The Information Technology Infrastructure Library® (ITIL) has been around for nearly 20 years, and within the last five years it has become the de-facto model and framework for managing IT organizations. ITIL truly is the "next big thing." If ITIL is new to you, then now is the time to learn more.

ITIL is the proven way for IT organizations to align with the business, control costs, improve quality, and balance resource allocations. Research shows a dramatic increase in ITIL adoption over the last few years. Studies in 2006 showed that about 30% of IT organizations were using ITIL; a 2008 follow-up survey puts the count at 80%. Clearly, ITIL is something every IT manager and executive needs to understand.

This paper explains ITIL by describing its benefits, where it comes from, why you need to know about it, which types of IT organization can benefit from using it, and how to get started.