Industry Guru reveals ‘Top 10’ reasons why ITIL implementation is unsuccessful
Lack of management commitment a key factor, says Malcolm Fry
HONG KONG ¾ (31 May, 2005) ¾ BMC Software, Inc. [NYSE: BMC], a leading provider of enterprise management solutions, today revealed the ‘Top 10’ reasons why organisations are unsuccessful in implementing ITIL® (IT Infrastructure Library). Malcolm Fry, a widely recognised IT industry guru, released the findings as part of the 2nd annual BMC ITIL Summit in Hong Kong.
According to Fry, an independent executive advisor to BMC Software, the common reasons for failure include lack of management commitment, too much time devoted to complicated process diagrams, not creating written work instructions’ and ‘not assigning process owners’.
Fry said that management must show their commitment to ITIL by their presence and involvement in the process. “For ITIL to work properly roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined and that includes the role of management.”
Other items in the ‘Top 10’ include: concentrating too much on performance criteria and not quality; attempting to implement too many processes at once; failing to maintain momentum; allowing departments to claim sole ownership of a process; ignoring solutions other than ITIL; and not reviewing the entire ITIL framework.
“The key to successful ITIL implementation is continuous improvement,” said Fry. ”Ensuring successful IT Service Management is like becoming a martial arts expert, you have to continuously practice, train and improve.”
Fry cited the example of Royal Bank of Canada to highlight the importance of continuous improvement. “The Royal Bank of Canada lost considerable amounts of money after a ‘routine’ programming update caused system failure. Their system stopped registering withdrawals, deposits and payments against customer balances and it took a full working week before IT was fully restored. Commitment to improving even the most ‘routine’ process can protect against these sort of problems,” said Fry.
The possibility of system failure is not the sole reason to embrace the continuous improvement approach that ITIL requires. Fry identified a number of additional benefits that ITIL implementation can provide, such as improved quality of service, a better understanding of current and potential IT capabilities, greater flexibility and adaptability, and an improved cycle time for change are among the list.
Other high-level benefits of ITIL, according to Fry, include the use of standard terminology for more effective communication between internal IT departments, comprehensive reference books that management can use as a guide to managing processes, and ITILs international standard – a BS15000.
Forrester Research predicts over the next four years ITIL adoption will continue to grow from 13% in 2004 to around 40% in 2006, and up to 80% in 2008. BMC Software recognises this growth, having been a supporter of ITIL for some time.
BMC Software’s Global Best Practices Director, Ken Turbitt, said, “ITIL has really evolved from describing service delivery processes, to helping organisations actually implement and measure service quality. Increasingly, organisations are looking for IT to add value to the business, and that’s what our Business Service Management strategy is designed to do.”
BMC Software’s Business Service Management strategy supports the ITIL framework, by providing a common language and set of standards to deliver quality IT service from a business perspective, not a systems perspective. BMC Software solutions help integrate and automate ITIL best practices, to deliver a Business Service Management (BSM) solution, which aligns with five of the ITIL books:
· Service Support
· Service Delivery
· Business Perspective
· ICT Infrastructure Management
· Software Asset Management
BMC recommends organisations approach ITIL implementation in the following way:
- Group best practice functions together to achieve maximum value
- Integrate and automate the functions and processes outlined in each ITIL discipline
- Utilise a Configuration Management Database (CMDB) to facilitate a sharing of information across the organisation
For a complete list of the ‘Top 10’ reasons that organizations fail to successfully implement ITIL, visit www.bmc.com/itil.
About Business Service Management
Business Service Management (BSM) from BMC Software provides an incremental approach to helping customers understand and meet their specific business needs. With BSM customers can identify the best technology solution to support their business and make the most of their current investments. Customers can deliver faster, more comprehensive and consistent services, increase revenue opportunities, lower the cost of ownership and reduce the risk of unnecessary IT expenditures.
About Routes to Value (RTVs)
BMC Software designed Routes to Value to provide clear, incremental paths for BSM implementation. Routes to Value group key IT disciplines designed to help drive significant IT value and business alignment. Routes to Value help accelerate the adoption of ITIL best practices. BSM Routes to Value are unified by BMC Atrium™, a shared foundation technology that enables each Route to Value to leverage information and functionality from each other; facilitates sharing of information among different ITIL best practice processescreating an effective and manageable approach to attaining BSM. With this common foundation, organizations can better leverage existing IT investments and increase the overall benefits of their ITIL efforts. There are eight Routes to Value with discrete milestones along the way, each moving customers from IT-focused service management to BSM. Using a practical, staged approach, customers can progress on one or more Routes to Value to achieve BSM objectives. Routes to Value share underlying enabling technologies that simplify implementation.
For a complete list of the “Routes to Value” and details of BMC Software’s Configuration Management Database (CMDB) visit www.bmc.com/rtv
About Malcolm Fry
Malcolm Fry is a recognized IT industry luminary with over 35 years experience in Information Technology. He serves as an independent executive advisor to BMC Software. Malcolm is the author of four best selling books on IT service and support, has had many other articles and paper published, and is regularly contacted as a source of information by technology journalists. He is an original contributor to ITIL and has Masters Level ITIL certification.
About BMC Software
BMC Software, Inc. [NYSE:BMC], is a leading provider of enterprise management solutions that empower companies to manage their IT infrastructure from a business perspective. Delivering Business Service Management, BMC Software solutions span enterprise systems, applications, databases and service management. Founded in 1980, BMC Software has offices worldwide and fiscal 2004 revenues of more than $1.4 billion. For more information about BMC Software, visit www.bmc.com.
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BMC Software
Phone: 28792207
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