This IT Service Management qualification FitSM is accredited by APMG International. IPSO FACTO is an accredited training organisation of APMG licensed to deliver the FitSM qualification in the UK and rest of the world. The FitSM qualification came from the need for a light weight IT Service Management product that challenged existing options. It was developed in Europe by ITEMO with detailed information about FitSM found on their https://www.fitsm.eu/ website.
FitSM is applicable to all types of organisations (commercial, government, non profit organisations) from which IT services are provided regardless of type, size and nature of the services delivered.
The popular IT Service Management framework is ITIL. However, ITIL is not appropriate for every business. See below how FitSM compares with ITIL and judge for yourself if FitSM could be the best choice for your organisations IT service management.
When it comes to IT Service Management, most business IT leaders make two assumptions: first, that the central challenge is to find the right balance between high cost and high performance, and second, that the more emphasis companies place on implementing a huge amount of ITSM processes, the more effective their strategies will be.
We believe that these assumptions are problematic. The main objective of any ITSM structure must be to provide high quality IT services that meet the expectations of customers and users by defining, establishing and maintaining service management processes.
But which processes? At necessarily high costs? And using which framework?
In this article we present the main differences between two very important ITSM frameworks: FitSM and ITIL. We will also focus on how each of the two frameworks declines aspects concerning processes, costs, complexity and areas of relevance.
ITIL defines an Operating Model (Service Value Chain) supported by 34 practices/processes. From strategic perspective such as service financial management and service continuity management to operational perspective such as incident management, ITIL offers a process for the realization of each objective.
FitSM, on the other hand, focuses on the operational management of an IT organization with its 14 processes. Thus, the focus is strongly on the management of requests, incidents, changes and problems. Complementary processes that are dealt with independently in ITIL are combined in FitSM. The respective demand for completeness is thus reflected in the sum of the included processes. A list of the practices/processes can be found in the table below.
ITIL in fact, although containing many useful and comprehensive concepts, is quite complex and seems to be written mainly for large companies. Small and medium sized organisations often do not have the capacity to establish a service management system (SMS) that implements all the recommendations of these frameworks, nor do they have the capacity or can they afford the usually quite significant consultancy costs to “adapt” many hundreds of pages of ITIL guidance to their needs.
FitSM sees the Pareto principle applicable to ITSM processes and, by focusing only on the most important elements of the process, seeks to reduce much of the complexity of the process while sacrificing only a small part of its overall effectiveness.
ITIL has been oriented to the central aspect of the service (Service Value Chain).In accordance with this Service Value Chain, Portfolio Management support anactivity of the Value Stream.
FitSM is a relatively young framework and describes itself as the light weight standard family for ITSM. Its overall approach, structure and process model is relatively similar to ISO/IEC 20000-1. Developed from a requirements-driven approach, FitSM offers a mix of minimum requirements, processes and application examples. Although the content of FitSM is relatively compact compared to other described frameworks, it tries particularly to focus on the main objectives of each process. The SPM process is treated explicitly, additionally a role model is defined.
ITIL has been expanded to include new best practices, extended to new application areas and more precisely defined. In summary, there is a very comprehensive and detailed holistic approach to the design of IT service management that purports to meet every need.
FitSM on the other hand, defines the relevant processes for the initial introduction of ITSM, focusing on the operationally relevant processes.
The requirements contained in FitSM-1 allow a localisation of the respective maturity level of the company’s IT, so that any effort in introducing processes can be addressed in a targeted manner in the context of one’s own company.
Another distinctive feature, which is also based on the claim of completeness, is the inclusion of current trends.
ITIL 4 incorporates current trend topics such as DevOps, Lean or Agile, thus also considering development or project management methods in the ITSM context. In the context of the recently published version 4 of ITIL, there is now talk of a business service management approach. So ITIL is no longer just about IT service management.
FitSM does not provide any support or best practices for the application of development or project management methods. The framework focuses on IT service management, referring to other project management frameworks and methods.
In 2021 the private organisation PeopleCert acquired the rights of the ITIL framework from a the joint venture of Capita PLC and the UK government, and has become purely private since.
FitSM was developed within the FedSM project, an initiative of the 7th Framework Program for Research and Technological Development of the European Commission and is available under public license since then.
ITIL has about 2,000 pages (6 core + 34 practice books) to read and study.
FitSM on the other hand, has 38 pages (4 main documents) and 9 pages of requirements (part 1) to study and apply.
The certification schemes are also quite different:
The ITIL 4 certification scheme has been streamlined to offer two main designation paths with six modules total between both certifications. You will progress from the Foundation level to either the Managing Professional(MP) or Strategic Leader (SL) paths. If you choose to complete both paths, you’ll be eligible to earn the ITIL Master designation.
The FitSM training programme is structured in three levels: Foundation, Advanced and Expert. After following the Foundation course you can learn a common conceptual and process model setting out realistic requirements to immediately use in your daily work.
“The main differences between FitSM and ITIL®” APMG International, Digital Article
Scheduled course options plus options for group training. Contact us for options.
IT Service Management FitSM Certification – Foundation level
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IT Service Management FitSM Certification – Advanced level
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IT Service Management FitSM Certification – Expert level |
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Define the Rationale
Define the rationale for implementing service management and get top management commitment and support.
Roles and Responsibilities
Identify and assign roles and responsibilities for planning and implementation.
Focus on the Team
Ensure training and awareness.
Assessment and Review
Perform an initial organisation maturity assessment comprising a review of the service portfolio; and federation model if applicable.
Goals and Milestones
Define a service management plan with overall scope of the SMS, goals and milestones including selection of initial tools.
Policies and Procedures
Start defining policies, activities and procedures for each process.
Review or Audit
Re-assess progress through formal reviews or audits (e.g. annually)
