Standards-based approaches to managing the increasingly complex IT environment have been rapidly embraced by the IT community. The most popular, framework being adopted is the "IT Infrastructure Library," or "ITIL."
Originally developed by the British government in the late 1980s, ITIL is comprised of a growing series of publications that outline a process-based set of best practices for IT service and systems management. The IT Service Management Forum (itSMF), a not-for-profit organization, governs publication of ITIL best practices with the single minded goal of properly aligning technology services with business needs.
ITIL promotes a quality approach to achieving business efficiency and effectiveness in the use of information systems. ITIL best practices are applicable to all IT organizations, no matter what their size or what technology they use. Today, ITIL is the world's most widely accepted approach to IT service management.