8 Major Updates in ITIL® 4 That You Need To Know About

The Key Updates in the Updated ITIL®  4

ITIL® 4 is an updated version of ITIL v3 concepts. While the best practices from previous versions are still valid, the ITIL 4 have been evolved to include additional approaches and modern practices with the aim of delivering valuable products and services to customers.

The latest ITIL 4 scheme has been mainly designed to be compatible with ITIL V3 and efficient enough to beyond the ITIL foundation level. Doing an ITIL 4 Foundation Certification course can both introduce you to this newest version of the ITIL exam and equips you to understand and improve an IT-enabled enterprise.

Here we are discussing the 8 major updates in ITIL 4 that you need to know about-

1. Processes have been changed to practices

The primary update in ITIL 4 is the introduction of practices instead of processes to deliver more value to customers. These upgrades make the new ITIL 4 framework much more flexible and future-ready.

2. Move to service value chain from Service Lifecycle

The Service Value System (SVS) in updated ITIL 4 promotes business strategies that result in better business outcomes. SVS promotes collaboration and working together of all the components and activities of an organization to enable value creation. The aim of SVS is to co-create a robust ecosystem of value delivery along with organizations, customers, and various stakeholders.

SVS supports this value chain under the below-mentioned five activities-

• Engage
• Plan
• Improve
• Obtain to Build
• design or Transition

3. Governance Autonomy in ITIL 4

The latest ITIL 4 has a governance component in the service value system, which is largely about the direction and control of an organization. Unlike the ITIL version 3 where governance was covered under service strategy, the updated ITIL framework outlays a more simplified and clear idea of the governance model.

4. Update in the Guiding Principles of ITIL

The nine guiding principles defined in ITIL 3 for ITIL practitioners have been compressed to seven in the updated ITIL 4. These principles are holistic in nature and much more practical to apply. These seven ITIL guiding principles include-

• Focus on value
• Start where you are
• Progress iteratively with feedback
• Collaborate and promote visibility
• Think and work holistically
• Keep it simple and practical
• Optimize and automate

5. Update in the practices in ITIL

The updates ITIL 4 version has more practices (total 34) than the processes in ITIL V3. As compared to ITIL v3, ITIL 4 processes are much more flexible, practical and simpler. They allow organizations to take a holistic approach and adopt a more dynamic environment to help in executing tasks in a smooth manner. There are more than 30 practices covered under ITIL 4 including-

These practices are categorized as below-

General Management Practices

• Continual improvement
• Organizational change management
• Information security management
• Portfolio management
• Portfolio management
•  Architecture management
• Knowledge management
• Measurement and reporting service financial management

Technical Management Practices

• Infrastructure and platform management
• Deployment management
• Software development and management

Service Management Practices

• Service validation and testing
• Business analysis
• Availability management
• Capacity and performance
• Monitoring and event management
• Service design
• Service catalogue management
• IT asset management
• Monitoring and event management
• Release management

6. Holistic Approach

The latest ITIL 4 defines four different dimensions that are considered as a holistic approach to service management. These dimensions are-

• Organizations and people
• Partners and suppliers
• Information and technology
• Value streams and processes

ITIL 4 service value chain makes use of these dimensions to create a more comprehensive new framework.

7. Updated Software Development and Management Approach

ITIL 4 version provides an enhanced and high-level overview of management activities and software development, whereas ITIL V3 describes the same concept in the Application Management function of the ITIL Service Operation publication.

8. Support automation and other modern technologies

The ITIL 4 approach covers all the latest technologies making buzz in today’s digitized world. These include AI, Robotics, IoT, automation, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, etc.

ITIL 4 helps organizations adapt to the increased complexity of digitization. It has a robust approach to business by addressing the digital approach to automation and optimization.

To conclude

ITIL 4 version has been primarily developed to help organizations achieve excellence, keeping in mind the increased demand from the present-day digitized environment. ITIL 4 Foundation training from a reputed institute can help you understand the concepts, best practices, languages, and processes utilized in the ITIL 4 lifecycle to be able to make a rewarding career in the IT service management field.