I'm still concerned by the number of organizations who say they are "implementing ITIL", even worse the ones that say "we're implementing ITIL V3".
I'm also concerned about how much hype the industry is generating over ITIL 2011 (as they've decided to call the new version which is due for release during July 2011). There seems to be endless conversation, discussion forum points, and presentations all talking about whether people are going to adopt the new version or not.
To be honest, I think people are massively over-hyping this whole subject, and it could have a very negative impact on our industry. There is lots of speculation, some of which must be widely inaccurate or at least guess-work as hardly any of them will have seen the actual content, as it's not published yet.
My guess is that I think you will struggle to find things in ITIL 2011 that completely contradict, or render useless, anything in V3 or V2, or in fact V1. ITIL is not a religious movement, despite all the ITIL zealots out there making out that "thou shalt follow what it says in the good ITIL book or suffer the consequences". You don't have to decide where your allegiance is. You don't have to make a public declaration about whether your company is aligned to V2, or V3, or V2011.
My personal view is that each version of ITIL provides additional guidance which people may find useful. Each version builds upon the previous versions, takes in additional input from practice and theory, and offers itself up for those who find it useful.
My advice, for what it's worth:
1. Don't feel that you have to use all of ITIL - no-one ever will, nor should they.
2. Treat ITIL as one of the potentially useful influences and sources of input that could help you decide how you want to do Service Management
○ There are lots of other useful tools and resources which you should also use - ITIL alone won't get you where you need to be
3. Remember the "adopt and adapt" principle that's always been there
○ Use the bits that you find useful
○ Adapt these to suit your organization and the particular needs you have
○ Ignore the bits that you don't find useful
4. Remember that there is a whole industry of consultants, training providers, tools vendors, publishers (did I miss anyone?) who need to make money (and as a consultant, I'm one of them).
○ Don't allow yourselves to be pressurised or sent in to a panic by anyone
○ If you think you need additional information, training, or support - approach it in a calm way, and make sure you identify what you need for your own professional development or to meet the needs of your organization
○ Take advice, be open to helpful suggestions - but always be cautious, filter, and don't accept everything as absolute fact - use your internal "BS Detector"
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