Speak to any IT professional, and they’ll tell you all about their thoughts on IT process development. But in the IT Industry, it is hard to get IT professionals to agree on the conversation around ITIL and DevOps. Which one is better? Does one help the other? Do you need to pick one and stick with it? The answer depends on your company’s use case.
Let's start with the foundation.
What is ITIL?
ITIL (The Information Technology Infrastructure Library) provides a framework adopted by thousands of organizations that have chosen a standardized approach to IT Service Management (ITSM). This highly structured methodology leads to a better quality of service management, outcomes, and operations. ITIL reduces IT operations costs, allows for more focus on business issues, and increases productivity for IT employees.
What is DevOps?
DevOps is a methodology that combines the philosophies, tools, and practices needed to deliver applications and services quickly. A functional DevOps team requires collaboration between developers and IT operations to increase the efficiency of software development within the product lifecycle. The DevOps lifecycle is often depicted in an infinity loop, like the one below, because it symbolizes the necessity for constant improvement and collaboration. This approach works very well for businesses that prioritize working holistically and encourages team collaboration.
In some situations, both approaches might be needed to achieve optimal results.
At the surface level, the principles of DevOps directly contradict the standard structured principles of ITIL, but if implemented correctly, the two can support each other.
The key to doing so effectively is to begin by listing the key ITIL processes needed and identifying potential complications. After identifying, businesses can utilize these complications as a starting point for DevOps integration. By working in this manner, most companies find that misunderstandings within the software development lifecycle are reduced. We see this shift because DevOps is considered more of a philosophical idea that focuses on evolving employees’ mindsets to support collaboration between development and operation teams. By using the processes of ITIL and then implementing the principles of DevOps, companies skyrocket their business operations. With tools like ServiceNow and Ivanti ITSM, integrating these systems can be integrated with quality and accuracy.
We know there is a lot to consider when trying to establish an appropriate approach for your business. It's important to cover the foundational questions first, so you can align your thinking and develop a comprehensive strategy.
You’ll want to consider asking the following questions:
- What is the problem you are trying to solve?
- What results and/or benefits would you like to see?
- What current processes support existing capabilities?
- What is the typical rate of change within your organization?
Once you’ve answered these questions, it's time to take the next steps.
But keep in mind a careless implementation of either of these solutions can bring about more problems than it solves; Aptimized is here to bring ITIL and DEV/OPS together in a productive way. We leverage your ITSM solution to ensure process adherence and ensure rapid time to value for all tech deployments. Contact us with your questions, and we will connect you with the best point of contact to assist you.