OK, so we’ve all heard about ITIL. And most of us have heard about COBIT. But is it one or the other? Is one better? Here are some quick thoughts to clarify.
First, both are used for governance in IT service management.
Second, ITIL is a framework involved with managing IT services across their lifecycle. COBIT on the other hand incorporates business goals to generate maximum value for the business from their IT investments.
COBIT incorporates five key principles about meeting stakeholder needs, and utilization of IT assets across the enterprise. It’s all about CONNECTING the business goals to IT goals, and making sure the stakeholder on both the IT and business sides have the appropriate objectives and duties aligned.
ITIL fills in the details around the processes, organizational structures and other IT implementation specifics that are required to effectively meet those stakeholder goals. The five stages documented by ITIL provide the framework for effective IT service management needed to support the goals that come out of COBIT.
In simple terms, many people say that COBIT provides the “why” or “what”, while ITIL provides the “how”. Both serve different purposes, and both are important to business success.
So, it’s really not an “either/or”. It can be a “both”, in whole or in part, depending on the needs of your business!