Organizations develop problem-management strategies but in many organizations, these strategies are of reactive nature rather than proactive nature. This means the organizations are always handling the problem after it occurs instead of being prepared for them. They are not able to timely handle the emergencies that happen because of their unpreparedness. This is because they look for short-term or immediate solutions to the problems rather than developing long-term solutions to prevent the problems from occurring. The answer to this is in moving from reactive management to proactive management and taking maximum advantage of various tools available in today's technologically advanced world. And Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is one such tool. Let us first know about ITIL.

What is ITIL?

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a framework for managing IT services that provide an outline of the best practices for delivering IT services. The ITIL framework has been developed for standardizing the selection, planning, delivery, maintenance, and complete lifecycle of the IT services within the organization. ITIL aims to boost efficiency and reach predictable service delivery. The structured method of ITIL toward IT Service Management (ITSM) helps organizations in managing risks better, make customer relationships stronger, develop practices that are cost-effective, and create a robust IT environment that encourages scaling, change, and more importantly, growth. With the implementation of the ITIL framework, IT administrators can become business service partners instead of just offering support at the backend. 

In simple terms, ITIL is a set of guidelines and is better not implemented as rules. Since each organization has its own specific parameters and qualities, it would be better for the organizations to adapt to only those best practices of ITIL that are compatible with the organizational priorities. Implementing ITIL is not child's play because it has an impact on the entire spectrum of your organization including your business, IT department, and your ongoing projects. So, here we will have a look at the major challenges coming in the way of implementing ITIL in any organization.

Challenges in implementing ITIL

ITIL has an approved set of ITSM principles and principles and is a systemized framework. It acts as a guide to IT services. But the challenges faced during its implementation make it difficult to be adopted smoothly by the organization. These challenges are as under.

1. Lack of support and commitment from the leadership

This is one of the biggest challenges to ITIL implementation. The top management intends to approve the ITIL framework but does not support it with proper workflows and strong sponsorship. The executive management often cites the lack of financial resources as the reason for the non-implementation of ITIL. But since implementing ITIL is a major decision, the executive management must come on board and the IT manager has to make efforts for it. And the best way of doing it is to start educating all the stakeholders about its advantages and the easier ways of implementing it. But there is a flip side to this too. Waiting for the top management's approval may delay the process, particularly when a large amount of time and resources are involved. And with no knowledge of the ITIL framework, the management would have little idea of its implications and the reason why it needs to be implemented. The best course here is to get an executive sponsor to reduce dependency on the executive leadership. 

2. Lack of vision

As said earlier, organizations must adopt only those ITIL practices and principles that are in line with the organizational priorities. It is not necessary that the entire organizational structure or practices need to be changed. Therefore, it is important that those areas are carefully identified where the need for change is there and the method of change is decided before ITIL is actually integrated into the existing structure. The goal must be decided and then the implementation is done on the basis of that goal. There should be a clear vision of what is intended to be achieved through the implementation of the ITIL framework.

3. Resistance to change

This is a universal human problem and one of the toughest challenges to overcome. People are so used to working in a particular way that sometimes even a mention of change upsets them. It is not easy to ask people to give up what they have been doing for a long time and adopt something they know nothing about. Since ITIL brings about a broad organizational change, there is more likelihood of facing resistance. Different departments, teams, and even individuals would prefer to maintain the status quo than implement anything new. So, it is important to prepare all concerned for the change that is to come about. Just documenting the changes and releasing them or providing theoretical inputs may not suffice. Proper communication and training for everyone would play an important role in implementing the ITIL. This will help everyone to prepare for adopting the change and would lead to better collaboration. This will also improve the coordination between the teams and they would be able to interact in a better way because all stakeholders would be well-prepared to embrace the change.

4. Project culture

Some organizations take ITIL as a project, which is the wrong way of adapting to the ITIL framework. It is not a project that should be completed within a given timeframe. ITIL is a set of processes that need to be constantly improved. It does not have a completion date like projects. If the organization thinks that it has "done" ITIL and can now move to something else that it feels is more important, this approach does not deliver and is bound to fail. The desired changes in the organization would not come about and the whole time, effort, and resources utilized for implementing ITIL would go waste. So, the ITIL framework has to be taken as an ongoing task that needs improvement at every stage.

5. Waiting for the right time

There is never a perfect time to implement processes and policies and it does not make any sense to keep waiting for the right time to take actions related to policies and procedures. They have to be driven into projects and then improved continuously as they go to achieve the best outcomes. What is important is to focus on the relevant things and those that would add value. It is not going to benefit the organization if it goes for the low-scoring processes and then keeps on improving them in the hope that they would provide maximum benefits after improvements. It is the same with ITIL. Therefore, for implementing ITIL, the organization must select the best possible people to design, change, control, or pilot the process. It would be all the more beneficial if they have experience in implementing the ITIL and have seen the negative effects of some of its practices. It is always better to implement ITIL incrementally so that sustainable improvements can be achieved and a positive momentum may be created.

6. High investment

ITIL implementation requires large amounts of financial investment along with investment in human resources. This makes the task of bringing the top leadership on board more difficult. Convincing them about the Return on Investment (ROI) becomes more difficult. It is tough to show them the long-term gains. But they would do well to remember that although ITIL may not offer an immediate return on investment, it has a proven track record of depicting long-term efficiency resulting in a better return on investment.

7. Many process limitations

It is said that there are too many business process limitations in ITIL that affect the overall workflow of the organization. But if it is customized according to the requirements of the organization and implemented in a proper way, the best practices of the framework turn out to be tailor-made solutions. This balances any imposed limits, special procedures, and unnecessary restrictions working against the requirements of the business. As a result, the reliability and security of the infrastructure get better without having to compromise efficiency.

8. The complexity of the framework

There is a huge amount of information and material in the latest version of ITIL that should be understood and implemented in order to get the best results. And the IT managers are not comfortable with that. They are apprehensive about consuming so much information and then applying it. And then, ITIL practices need to be continuously upgraded to make them profitable assets for the organization. If they are not constantly upgraded, this will amount to losing the assets as they would no longer serve the purpose for which they have been adopted. So, it is a challenge for IT managers to keep themselves abreast of the latest updates and apply them to the existing framework.

There is no doubt that implementing a framework like ITIL will always come with a few challenges. But implementing ITIL will certainly prove its worth in the long run. If implemented rightly, it may bring enhanced customer satisfaction. Finding appropriate solutions for the impediments in the implementation of ITIL will bring easy and quick results for them and will help in the faster implementation of ITIL. But the most crucial thing is to educate and train all the stakeholders and provide the right information to them. ITIL framework has helped many organizations to minimize costs and boost business productivity and efficiency. Yours can be one too. 

Simpliaxis is one of the leading professional certification training providers in the world offering courses related to IT service management (ITSM). We offer ITIL 4 Foundation Certification Training  to both individuals and corporate groups through instructor-led classroom and online virtual sessions.