Using ITIL In Your Small Business

ITIL - Information Technology Infrastructure Library - is the name of a collection

of 'best practices' that originated in the government of the United Kingdom. It's a very technical-sounding, but the truth is that the ITIL is simply a massive collection of procedures that any business with an IT department -- even if it's just one guy in a closet office -- can use to make sure that everything the IT guy does is as efficient as possible.

Why would a small business go to all of the trouble? There are a few good reasons. The amount of money your business can save by training your IT department on these best practices is startling -- that alone is worth the investment. Also, the ITIL covers a huge variety of topics, so if your IT guy comes across a foreign situation, he can look it up in the Library and get a procedure for dealing with it. Finally, the ITIL has been tested across hundreds of thousands of real-world situations; it's proven to be effective -- so your IT deparment never needs to waste time and energy on experimental techniques or solutions.

One thing to note: there are three versions of the ITIL, and you should be using the most recent. The Library can help a small business to focus on bringing value to the customer, knowing that the technical details are under control safely in the background. Because the ITIL is continuously being updated, as new technology and circumstances come up, they are addressed by the companies that are impacted by them and the best solutions are added to the ITIL. Similarly, as government demands for compliance in certain areas of IT change, the ITIL will change to meet those demands, so you can be certain of being legal at all times.

No small business ever intends to be stagnant -- growth and expansion are always on the agenda. One of the best ways to make sure that you're growing in the most effective possible manner is to look at the biggest companies that have gone before you, and mimic them. The ITIL is a uniquely coherent way to make sure that, in at least your Information Technology, you are doing just that.

To keep its momentum strong, a company should strive to keep every department adhering to three things: their mission statement, a dedication to customer service, and the best practices available in their area. The ITIL can't help with those first two, but it is the way to accomplish the third. The ITIL sets forth measurable targets for compliance and procedures that act as stepping stones toward success.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library may have its origins in the billion-dollar world of big business and government, but it can have a thousand-dollar impact on your small business' bottom line. It's well worth checking out.

Using ITIL In Your Small Business

By: Jen Morrison

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