ITIL / FITS / MOF comparisons

[GrumbleDook]

Many thanks to wagnerk for this ...

 

As part of the work in Northants to raise the profile of FITS I asked Ken to look at the key differences between ITIL and FITS. Here is his views on them and also included MOF as well.

 

I know that not too many people have seen the FITS v2 stuff yet, but most will have seen FITS v1 or 1.5 materials.

 

Let me and Ken know what you think.

ITIL vs FITS vs MOF.doc

[Kitkatninja]

Just letting you know about how/where to take the exams:

 

ITIL v3 foundation (either via EXIN or ISEB) - you can sit these at either PearsonVue or Prometric testing centres.

 

FITS - only via SQA own online testing software (this is still proctered).

 

MOF (only via EXIN) - at only Prometric testing centres.

 

-Ken

[ajbritton]

Having just done my ITIL V3 Foundation, I want to put in a word in ITIL's favour.

 

I agree with Ken that ITIL v3 certainly looks like a 'big beast' as there are so many processes and it may well be overkill for an average school, but the processes can be as simple or as complex as they need to be, depending on the nature of the service (and ITIL v3 is aimed at general service delivery, not just IT).

 

There is a very simple logical structure around how the ITIL v3 processes group together into a continuous cycle as shown in this graphic;

 

http://fs.textcube.com/blog/1/15511/attach/XOw32a3qja.gif

 

Implicit in the ITIL processes is the factor that all process owners are responsible for 'continuous service improvement' and this is designed to refine and improve the service over time.

 

I'm not FITS trained, but from what I've seen of the course, FITS looks to be more focussed on stable delivery of the service, availability and control.

 

As I said at the beginning, ITIL v3 would be too much for the average school, but I would have thought that larger educational establishments (colleges and up) should be seriously looking at ITIL/MOF if they operate their own IT services.

 

My 2 cents.

[Kitkatninja]

Forget all about this post...

 

Wanted to update my thoughts on this (and where I was). To me while all three are "Best Practices", it's the emphasis that is different between the 3, imo.

 

ITIL - business/organisation

FITS - the end user

MOF - Technology

 

-ken

[wslmargaret]

Good summary / comparison of the three. I’ve used ITIL for 11 years and I’m fully qualified in ITIL Service Manager’s Expert V3 - ie all the stuff in the diagram above! I'm also a member of the IT Service Manager's Forum (itSMF). I’ve always understood that ITIL was a framework that should be adapted to meet the needs of the services. I think that’s exactly what FITS have done, and they’ve done it exceptionally well. Fundamentally, the FITS terminology is very similar to ITIL so you could have an equal discussion with your peers in business.

Couple of small points:

1. FITS Practitioner also covers Security and Patch Management

2. Operations Management (in the Advanced/ Manager’s course) encompasses:- availability & capacity as well as sytems administration, storage management, directory services administration, print & output management, performance & monitoring, preventative maintenance, service continuity and energy conservation.

Finally, the FITS courses include group exercises which show you how to apply FITS when you get back to your school/ college/ uni base. ITIL don't do that so I rate that as a significant advantage for FITS.

PS. well done and good luck to the new FITS practitioners in Barrow-in Furness and Macclesfield - remember, small steps!

[Shuck]

The Fits Foundation SQA Exams are sat at the end of each course. To date 96% of participants have passed the exam with an average mark of about 74%. Courses are advertised on the Fits Foundation web site.

[AndrewBettany]

The University of York are hosting a 3 day ITIL v 3 foundation course on the 1-3rd November 2010 and again on the 20-22 December at York.

 

Pricing is part funded and so for schools it will be just £495 per person, the exam can be taken but this is an extra cost. Contact [email protected] for more information.

[ajbritton]

TechNet Radio: Microsoft Services and IT Service Management: MOF vs. ITIL

[GrumbleDook]

I'm presently writing an article about how you can use Lifecycle Management to learn to develop your own processes. At a recent FITS training event one delegate was a bit frustrated that there were not enough specified processes and wanted to more guidance on how to creating or tailoring their own.

[wslmargaret]

Hi! Can you be a bit more specific? What kind of processes did they have in mind? Lean and six sigma are good for process improvement but it would be helpful to understand what you/ the other delegate want to do. And it would naturally be good for us to have the feedback at FITS if there is something that's not being covered. M

[GrumbleDook]

It is not so much that things are missing from the course ... just that some people might need some additional translation from ITIL if that is their experience. I was going to run it over to Trevor before publishing anyway so will have a chat with him next week (and you too if you are at BETT).

[wslmargaret]

I know what you mean, I've had a number of discussions (more so on the advanced course) about FITS and ITIL and I believe my ITIL background's been useful in helping to answer some questions from experience rather than theory. I spent a year on process improvement in my last post and it's really quite essential to re-visit how it's working or you suddenly find the process is driving your service rather than the other way around! So you're absolutely doing the right thing! Good luck with it. Sorry I won't be at BETT but I'll catch up with Trevor. Happy to discuss anything in the future. regards. Margaret