No IT budget? Invest in best practices

IT departments without funds to buy tools and technologies could invest time in improving processes to streamline work, save staff hours and ultimately cut costs for their company.

As more companies cut IT budgets, one might think that adoption of best practice frameworks such as ITIL would be on the rise. According to a Forrester Research report, 62% of more than 500 IT decision-makers polled said improved consistency and quality of IT processes were among the key changes to contributing to a more positive view of IT by the business.

Yet recent survey results from BT show that ITIL adoption isn’t on the rise. From April 15, 2009 through May 11, 2009, BT in North America conducted a Web-based survey on ITIL, which was completed by 225 IT professionals around the globe. About 44% of those surveyed in 2009 employ ITIL best practices, compared to 51% of 300-plus IT pros polled by BT in 2007 that reported they use ITIL to improve on IT service management processes. And 28% of organizations not currently using ITIL plan to do so within 18 months. But more than 50% currently have no plans.

“While differences in the survey population can result in minor fluctuations from year to year, it is still somewhat perplexing that we didn’t see a significant increase in ITIL adoption, as opposed to flat usage or possibly even a decline,” BT’s report reads. “Perhaps this can be attributed to the economy, which has many IT organizations postponing investments that don’t have the potential for a very quick payback.”

With what some consider a questionable ROI, best practice frameworks might not be considered a wise investment for IT organizations right now, but Forrester analysts argue the opposite is true. Because IT managers are being asked to deliver more services with fewer resources, streamlining processes through best practice management frameworks could pay off over time.

“IT organizations are increasingly required to justify services, account for costs, and identify and deliver value to the enterprise. An effective and efficient IT management framework emphasizes the importance of meeting business/program goals and objectives as well as cost-effective life cycle management of the delivered services,” a May 2009 Forrester report reads. “The intent of IT management frameworks is to improve the management of IT so that it enables more efficient delivery of services to the organization.”

A majority (84%) of respondents to BT’s survey said ITIL is critical for managing IT processes, while 70% say it is meeting or exceeding their expectations. And 12% reported they were disappointed in ITIL’s impact on their IT organizations. And those polled indicated that the top drivers of ITIL adoption are improving IT service levels or consistency of achieving them, and improving efficiency and control of the cost of delivering IT services.

“While ITIL’s reach is somewhat limited, the vast majority of those who use it are quite pleased with its impact on their IT organizations,” BT’s report says.

Denise Dubie is senior editor with Network World.