Based on the core books I’ve tried to distill some basic principles for ITIL3. Principles that you can apply to your IT service Organization and that will help you to make this organization more in line with ITIL3 (and therefor hopefully more useful to the business). These are the principles:

Agency principle: service providers work for the business on a contract and provide services that are useful (utility) and usable (warranty) to the business within the boundaries of laws and regulations

Balance Principle: there should be a balance between the Internal IT view versus the external Business View

Service Measurement principle: all aspects of service delivery should be continual measured and reported

System Principle: all aspects of service delivery should be encapsulated in the design of service provision (holistic Design).

IT Service Lifecycle Principle: service delivery is a continuous process of design, implement, operate and improve.

Knowledge Management Principle: ensure that the right information and knowledge is provided to the right people on the right time

I’m pretty sure this is not a complete list. I’ve tried to keep it short and to the point. Any suggestion for improvement is welcome. As long as it is a principle that will help an IT organization improve it services and is in line with the ITIL3 Framework.