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Recently, professionals and organizations have pursued certifications like ITIL, PRINCE2, COBIT, PMP, and SCRUM. These certifications help in either modifying an existing service or designing a new one to meet business standards.

Now let us see the advantages of SCRUM and ITIL:

ITIL can be described as a broader aspect in terms of its scope, results and implementations and it emphasizes on IT Governance and improvement of processes in order to meet the customer’s expectations. SCRUM on the other hand can be compared in a little dimension to ITIL by means of Service Transition phase (in relation to Change and Release Management) and can be described as an easier method for achieving quicker results. In short, SCRUM has been found to be very useful while working in dead-lines, faster recovery of services in case of incidents and problems. It can also be used to give a better vision of the status of the project in discussion meetings of clients and stakeholders.

Similar to the game from which it was derived upon, SCRUM makes its mark when the team should work as a whole unit moving the projection to completion. It is found to be beneficial in difficult situations or circumstances. SCRUM promotes the value of intra-team work. The SCRUM team is usually expected to demonstrate activities such as:

• Responsibility for delivery and quality of the project with respect to the service
• Minimization of individual tasks and focus as a group on team effort
• Knowledge management and learning to bind as a team

ITIL is adept in bringing different IT teams into a single structure in order to work for a common purpose and continuous improvement and modification of processes if required for consistent delivery of service to the customers. ITIL provides for the smooth co-ordination between teams of different departments.

In ITIL, there are some core principles which have to be followed:

• Roles and responsibilities have to be clearly defined and training for required levels of improvement in service has to be given to staff at regular times
• All the processes have to be mandatorily documented in order to maintain consistency and regular improvement

Organizations can utilize ITIL to draw a baseline from where they can plan, measure and implement only the required processes for better customization of a service.

Some companies have implemented both ITIL and SCRUM and their projects have proved that both can co-exist provided the champions of both the certifications have a common goal in achieving their targets. Both emphasize the need for a strong leadership for the project to achieve successful completion.

Sí, las mejores prácticas de ITIL y las metodologías ágiles pueden complementarse entre sí. El enfoque rápido e iterativo de Agile para el desarrollo se alinea bien con la necesidad de marcos estructurados y gobernanza que ofrece ITIL. En un entorno ágil, ITIL puede priorizar las mejoras en función de las necesidades de las partes interesadas del negocio, mejorando la eficiencia general. El enfoque combinado conduce a una mayor calidad en toda la infraestructura de desarrollo.

Algunas de las similitudes entre ITIL y Agile son las siguientes:

1. La reunión CAB se puede utilizar para resaltar el Backlog

El CAB puede hacer uso del método Agile en términos de gestión de solicitudes de cambio (RFC). El comité asesor de cambios puede realizar reuniones Scrum frecuentes para destacar y priorizar las solicitudes de cambio. Luego, las solicitudes de cambio menos exigentes y no repetitivas se pueden colocar en el backlog del producto. Los distintos equipos pueden fijar un período de tiempo estimado o una fecha límite para determinar qué parte del backlog se puede completar con éxito en un tiempo relativamente menor.

2. Las RFC se pueden documentar utilizando puntos de historia o historias de usuario.

Se pueden examinar las distintas solicitudes de cambio para asegurarse de que estén fragmentadas adecuadamente de la misma manera que se presentan las solicitudes vinculadas con historias de usuario con puntos de historia asignados mientras los desarrolladores de software ágiles desglosan las cosas.

 3. Scrum Master y Change Manager se convierten en sinónimos

El Change Manager puede actuar como el Scrum Manager y gestionar reuniones intensas y rápidas día a día para debatir sobre el desarrollo de los Sprints actuales o las Solicitudes de cambio. El principio del Scrum Master sería entonces el de Planificar menos, hacer menos y probar menos, lo que puede formar un ciclo de respuesta ajustado.

4. La agilidad se incrementaría mediante la mejora continua

La velocidad de los cambios exitosos y una mayor transparencia en cuanto al tipo de atascos se pueden evaluar mediante el enfoque en conjuntos de cambios o sprints bien determinados y mediante la reducción del volumen de trabajo en desarrollo en un momento específico. Se puede utilizar un gráfico de evolución durante cada evaluación de sprint que permita medir la velocidad relevante.

5. Compatibilidad total en términos de pruebas automatizadas 

La automatización funciona como un dominio compartido entre las metodologías ITIL y Agile, en particular en los ámbitos de prueba e implementación. Agile se centra en las adaptaciones rápidas, mientras que ITIL proporciona estrategias para gestionar esos cambios de manera eficaz.

The answer to the nagging question as to whether ITIL best practices and Agile can be used together is a big YES! Agile’s enhanced and rapid development benefits ITIL as this provides an opportunity for needing a well-structured framework and established rules for governance. Providing the focus of the improvement process on the necessary business stakeholders on the part of ITIL is a huge probability in an Agile setting. What can be the overall benefit of this blend of ITIL and Agile? Obviously, a higher level of quality spanning across the whole infrastructure of development!

Some of the similarities between ITIL and Agile are as under:

1.   CAB Gathering can be used to highlight the Backlog

CAB can make use of Agile method in terms of handling Request for Change (RFC). Change Advisory Board can have frequent Scrums for highlighting and prioritizing change requests. Then the less exigent ones and non-repetitive change requests can be placed in the product backlog.  An estimated time period or a deadline can be fixed by the various teams as to what portion pertaining to the backlog can be successfully accomplished in a relatively lesser time.

2.   RFC’s can be documented using Story Points/User Stories

The various change requests can be scrutinized to make sure they are appropriately fragmented down in the identical manner of featuring requests linked with User Stories with Story Points allocated while breaking things down by developers of Agile software.

 3.   Scrum Master and Change Manager become synonymous

The Change Manager can perform as the Scrum Manager managing swift day-to-day intense meetings to discourse about development on the present Sprints or Requests for Change.  The Scrum Master’s principle would then be to Plan less; do less; test less which can form a tight response loop.

4.   Agility would be augmented through Continuous Improvement

The speed of successful changes and better transparency regarding the kind of logjams can be adjudged through focus on well-determined sets of changes or Sprints and through decrease in the volume of work in development at a specified time. A burn down chart can be used during every Sprint evaluation which can enable the possibility of measuring the relevant velocity.

5.   Full Compatibility in terms of automated testing 

Automation is an arena common to both ITIL and software development under Agile in terms of testing and deployment.

Agile is about rapid changes while ITIL is all about how to deal with those changes.

Yes, ITIL best practices and Agile methodologies can definitely complement each other. Agile's quick and iterative approach to development aligns well with the need for structured frameworks and governance provided by ITIL. In an Agile setting, ITIL can prioritize improvements based on business stakeholders' needs, enhancing overall efficiency. The combined approach leads to higher quality throughout the development infrastructure.

Some of the similarities between ITIL and Agile are as under:

1.   CAB Gathering can be used to highlight the Backlog

CAB can make use of Agile method in terms of handling Request for Change (RFC). Change Advisory Board can have frequent Scrums for highlighting and prioritizing change requests. Then the less exigent ones and non-repetitive change requests can be placed in the product backlog.  An estimated time period or a deadline can be fixed by the various teams as to what portion pertaining to the backlog can be successfully accomplished in a relatively lesser time.

2.   RFC’s can be documented using Story Points/User Stories

The various change requests can be scrutinized to make sure they are appropriately fragmented down in the identical manner of featuring requests linked with User Stories with Story Points allocated while breaking things down by developers of Agile software.

 3.   Scrum Master and Change Manager become synonymous

The Change Manager can perform as the Scrum Manager managing swift day-to-day intense meetings to discourse about development on the present Sprints or Requests for Change.  The Scrum Master’s principle would then be to Plan less; do less; test less which can form a tight response loop.

4.   Agility would be augmented through Continuous Improvement

The speed of successful changes and better transparency regarding the kind of logjams can be adjudged through focus on well-determined sets of changes or Sprints and through decrease in the volume of work in development at a specified time. A burn down chart can be used during every Sprint evaluation which can enable the possibility of measuring the relevant velocity.

5.   Full Compatibility in terms of automated testing 

Automation serves as a shared domain between ITIL and Agile methodologies, particularly in the realms of testing and deployment. Agile focuses on swift adaptations, whereas ITIL provides strategies for managing such changes effectively.