ITIL® 4 Practices: A Complete Guide

What Are ITIL Practices Used For?

ITIL 4 practices provide essential tools for managing services, from incident management to enabling change and designing effective solutions. No matter your organisation’s operating model – whether DevOps or a centralised technology approach – ITIL 4 practices help create, deliver, support, and improve services to meet user needs.

The Full Set of ITIL 4 Practices

There are 34 ITIL 4 practices, divided into three categories: General Management Practices, Service Management Practices, and Technical Management Practices. Each practice includes key concepts, success factors, and activities essential for managing services.

ITIL 4 General Management Practices

1. Architecture Management: Align organisational elements to future goals, enabling agile and structured management of complex changes.
2. Continual Improvement: Continuously improve products, services, and processes to meet changing business needs.
3. Information Security Management: Protect information by managing risks to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
4. Knowledge Management: Facilitate the effective use of information across the organisation.
5. Measurement & Reporting: Support decision-making by collecting and assessing relevant data.
6. Organisational Change Management: Ensure smooth and successful implementation of organisational changes.
7. Portfolio Management: Manage programs, projects, and services to align with organisational strategy.
8. Project Management: Plan, monitor, and control projects to ensure successful delivery.
9. Relationship Management: Manage relationships with stakeholders to foster collaboration.
10. Risk Management: Identify and handle risks to ensure organisational sustainability.
11. Service Financial Management: Ensure financial resources are used effectively to support service management.
12. Strategy Management: Formulate and implement strategies to achieve organisational goals.
13. Supplier Management: Manage suppliers to ensure quality product and service delivery.
14. Workforce & Talent Management: Ensure the right people are in the right roles to meet business objectives.

ITIL 4 Service Management Practices

1. Availability Management: Ensure services meet agreed availability levels.
2. Business Analysis: Analyse and define business needs, recommending value-driven solutions.
3. Capacity & Performance Management: Ensure services meet demand and performance expectations efficiently.
4. Change Enablement: Maximise successful IT changes by managing risk and authorising changes.
5. Incident Management: Restore normal service operations quickly to minimise negative impact.
6. IT Asset Management: Manage the lifecycle of IT assets to maximise value and meet regulatory requirements.
7. Monitoring & Event Management: Monitor services and respond to events that may lead to incidents.
8. Problem Management: Identify and manage the root causes of incidents to reduce their impact.
9. Release Management: Make new and changed services available for use.
10. Service Catalogue Management: Provide a consistent source of service information for relevant audiences.
11. Service Configuration Management: Maintain accurate information on service configuration and related items.
12. Service Continuity Management: Ensure service availability during disasters, safeguarding the organisation’s reputation.
13. Service Design: Design services that are fit for purpose and use, aligning with organisational capabilities.
14. Service Desk: Capture demand for incident resolution and service requests.
15. Service Level Management: Set clear performance targets and manage service delivery accordingly.
16. Service Request Management: Handle pre-defined, user-initiated service requests efficiently.
17. Service Validation & Testing: Ensure new or changed services meet requirements and deliver value.

ITIL 4 Technical Management Practices

1. Deployment Management: Manage the deployment of new or changed components to live environments.
2. Infrastructure & Platform Management: Oversee the infrastructure and platforms used by the organisation.
3. Software Development & Management: Ensure applications meet stakeholder needs and comply with requirements.

Conclusion

ITIL 4 practices provide the tools and guidance necessary for organisations to manage services effectively, ensuring they meet user needs and deliver value. From general management to technical practices, ITIL 4 supports the continual improvement and optimisation of services.

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