ITSM in the recession

It is hard to avoid this subject at the moment, and it is one I will be looking at in a series of posts.

To begin with though it is worth reminding ourselves that this is not the first recession since ITIL has been on the scene, although clearly it is by far the worst. In the last recession ITIL was a powerful tool for cost cutting, especially head count reduction. That might sound strange to those who see ITIL as an exercise in job creation.

My headline predictions are that we will see less ITIL/Lean/ISO 20000 projects, but those that happen will be directed towards specific outcomes and have a greater chance of success than the raft of "me too" projects of recent years.

This will be a major change to the consultancy industry, especially to those consultants whose expertise lies in knowing the ITIL books rather than in practical management.