Are Process Activities In The ITIL V3 Publications Valid Now That ITIL 4 Is Here?

Corde asks, “What are your suggestions for ITSM oriented organizations and students regarding referring to processes activities in the 45 ITIL V3 2011 books now that ITIL 4 has been released?”

Hi Corde, good question and right now my best answer is that you can’t go wrong with the information in the 2011 volumes. It’s been around for years and until AXELOS releases the new information around the various practices, 2011 is what we have. I strongly feel that continuing to study the 2011 information will NOT hurt and will HELP in the long-run, if only for the fact, you are still learning.

I would also strongly encourage everyone to “challenge” what is written in 2011 and define how it is applicable today (Agile/Lean/DevOps are all process-based…where do you think those processes came from, for the most part? Current industry processes/best practices were just adapted to fit the characteristics of Agile/Lean/DevOps, and other management practices.). There has been a bit of insight from AXELOS on the updated practices and in Q&A sessions held last year for trainers and training organizations. We were promised some of the practice documentation when the exam was released (28 Feb/1 Mar). I’m looking forward to seeing this information to see exactly what they are including/expanding. My best guess is that they will mold the practices to the SVS and Service Value Chain as well as make definite and documented “pointers” to where Agile/Lean/DevOps changes could occur. Frankly, most orgs have probably already ‘streamlined’ the ITIL processes to fit the needs of their organization in terms of velocity, security, agility, etc. but now we will have examples from AXELOS. Best… Suzanne