What you won’t learn about ITIL from a Wiki page…
How ITIL training has positively impacted the IT industry
If you’re just discovering and/or researching ITIL for the first time you’ve probably stumbled across a great deal of information detailing the IT methodology resource (like this wiki page, for example). Most of the top search results for ITIL deal with fairly straightforward topics / subject matter, like what ITIL is, and of course, what ITIL does. However, while it is certainly necessary to grasp these (simple) ideas, you should also be made aware of the many ways that ITIL has influenced the IT industry at large. When you step back and look at the big picture it’s clear that, through the influence of ITIL, new possibilities are emerging, infrastructures are more organized / standardized, and IT groups are able to help businesses achieve specific goals.
ITIL bolsters emerging technologies, concepts & methods
One of the great things about ITIL, and the system that is used to perpetuate it, is its inclusive nature. Let’s say that someone creates a revolutionary new IT infrastructure-based application (perhaps by way of cloud computing technologies / or a deployed service), if it is truly functional and offers direct benefit(s) for managing or maintaining IT infrastructure, ITIL will include references to this application in subsequent releases.
The exact same thing can be said for ITIL user-derived solutions and methods, if they work, the ITIL board will probably include them as well. You see, unlike other organizations which might only collect resources from academics or bureaucrats, the group that publishes the ITIL has a reputation of actively listening to its user and training communities. This means that they are also introduced to emerging concepts and practices before they become widely known. In many ways ITIL is acting like an aggregate for the absolute best concepts of utilizing IT infrastructure and then judiciously distributing this golden information to the public.
IT departments are becoming more organized thanks to ITIL
ITIL, by its very nature, also seeks to organize the way IT professionals work and think individually, as well as in groups. In this way, ITIL is contributing to an increasing drive to organize one’s IT assets (which we’ll expand upon in the next heading). Thanks to ITIL, entire systems of operation are becoming more standardized from location to location. This means that, as an IT worker, you could basically switch employers and situations and jump almost immediately back into standard career duties.
This is also excellent news for employers and IT managers, as their IT departments are more efficient and “transparent” than ever before. Use of the term, “transparent” is made in reference to the fact that (because of standardized methodologies like ITIL) it is much easier to differentiate between what is working and what is not. Likewise, increased transparency means employees are more likely to enact better personal strategies and practices while on the job.
Through the use of ITIL, businesses can better leverage their IT departments
In addition to being able to better understand how their IT assets are being utilized, businesses can also use ITIL to initiate more complex, yet solid, planning. In the business world, decisions are often made upon timetables which factor multiple items across the long-term. Simply put, all tangible assets are measured and given tasks based upon their abilities and in turn, expected to deliver. For instance, if an organization begins to see increased revenue coming from online transactions, greater emphasis will be placed upon developing, maintaining and perhaps increasing potential in this area. An area like online customer interaction and sales will likely fall under the responsibility of IT, or at the very least, IT will be used to facilitate this. In this situation, the IT department will be tasked with ensuring functionality, and perhaps even improving upon systems / products / services where applicable in order to increase productivity and sales. Since ITIL is essentially just a big book of methods and specific solutions for managing / regulating IT infrastructure, employees can use the knowledge it contains to meet the goals and demands of their employers.
IT professionals need ITIL training and certification
For the reasons mentioned above, as well as many others not mentioned here, IT careerists need to strongly consider ITIL certification, and as soon as possible. Employers are now showing a great deal of interest in job candidates who possess knowledge of ITIL and are even offering salary bonuses / perks to those who can demonstrate its use in real situations which benefit their organization(s). But you shouldn’t approach ITIL simply because of the supposed perks it might offer, remember, this is extremely useful professional knowledge we are talking about here (ITIL). The ideas, concepts and practices from hundreds, if not thousands of IT gurus are included in the pages of the ITIL; why would any serious professional not want to be privy to this information?
To get certified in the most recent up-to-date version / build of ITIL, check out this affordable certification course.