2.2 Research Approach
2.3 Data collection
2.4 Data analysis
2.5 Research Credibility
2.6 Literature Review
3 Frame of Reference .
3.1 IT Governance.
3.2 IT Service Management (ITSM)
3.3 Information Technology and Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
4 Findings .
4.1 Literature review
4.2 Interviews
4.3 Survey Questionnaire
5 Analysis
5.1 Step 1: Grouping of Factors
5.2 Step 2: Analysis of factors
5.3 Step 3: Guideline for ITIL Implementation
6 Conclusion