ITIL^® Refresh (ITILv3) - the new version of ITIL^® - The Official ITIL Lifecyle Publication Suite

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ITIL's most recent version, Version 3 (ITIL Refresh) - as contained in the Official ITIL Lifecycle Publication Suite - represents an important evolutionary step in ITIL's life.

The new ITILv3 Refresh is based on the concept of a Lifecycle of Service
The ITILv3 Refresh has transformed the existing ITILv2 guidance from "providing a great service to being the most innovative and best in class." (TSO)
At the same time, the interface between old and new ITIL v3 approaches is seamless so that users do not have to reinvent the wheel when adopting it.
This means that many of the supporting books and tools that have evolved to support IT Service Management will continue to be valid and useful.
ITIL v3 allows users to build on the success of Version 2.

In general, V3 makes the link between ITIL's best practice and business benefits both clearer and stronger. The main development is that V3 takes a lifecycle approach to guidance, as opposed to organising according to IT delivery sectors. The objective was to ensure that ITIL^® continues to provide up-to-date and useful best practice guidance as technology continues to evolve. Here is the official ITIL Refresh Statement.

New ITIL^®v3 (Refresh) Books, Downloads and Subscriptions

The official gateway to ITILv3 is The Official Introduction to the ITIL Service Lifecycle, which has high-level process models and describes all the other books in the library.

The ITIL V3 (ITIL Refresh) - Official Lifecyle Publication Suite contains the five core ITILv3 books, which are designed to be read together:

The new ITIL library is available in soft covers, in downloadable pdf and in the form of online subscriptions. The soft covers were published on 31 May 2007.

The ITILv3 Foundation Starter Kit is the best starting point for anyone looking to learn the basics of IT Service Management with ITIL.

ITIL^® Refresh: overview and benefits

OGC research confirms the benefits of this new approach which:

Establishes the integration of business strategy with IT service strategy.
Enables agile service design and a ROI blueprint.
Provides transition models that are fit for purpose in a variety of innovations.
Demystifies the management of service providers and sourcing models.
Improves the ease of implementing and managing services for dynamic, high risk volatile and rapidly changing business needs.
Improves how measurement demonstrates value.
Identifies the triggers for improvement and change anywhere in the service lifecycle.
Addresses the current gaps and deficiencies in ITILv2.
The new approach changes the relationship between IT and business whereas before, ITIL worked to align service management with business strategy, V3 integrates it into a single ecosystem.

Other developments include:

new IT strategies, for outsourcing and co-sourcing, for example;
new concepts such as a new Service Management Knowledge base that helps transform captured information into organisational intelligence;
new processes such as request fulfilment;
process expansion, such as event management;
new practice areas and organisational structures; and
new methods of delivering ITIL.

The ITILv3 model contains the processes needed to manage services within the lifecycle structure. The core practices of Service Management life stages are then supported by more detailed complementary content specific to industry, stakeholder and practice topics. This makes the library more practical, easier to use and provides guidance specific to various stakeholder viewpoints.

To reinforce changes, the library has seen a major visual revamp with inspirational imagery based on natural themes and a new, clean layout.

MAPPING: ITILv2 to ITILv3

The 11 processes of the original ITILv2 are all in the five new core ITIL books of the ITIL Lifecyle Publication Suite. The table below maps those processes to the new books and identifies where the topic is dealt with primarily ('PP') and where there are secondary ('S') references, changes or enhancements to the process.

	Service Strategy	Service Design	Service Transition	Service Operation	Continual Service Improvement
Service Level Management	S	PP			PP
Availability Management	S	PP
Capacity Management		PP		S
Service Continuity Mgmt		PP		S
Financial Management	PP				S
Service Desk		S		PP
Incident Management		S		PP
Problem Management				PP	S
Change Management			PP		S
Release Management			PP		S
Configuration Management		S	PP

ITIL^® Certifications in the ITILv3 world

ITIL certification has been managed by the ICMB (ITIL Certification Management Board). The ICMB is made up of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), itSMF International, and the two current examination institutes, EXIN and ISEB.

As of the 20^th of July 2006 the APM Group became the official accreditor for ITIL^®. The APM Group has been responsible for the ITIL^® examinations from the 1^st of January 2007. They APM Group have replaced the ICMB with a board called the ITIL Qualifications Board (ITQB). They is responsible for all of the matters previously managed by the ICMB, and will in addition cover other areas.

All current ITIL version 2 qualifications remain valid after APM Group took over the qualification scheme in January 2007. The ITQB released (November 2007) its final guidance on the ITILv3 Qualfications Scheme and there is now a range of ITILv3 Bridge Courses to help individuals upgrade their qualifications from ITILv2 to ITILv3

Find out about distance learning options, study guides and other aids for the three levels of ITIL qualification. Read more about ITIL Classroom Training.

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