Aligning Six Sigma and ITIL: Implications For IT Service Management

Today’s executives are challenged to deliver value to their shareholders in a global market place. Technology organizations must deliver interoperation of processes, people and technology to the entire enterprise. To design, deliver, and manage IT services to meet an agreed level of quality, Organizations are implementing IT Service Management (ITSM) and creating quality standards, which uses the best practices of IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). ITIL tells IT management what needs to be done and how it will get done from the process perspective. When under- taking an ITSM a project to implement ITIL, ITIL does not provide a method for measuring quality or identifying and completing process improvement projects. By integrating Six Sigma, which is a quality methodology, IT management will have the methodology and tools for measuring quality and improving processes. Adopting Six Sigma principles also will help IT focus on their customers and the business strategy, manage proactively based on facts, and reinforce collaboration across the enterprise. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the reader to the concepts of ITSM, ITIL and Six Sigma individually. Additionally we will make the case for leveraging ITIL and Six Sigma with ITSM in practice and opportunities for future research