ITIL is growing beyond IT service management. It has become a framework and best-practice guidance for digital product and service management.
‘Digital technology’ and ‘digital transformation’ refer to the integration of advanced digital tools and a shift in business models, culture, and customer engagement. This is a broader concept than IT, encompassing not only technology but also organizational change and innovation, and ITIL addresses all these aspects.
Key Benefits of ITIL (Version 5)
- ITIL (Version 5) is the global best practice framework for everyone involved in digital products and services – connecting strategy, delivery, and outcomes in the AI era.
- Unifies product and service management – One lifecycle that reduces friction, silos, and handoffs.
- Brings business and technology together – A shared model that links strategy, delivery, and measurable outcomes.
- AI-ready by design – Practical guidance to adopt and scale AI responsibly, with governance built in.
- Experience-driven and outcome-focused – Turns digital work into experiences people feel and results organizations can measure.
- Relevant across roles and organizations – Designed for IT, product, experience, and business leaders alike – not just ITSM
Service Management approach by ITIL (version 5)
The guiding principles help make decisions at all levels and in all circumstances.
- All organizations are engaged in service relationships
- In service relationships, every organization takes responsibility for all or some stages of the product and service lifecycle
- Each organization has a value system enabling value co-creation
- The central component of the value system is a value chain: activities the organization performs to manage products and services
- The value chain is enabled and supported by the management practices
- The management practices combine resources of the four dimensions to create management capabilities
ITIL Official Books
Today, ITIL addresses the following areas of technology and business management:
- ITIL Foundation (Version 5) book and relevant Official Practice Guides are the best combination for anyone starting their career in product and service management. Together, they equip readers with understanding of the key product and service management concepts and with actionable practical recommendations that can be applied in the workplace.
- ITIL Strategy (Version 5): defining and continually adjusting a digital strategy that is effective, adaptive, responsible, and sustainable.
- ITIL Product (Version 5): envisioning, creating, and delivering digital products that support the digital strategy of the organization and meet the needs and expectations of customers, users, and other stakeholders.
- ITIL Service (Version 5): enabling and supporting value creation by delivering high service quality, supporting users, and optimizing operations.
- ITIL Experience (Version 5): understanding and continually improving the experience of people involved in the management and use of products and services, on both service provider and service consumer sides of service relationships.
- ITIL Transformation (Version 5): provides a practical and adaptable framework for organizational transformations, ranging from relatively small initiatives to major change programmes, enriched with step-by-step recommendations and a range of tools and methods.
- ITIL AI Governance (Version 5): addresses the need of an organization to benefit from AI adoption without putting themselves at unacceptable risk, organizations need to ensure effective governance of the way AI tools are used.