ITIL V3 Lifecycle And CSI

In 2007, ITIL underwent its latest major revision. Commonly referred to as ITIL V3, this newest incarnation of the popular British IT service management framework adopts a lifecycle model.

In addition to the V2 processes and functions, V3 includes new concepts and processes. There are now 27 processes in V3 including some new ones such as Service Portfolio Management, Service Catalog Management, Request Fulfillment, Access Management and Knowledge Management.

The number of core books was reduced from eight in V2 to five in V3. Each new V3 book represents a lifecycle phase. The V3 core books and lifecycle phases are:

1. Service Strategy
2. Service Design
3. Service Transition
4. Service Operation
5. Continual Service Improvement
   

The Continual Service Improvement (CSI) lifecycle phase is especially important. The new CSI model (depicted below) expands on the service review and improvement planning activities previously included in V2 Service Level Management.

The basic concepts of the CSI model are determining a vision, setting the current situation baselines, and defining improvement objectives. When measuring and setting baselines, it's critical to emphasize why you measure above all else.

At the heart of the CSI lifecycle phase is the 7-step improvement process. This process is based on the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) Cycle popularized by William Edwards Deming during post-war Japan restoration. PDCA in Japan ultimately lead to the continual improvement philosophy of Kaizen ().

Tightly integrated with the other four lifecycle phases, the goal of CSI is to make incremental improvements to processes. CSI accomplishes this goal by measuring and using metrics in an iterative process with the following 7 steps:

1. What should you measure?
   
2. What can you measure?
3. Gather data.
4. Process data.
5. Analyze data.
6. Present and use information.
7. Implement corrective action.
   

Step 1 refers to the CSI model vision and establishes overall goals. Step 2 addresses the current subset of goals for which you can set baselines and define improvement objectives. Step 3 performs the measurements for the baselines and objectives defined in step 2.

Step 4 organizes and formats the measurement data in a way that is meaningful to both business and technical audiences, and transforms the data into information. Step 5 looks for discrepancies, trends and explanations to be presented to the business, turning the information into knowledge.

Step 6 informs stakeholders on whether goals and objectives were achieved, and translates knowledge into wisdom needed for strategic, tactical and operational decisions. Step 7 creates a Service Improvement Plan (SIP) based on improvement opportunities identified in step 6, establishes a new baseline and prepares to repeat the cycle starting with step 1.

Although it's the last book in the V3 series, CSI is perhaps the most significant for organizations attempting their first pass at ITIL. CSI encompasses the strategy, design, transition and operations of the other ITIL phases. And by focusing on CSI, organizations can quickly deliver value to the business by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their existing IT processes.

By Harry Hiles, HBH Technology LLC — 24 Dec 2008