ITIL stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library and refers to a widely accepted approach used in IT (Information Technology) service management around the globe. ITIL is a compilation of concepts and practices taken from the public and private sectors worldwide that provides details about important practices and procedures for IT services, development and operations.
ITIL was developed by the UK government’s Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) in the 1980s; they came up with this set of procedures as a standard guideline to be used in creating public and private sector contracts.
At first publication in 1989 ITIL was a set of books that dealt with a specific practice related to IT Service Management; the initial set of books were added to very quickly until the entire set consisted of 30 volumes. Then in 2000 the different volumes were combined into 8 sets called ITIL V2; the various sets were grouped based on the area of IT management that they focused on. More recently a 9th set has been added with guidelines geared towards small IT businesses.
The ITIL V2 sets are divided into groups as follows:
- Service Support
- Service Delivery
- ICT Infrastructure Management
- Security Management
- The Business Perspective
- Application Management
- Software Asset Management
- Planning to Implement Service Management
- ITIL Small-Scale Implementation
In 2007 a new set of 5 volumes was published, dubbed ITIL V3; this new set is meant to phase out the V2 set and consists of:
- ITIL Service Strategy
- ITIL Service Design
- ITIL Service Transition
- ITIL Service Operation
- ITIL Continual Service Improvement
There are several certifications available to you that are based on the ITIL practices; these certifications focus on different aspects of ITIL in varying degrees. Since the V2 set is being phased out the certifications associated with it are no longer available; in the V3 set there are 4 levels of certification:
- ITIL V3 Foundation in IT Service Management
- ITIL Intermediate Level
- ITIL V3 Expert Certificate
- ITIL V3 Master Qualification
ITIL has become the most well-known and widely acceptable approach in IT Service management around the globe; as a result many companies will require that you have one or all of the ITIL certifications before they will hire you. Even if ITIL is not a requirement, having the certifications will still boost your chances of getting an IT related job.
There are quite a few sites online that focus only on advertising ITIL jobs and finding qualified persons for them; if you are already ITIL certified and are looking for a job that you are qualified to do, then check out some of the numerous listings from around the globe. If you do not have the qualifications, then maybe you should look into getting yourself certified as the opportunities are out there if you choose to go for them.
One ITIL jobs site even has a Facebook page specifically for linking ITIL qualified persons with potential employers.
