Evaluating Business As Usual activities between Agile and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (A-ITIL): Industry practitioners’ point of view

Abstract

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) aims to effectively manage the entire lifecycle of IT services, yet it lacks direct control over the formation or changes of IT services. Integrating the Agile methodology with ITIL, particularly in project lifecycle management, has proven challenging for researchers. To address this and facilitate Business As Usual (BAU) activities in the IT industry, a proposed framework called A-ITIL (Agile-ITIL combined framework) has been introduced. This research focuses on the requirement of combining Agile and ITIL in BAU tasks within the IT sector. Critical success factors for integrating Agile with ITIL in BAU activities have been identified through shared questionnaires and research articles. The research process involved an online questionnaire to assess the Agile-ITIL literacy of respondents and determine the necessity of combining Agile and ITIL in BAU. A second questionnaire was used to evaluate the transparency of transitioning BAU between Agile and ITIL, document the challenges faced during this transition, and propose mitigating strategies involving key stakeholders. Based on the questionnaire results, a user story was created to identify key points for the A-ITIL framework. Additionally, research articles were analyzed to identify key success factors for Agile and ITIL separately. Combining these findings, along with insights from an interview with Agile/ITIL experts, an A-ITIL conceptual model was designed as a foundation for integrating Agile-ITIL and ensuring smooth BAU activities within IT organizations