Maturity Assessment

Why an ITIL Maturity Model?

Over the last 30 years, ITIL has established itself as the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world, and the ITIL Maturity Model has been developed by Axelos in response to popular demand for a service management-focused assessment.

Unlike some similar services, the assessment looks at more than just the process. Instead, it looks across the entire service management system, exploring the interactions between practices, tools, management information, and the competency of key personnel to give a truly objective and integrated picture.

Although the ITIL Maturity Model is based on the architecture and concepts of ITIL 4, it is NOT designed to assess the extent or success of the implementation of the ITIL guidance. Both practices and service value system (governance structure and management system) components can be assessed in organisations that have been developing their service management capabilities and management systems using any relevant guidance and sources of good practice.

How does it work?

A certified assessor will work with you to:

• Identify the appropriate level of assessment
• Scope the project and plan the interview schedule
• Conduct the interviews and review supporting documentation
• Draft your customised report
• Present the final report to key stakeholders and discuss your future roadmap.

Organisations can choose whether to focus on a Capability Assessment for service management, which looks at a choice of 34 management practices, or a Maturity Assessment that includes your service value system (SVS).

If you opt for the Maturity Assessment, you can choose between a High-level Maturity Assessment with up to 6 practices (including Continual Improvement) + SVS or, for the most holistic picture, members may wish to undertake a Comprehensive Assessment based on 7 or more practices (including Continual Improvement) + SVS. It’s all designed to provide a service management improvement roadmap that helps you prioritise activities and resources.

Assessment scope

There are many ways to scope the assessment so that it reflects the organisational context and objectives; organisations should adopt an approach that meets their requirements and is directly applicable to them.

To support the process of scoping maturity assessments, however, an objectives-based cascade model can be utilised to support constructive discussion around such scoping. Objective-driven scoping is based on the predefined set of generic objectives an organisation might pursue. These objectives are grouped into four areas of strategic focus which are closely related to each other and typically require the same or overlapping sets of capabilities.

Each objective is mapped to a set of primary and supporting practices. Primary practices are directly involved and necessary to achieve the objectives of the SVS in the scope of assessment. Supporting practices are needed for the primary practices to effectively achieve their objectives and to function at higher capability levels.

However, the final scope is always on the organisation’s/assessor’s side. For example, if certain functions and practices are outsourced, it is acceptable that they might be excluded from the scope of assessment.

Outputs and certification

The assessor will prepare a formal report identifying where you currently sit on an increasing scale of maturity, and will also advise on what you need to do to build in additional resilience and progress to the next level of maturity (where improved quality and reduced risk await).