ITIL - itSMF International

feature subject
Working
together
As we have seen, the link
between itSMF UK and the TMF
has been formalised and here
is a joint statement from the
respective CEOs of the two
organisations, Keith Aldis and
Keith Willetts.
Both the itSMF and the TM Forum recognise that
both frameworks have strengths and weaknesses
that, if combined, would have major benefits for
all the industry sectors involved with delivering
convergent services to market. So, we are
actively co-operating to put ITIL and eTOM on
a converging course; address any interworking
issues and ensure that more integrated support
is available to users.
A good deal of work has already been done. The
TM Forum is in the final stages of completing its
own major review of eTOM to bring it into closer
alignment with ITIL and the two organisations
are undertaking a joint program to identify
further opportunities for closer inter-working
- initial fruits of this work are expected to begin
to roll out by this summer.
There is a good deal of momentum within the
memberships of both organisations for this
to happen, and for us to see a clear position
on using ITIL and eTOM as supportive of the
needs of businesses. This builds on the affinity
between the two frameworks, and their real
complementary strengths, so that each can
benefit when they are brought together.
on the activity of providing and managing IT
infrastructure and systems to support the
business processes. eTOM is the business
process framework for telecoms, and ITIL
could therefore be considered a subset of these
processes, covering the ones that are owned and
operated by the technology or IT function.
There is overlap, but it is possible for eTOM
and ITIL processes to coexist and support each
other as part of a mature process framework
for telecoms operators. Unfortunately, in many
organisations there has been conflict between
network operations, who tend to use eTOM, and
IT operations who would usually be more ITIL
aligned. The reasons for this conflict include
inconsistent terminology between these two
best practices, and a lack of knowledge and
experience of both frameworks. For example,
eTOM refers to ‘faults’ which are almost identical
to an ‘incident’ in ITIL terminology. There are
overlaps and synergies with the increasing
convergence at a technology level, where
telecoms products and services are dependent
on telecoms network and IT capabilities, systems
and infrastructure. When a service failure or
degradation occurs, the operational teams
often need to work together to restore service.
Complex hand-offs, inconsistent terminology
Matthew Burrows, TuringSMI
and independent processes often result in the
service taking longer than necessary to restore.
Some organisations have addressed these
issues by consolidating around a single set of
processes and tools, usually opting to either go
for eTOM or ITIL, or sometimes creating a
hybrid model. n
How do eTOM and
ITIL compare
Mike Kelly, who works on the
eTOM and NGOSS compliance
programme at TMF, offers a
comparison of ITIL and eTOM.
eTOM
- Telco enterprise model
- ITU (International Telecommunication
Union) international standard
- Prescriptive catalogue
- Hierarchy of processes
- Process framework
- Blueprint for process direction for
service providers
- Common language of processes
ITIL
- IT/ICT service management
- Non-prescriptive guidelines
- Best practice framework
- Methods to deliver controlled and
optimised services
- Standardised vocabulary
Mike’s summary is this: eTOM and ITIL are
not in conflict - eTOM can be used to build
ITIL-compliant processes, using eTOM
process elements.
36 SERVICETALK july 2008