Perhaps one day Service Management will become a universal discipline: ITIL 4?
Who left the IT in itSMF? Service Management can be about so much more than IT. What a shame we have kept our focus narrow. Perhaps one day Service Management will become a universal discipline.
Today's post was prompted by this comment:
a Service Management Framework needs to be about more than only infrastructure management
A number of years ago - so the legend goes - there was a move to rename the itSMF to just plain SMF: the Service Management Forum. This was a recognition of the fact that much of the ITSM body of knowledge applies to services delivered in any context, whether staff services like payroll or HR, building services, or any of the service industries like travel or accounting or .... But some of the old crusties dug their heels in and the "IT" stayed. The compromise was to have the "IT" in lower case to de-emphasise it, and so it remains today.
I don't have the slightest shred of evidence for this story other than a reliable source, but it seems plausible. If it is true it was an opportunity lost.
I'd love to see ITIL generalised beyond IT one day. ITIL 4?
Made in New Zealand 
Comments
Good stuff and very thought
Good stuff and very thought provoking. Integrating IT into the wider busines is key to the success of Service Management as a concept - a concept that's been around for years but only relatively recently articulated in a way which is clear and understandable to both IT people and non-IT people alike! Long gone are the days of "self help" IT, thankfully and we as a community are more about getting together at every level to deliver what ought to be simple business solutions. Besides, I would not want to wear a Self Help IT t-shirt! The acronym is self apparent!
________________________
Submited by : Recetas
Project managers nad business analysts could learn from SMF
Well, the heading says it all doesn't it.
Urban Legend
When the ITIMF was renamed itSMF the letters IT were uncapitalized AND printed in italics AND in contrasting colour to EMPHASIZE that we were not just any Service Management Forum but the IT Service Management Forum.
I don't know who your "reliable" source is, Sceptic, but he/she/it is wrong. It is very easy to check in this case because it was David "mr. itSMF" Wheeldon who made the change. I suspect David is a regular visitor to this site but if not I am sure someone can point him towards this post.
It is, ofcourse, an iteresting idea to generalize ITIL beyond IT but we can't call it ITIL anymore then, can we? We would have to call it SML. The Service Managment Library.Incidently, I know of at least one site where they have used ITIL to shape the facilities management processes (building, heating, energy etc)to align with "the brilliant ones in the IT dept".
SMILE
Welcome Alexander*
Actually it could be called the Service Management Infrastructure Library, which one could surely not resist calling the Service Management Infrastructure Library Environment!
* Alexander is on the newly elected itSMF International Executive Board
Mixed terminology
Broken record..
Lets not use ITSM, SM, itSMF and ITIL interchangeably.. They are not intrinsically bound concepts..
ITIL is registered trademark which is the property of the OGC.
ITSM is most commonly a professional field of endeavour that existed independantly of ITIL
itSMF is a non-profit professional organization that represents ITSM, but has a significant connection to ITIL (but increasingly changes this alignment to suit its purpose)
So removing the IT from ITSM does not really impact ITIL or even itSMf.. Its just if the community of people who currently affiliate themselves as ITSM professionals think there role extends sigficantly beyond the boundaries of IT (and perhaps into business) then drop to IT. Call yourself a Service Management professional, whether is be a IT or a HR or a Finance many of the principles still apply.. You might want to be more familiar with things outside of ITIL if you choose to do this..
Perhaps if you don't like the IT in ITSM then you might consider membership to "North American Institute of Certified Service Management Professionals" (the one the current chair itSMF runs) or "UK Institute of Service Management"
Brad
Brad Vaughan
http://blogs.sun.com/buraddo