All you need to know about IT Service management:

The ITSM Encyclopedia

Coming soon: The complete ITIL Foundation Course to download to your own PC



 

Your independent source of ITSM information.


Copyright © 2007
All rights reserved. Certification.Info
The contents of this subportal of certification.info published by the Quintica Group
OGC and IBM - who was first?
> Home > Contact > About > ITIL > SQMF

OGC vs IBM - Which came first in the development of ITIL?

The CCTA (Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency) has been largely credited with compiling the first version of the ITIL(r) (Information Technology Infrastructure Library). However, it is a known fact that IBM had developed a comprehensive framework in a series of Yellow Books (title "A Management System for Information Systems).

Having seen these yellow books first hand in a recent meeting with senior staff at IBM Taiwan, it is fair to say that the fundamental principles of ITIL can in fact be found in that book. This is where the chicken and egg argument comes in.


Have a look at any Information Systems book from 30 years ago and an astute IT professional with ITIL(r) knowledge will find evidence of processes including incident, problem, availability, etc. Perhaps not referred to in those names, but the concept, the fundamental principle is exactly the same.

It is a foolish consultant who would have you believe that ITIL processes are a product of modern day computing.

Of course, we must acknowledge the CCTA (now the OGC) as the entity that drew together the concepts into the first version of ITIL(r) - but the concept of "things going wrong and needing a speedy resolution" (Incident Managmenet) can be traced back to the start of recorded history.

Perhaps we shall never know if the mandate for the project leaders in the CCTA ever meant for ITIL to become as widely and gloablly accepted as it has. However and where ever they are now these early pioneers can be sure that there are thousands of organizations now following the best practice.