I originally started this blog with something akin to “People Sell Out, so Why Can’t Process?” with the goal of giving a (minor) criticism to the fact that the Capita JV really is the sellout of ITIL.  Instead of being so negative about the joint venture, and with it being the Fourth of July tomorrow, I really sat back for a minute and considered; what’s the best thing that can come out of the JV?

I’ll be honest that when I heard the news of the name for the new JV, Axelos (or is it AXELOS?), I felt a little betrayed by the UK Government (they may have intended the betrayal to get me back for losing the war in 1776, but that’s a personal conspiracy theory).  A big part of the betrayal came from the fact that with a change in ownership comes a change in management, and the change is apparently starting with a rebranding of the venture.  While Capita spent millions of dollars and has the right to rebrand the management of ITIL anyway they want, it’s a solid reminder that the “best practice” framework that I love so much is now in a major state of flux.  In alignment with what The IT Skeptic posted (http://www.itskeptic.org/content/some-thoughts-capita-jv) regarding his thoughts on the venture, I’m not feeling like this privatization is a good thing.  I do agree that we won’t know the full extent of the fallout until 2014, but I’m neurotic and I hate waiting for any length of time (despite agreeing that “Slow IT” is a good idea).  Needless to say, it’s evident to me that ITIL is on its way down into the “Trough of Disillusionment” in the hype cycle and this sell-out of the intellectual property is only pushing the trough down to lower depths.

In the spirit of July 4th, and being American which means I generally like rebellion, I’m pushing the agenda that the only answer to truly improving the IT Service Management framework known as ITIL is to toss it out the window and start over.  Yup, you heard me correctly; get rid of the thing.  And not because the content is outdated or corrupt (even though it’s probably outdated), but because it’s now owned by a private organization and at a time in technological history where successful IT endeavors are coming from open source projects, and oftentimes these newer platforms are cheap or free.  So why is process any different?  Why is it that as Android starts to take over the mobile space, Linux gains desktop share, and Chrome is the #1 browser, one of the most widely known process frameworks is being sold-out to a private company that may possibly deter anyone from the ITSM community from actively contributing to the material?

Besides, ITIL is only a framework.  By definition it’s only a skeletal reference and doesn’t have a lot of substance to it anyway.  Don’t believe me?  Read over Release & Deployment Management in Service Transition and draw me up the defined process from the knowledge contained in that specific ITIL V3 volume.  So the lack of material contributed from active practical experience is already any issue, let alone compounding the problem from privatization.

So maybe it’s time we take some lessons from the 21st century and apply it to a process framework of the future.  Why can’t we create a crowdsourced, open source framework for process that has active contributions from the ITSM community, but unlike ITIL, not be stashed away in a castle (thanks to The IT Skeptic for the analogy) hidden by expensive training and certifications.  We certainly have the tools, and there are a lot of brilliant people out there in ITSM.  And since it’s almost July 4th, I could certainly go for a little rebellion against the British.

By the way, an open source process is not my idea.  I simply own a blog  and have the opinion that the privatization of ITIL is pushing the ITSM community towards this solution.  I’m sure on July 5th I’ll be feeling less rebellious.

Michael

Started working in IT in 1999 as a support desk analyst as a way to help pay for food during college. Studied Electrical Engineering for two years before realizing biochemistry was more fun than differential equations, and so ultimately graduated with a Biology degree in 2006. Having (reluctantly) failed at getting accepted into dental school, embraced working in IT and has gone broke becoming an ITIL Expert. Likes to jog, sing camp songs, quote Mel Brooks movie lines and make dumb jokes and loves working for an Israeli tech company where December 25th is a regular work day.