{"id":5223,"date":"2015-08-25T19:17:11","date_gmt":"2015-08-25T19:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multiacademstg.wpengine.com\/20000academy\/?p=5223"},"modified":"2025-07-04T14:41:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T14:41:30","slug":"5-excuses-why-it-organizations-avoid-itil-implementation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2015\/08\/25\/5-excuses-why-it-organizations-avoid-itil-implementation\/","title":{"rendered":"5 excuses why IT organizations avoid ITIL implementation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In my line of work, even in this day and age I come across many IT organizations that don\u2019t follow any ITSM guidelines or principles. With a long history and widespread adoption within the industry, <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/what-is-itil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL<\/a> is certainly the most appealing solution for ITSM implementation. Of course, ISO 20000 is another viable option, but they are not competitors in the field.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, I\u2019m always surprised when IT organizations have heard of best practice frameworks, have done some research, but in the end decided not to follow that path. If you are wondering what the most common \u201cexplanations\u201d for not jumping on the ITIL train might be, here are my top five \u201creasons\u201d why IT organizations don\u2019t implement ITIL.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">#1 \u2013 ITIL is exclusively for large organizations<\/h2>\n<p>The most fascinating \u201cfeature\u201d of ITIL is, by far, its <strong>flexibility<\/strong>; you don\u2019t have to force complete implementation in order to get the benefits. Smaller IT organizations may even have an advantage in ITIL implementation \u2013 smaller implementation scope means a faster and more cost-effective implementation. Some common issues smaller organizations may face with ITIL implementation are addressed in the following articles: <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/knowledgebase\/itil-incident-management-separate-roles-different-support-levels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL Incident Management \u2013 How to separate roles at different support levels<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/knowledgebase\/itil-roles-can-combined-one-person\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What ITIL roles can be combined in one person?<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2015\/05\/05\/5-ways-itil-can-help-your-small-business-grow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">5 ways ITIL can help your small business grow<\/a>.<br \/>\n<div id=\"middle-banner\" class=\"banner-shortcode\"><\/div><script>loadMiddleBanner();<\/script><br \/>\n<div id=\"side-banner-trigger\" class=\"banner-shortcode\"><\/div><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">#2 \u2013 ITIL is exclusively for IT service providers<\/h2>\n<p>Every IT organization is a service provider. What differentiates one from another is its customers; <strong>Type I (Internal Service Provider)<\/strong> is tied to a single Business Unit, <strong>Type II (Shared Services Unit)<\/strong> provides services to the whole organization (just like Finance, HR, or Procurement), and only <strong>Type III (External Service Provider)<\/strong> provides services to external <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=relationship-and-agreement-processes&amp;doc=customer-agreement-portfolio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">customers<\/a>. By following best practices in ITSM, each service provider type is trying to gain a competitive advantage in order to secure its existing position; Type I and Type II will compete against external providers, and vice versa. If Type I and Type II service providers are not doing anything to ensure a competitive advantage, they are at risk for getting outsourced by better-performing external organizations.<\/p>\n<p>You can read more on service provider types in the following articles: <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2014\/09\/02\/itil-service-provider-types-type-internal-service-provider\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL Service Provider types \u2013 Type I: Internal service provider<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2014\/09\/16\/itil-service-provider-types-type-2-shared-services-unit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL Service Provider types \u2013 Type 2 or Shared Services Unit<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2014\/09\/30\/itil-service-provider-types-type-3-external-service-provider\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL Service Provider types \u2013 Type 3 or External Service Provider<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">#3 \u2013 ITIL Implementation is time consuming and expensive<\/h2>\n<p>\u2026 if performed by untrained individuals, or unfocused \/ undedicated organizations \u2013 if I may add. It should be obvious that at least some level of familiarity with ITIL is required before considering implementation. Luckily, knowledge can be obtained easily through training and certification (both online and offline), external consulting, and of course, Internet articles such as this one.<\/p>\n<p>As mentioned before, ITIL is flexible regarding implementation; therefore, implementation can start with one or only a few \u201ccore\u201d modules from <strong>Service Operations<\/strong> (notably <strong>Event Management<\/strong>, <strong>Incident Management<\/strong>, and <strong>Request Fulfillment<\/strong>). A smaller scope will result in a shorter implementation time scale, and necessary documentation is easily found on our website, which contains everything you may need for ITIL implementation without expensive consulting fees.<\/p>\n<p>You can get some general guidelines regarding ITIL implementation in the following article: <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2014\/06\/10\/ready-steady-go-starting-itil-implementation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ready, steady\u2026 go \u2013 Starting ITIL implementation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">#4 \u2013 ITIL has no visible benefits<\/h2>\n<p>IT organizations may fall into a false sense of security when business is going well, when almost every problem can be solved by throwing enough money at it, or by hiring more people to take over the additional load. But, once circumstances change, which we all experienced with the fall of the global economy, IT organizations face challenges to do more with less.<\/p>\n<p>One of the major guidelines within ITIL is to <strong>provide the best possible <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=sms-related-documents&amp;doc=list-of-services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">service<\/a><\/strong><strong>\u00a0with the lowest possible cost<\/strong>. This philosophy is present in every part of the service lifecycle, and is one of the core values in the whole value chain. On top of that, ITIL is focused on creating value for the business by bringing a clear connection between business and IT processes, measurable performance of supporting processes, and measurable quality of service provided.<\/p>\n<p>More information on this topic can be found in our knowledgebase article: <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/knowledgebase\/itil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Why ITIL?<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">#5 \u2013 Our organization has external providers doing most \/ all of the work<\/h2>\n<p>Managing a large number of vendors and external providers is like trying to keep a colony of ants in a straight line using a wooden stick. Each provider is only concerned with its own service scope, and generally, chaos is ensured when a single action requires coordination between two or more <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=relationship-and-agreement-processes&amp;doc=supplier-agreement-portfolio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">providers<\/a>. <strong>Managing third-party providers<\/strong> and suppliers, their contracts, and obligations <strong>requires a great deal of understanding of your own organization<\/strong>, even greater than if outsourced work would be done internally. When services are provided internally, there is still flexibility to change or improve anything that was not arranged properly, without contractual setbacks or additional charges that are often included when dealing with external providers.<\/p>\n<p>Only once you clearly understand both the business your company is in, and the <strong>outcomes IT has to produce in order to support the business<\/strong>, can you confidently outsource parts or whole services to third parties. You can read more on this topic in the following article: <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2013\/12\/30\/itil-supplier-management-third-party-depend\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL Supplier management \u2013 the third party you depend on<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">Value is the key reason why you should start implementing ITIL<\/h2>\n<p>The concept of <strong>value<\/strong> is elusive for IT organizations that decide against ITIL (or ITSM in general), as described within this article. Value comes from a service\u2019s ability to be fit for purpose and fit for use (<strong>utility<\/strong> and <strong>warranty<\/strong>). Without the service, there is no value. You can read more on service value in the following articles: <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2014\/11\/11\/itil-strategy-framing-the-value-of-services-part-i\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL strategy \u2013 Framing the value of services (part I)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>From the customer\u2019s perspective, the service is a \u201cblack box\u201d that produces the desired outcomes. The owner (IT organization) of the \u201cblack box\u201d (service) expects the service provider to do whatever it takes, within agreed constraints (e.g., price) to keep the \u201cblack box\u201d working. This set of actions required for the \u201cblack box\u201d to keep working within given constraints is what ITIL describes as best practice framework, and at this moment there are very few reasons for not following it, though none of them are listed in this article.<\/p>\n<p><em>To implement ISO 20000 easily and efficiently, use our<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ISO 20000 Documentation Toolkit<\/a> <em>that provides step-by-step guidance for full ISO 20000 compliance.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my line of work, even in this day and age I come across many IT organizations that don\u2019t follow any ITSM guidelines or principles. With a long history and widespread adoption within the industry, ITIL is certainly the most appealing solution for ITSM implementation. Of course, ISO 20000 is another viable option, but they &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":17374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[339,400,484,344,191,348,433,435],"class_list":["post-5223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-business-service","tag-implementation","tag-it-service-provider","tag-itil","tag-process","tag-service-value","tag-utility","tag-warranty"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5223"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18495,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5223\/revisions\/18495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}