The IT Skeptic - Comments for "ITIL is the hitchhiker's guide, COBIT is the encyclopaedia"

No change

skeptic — Thu, 26 May 2011 00:09:30 +0000

Neither COBIT nor ITIL has changed since I wrote it. Nor has my mind :)

Still accurate

Stephen — Wed, 25 May 2011 19:18:23 +0000

Seeing how this is now several years old - has this analogy stood up? Would you modify it at all? Or has time and events only made the case stronger?

Securitystan

skeptic — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:16:00 +0000

Yikes, I had to look up OSSTMM and NIST 800-53. You seem to be a security geek, but if so I wonder if you have read ITIL. ITIL is to security as Alice in Wonderland is to pharmacology, or Oprah is to literature.

And neither COBIT nor ITIL are governance frameworks: they are both IT management frameworks. "Governance" is losing all meaning.

Nitpicking aside, I reckon OSSTMM and ISO 17799/27000 and NIST 800-53 are one-country guidebooks.

ITIL is the hitchhiker's guide, COBIT is the encyclopaedia

PAt — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:51:08 +0000

K, so what does that make OSSTMM or ISO 17799/27000 or NIST 800-53 in the mix, since CobiT is IT Governance and ITIL is somewhere between IT and InfoSec Governance? :)

only a loose affiliation with the facts

skeptic — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:25:00 +0000

Well now we see why I'm more comfortable with ITIL than COBIT. My memory is unreliable and I have only a loose affiliation with the facts. I'm more of a Hitchhiker's Guide kind of guy.

I have never been to Uruguay (though I'd love to go). I have been to Ciudad del Este, at night, on foot, backpacking. But since one crosses that extraordinary "bridge of smugglers" to get into Paraguay (in my case I walked), somewhere in my mind it has got hardwired as "Punta".

thankyou for that correction. Perhaps more people will know what I'm talking about when i tell that tale in future

What you get from sloppy guidebooks

Pobrecito Hablador — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:47:21 +0000

Punta del Este is a posh Uruguayan beach town. Ciudad del Este is a "Far West"-like Paraguayan town in the "triple border" with Argentina and Brazil. Confusing them could be dangerous for your health.

What a great analogy!

IT Governance Blog — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:02:33 +0000

This has to be the best analogy I have ever seen. I love it! I'm for sure stealing it, if you don't mind.

When people ask my the difference I say simply, "CobiT tells you what you should be doing and ITIL tells you how to do it."

But there is so much more to it than that and your analogy captures it perfectly. CobiT is so much easier to grasp, it's the everyman's framework.

I'll take mine with an olive.

Bill

a BOK with the depth of ITIL and the breadth of COBIT

skeptic — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 01:30:00 +0000

Merry Christmas to you and all those at Pink. ("Pinkies"?)

I agree the two complement each other. Shame about the mismatch. Perhaps one day we'll have a BOK with the depth of ITIL and the breadth of COBIT or ISO20000: now that would be something.

Encyclopedia and Guide

Troy DuMoulin — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:25:29 +0000

Hello IT Skeptic

Yes I do share a mutual fascination and respect for the writings of Douglas Adams. He has an amazing gift of wisdom and insight that hits you between the eyes at the same time you are chuckling under your breath. Having had the pleasure of working on the development of both the COBIT and ITIL models I see and agree with your analogy of Encyclopedia versus Guide.

Perhaps one way to look at this is that one needs the other (kind of a co-dependant relationship). We need an Encyclopedia for reference and audit but also need the guide with its humanness as you put it, to give us context, application, opinion and perhaps even humor. It really comes down to the difference between facts/ knowledge versus wisdom/insight and yes, informed opinion.

There is a place for both in our Galaxy, even when not everyone agrees with the opinion part. At the very least it gives us something to discuss as we down our recreational beverages.

Cheers & Merry Christmas

Troy DuMoulin

Good Comparison

mbuzina — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:26:03 +0000

The "Don't Panic" sticker is probably: "ITIL is not from the auditors" ..., I would compare APMG to the vogons and maybe OGC are the mice ;-)

ISO 27001, COBIT and ITIL!

Robert Stroud — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:10:25 +0000

Dear Skeptic,

I too am looking forward to the mapping and it should be available for review shortly. Additionally, the COBIT Steering Committee is planning a refresh of the publication co-developed with the OGC; “Aligning COBIT, ITIL and ISO 17799 for Business Benefit: Management Summary” (visit the ISACA website for a free download of the current version). This document will be refreshed to COBIT 4.1, ITIL V3 and ISO 27701 and assuming all relevant approvals, it is planned to both the ITIL and COBIT perspectives whilst providing greater insight into their use with the exceptionally relevant security standard ISO 27001.

Current planning, approvals dependant, should have the new document will be available no later than the first half 2008.

Robert Stroud
Chair, COBIT Steering Committee

What a shame ITILV3 didn't take the opportunity

skeptic — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 09:06:16 +0000

Thanks, Rob, and welcome back: long time no hear. I look forward to such a mapping, and good on COBIt for doing it. What a shame ITILV3 didn't take the opportunity to do it in the other direction while the books were developed.

P.S. "Robert E."? Careful, mate, people will think you're a Yank.

COBIT and ITIL

Robert E Stroud — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:50:53 +0000

Dear Skeptic,

The industry interest in COBIT and ITIL being utilized together has been increasing over the last 2 years and now I know why – excellent piece. The COBIT Steering Commmittee are in the process of completing the development of the COBIT 4.1 and ITIL v3 mapping and the document is scheduled to be ISACA members and in the ISACA bookstore towards the end of Q1 2008. We are moving the development forward as quickly as possible to answer the numerous requests we have had of late for the publication.

Robert Stroud
Chair, COBIT Steering Committee.

if OGC came and demolished the odd planet

skeptic — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 08:51:22 +0000

In a way it would be preferable if OGC came and demolished the odd planet. At least we'd get to see them. And their poetry can't be any worse than their website...

Nice. Very Nice. Though I

Visitor — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 02:06:31 +0000

Nice. Very Nice.

Though I was expecting a comparison between OGC and the Vogons.

The IT Skeptic - Comments for "ITIL is the hitchhiker&#039;s guide, COBIT is the encyclopaedia"