Driving value at a time of accelerated change: the new ITIL (Version 5) modules

Christy Greening - IT change management expert

My recent experience of taking the advanced ITIL Transformation and ITIL Managing Professional Transition (Version 5) modules reminded me just how important ITIL has been to my career. Since I first gained ITIL v2 through to today, it’s been a staple in my tool kit.

I’ve used ITIL for managing complex changes, applied it when helping companies adopt emerging technologies, and always turned to it when running projects in highly-regulated markets. It has guided process development and roll-out and provided the governance needed to deliver and audit projects.

It’s also been fundamental in identifying roles and responsibilities, and in understanding how processes flow between functions and tasks, all of which underpin successful projects. ITIL has also brought stability in times of change and helped forge a pathway to the right outcomes for the organizations I’ve worked at and their customers.

The new ITIL (Version 5) modules honour this foundation, but they have evolved the thinking to reflect the demands of business today. In particular, there’s more focus on digital products and services and on new technologies such as AI.

There’s also greater emphasis on co-creation of value and the collaboration needed between stakeholders, service providers, and partners, as well as the culture that product and service teams need to build to succeed.

Value at the heart

Value has always been a feature of ITIL, but the latest ITIL Transformation module ensures managers put value at the heart of delivery. This reminder has been extremely impactful to me, because it gives us - product and service managers - permission to check that what we are doing is relevant to delivering the end goal.

I believe there is no point in rolling out change unless the disruption and adjustments people and functions undergo lead to significant positive benefits. In this way, the ITIL Managing Professional Transition module encourages more of this big picture thinking in a way it’s not done before.

Timely introduction of the modules

This is a timely change. Many businesses are managing erratic and dynamic trading environments, working under pressures they didn’t plan for three, six, or twelve months ago. As the world changes, ensuring the projects you’re working on still deliver value is hugely valid for protecting resources, money, and morale. And if projects are not value-driven, having the frameworks and the confidence to review and course-correct is beneficial.

None of this is new, but the way the modules link governance and value has shifted. Change isn’t easy, and it often isn’t simple. There are always going to be dependencies and ripple effects. But with the right structures in place, it’s certainly more straightforward to review a plan and its delivery against intended outcomes, especially when you ensure the impact is long-lasting for the right reasons.

Culture and change are interlinked for big picture thinking

I believe people will find the new modules helpful for embedding change. If you need a group of internal users to change how they do something for the value to be realized, then you need to make sure you’ve thought about what support they will need.

You can’t deliver a project and hope it will ‘stick’. You need to create the culture and environment to make it happen. The importance of simple things like knowledge articles can’t be underestimated.

The case study used in the course materials represents all these aspects brilliantly, drawing attention to not only what you do but also how you do it. Based on driverless cars and their introduction to a global regulated market, the case study uses the advent of fledgling technology, the associated safety concerns, and a complex set of value chains to highlight how governance, culture, and value are interdependent.

It makes you think about the end-to-end value chain and the scale and scope of the individual parts that make up the whole.

Finally, I think the aspects on collaboration within the modules will be especially helpful for companies introducing ITIL or refreshing their use of it. Using common language and terminology will help teams achieve more and articulate the value they will deliver and create for stakeholders. I can see this will be especially pertinent as companies adopt AI and focus on the ‘bigger picture’.