The Truth About The Updates to ITIL V3 Core Library

The OGC recently announced updates to the ITIL V3 Core Guidance under their continual improvement “Mandate for Change”. The update is intended to be a new “edition” not a new “version” in that the framework will be largely unchanged.

The Mandate for Change also clearly states that “new concepts are not to be added.”

I had a chance to speak with representatives of the OGC and The Stationary Office (TSO) publishers at the recent Dallas Fusion 2009 conference, Both emphasized that the project is in the early stages and that the updated books will likely not be published until 2011.

So why the need for the update? First published in May of 2007, each of the five books in the ITIL V3 Core Library was written by a pair of authors. From the start, readers and training organizations identified many inconsistencies across the lifecycle stages and processes. Some of the new roles were not clearly differentiated; others did not appear in related sections. Standard terminology and formatting was not uniformly applied. Most importantly, feedback on the Service Strategy book repeatedly indicated that the concepts were difficult to understand and apply. The updates are in response to reader and training organization feedback and is part of OGC's continual improvement cycle.

The OGC has set the following goals for the update:

• Remedy inconsistencies between the five books
• Align with other relevant OGC frameworks (PRINCE2, M_o_R, etc.)
• Clearly explain roles and responsibilities
• Standardize the use of glossary terms and definitions across the books
• Update the glossary
• Examine the definition and usage of Product Manager and Service Owner roles
• Ensure that the Service Catalog Manager appears within Service Operation
• Simplify Service Strategy
• Redesign content according to OGC’s updated style guidelines

A Change Control Log managed by OGC’s Change Advisory Board currently contains 312 recommended revisions. A link to the Change Log is within the Mandate for Change. The Mandate also states that training organizations and others will be invited to provide additional feedback and recommendations.

As the project progresses, further details of the update together with a more precise publication date will be announced.

To read the Mandate for Change go to http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Mandate_for_Change_0909.pdf