Should MSPs be looking to implement ITIL for their service desk?

I think it’s a great idea. Josh, when I was at the MSPAlliance conference Autotask did a presentation that talked about ITIL - it looked like a great framework. A lot of what we already do…but a lot of things we probably don’t (or don’t have clearly defined).

MRC

Hi Josh

A few things:

1) ITIL is not really a standard but a framework for implementing best practices. ITIL does not in any way mandate that the IT service provider adopt all the processes–most are happy with incident and problem management. ITIL provides a howto of how to implement that–distilled from the experiences of others–but one which you can freely customize to your environment

2) There are actually frameworks which are patterned after ITIL. Microsoft has its MS Operations Framework or MOF, there is also FITS which is tailored for small schools.

Hope this was helpful…

Notes from an email conversation I asked the reader if i could share (names and places have been changed to protect the innocent.. in all seriousness:

I thought your questions about ITIL were pretty interesting. For a place like Everon, it seems that ITIL doesn’t have the flexibility that meshes with your culture. The volume of information contained in the ITIL seems to fit larger enterprises and falls short for small businesses. You say “if nothing else [it] creates standards and controls for your team to work within.” Other frameworks like the MOF also does that and seems to simplify those processes: Plan, Deliver, Operate, and Manage. It seems to me that Everon is aiming to let someone else or another entity worry about those things. (Hosted Services, Remote networks, Etc..) In that scenario, you don’t have to worry about your people, just ensure that the Zenith Infotechs of the world are ITIL certified or have those processes in place. Reminds me of the issue with a client and SAS70 compliance. Who would manage the flow of RFCs and FSCs in an organization of 50 people, who are supporting hundreds of workstations and thousands of servers? In my opinion, there are too many variables there.

I think from a strategic perspective, you are managing your companies ability to align objectives, policies, and procedures to deliver services to support your *own* business strategy. Providing it for your 150-200 clients sounds like a $5K a month service offering (patent pending, trademark, copyright!). For the type of services Everon provides, the ITIL seems like overkill as far as a roadmap for service management or compliance