This work draws together the advice provided in the five core books by CCTA on service support. It covers: change management; configuration management; help desk management; problem management; software release and rollout; and an explanation of the links between the disciplines.
Although the Information Technology Infrastructure Library ("ITIL")is being updated at the present time, this remains the definitive account of how to support IT.
I hesitate to give a "review" of this book. It is not really a book, but rather a collaborative effort managed by the IT Service Management Forum.
Over the years, there have been a number of concerns about ITIL. One of these has to do with layout and navigation, which I know is being addressed in the next version of the library
As an infrastructure person, my main concern is that it does not, in my opinion, really address the issue of how to engage the Development and Infrastructure teams together at the Initiation stage of a project in order to ensure that the Operational Suitability criteria are met. In other words, ITIL is fairly self contained, but I do not think it looks outside itself to the other parts of the organisation. I know that that Application Management Book attempts to address this, but I am not convinced at this stage. In my view, there is always a need to have "linking processes" in place, so that the different parts of IT - Development and Infrastructure - are talking to each other, and collaborating on projects together at the Initiation stage, not just at Deployment stage. This is the heart of the "Processes and Procedures", the "P" in the "MOPS" acrynym.
Nevertheless, this book must be read by all IT professsionals, be they Infrastructure or Development.
