| | March 20178CIOReviewDriving IT Transformation through ITILBy Harry Moseley, CIO, Managing Director, KPMG U.S.As the velocity of the business world has increased, so has the rate of change affecting technology organizations. Innovation initiatives demand new development, implementation and support capabilities. Regulatory changes can inject large compliance projects into the pipeline. Mobile customers increasingly expect new innovative applications with upgraded functionality. Security threats and other risks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. In companies of all sizes and industries, technology leaders must cope with these factors plus many more, all the while striving for cost efficiency, increased productivity and high-quality, non-invasive security.As a consequence of these pressures, technology leaders must be prepared to continuously transform their organizations to maintain close alignment with the business while maintaining operational excellence to ensure high-quality service delivery. Three interrelated approaches are required to manage this dynamic: · Run IT as a business· Realize the full potential of integrated operations based on ITIL · Encourage a commercial mindset among all technology professionals (i.e., "know your client")Run IT as a BusinessRunning IT as a business is critical to an organization's success. Among other things, this includes:· Giving clients transparency into tech-nology services and solution delivery so they understand both their respective le-vers and tradeoffs;· Having a robust technology talent sourc-ing;· Ensuring an efficient and effective de-ployment strategy;· Aligning cost management with the overall technology strategy; and· Basing performance management on clear measures of success in line with the businessWhile it can take a focused effort over an extended period to establish all of these practices, the elements of this approach can help clients gain a better understanding of the value that the technology organization delivers on their investment. The value IT brings is not merely the ability to process information; it is the capability to support the core business strategy and objectives. As a consequence of implementing the elements of this approach, the business will respond with increased confidence. The technology organization will be viewed as a partner and the provider of choice. In addition, the rigor imposed by a businesslike approach helps maintain predictable performance in an environment of constant change.Realize ITIL's Full PotentialGaining the maximum benefit from run-ning IT as a business depends on deliver-ing services through a set of well-defined operating processes. Over the past 30 years and more, the Information Tech-nology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has evolved to become the most widely ac-cepted process foundation. Many organi-zations have implemented portions of the framework. By understanding how IT can best serve the priorities of the business, it is possible to select those elements of this very comprehensive framework that serves your needs. ITIL implementation can be a com-plex and resource-intensive process, re-gardless of organizational size. For this reason, many technology leaders elect to implement ITIL in multiple phases, thereby driving continuous organiza-tional change over an extended timeframe measured in terms of ITIL maturity. In IN MY OPINION
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