ITIL: Is it Really Necessary?

The adage “practice promotes perfection” rings true in almost all curricular and extracurricular activities. Be it from the basketball court to the court room, a well prepared individual will most definitely succeed against his adversary. Thus, best practices in an industry are a vital component of a company’s success.  In the financial and accounting services world, Arthur Andersen Auditing firm failed to comply with the mandatory auditing standards which led to the Enron scandal which in turn piloted the formulation of Corporate Governance that highlighted transparency and ethics to a corporation’s stakeholders. Another example of this application would be the Code of Professional Responsibility which emphasizes the various ethical conduct and duties a lawyer must follow in order to promote an effective and efficient defense of his client and of the legal profession.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library or notably known as ITIL is a species of this assemblage of best practices. Borne out of necessity, ITIL has been constantly improved and refined in order to portray the finest IT global practices to help a company achieve its goals. One of the companies that have promoted ITIL is Disney, a corporate giant with over 1000 IT employees, 800 applications, and 1800 servers worldwide. Customer relations is Disney’s core value, therefore, it must be prioritized and safeguarded. As a consequence, Disney’s Theme Parks and Resorts VP Glen Taylor championed ITIL to improve the level of service available to its patrons resulting to the perfect experience for guests.

I resoundingly agree with Taylor’s move because this would not only increase customer patronage and company profits but also improve Disney’s image as a provider of “a good, clean, great and fun experience for the family”. With enough financial resources, a company should adopt and implement ITIL in the soonest possible time since it will greatly improve its overall performance. Finally, Taylor hints that the ITIL adopter must not underestimated the communication needed since it is critical to success; leverage the tools and documents that already exist; and be as practical as possible. If this is the bandwagon, why not jump in?