Use Cases: ITIL Implementation using
ITIL Process Templates

 

Do you wish to understand what ITIL is all about? Would you like to implement ITIL while being easy on your IT budget? Or are you looking for a simple, straightforward tool to manage your ITIL processes?

In this case, our ITIL process templates are exactly what you need.

 

At the outset: Understanding ITIL

"We’ve read the ITIL books. Such a huge amount of details! But – what is the real point of ITIL?"

"We are worried about our department interfaces – it’s not running smoothly. We need to understand how the ITIL processes interact with each other."

"I want to introduce ITIL and I need to bring my staff on board. I would like to explain to them what I aim to achieve with ITIL and where their places will be in the restructured IT organization."

 

Seeing the big picture

The ITIL books are thick and anything but easy literature – it takes an effort to filter and evaluate such a huge amount of information.

An ITIL reference model (‘ITIL process templates’) relieves you of this effort. Due to the graphic representation of the ITIL contents, you will intuitively understand how ITIL works.

Our ITIL Process Map V3 is such a collection of ITIL templates.

It is very clearly structured and comprises a total of 150 process diagrams arranged in four levels of detail, from an overall survey of the ITIL V3 Service Lifecycle down to a detailed representation of the process flows.

This means that if you need to know more about a specific ITIL process, you just open the next level of detail with a mouse click. At the most detailed level, the ITIL process templates comprise 104 process flows, which will show you exactly what is supposed to be done by whom.

[top]

Understanding interrelationships with ITIL process templates

Often, recurring complaints by customers are used as an occasion to tackle ITIL. It takes too long, for example, before the customer obtains support or he is not satisfied with the result of an IT service.

ITIL gets to the bottom of a frequent cause of such problems recommending that the interfaces between the individual IT processes should be thoroughly determined.

Our ITIL process templates illustrate what you have to consider when determining interfaces.

The first three levels of detail of the ITIL templates show the information that flows between the individual ITIL processes – which makes it easy to understand the interaction of these processes.

Availability of such information for the subsequent processes is absolutely decisive to ensure the smooth running of the IT processes.

This is why the ITIL Process Map V3 includes 84 checklists (document templates), which describe in detail how the information (the so-called process outputs) should look like. An example: The checklist “Service Portfolio” explains what the service provider should define for each service (service type, desired outcome from the customer’s point of view, contract details etc.) and it lists the items the service portfolio shall include.

[top]

Bringing all staff on board

A key factor in the implementation of ITIL is your staff. In fact it depends on them if, in the long run, ITIL has a future in your IT organization. For this reason it is absolutely necessary, especially at the beginning of the ITIL project, that you give each staff member the chance to understand

The ITIL process templates will put you in a position to give an answer to your staff’s questions and to include them closely in your ITIL project:

The top levels of the ITIL templates explain which inputs staff members receive from their colleagues. It also shows the results (“outputs“) they have to deliver so that their colleagues who are responsible for the subsequent processes are provided with all the information they require.

At the most detailed level of the ITIL process templates, work flows illustrate the activities which must be completed so as to obtain the desired result.

Each activity within the work flow is assigned to an ITIL role. This means that it is always clearly defined who is responsible for an activity.

You can use these easily understandable process diagrams to explain to each IT staff member what his/her responsibilities and authorities are within an ITIL-compliant organization.

The ITIL Process Map V3 is available for various applications such as Visio, iGrafx and ARIS. These platforms are perfectly suited to disseminate the ITIL knowledge throughout your organization, e.g. by publishing the ITIL process templates on your intranet.

[top]

Initiative pays

"We need to introduce ITIL, but we cannot afford to spend much money on external consultants and mostly have to make do with our internal resources. We need a cost-efficient alternative to get the required ITIL knowledge on board."

 

Implementing ITIL with internal resources

Nowadays, IT organisations have to manage with rather tight budgets and must rely on their internal resources when implementing ITIL. So it’s time for an alternative to time-consuming staff training and full-blown ITIL consulting packages.

If you also seek to avoid paying a consultant to simply teach you the ITIL basics, then our ITIL process templates can offer you an alternative route.

The ITIL templates will enable you to start your ITIL project on your own. They will show you and your team how ITIL works and how the different elements interact. External advice from consulting companies needs to be purchased only if and when required, e.g. for certain special issues arising at a later point of time during the ITIL implementation process.

[top]

Saving time and money in the ITIL implementation project

"We don’t want to reinvent the wheel: We are looking for ITIL process templates which we can tailor to our own needs."

"We need an example for well-designed ITIL processes which make process documentation easy and can be maintained without any problem in the long run."

 

No need to reinvent the wheel

Using the ITIL process templates will allow you to considerably reduce the amount of work required:

Inevitably, you will need to design and document implementable ITIL processes as part of your ITIL project. Instead of starting from scratch you can adjust professionally edited reference models (“ITIL templates”) to your own requirements:

The ITIL Process Map V3 includes 150 ready-to-use and fully editable ITIL reference processes in common formats such us Visio, iGrafx and ARIS as well as 84 checklists in MS Word.

This will not only avoid costs but also contribute to the long-term success of your ITIL initiative:

Reorganisation projects (such as an ITIL implementation) tend to fail if they are propelled mainly by external advisors. Ultimately, success can only be secured if all internal staff are closely involved and take the project into their own hands.

[top]

How to implement ITIL

"We want to implement ITIL and we need some kind of guidance. We need to know which steps are required for the ITIL implementation."

 

A guideline for your ITIL implementation

With your decision to implement ITIL you are faced with two difficult tasks:

With these two objectives in mind it becomes obvious that clearly defined and transparent processes are the single most improtant guideline for your ITIL initiative.

Our ITIL process templates help you in this respect:

The ITIL Process Map V3 with its ITIL reference processes and checklists will guide you through the planning and implementation stages of your ITIL project – and in the long run, the ITIL templates represent a sound basis for the continual improvement of your Service Management Processes.

[top]

Project guide "ITIL implementation in 10 steps"

ITIL Implementation Using Process Templates

ITIL Implementation Using Process Templates10-step ITIL project course [.PDF]

The ITIL Process Map V3 includes the "Implementation Guide in 10 Steps", which gives detailed instructions on how to set up and carry out ITIL implementation projects based on ITIL process templates:

ITIL is introduced in stages – which is the procedure preferred by many organisations. At the same time, Process Management principles take root step-by-step within the IT organisation.

When implementing ITIL step-by-step, special attention must be paid to the process interfaces – since each newly introduced process needs specific inputs and generates additional outputs. The ITIL Process Map V3 will help you keep control of the ITIL interfaces as all inputs and outputs are, at all levels of detail, clearly arranged and illustrated.

Our complete ITIL implementation guide is available free of charge in our ITIL Wiki.

[top]

Cut the red tape: ITIL process management without bureaucracy

"Our ITIL process documentation shall be applicable."

"ITIL processes require maintenance. For this purpose, we would like to use our process management tools more effectively."

 

Managing ITIL processes easily ...

We have developed the ITIL Process Map V3 on the basis of long years of experience with various process management methods and platforms.

When designing the ITIL process templates we paid special attention to creating a professional layout making optimal use of each application’s strengths.

This means that you can use the ITIL templates as a model for the documentation of further processes. You will see how processes should be structured to provide maximum effect and how individual operations can be documented (concisely, yet avoiding redundancies).

[top]

... with suitable tools

In some cases, we provide additional functionality to remove limitations which exist when using certain platforms for process management.

Thus, some functions which can typically be found in expensive business process applications have been added to our Visio version of the ITIL process templates. A user-friendly Excel repository helps you maintain vital objects such as ITIL processes, roles and glossary terms centrally.

As a result, you will obtain high-quality documentation suitable of proving to your customers that your IT organisation works in a target, customer, and quality-oriented way.

[top]