Which of the following elements of continual improvement are part of ITIL 4?
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If you’re new to ITIL and/or continual improvement, then this blog will help you to understand what it is and how it helps. Even if you’re not, you might find the coverage of what’s new in ITIL 4, in terms of continual improvement, helpful. Please keep reading to find out more. Show
ITIL continual improvement explainedIf you’re familiar with ITIL, then this was previously called continual service improvement (CSI). We have various earlier blogs available to read on what it is and how best to use it:
If you don’t have the time to read these right now, then here’s the ITIL 4 continual improvement practice definition: “The purpose of the continual improvement practice is to align the organization’s practices and services with changing business needs through the ongoing improvement of products, services, practices, or any element involved in the management of products and services.” Source: AXELOS, Continual Improvement ITIL 4 Practice Guide (2020) And if you think about where most organizations are right now post-pandemic, then you can imagine how much improvement-related change will be needed as they continue to respond to the new ways of engaging and working that will need technology enablement during 2021 and beyond. The best improvements are planned and organizedOf course, we can all spot and address improvement opportunities on the fly. But consider the following three questions:
The likely answers here are no, yes, and no – and none of these are desirable states from a business optimization perspective. To help avoid suboptimal improvement investments, ITIL suggests the use of an improvement register such that ideas can be formally recorded, assessed, and actioned by all the appropriate stakeholders. An improvement record, within the improvement register, will include details about the opportunity/need that include:
But this is only a small slice of the guidance ITIL 4 offers for formalizing improvement activities for better operations, services, experiences, and outcomes. The ITIL Continual Improvement practice is more than a processIf you already know ITIL, then you’ll also know that up until the latest version it’s been very process-centric – with incident management, change management, and many other processes front and center in the body of the earlier IT service management (ITSM) best practice guidance. However, with ITIL 4, the focus is now very much on capabilities that encapsulate people, processes, and technology. Plus, on the co-creation of value. Hence, it’s the continual improvement practice in ITIL 4 rather than simply the continual improvement process. And the scope of the practice is wide-ranging and includes:
Source: AXELOS, Continual Improvement ITIL 4 Practice Guide (2020) Bringing this back to your improvements in 2021The Continual Improvement ITIL 4 Practice Guide is 33 pages long so there’s a lot of improvement-based guidance being shared in the publication. A key part of “getting things done” in terms of continual improvement is the ITIL Continual Improvement Model shown below. The ITIL Continual Improvement ModelSource: AXELOS, Continual Improvement ITIL 4 Practice Guide (2020) If you know the ITIL v3/2011 version well, you’ll notice that the ITIL version has an extra step – take action. It’s also worth understanding that the Continual Improvement ITIL 4 Practice Guide isn’t the only place to find continual improvement guidance. Some would argue that the continual improvement section in the ITIL 4 Managing Professional Direct, Plan and Improve publication is a vital source of guidance given that it walks the reader through the steps of the ITIL Continual Improvement Model. Including what should be in place at the end of each step. For example, at the end of step six “Did we get there?”, there should be:
The latter of which is described in the Direct, Plan and Improve publication in a section called “Conducting an improvement review.” So, if your organization is looking to improve in 2021 – and we can’t imagine that it won’t be – then the ITIL continual improvement practice will help. Importantly, and you might not have noticed this when reading the blog, it can be applied within any business function in your organization, not just in IT. As per most of ITIL, the guidance is aimed across the enterprise and not just for IT and ITSM. What are the 4 a continuous improvement model?4 Key Principles of Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement methodology hinges on four concrete phases: plan, do, check, and act. This is sometimes called the plan-do-check-act cycle or PDCA cycle, and it reveals the guiding principles of continuous improvement.
What is ITIL concept of continual improvement?ITIL 4's continual improvement management practice – remember, it was continual service improvement (CSI) in ITIL v3 – is a recurring organizational activity performed at all levels to ensure that an organization's performance and outcomes are always aligned to changing stakeholder expectations.
Which of the following are important elements of the continual service improvement process?Continual service improvement processes
3 focuses on four principal processes for continual service improvement: service reviews, process evaluations, initiatives and monitoring.
Which of the following is the fundamental aspect of ITIL 4 framework?ITIL 4 represents a fundamental reorganization of the ITIL framework with an increased focus on the concepts of value, cost, and risk. The new framework includes many of the same components as ITIL V3 while incorporating updated knowledge and concepts that reflect a more value-oriented focus to IT service delivery.
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