The Information Technology Infrastructure Library is designed to help cut costs and streamline IT operations, and is finding converts seeking to maintain regulatory compliance as well. Initially popular overseas, ITIL is growing in use in the U.S., where four out of 10 organizations will adopt it by 2007, according to Meta Group (now part of Gartner). Former Meta analyst Michele Hudnall, now director of service management at software vendor Managed Objects, recently spoke with Network World Senior Editor Denise Dubie about the realities of ITIL and how corporate IT shops can make the most of their implementations.

What's behind ITIL's rise in popularity?

There has been a push on technology organizations to map technology to business for quite a while. Organizations struggled to do that, and they were looking to automate that. Instead of starting with a blank sheet of paper and trying to define how to operate the technology organization, the ITIL processes give you a good starting point in defining what various operational processes might look like.

Where are we at in terms of ITIL adoption in the U.S.?

We are peaking. About four years ago, the ITIL adoption curve was starting to ramp up, but I rarely talk to an organization today that is not looking at ITIL in some respect.

How can vendors help IT organizations adopt ITIL?

Technology cannot be ITIL certified. It's only a consultant who helps an organization deliver the process that can be certified. And what is really being certified is their knowledge of the process and their ability to be able to put it in context of the organization. Look for good adoption of the ITIL terminology within the configuration of setting up and deploying the various technologies. Vendors can provide canned templates within the technology that leverage the high-level structure of ITIL so that IT staff isn't starting with a blank sheet of paper.

What are the stages of process maturity for ITIL?

There are five components: how well the organization defines the process; the people, roles and skills that deliver and support it; how well you can measure it or communicate the outcome of that process; how well it's integrated to the various other processes; and then how well automated that process is.