Over
the last few years ITIL has become the flavour du jour in the
US whereas in Europe it has been part of the main course for quite
some time. As someone who spends his time split between Europe and
the US I am intrigued by the difference between the two continents
I regard to Service Management. Same ingredients but a different recipe.
By the way I agree with you that I have now over-cooked the food metaphor.
I
have often wondered whether the difference lies in the culture of
the two continents or is it because ITIL was developed in the UK and
has had longer to establish in Europe. Everybody knows that the
US and European cultures are different and I am sure that we all have
examples so I will let you supply your own example. However the main
cultural difference that intrigues me is the attitude towards service.
In the
US the eagerness to give and receive good service is ingrained in
the way of life, although 'Have a nice day, sir' can sometimes grate
on the nerves. In general Americans are more outgoing and speak their
minds freely whereas Europeans are often more private and keep their
opinions and thoughts closely guarded. So when it comes to IT Service
it is not surprising the Europeans like etiquette and rules whereas
Americans just want to get down to the basics as soon as possible.
Europe
is also a continent of many cultures as anyone who has travelled around
Europe can testify. Imagine a call to a Service Desk in the UK from
a customer in Greece about a piece of software developed in Germany
that is maintained in France. There are enough cultures here to start
an epidemic. It is no surprise therefore to see why defining best
practices, complete with a common vocabulary, is important in Europe.
Originally
ITIL was developed in early 1980's to standardize the UK government
data centres, as they were called then. At that time the various data
centres in the government agencies had processes that were similar
but not the same, for example they all had change control but different
ways of managing change, they had a vocabulary with different words,
and phrases, meaning the same thing. Ironically this also describes
IT around the world.
Once
the UK government had developed the ITIL best practices they quickly
became popular because many of the cultural barriers were immediately
removed and a common It language was desperately needed. Very soon
Government agencies around Europe started to adopt ITIL and ask for
ITIL compliance from suppliers, including IT Service Management software
suppliers. Very quickly large software suppliers found themselves
losing government contracts because they were not ITIL compliant.
This
is a key turning point in the story of ITIL because very quickly the
large software suppliers needed to get their software ITIL compliant
because ITIL was beginning to spread outside of governments. As if
not being able to win large government deals was not enough. So the
software companies began to make their products ITIL compliant.
Meanwhile
in the US a different phenomenon was occurring - certification. Not
just academic qualifications but certifications from hardware and
software vendors to show competency in managing and supporting their
products. Suddenly if you weren't certified you were an outsider.
So now
these two mighty tsunamis began to meet Europeans were being told
by vendors that they needed certification and Americans told by the
same vendors that they needed to adopt best practices. Common denominator?
The vendors. As a result we have a Bridge beginning to appear across
the cultural divide. The beauty of ITIL is that for the Europeans
it is a best practice that has certification whereas for Americans
it is certification that has a best practice.
For Europeans
ITIL has grown organically and been adopted and pruned accordingly
by most organizations. Whereas for Americans ITIL is an introduced
species and like all introduced species has caused some problems with
the existing IT ecosystem. This has been, to some degree, overcome
by the latest refreshed versions of the ITIL books and the involvement
of largest American vendors, such as Microsoft, getting involved in
some of the newer publications.
When
I first started visiting the US I was surprised by the number of focused
conferences and organizations with numerous chapters, for example
the Help Desk Institute has very focused conferences and about 50
chapters. In Europe there are much fewer conferences, possibly because
Europeans on average have 4-6 weeks vacation per year, and Europeans
do not like attending after work events. Here ITIL has an ace up it's
sleeve because the ITSMF, which provides chapters and conferences,
perfectly fits the American model so if ITSMF really gets going the
we can expect to see ITIL grow very quickly.
My experience
shows that ITIL fits both cultures perfectly and because it is the
public domain is neither expensive or is it restrictive. As a last
point be aware of restricted practices, these are developed and owned
by a vendor, that are based around ITIL, some are excellent but be
careful what you commit to because as I said one of the biggest strengths
of ITIL is that it is the public domain.
So y'all
should adopt ITIL old chap.
About
Malcolm Fry
Malcom
Fry holds a Master's-level certification in ITIL, and has 35 years
of experience in IT service and support. Fry is a recognized IT industry
expert in a number of industries including retail, production, oil
and pharmaceuticals, and consulting. He is the author of four best
selling books on IT service and support and is the solo performer
in a highly successful best selling video series made for the Help
Desk Institute. He has worked in more than thirty countries. In addition
to Fry's long-standing relationship with Pink Elephant Inc. in Toronto,
Fry has been on the boards of various organizations, including Protocol
International Limited and Help Desk Institute's Strategic Advisory
Board.
