Summary ITIL Foundation ITIL 4 Edition
This summary is based on the book ‘ITIL Foundation ITIL 4 Edition” of Axelos (ISBN: 9780113316076).
Content
Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2
Chapter 2 Key concepts of service management .................................................................................... 3
Chapter 3 The four dimensions of service management ........................................................................ 6
Chapter 4 The ITIL Service value system ................................................................................................. 9
Chapter 5 ITIL management practices................................................................................................... 16
1
,Chapter 1 Introduction
• IT Service Management in the modern world
o Services are the main way that organizations create value for themselves and their
customers. Almost all services today are IT-enabled, meaning there is tremendous
benefit in creating, expanding and improving IT service management capabilities.
o As technology advances faster and can lead to a competitive advantage, IT becomes
an important business driver and a strategic capability.
• About ITIL 4
o Designed to ensure a flexible, coordinated and integrated system for the effective
governance and management of IT-enabled services.
• The structure and benefits of ITIL 4 framework
o The ITIL Service Value System (SVS) represent how the various components and
activities of the organization work together to facilitate value creation through IT-
enabled services. It facilitates integration and coordination and provides a strong,
unified, value-focused direction for the organization.
▪ The components are the ITIL Service Value Chain, the ITIL practices, the ITIL
guiding principles, governance and continual improvement
o The Service Value Chain provides an operating model for the creation, delivery and
continual improvement of services. It defines 6 activities that can be combined in
many ways, forming multiple value streams. It is flexible enough to be adapted to
approaches like DevOps.
▪ The service value chain is supported by ITIL practices
▪ The guiding principles can be used to guide the organization’s decisions and
actions to ensure a shared understanding and common approach to service
management across the organization. They are the foundation of the culture.
o The four dimensions model ensures a holistic approach to service management,
making sure that the SVS remains balanced and effective. The four dimensions are:
▪ Organizations and people
▪ Information and technology
▪ Partners and suppliers
▪ Values streams and processes
The Service Value System The Service Value Chain The four dimensions model
2
, Chapter 2 Key concepts of service management
• Introduction
o Service Management is a set of specialized organizational capabilities for enabling
value for customers in the form of services.
o If you want to develop these capabilities you need to understand the nature of value,
the nature and scope of the stakeholders and how value is created through services.
• Value and value co-creation
o Value are the perceived benefits, usefulness, and importance of something. It is
subject to the perception of the stakeholders and thus subjective.
o Nowadays value is co-created through an active collaboration between the service
provider and the consumer in the area of requirement definition, design of the
service and sometimes even provisioning of the service. It is therefore no longer just
a mono-directional transaction from the provider to the customer.
• Organizations, service providers, service consumers and other stakeholders
o An organization is a person or group of people that has its own function with
responsibilities, authorities, and relationships to achieve its objectives. An
organization can have different roles depending on the situation.
o Service providers. When provisioning services, an organization takes on the role of
service provider. The provider can be external to the consumers’ organization, or be
part of the same organization as the consumer.
o Service consumers. When receiving services, an organization takes on the role of the
service consumer. There are different types of roles involved in service consumption
and a person or organization can have multiple roles:
▪ A customer is a person who defines the requirements for a service and takes
responsibility for the outcomes of service consumption.
▪ A user is a person who uses a service.
▪ A sponsor is a person who authorizes the budget for service consumption.
o Other stakeholders. An organization has more stakeholders to manage, like
suppliers, investors, shareholders, regulators, employees etc.
• Products and services
o Configuring resources for value creation
▪ The services that an organization provides are based on one or more of its
products. Organizations own or have access to a variety of resources,
including people, information and technology, value streams and processes,
and suppliers and partners.
▪ Services are a means of enabling value co-creation by facilitating outcomes
that customers want to achieve, without the customer having to manage
specific costs and risks.
▪ Products are a configuration of organizational resources designed to offer
value for a consumer. Products are usually not exclusive to one consumer
group and are typically complex and not fully visible to the consumer.
o Service offerings
▪ Service providers present their services to consumers in the form of service
offerings, which describe one or more services based on one or more
products.
3
This summary is based on the book ‘ITIL Foundation ITIL 4 Edition” of Axelos (ISBN: 9780113316076).
Content
Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2
Chapter 2 Key concepts of service management .................................................................................... 3
Chapter 3 The four dimensions of service management ........................................................................ 6
Chapter 4 The ITIL Service value system ................................................................................................. 9
Chapter 5 ITIL management practices................................................................................................... 16
1
,Chapter 1 Introduction
• IT Service Management in the modern world
o Services are the main way that organizations create value for themselves and their
customers. Almost all services today are IT-enabled, meaning there is tremendous
benefit in creating, expanding and improving IT service management capabilities.
o As technology advances faster and can lead to a competitive advantage, IT becomes
an important business driver and a strategic capability.
• About ITIL 4
o Designed to ensure a flexible, coordinated and integrated system for the effective
governance and management of IT-enabled services.
• The structure and benefits of ITIL 4 framework
o The ITIL Service Value System (SVS) represent how the various components and
activities of the organization work together to facilitate value creation through IT-
enabled services. It facilitates integration and coordination and provides a strong,
unified, value-focused direction for the organization.
▪ The components are the ITIL Service Value Chain, the ITIL practices, the ITIL
guiding principles, governance and continual improvement
o The Service Value Chain provides an operating model for the creation, delivery and
continual improvement of services. It defines 6 activities that can be combined in
many ways, forming multiple value streams. It is flexible enough to be adapted to
approaches like DevOps.
▪ The service value chain is supported by ITIL practices
▪ The guiding principles can be used to guide the organization’s decisions and
actions to ensure a shared understanding and common approach to service
management across the organization. They are the foundation of the culture.
o The four dimensions model ensures a holistic approach to service management,
making sure that the SVS remains balanced and effective. The four dimensions are:
▪ Organizations and people
▪ Information and technology
▪ Partners and suppliers
▪ Values streams and processes
The Service Value System The Service Value Chain The four dimensions model
2
, Chapter 2 Key concepts of service management
• Introduction
o Service Management is a set of specialized organizational capabilities for enabling
value for customers in the form of services.
o If you want to develop these capabilities you need to understand the nature of value,
the nature and scope of the stakeholders and how value is created through services.
• Value and value co-creation
o Value are the perceived benefits, usefulness, and importance of something. It is
subject to the perception of the stakeholders and thus subjective.
o Nowadays value is co-created through an active collaboration between the service
provider and the consumer in the area of requirement definition, design of the
service and sometimes even provisioning of the service. It is therefore no longer just
a mono-directional transaction from the provider to the customer.
• Organizations, service providers, service consumers and other stakeholders
o An organization is a person or group of people that has its own function with
responsibilities, authorities, and relationships to achieve its objectives. An
organization can have different roles depending on the situation.
o Service providers. When provisioning services, an organization takes on the role of
service provider. The provider can be external to the consumers’ organization, or be
part of the same organization as the consumer.
o Service consumers. When receiving services, an organization takes on the role of the
service consumer. There are different types of roles involved in service consumption
and a person or organization can have multiple roles:
▪ A customer is a person who defines the requirements for a service and takes
responsibility for the outcomes of service consumption.
▪ A user is a person who uses a service.
▪ A sponsor is a person who authorizes the budget for service consumption.
o Other stakeholders. An organization has more stakeholders to manage, like
suppliers, investors, shareholders, regulators, employees etc.
• Products and services
o Configuring resources for value creation
▪ The services that an organization provides are based on one or more of its
products. Organizations own or have access to a variety of resources,
including people, information and technology, value streams and processes,
and suppliers and partners.
▪ Services are a means of enabling value co-creation by facilitating outcomes
that customers want to achieve, without the customer having to manage
specific costs and risks.
▪ Products are a configuration of organizational resources designed to offer
value for a consumer. Products are usually not exclusive to one consumer
group and are typically complex and not fully visible to the consumer.
o Service offerings
▪ Service providers present their services to consumers in the form of service
offerings, which describe one or more services based on one or more
products.
3
