ITIL the product
There was discussion on Google+ today about the "product management" of ITIL.
ITIL wasn't a product. Not originally. it was an initiative to share guidance so people could do a better job of running IT. The books stated it was public domain. ITIL was a philosophy, an approach, a set of ideas.
Then ITIL became a community of people who volunteered their time and content to improve the books. The OGC provided a home, a central clearing house, an arbiter and editor. It cost the government money. Like roads.
The British Government decided a community with a mission to share and improve was the perfect thing to privatise, with the CAR tender.
Somehow the movement and the community ethic survived the outsourcing of the publishing and accreditation to TSO and APMG. I'm sure the itSMF's spiraling into factionalised disarray had nothing to do with it.
Now the government have sold ITIL lock stock and barrel. Whether the movement can survive such a blow is what we shall see. But I don't think many people have ever thought of ITIL as a "product" like a piece of software. Not until now.
Made in New Zealand 
