ITIL Benefits to the Business - A Joint Research Project from Global Knowledge and HDI
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ITIL® Benefits to the Business A Joint Research Project from Global Knowledge and HDI
ITIL® Benefits to the Business A Joint Research Project from Global Knowledge and HDI Research Analysts: Hank Marquis, Formerly Director of Business Service Management, Global Knowledge Cinda Daly, Director of Business Content, HDI Greg Timpany, Senior Manager of Marketing Research, Global Knowledge Survey Design: Greg Timpany Jenny Rains, Research Analyst, HDI Executive Summary There are some in the IT industry who believe that the practice and importance of IT Infrastructure Library™ (ITIL®) in organizations could be declining. But, with more than 20,000 people earning ITIL certification each month (according to IT exam provider, EXIN), it is clear that ITIL continues to be relevant. Global Knowledge and HDI came together to conduct a research project to identify the benefits that ITIL brings to businesses. The results of this project challenge some commonly held beliefs about ITIL and suggest several new paradigms for success. They illustrate how people from across the United States and around the world answer questions such as: • Is C-level management commitment required for ITIL success? • Is ITIL just a service/help desk practice? • Is cost reduction the chief benefit of ITIL, as so many vendors and consulting firms promise? There are many ITIL benefit surveys circulating throughout the industry, and it’s easy to become numb from in- formation overload. What sets this survey apart from many others is that it comes from people who are actually practicing ITIL. This survey has no bias towards one tool or another, and says nothing about specific consulting firms. What this survey does do is present an objective examination of what can be expected from following ITIL practices, as reported by IT professionals. Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 2
About the Findings
The survey’s respondents represent a cross-section of ITIL practitioners. They come from firms with both national
and international presences, and 40% of respondents represent firms with more than 10,000 employees. Over
half (52%) of the respondents have a primary position in the IT Service Management (ITSM) area, and 60% are in
managerial or supervisory roles in IT. All of the respondents provide IT-related services, and over 50% come from
the more regulated areas of government, education, healthcare, legal, and financial services.
It is interesting that 52% of respondents self-selected their role or department specifically as “IT Service Manage-
ment.” This indicates that ITSM has been integrated into their corporate IT organizational structures. According
to the survey results, ITSM appears to have gone mainstream, and is no longer just a project (as indicated by just
12% of those surveyed) or solely a service/help desk effort (18%).
Another telling indicator of ITSM and ITIL maturation comes from the findings related to implemented and planned
processes. Traditional wisdom suggests that both incident and change management are the growth areas for ITSM,
since ITIL is “immature.” However, this study shows that many firms already have established, incident (63%) and
change (53%) management processes in place. What is significant, as seen in Figure 1 below, is that within the
top three followed ITIL processes, problem management—a process that requires organizational maturity and
commitment—is the ITIL process most firms are currently implementing (24%) or planning to implement (24%).
Furthermore, 43% currently follow ITIL problem management processes, reflecting a 91% adoption/soon-to-be-
adopted rate among those surveyed.
Top Three ITIL Processes
Currently Currently Planning to Do Not
Follow Implementing Implement Follow
Incident Management 63% 19% 12% 7%
Change Management 53% 21% 18% 8%
Problem Management 43% 24% 24% 9%
Figure 1
Of even greater interest is that while problem management is the leading growth area of the top three imple-
mented ITIL processes, the highest growth of current implementations is in service request management (27%)
and service catalog (26%), processes that relate to customer satisfaction and the standardization of IT service
delivery (see Figure 8, page 8).
While ITIL incident, change, and problem management top the chart, each ITIL process is in use throughout the
population. In another indication of ITIL acceptance and integration into corporate IT, respondents chose avail-
ability and capacity management as the other areas that are most likely to be on the planning horizon; 38% of
respondents plan to implement availability management, and 37% plan to implement capacity management. This
is fascinating, since some industry pundits have highlighted these processes as ones that only a few, very mature
organizations implement.
The key takeaway here is that ITIL seems to have “grown up.” What may not be as obvious is that ITIL incident and
change management—when done right—set the stage for problem, availability, and capacity management. When
firms stabilize IT service delivery, they are able to shift from running-and-reacting to building-and-transforming.
Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 3Conventional Wisdom Revisited
Conventional wisdom states that one simply cannot be successful with ITIL/ITSM implementation without C-level
management commitment. This wisdom may be a carryover from situations in which a consultant is trying to sell
six-figure software solutions or long-term consulting agreements. But, according to the survey, many practitioners
have been successful without C-level management commitment. In fact, just 39% of respondents claim to have
had any CIO- or CTO-level involvement at all.
The findings also indicate that if one has C-level management commitment, the focus of the ITSM program chang-
es. For example, those with C-level support are more likely than their counterparts to rate “balancing resource
allocations” as “very important” (47% versus 33%). They are also more likely to involve other groups in shaping
and defining processes and utilize more success metrics.
While C-level engagement is not a critical success factor for everyone, it is important to note that 71% of respon-
dents reported executive support in general was the most critical factor for success. In other words, management
commitment is critical to success, but C-level commitment is not.
Another bit of conventional wisdom is that business/revenue enhancement, cost controls/reductions, quality im-
provements, and improved agility/responsiveness are the core benefits of ITIL/ITSM (in order of importance).
However, this survey identifies customer satisfaction, agility, and workload balance to be the top benefits, not cost
reduction or quality improvements.
Figure 2 shows how management commitment changes the How ITIL Benefits Shift
benefits one can expect. The top two benefits of ITIL are improved
IT responsiveness and end-customer satisfaction. The fulcrum is 5
IT workload improvements, which is the third most common ben- 4
3
efit. Notice that cost reductions ranks fourth and fifth, depending
on C-level engagement. 2
w/ C-Level Engagement
1 w/o C-Level Engagement
In light of these findings, it is interesting to note that many ITIL/ Improving
IT Service
End-Customer IT Workload
Satisfaction Improvements
Reduction in
the Cost of IT
Reduction in
the Number of
ITSM vendors sell cost reduction as the key benefit. In the short Responsiveness Service Delivery Service Incidents
Figure 2
term, five years or less, cost reduction is not a major benefit of-
ten realized. However, in the long term, after recovering capital
investments, it is reasonable to expect cost reductions resulting from increased effectiveness.
The top two benefits in both cases revolve around transforming IT into an organization that is responsive to its
customers—a true service provider.
Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 4Key Findings Contributing success factors show what successful practitioners found helpful. Think of this as a starting point for identifying the requirements for a successful ITIL implementation. When asked to assess the importance of several factors, the following six items rose to the top: Top Six Contributing Success Factors 1. Executive support 2. Teamwork at the staff/line worker level 3. ITIL or other best practice training 4. Communication across organization 5. Organizational buy-in 6. Process owners ITIL indeed delivers measurable business benefits. But be careful what you promise, because those benefits shift based on managerial commitment. You can succeed with ITIL even without C-level support, but your benefits to focus on could change. Choose wisely. According to the survey, the ability to show improvement in IT service re- sponsiveness is the key measure of success in those organizations with C-level engagement. There is a difference between practicing IT Service Management using ITIL guidance and using software to solve an IT problem. It is important to understand this key point: the benefits you get from using a tool are not the ben- efits you get from practicing ITSM. Software alone does not make a strategy; rather, software facilitates a strategy and allows a team to complete its tasks. As expected, respondents overwhelmingly conclude that software and other support tools aligned with ITIL are very important, and 51% cite software (incident, knowledge, CMBD, etc.) as a success factor. Interestingly, just 19% cite outside consulting as a success factor. ITIL-based ITSM seems to transform IT organizations into customer-focused service providers. The survey results suggest that the top 11 benefits of ITIL to the business are: Top 11 Realized Benefits of Practicing ITIL 1. Improving IT service responsiveness 2. End-customer satisfaction 3. IT workload improvements 4. Reduction in the cost of IT service delivery 5. Reduction in the number of service incidents 6. Decreasing service variability 7. Measuring demand for IT services 8. Improvement in IT project success ratio 9. Increased usage of the IT service catalog 10. Increased accuracy of IT forecasts 11. Business profitability or revenue Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 5
Respondents’ Profile Relationship to ITIL Certification
The majority of individuals who participated in this survey have 82% Personally Certified
a primary position in IT Service Management (52%) or service 33% Staff Certified
desk (18%), with specific job roles at the manager or director
level. They brought a high level of participation in ITIL initia- 11% No One is Certified
tives within their organizations and significantly contributed to 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
those during the most recent 18 months. Many personally hold Figure 3
ITIL certifications.
ITIL Certification Required?
Respondents Involvement with ITIL Certification Unsure
3% Yes, For
All Staff
Over 80% of the respondents are ITIL certified. In addition, one- 20%
No
third of respondents reported having staff members who are 39%
ITIL certified as well. Two-thirds of the certified respondents
reported possessing one level of ITIL certification. Seventy-one
percent indicate that they are in the process of seeking or add-
ing ITIL certifications. Foundation-level certifications were the
most popular with 30% reporting they had v2 Foundation cer-
tification and 72% with v3 Foundation or the v2-v3 Foundation
Bridge. When it came to intermediate- and advanced-level cer- Yes, For
tifications, there was a significant drop-off. Finally for 58% of Some Staff
38%
respondents’ organizations, some form of ITIL certification, for Figure 4
at least a portion of the staff, is required (see Figures 3–4).
Level of Involvement with ITIL Involvement with ITIL During Past 18 Months
Respondents were asked to report their level of involvement 24% Design/Acquisition
with ITIL—either as a lead, involved, or no involvement— 48%
across five key ITIL categories: design/acquisition; strategy/ser- 28%
vice definition; operation; project management; and transition/
34% Strategy/Service Definition
implementation (see Figure 5). Operation was where respon-
50%
dents showed the greatest level of leadership, with 37% report-
16%
ing they held the lead role. Conversely, only one in four took
the lead role during the design and acquisition phase. Overall, 37% Operation
however, respondents are involved in ITIL processes, with over 52%
80% reporting they either lead or were involved to some de- 411%
gree across most phases, with the exception being the design/
29% Project Management
acquisition process (72%).
51%
If respondents had certified staff, they allocated greater respon- 20%
sibility for design efforts to their staff. This was also the case for
31% Transition/Implementation
strategy/service definition and operations.
Lead
56%
Involved
13% No Involvement
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Figure 5
Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 6Primary Position and Role in the Organization Primary Job Function
Business
Other
Over half of the respondents (52%) have a primary position (Includes HR)
Management
4% Project
14%
in IT Service Management, with specific job roles at the man- Service Desk Management
12%
(or Help Desk)
ager or director level. Those in IT Service Management are more 18%
likely to be v3 certified, and take a leadership role in the areas
of strategy/service definition, operations and transition/imple-
mentation (see Figures 6–7).
14.0%
Core Areas of Focus and Ownership
Participants were asked questions to assess to what degree
their IT support organizations implemented the slate of ITIL
IT Service
processes. They were also asked which groups shaped the over- Management
52%
all IT Service Management strategy, and the highest positional Figure 6
level that was directly involved with ITIL in their organization.
Primary Job Role
ITIL Process Implementation C-level/ Other
Business Line 5% IT-related
Incident and change management are the only two processes Other IT 5% Manager/
Director/VP
that are being followed by over 50% of respondents. On the Related
Functions
58%
26%
high end, incident management is being followed by 63% of
the firms represented. On the low end were service catalog/
portfolio; availability; capacity; finance; and continuity; with
each being followed by less than 25% of respondents’ orga-
nizations. Less than 10% of the participants reported they are
implementing all 16 processes.
Several processes are in the implementation phase and are above Technical
the overall average of 20% including: service request; service Support
6%
catalog/portfolio; configuration management; and knowledge Figure 7
management. On the planning horizon, respondents indicated
they are looking to implement processes around availability
and capacity management (see Figure 8, page 8).
Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 7ITIL Process Implementation
Currently Currently Planning to Do Not
Follow Implementing Implement Follow
Incident Management 63% 19% 12% 7%
Change Management 53% 21% 18% 8%
Problem Management 43% 24% 24% 9%
Service Request Management 37% 27% 24% 12%
Release Management 33% 16% 33% 17%
Service-Level Management 33% 23% 32% 12%
Configuration Management 32% 25% 30% 13%
Event Management 32% 19% 28% 22%
Knowledge Management 30% 25% 30% 14%
Security Management 28% 14% 33% 25%
Asset Management 26% 21% 34% 19%
Service Catalog/Portfolio 23% 26% 33% 17%
Availability Management 22% 13% 38% 27%
Capacity Management 22% 15% 37% 26%
Financial Management 22% 11% 28% 40%
Continuity Management 21% 18% 33% 29%
Average 31% 20% 29% 19%
Figure 8
Who Shapes ITIL Strategy? Who Helps Shape ITIL Strategy?
An organization’s help desk or service desk is key in develop- Service Desk/Help Desk 68%
ing the ITSM strategy, with 68% of respondents in this group Operations as a Whole 60%
reporting a role in strategy development. This was followed by
49%
“operations as a whole.” Overall, service managers engage a Service Level Management
greater number of internal groups to help drive development of 48% Service Strategy/Service Design
their ITIL strategy more than other groups (see Figure 9).
35% Request Fulfillment
33% Security/Compliance
27% Service Portfolio Management
22% IT Financial Governance or Risk Management
15% Telecommunications
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Figure 9
Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 8C-Level Support Highest Position-Level Supporting ITIL
CFO Other
Almost half of respondents reported they had C-level support CEO 1% 5%
6%
for their ITIL initiatives, with the CIO or CTO serving as cham- CIO/CTO
39%
pion for the initiative (see Figure 10). Having senior-manage- Manager
12%
ment commitment was not required for success, but it did make
the path easier, according to respondents. It is easier to attain
the benefits of ITIL when senior management is committed, but
it also comes with a change in the benefits sought. Having C-
level commitment means a greater focus on improving service
performance, satisfying the end-customer, reducing the cost of Vice
IT service delivery, and improving the likelihood that IT projects President
15%
Director
will succeed. 22%
Figure 10
Success Factors and
Benefits Obtained ITIL-Initiative Areas Deemed “Very Important”
Very
Importance of ITIL Areas to Organization
Respondents were also asked questions to discover which fac- Important
tors organizations found to be most important to their ITIL ini- Improving Quality of Services and 70%
tiative, the factors that contributed to success, and the benefits Other Customer Experience
organizations attained as a result. Providing a Central Point of Contact 58%
Improving Productivity, Revenue, 56%
Core Areas of Focus Competitive Advantage
The ability to improve the quality of services and exceed cus- Controlling Costs Company-Wide 56%
tomer expectations in the process are the primary areas of fo- Controlling IT Organizational Costs 54%
cus for ITIL initiatives. Seven out of ten respondents rated this Presenting Standard Service Offerings 43%
area as “very important.” Four other areas were rated as “very Automating Requests for New Services 41%
important” by over half of the respondents (see Figure 11). Balancing Resource Allocations 40%
Contributing Success Factors Controlling with Compliance-Related
Initiative Costs
34%
Executive support was the highest-rated factor associated with Facilitating New Product/Service Offerings 30%
the success of the ITIL initiative, with 71% rating it “very impor-
Regulatory and Environmental Issues 30%
Asset (HW/SW) Chargeback Costs 29%
Tracking Service Utilization 28%
Service Chargeback Costs 28%
Demand Profiling 26%
Figure 11
Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 9tant.” An implementation can be successful without the hands- Success Factors Deemed “Very Important”
on support of senior management, but having that support
Executive Support 71%
does make the process smoother, according to respondents.
Other critical factors identified include: communication across Teamwork at the Staff Level 66%
the organization; teamwork at the staff level; and training on ITIL or Other Best Practice Training 65%
ITIL best practices (see Figure 12).
Communication Across Organization 64%
Success Measurement Organizational Buy In 64%
The ability to show improvement in IT service response is the
key success measurement in those organizations where C-level Process Owners 62%
support is given to the ITIL initiative. This measure was selected Business Process Owners 55%
by 84% of the respondents who have senior management sup-
Software 51%
port, compared to 68% of those who do not have that level of
support. Also critical to the scorecard are the ability to measure Supporting Services 44%
and show improvement in end-customer satisfaction and bal-
Customer Involvement 40%
ance the workload faced by IT departments (see Figure 13).
Architectural Team 30%
Role of Third Party Services
19% Outside Consulting
Just under half of the respondents reported they believe third-
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
party vendors to be important to the enablement process. With- Figure 12
ITIL Initiative Success
100%
C-Level
w/o C-Level
90%
84% 83%
80%
74%
70% 70%
68% 69%
67% 66%
60% 63%
58% 56% 53%
50% 56%
46% 49%
42%
40% 40% 40%
30% 32%
30% 29%
28%
20%
10%
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Figure 13
Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 10in this group, 28% believe these vendors are very important Importance of Third-Party Vendors
to the successful ITIL implementation. This view is not consis- 32% Critical v3 Certified
tent across all sub-groups. For example, respondents who are 16%
Not v3 Certified
v3 certified are twice as likely as non-v3 certified respondents
Important
to report that vendors are critical (32% vs. 16%) (see Figures 19%
14–15). 25%
Not Important
Respondents in service manager roles did not view the use of 49%
third-party vendors any differently from those in other roles. 59%
Likewise, there was no difference in the view of vendors if C- 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Figure 14
level support was involved, and organizational size is not asso-
ciated with perceived difference in the importance of vendors. Importance of Third-Party Vendors
29% Critical Service Mgr
Respondents who view vendors as critical are twice as likely Non-Serivce Mgr
27%
as those who believe them to be marginal to employ a vendor
to support business/customer communication (22% vs. 10%). 24% Important
The same relationship exists when considering ITIL consulta- 20%
tion. Those who view vendors as critical or important are twice Not Important
47%
as likely to employ consultants as those who view vendors as
53%
marginal (43% vs. 20%). If you view vendors highly, then you
are more apt to employ them for professional services (audit- 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Figure 15
ing and implementation), systems integration, and outsourced
services, including SaaS and helpdesk monitoring. Third-Party Services Employed During ITIL Strategy
ITIL Foundations Training 71%
ITIL Foundations training was the most commonly used third-
ITIL Consulting 31%
party service employed in ITIL initiatives. It was utilized by 71%
Practicioner Leve Training/Classes 29%
of the responding organizations. This is more than twice the next
highest percentage, 31% for ITIL consulting (see Figure 16). Third-Party Professional Services 26%
Strategic Planning 22%
Finally, when asked about the importance of support tools
Outsourced Services 18%
having the capability to align with ITIL processes, the clear ma-
Third-Party Systems Integrators 16%
jority views that alignment as critical (see Figure17).
Business Customer Involvement 15%
Firmagraphics Business Customer Communication
Figure 16
14%
The size of both the organizations and IT departments that re-
spondents work for varied greatly. The industries in which the Importance of Tool Alignment
Somewhat Not Important
Important 2%
Important 8% Very
but Not Important
Necessary 64%
26%
Figure 17
Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 11respondents worked also varied. Firm Size
Organizational Size Over 10k
Up to 2k
40%
32%
Sixty percent of the respondents work in organizations with
fewer than 10,000 employees. With that said, larger organiza-
tions (>10,000 employees) are more apt than smaller organiza-
tions to be following the breadth of ITIL processes. This could be
due in part to a greater likelihood to have a dedicated service
manager role (see Figure 18).
IT Department Size
2k–5k
Forty percent of respondents work in IT organizations with 175 5k-10k 16%
12%
or fewer employees. Large IT organizations (3,001+ employees) Figure 18
accounted for 19% of the respondent base (see Figure 19).
IT Department Size
The reduction in the cost of delivering IT services as a priority
is easy to see for larger firms (more than 3,000 IT employees), 3k +
19% Up to 60
21%
but there is also a spike in this measure for firms in the middle
range (176–500 IT employees) (see Figure 20). 501–3k
19%
Key Industries
Six industries accounted for 52% of the respondents: IT-relat-
ed services (14%); health services (10%); federal government
(9%); state and local government (8%); education (6%); and
insurance, real estate, and legal (6%). The sales revenue for the 60–175
20%
respondent’s organizations (non-government) varied from less 176-500
22%
than $100 million annually to over $1 billion (see Figure 21). Figure 19
Worldwide Sales Revenue (Non-Government)
Under $100
Importance of Cost Reduction by IT Department Size Million
Unsure 19% $100 Million
15% to under
Up to 60 53% $1 Billion
16%
61 – 175 57%
176 – 500 72%
501 – 3k 62%
3k+ 72%
Average 63%
Not
Applicable $1 Billion
or More
20%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 30%
Figure 20 Figure 21
Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 12About Global Knowledge Global Knowledge is the worldwide leader in IT and business skills training, with more than 1,200 courses that span foundational and specialized training and certifications. Our core training is focused on Cisco, Microsoft, Avaya, VMware, Red Hat, business process improvement, and leadership development. We deliver via training centers, private facilities, and the Internet, enabling our customers to choose when, where, and how they want to receive training programs and learning services. Founded in 1995, Global Knowledge employs more than 1,300 people worldwide and is headquartered in Cary, N.C. The company is owned by New York-based investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe. Learn more at www.globalknowledge.com. About HDI HDI is a global IT service and technical support membership association and the industry’s premier certification and training body. Guided by an international panel of industry experts and practitioners, HDI is the leading re- source for IT service and technical support emerging trends and best practices. HDI provides members with a vast repository of resources, networking opportunities, and the largest industry event, the HDI Annual Conference & Expo. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, HDI offers training in multiple languages and countries. For more information, visit www.ThinkHDI.com or call +1 719.268.0174. HDI is part of UBM TechWeb, a division of United Business Media LLC. Respondent Sources The house files of Global Knowledge and HDI served as the source for respondents. These files contain IT profes- sionals who are either from HDI’s customer database (N=55,000) and/or who have taken ITIL training from Global Knowledge or its affiliates (N = 5,665). Data collection was open from August 15, 2010 to September 10, 2010. During this period 358 completed surveys were collected via an online survey. Although the respondent’s come from a diverse background they may not be representative of the universe of all firms utilizing ITIL. N = 358 respondents. There is a +/- 5.18% margin of error at the 95% confidence level. Copyright ©2010 Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved. 13
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