Introduction to

ITIL v3 Service
Lifecycle

Presented by: Eng. Omar Shaker

IT Solutions Consultant
ITIL v3 service
lifecycle
Consider the recent trend for workers to work more
from home to help foster a better-balanced lifestyle,
and to support those with childcare responsibilities.
For a corporation to enable one of its workers to do
this, it must consider several factors. What computer
will the staff be allowed to use? What security factors
must be considered? What tools will be required to
support off-site working? What monitoring will be
required to ensure efficient access? What training in
security protocols and/or tools will the staff require?
  ITIL Service Strategy (SS) – the
Service lifecycle initial definition and analysis of
business requirements
 ITIL Service Design (SD) – the
design of the IT service itself
 ITIL Service Transition (ST) –
the migration of the service into
the live environment
 ITIL Service Operation (SO) –
the live operation and support of
the service
 ITIL Continual Service
Improvement (CSI) – the
ongoing improvement of the
service.
 Successful organizations tend to have clear

ITIL Service objectives, and a clear overall business

strategy explaining how the organization
intends to achieve those objectives. The

Strategy (SS) overall business strategy tends to have

individual strategies for the different business
units within the organization, one of which is
an IT strategy. The IT strategy therefore
supports and validates the business strategy [1].
An IT strategy covers multiple aspects, one of
which is the IT service strategy. This explains
how IT services will be used to enable IT to
achieve its objectives, and how IT services
support the overall business strategy.
The ITIL Service Strategy stage focuses on
the concepts an IT service provider can use to
build its IT service strategy. It describes how
the IT service provider must set clear
objectives and performance expectations for
the IT service strategy to be successful in
serving its targeted customers.
 IT services cannot provide value to the

ITIL Service Design business unless they have been designed to

meet business objectives. Service design is
the lifecycle stage where the service

(SD) strategy is turned into an achievable plan

for delivering the business objectives[2].
The ITIL Service Design stage provides 2
things:
 Guidance for designing and
developing services and service
management practices
 Design principles and methods for
converting strategic objectives into
portfolios of services and related
assets.
 After the service has been designed, it

ITIL Service must be transitioned into operational use.

This is done by a new or changed service
design package being tested to ensure it

Transition (ST) meets the business needs. This is then

deployed into the live production
environment[3].
The ITIL Service Transition stage
introduces the concept of a service
knowledge management system (SKMS),
which supports organizational learning and
helps to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of all the service lifecycle
stages. It enables people to learn lessons,
supports informed decision-making, and
improves the management of services.
ITIL Service An organization’s strategic

Operation (SO) objectives are only realized by

operating the service. This requires

effective and efficient delivery and

support of IT services to ensure the

customer realizes the value which

was intended[4].
ITIL Continual Service
After the service has gone live in its operating
environment, customers will gain more value
if the service is continuously improved.

Improvement (CSI) Improvements might come from better

strategy, design, transition and operation of
services. The ITIL Continual Service
Improvement stage provides best practice
guidance on creating and maintaining value
for customers. This focuses on achieving
improvements in the quality of service,
operational efficiencies and business
continuity by ensuring that the service
portfolio remains aligned to business
strategy[5].
Continuous improvement relies upon
feedback from any stage of the service
lifecycle to identify improvement
opportunities for other stages of the lifecycle