ITSMWatch.com analyzes the latest developments in the emerging field of IT Service Management. Our goal is to help IT Executives and IT Managers be prepared to make decisions, to collaborate with their peers and to draw upon the experiences of others to continue to meet their objectives of providing world-class products and services in the most efficient and effective approach.

ITSMWatch is fulfilling a need for the IT Service Management Industry by consolidating updated information from both the practitioner and vendor communities. In the late 1980s, the UK government understood the importance of technology to run a business. It had the insight to recognize that if left alone without standards to support and procedures to operate, we would soon be aligning our business with the technology, instead of the other way around.

The UK government, with a team of practitioners from both the public and private sectors, began to compile best practices, utilizing what works and avoiding "reinventing the wheel." The ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework evolved and books were written. ITIL was embraced and IT Service Management became an industry.

Although maturing throughout the UK, the Netherlands and parts of Europe, ITIL was making slow progress to North America. Having first taken hold in Canada and moving into the United States in the late 1990s, we are now seeing companies of all sizes recognizing the importance of IT Service Management. They are benefiting from a framework that not only is available publicly, but contains "tried and true" methods in supporting technology and delivering services using technology.

IT Service Management is more than ITIL. ITSM is being utilized at the Project Management Institute, at the Help Desk Institute, and as a foundation for ISO 9000 and British Standards 15000. Courseware being developed at universities include ITSM best practices and, most importantly, businesses of all sizes, both public and private, understand the need to optimize their past, present and future technology investments to align with their business objectives.

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ITSMWatch is published by Jupitermedia Corporation Jupitermedia is a leading provider of global real-time news, information, research and media resources for information technology, Internet industry and graphics professionals. Jupitermedia has been the sponsor for itSMF (IT Service Management Forum) conferences since 2001 which have been consistantly growing in attendence with more than 3,000 participants last fall in Chicago. For more information, visit our corporate website.

To submit articles, or questions about articles submitted, please contact Allen Bernard, ITSMWatch's managing editor.