I like analogies. They are useful to explain a complex thought in a different way and help to gain understanding. This morning I’ve started to write the text for a factsheet we want to publish on ITIL3 in relation to ITIL2. And I was considering an analogy. Since maturity is a concept we like to work with (hence http://www.itmaturity.com) I toyed with that idea. I realized that ITIL3 is like a teenager. It has grown up since the previous versions (1, the baby, and 2, the child), but it isn’t mature yet. Although it likes to think otherwise. It has found it can now use new possibilities and functions that were already there in potential. And it hasn’t yet used the full potential.

As a teenager ITIL3 has pimpels and is a little too corpulent. That might have been caused by the hamburgers it is eating lately. It is very concerned with pocket money to buy the latest gadgets and fashionable loud music. ITIL3 is both attractive and repelling. Pretty to look at, but the nonsense it is uttering…. oh, please! The rebellious side is well developed and irritating. Its enthusiastic approach to life(cycles) is contagious. It lacks social skills and experience. It thinks that structures are the way forward.

You can tell that I both have a like and a dislike of ITIL3. Looking at the framework from one perspective, it offers a lot for the IT organization. From the other perspective there is still a lot to improve. I’m curious if there are other analogies to be made. Or this analogy to be improved.