Do SMBs really care about ITIL?
By: Kyle Shepard LinkedIn   |  
Categories: IT Service Management

Image by Photo8.com
Have you ever bought a vacuum cleaner? Did it come with a manual? Most likely it did.
Have you ever bought a Dyson (the iPhones of vacuum cleaners)? I just did. No manual. Why? No need. It’s that intuitive.
A Day in the Life
IT professionals working at SMBs often wear more than one hat. They manage technology and processes using other technology and processes. They are constantly trying to avoid bottlenecks, or at best, work around them.
Efficiency is king for them. And most of these IT folks are as efficient as they possibly can be with the tools and technology they’ve got in hand.
When they consider exploring new technology, they are looking to add more efficiency, simplify more processes, and get more done today (so they can repeat it all tomorrow).
Integration is Key
So is it any surprise to find that 71 percent of the folks that see the benefit of integrating a service desk to an asset management tools could care less about ITIL?
But wait. Is ITIL the bad guy here? Isn’t ITIL just trying to provide some structure and consistency to help IT departments run smoother?
Well yes and no. It depends on the user and the solution. An ITIL Certified user will gravitate towards the solution that has ITIL at its core.
Other IT folks are looking for a solution that is easy-to-use and as intuitive as my Dyson to get the job done. If the solution offers some of the ITIL methodology without tying their hands to it, then perhaps they will be more likely to adopt a little here and there.
The percentage mentioned above comes from a recent study conducted by Dimensional Research which emphasizes integration of asset and service management as the crucial component that has been lacking for small to medium-sized businesses.
The study points out that “cost” and “complexity” has been the main roadblocks to implementing such solutions.
No More Barriers
Now I’m going to go out on a limb here. Could there be a solution out there that has heard the woes of these IT professionals and has decided to create a solution that is both cost effective and easy-as-counting-on-your-fingers simple, while delivering an integrated asset management and service desk tool?
Hmmm… I’ll let you guess.

About Kyle Shepard
Kyle is a Senior Manager of the Customer Success team for ITSM at SolarWinds. He works directly with customers to provide ongoing support in service management strategy for their evolving goals. He speaks on webinars and other educational resources in ITSM. He also played college lacrosse.
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