A few years ago, only a select group of people had access to ITIL. With digital globalization, it’s now hard to find a magazine, channel or IT community that doesn’t address this topic.
Although the concept has been widely disseminated in recent years, many IT professionals still do not understand its importance.
Therefore, if this is your case, we strongly recommend that you read this article to understand 5 fundamental points that you should know about ITIL.
1- The meaning of ITIL is Information Technology Infrastructure Library
In the programming world, a library means a set of programming codes. However, when it comes to ITIL, library has its literal sense, which we all know: the collection of books.
The ITIL library is composed of many books that eventually contain the best practices for managing IT processes.
Its adoption by companies means:
- Optimization of IT processes;
- Cost reduction and savings for companies;
- Alignment with the entire team.
2- ITIL and project management are two different things
It is important to understand that ITIL is not something focused on production. Usually, when we think of practices focused on projects, we quickly associate it with the manufacturing of products – or something like that.
However, ITIL focuses on providing services for IT to companies. The goal is to organize management processes for companies.
Therefore, when we talk about ITIL, don’t think so much about the operational!
3- PMP x ITIL
Both ITIL and PMP are highly valued specializations in the market, but there are differences between the two.
Before thinking about which path to follow, it is important to consider some things:
- Have you already defined your professional career objectives?
- Do you already know in which area you want to work?
- How important is the financial aspect to you?
As we have said before, ITIL has high recognition from organizations whose focus is to provide services taking into account the IT infrastructure base. Therefore, having an ITIL certification is of no use to a software producer.
On the other hand, the PMP certification would be more interesting in this case. Although PMP and ITIL certifications are highly valued, each one serves different segments.
Therefore, if your focus is to manage project development, PMP is the solution. If you want to optimize IT service management, ITIL is the best option for you!
4- ITIL and COBIT are not the same thing, but they do not compete
Another confusion made by some IT professionals refers to the differences between ITIL and COBIT.
ITIL is a set of recommendations and best practices that can be implemented in the IT sector, focusing on process optimization and organization.
COBIT, on the other hand, is a framework. That is, a set of programming codes capable of creating generic functionalities.
Therefore, COBIT and ITIL are two different things, but they do not compete. On the contrary, they are complementary.
We can see it this way: while COBIT is responsible for helping to create software that contributes to the organization of the IT sector, ITIL is composed of recommended practices for this organization.
More precisely, they serve as a foundation for building a new conception of organization for IT systems.
5- ITIL is not a fad
ITIL is still seen by many people, including IT professionals, as a fad.
We cannot deny that in recent years it has gained much more prominence for companies. Many corporations that have never heard of it before now know what it means and its importance. But that doesn’t mean it’s a fad.
These practices began to emerge in the 1990s, when access to the internet and technology was still very limited and, in a way, elitist for a small part of companies.
Therefore, if we start from the premise that everything that is fad is fleeting, ITIL definitely does not fit that term.
After all, over the past few decades, the results presented by companies that have adopted these practices have been extremely solid and efficient for IT management.
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