Agile is not the absence of ITIL!

Virtual Machines in Virtual Networks

By G C Network | August 4, 2008

One of the key value propositions in cloud computing is built around increase efficiencies. These eficiencies are diven by the use of virtual machines (VMware, XEN, etc.) and the automated…

SOA-R Interest Grows

By G C Network | August 1, 2008

Interest continue to grow in the use of cloud computing concepts for national security missions. Although some view the idea of a “private cloud” as an oxymoron, I personally see…

Microsoft: “Cloud Computing is the Plan”

By G C Network | July 31, 2008

From the Wireless Business & Technology Cloud Computing News Desk : “Ballmer highlighted software-plus-service, associating it with a ‘platform in the cloud and delivering applications across PCs, phones, TVs, and…

CC Tidbits

By G C Network | July 31, 2008

Interesting tidbits from Maureen O’Gara in Apple, Google, Yahoo & Cloud Computing: Industry gadfly John Dvorak is advancing a theory culled from the blogosphere that Microsoft wants Yahoo for some…

Correlative Analytics: Cloud Computing Google Mindshare

By G C Network | July 30, 2008

Correlative Analytics (A.K.A. “The Google Way of Science“) postulates that extremely large databases of information, starting in the petabyte level, may be sufficient to skip the theory part of the…

What is Cloud Computing? — Another view

By G C Network | July 29, 2008

Irving Wladasky-Berger, chairman emeritus of IBM’s Academy of Technology, recently wrote and article on cloud computing titled “What is Cloud Computing, Anyway?”. The following is my interpretation of a few…

Dark Cloud Computing

By G C Network | July 28, 2008

In his blog article “The Rise of The Dark Cloud” Reuven Cohen wonders about a growing interest in covert computing. Although he briefly mentions malevolent uses of the net, the…

July Military Information Technology magazine

By G C Network | July 25, 2008

This month’s issue of Military Information Technology magazine has the Army’s Chief Information Officer, Lieutenant General Jeffrey A. Sorenson, on the cover. The enclosed special report, titled LANDWARNET Transformation, has…

“The Big Switch” and Intellipedia Highlighted

By G C Network | July 24, 2008

During last week’s SOA-R session, Steven Armentrout referenced “The Big Switch” by Nicholas Carr as a very enlightened view of our changing world. On July 17th, Information Week’s Richard Martin…

Does anybody really know what cloud computing is?

By G C Network | July 23, 2008

Less than 2% of the CIOs in an Infoworld survey said that cloud computing was a priority. The surveyed indicated that server virtualization and server consolidation are their No. 1…


 by
Jodi Kohut
ITIL (formerlyknown as the Information Technology Infrastructure Library) has been the best management practices framework of choice for world class IT Operations organizations.  The 5 stage framework: Service Strategy, Design, Transition, Operation, and Continual Service improvement allows for structured processes that support Enterprise Architecture, Service Delivery, and Security initiatives.  Structured and controlled planning and change are the bywords here.

 

A major driver of the cloud is efficiency and a betterallocation of technical resources. As a result, executives are considering more use of Agile or DevOps frameworks to speed up the delivery of valuable services to end-users. I’ve heard more than one of my colleagues speculate that this shift signals a move away from ITIL.  After careful consideration, I suggest there are three reasons why a “both and” approach will provide more benefit to the organization:


1.) Agile improves the delivery time of an ITIL- inspired service.  Using mature service strategy and design processes of ITIL, Agile teams can validate the architectural and SLA requirements prior to developing and releasing a product or change. 

2.) Continuous delivery means less risky changes for Service Transition.  Agile allows for the riskiest changes to take place first, and within a controlled development environment. Operations personnel are working more closely with Agile teams up front during service design and can have their needs considered during development. In short, continuous integration promotes (forces?) collaboration.

3.) Security operations are improved. The collaboration that using Agile within the bounds of ITIL necessitates enables security considerations to be embedded into the Service Strategy and Design processes.  Agile teams can deliver based on security aware requirements, rather than security teams having to secure an already developed service.

Contemporary cloud services provide the ideal place for Agile and ITIL to meet. First, teams can quickly provision cost-effective pre-production environments where building a continuous integration pipeline is possible.  Second, this cloud based pre-production environment provides a collaboration space for development and operations teams to work together to transition a service to the Operations team, already tested and secured. 

Organizations that find a way to integrate Agile and ITIL will likely see a realization of improved collaboration, resulting in less time to release secure and compliant services to end-users.

(This post was written as part of the Dell Insight Partners program, which provides news and analysis about the evolving world of tech. To learn more about tech news and analysis visit Tech Page One. Dell sponsored this article, but the opinions are our own and don’t necessarily represent Dell’s positions or strategies.)

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