The ITIL Value System (ITIL VS)
How to use this chapter
This section explains how governance and the product and service management system work together so organizations create value through digital products and services. Subpages follow topics 5.2 (guiding principles) through 5.6 (continual improvement), with 5.3 (governance) and 5.4 (value chain) on dedicated routes.
Management system and the ITIL Value System
The previous section described lifecycle activities; those activities are enabled by management practices. A high level of capability alone is not enough: the context changes, so organizations use management systems to review and adjust objectives and sustainable achievement.
Management system: "a system of interconnected elements that establish policy and objectives and enable the achievement of those objectives."
ITIL describes the following elements of an organization's product and service management system:
- Guiding principles: recommendations that can guide an organization in all circumstances, regardless of changes in goals, strategies, type of work, or management structure.
- Value chain: the entire set of activities that enables value through the provision of a product or service. In ITIL v5 these are the eight lifecycle activities in the relevant section; an organization may include all or some of them.
- Management practices: sets of organizational capabilities for performing work or accomplishing an objective. ITIL describes 34 practices.
- Continual improvement: recurring activity at all levels so the organization continually meets stakeholders' expectations, supported by the continual improvement model, the Continual Improvement practice, and transformation guidance.
Working together, these elements should ensure digital products and services are managed in line with objectives, and that objectives are continually reviewed as context and expectations change.
To ensure the management system itself stays effective, adaptive, and responsible, organizations add another level of oversight:
- Governance of digital technology: a governance system focused on the current and future use of digital technology.
Together, these five components form the ITIL Value System (ITIL VS).
ITIL Value System (ITIL VS): "a model representing how all the components and activities of an organization work together to facilitate value creation through digital products and services."
Purpose, inputs, and outputs
The purpose of the ITIL Value System is to ensure that the organization continually and sustainably co-creates value with all stakeholders through the use and management of products and services.
Key inputs are opportunity and demand. Opportunities are options or possibilities to add value or improve the organization. Demand is the need or desire for products and services among internal and external consumers. The outcome of the ITIL VS is value for service consumers and other stakeholders.
The ITIL VS also shows interfaces with other organizations, forming an ecosystem that can facilitate value for those organizations and their stakeholders.
The five components
| Component | Role (high level) | On this site |
|---|---|---|
| Guiding principles | Shared culture, better decisions without rigid rules for every case | Guiding principles |
| Value chain | Eight lifecycle activities combined into operating models and value streams | Value chain |
| Management practices | 34 capabilities that enable lifecycle work | Management practices |
| Continual improvement | Structured improvement across the VS and all products and services | Continual improvement |
| Governance of digital technology | Directing, overseeing, and accountability for use of digital technology | Governance |
Four dimensions structure typical operating models; see Four dimensions.
Architecture: flexibility and culture
The ITIL VS is designed for flexibility and to discourage silos. Value chain activities and practices do not form one fixed, rigid structure: they combine in different operating models and value streams.
Continual improvement and day-to-day operation are shaped by the guiding principles, which help build a shared culture, support collaboration, and reduce reliance on silo-style controls alone.
Value: outcomes, costs, and risks
Stakeholder feedback
From ITIL 4 naming
If you know ITIL 4, the Service Value System (SVS) idea is close to what ITIL v5 now calls the ITIL Value System, with governance of digital technology spelled out as the fifth component and the eight-stage lifecycle as the value chain. Terminology and boundaries were refined for product-and-service-centric guidance, not discarded.
Core ideas to remember
- Systems thinking: components interact; local choices affect the whole.
- Value co-creation: value emerges with consumers and partners, not only as one-way delivery.
- Scope: the ITIL VS can apply to a whole organization or a subset (whole organization is preferable to reduce silo risk).
- Holistic coverage: from governance and strategy through lifecycle activities, practices, and improvement.