Information Technology Infrastructure Library
The eight ITIL version 2 books and their disciplines are:
The IT Service Management sets
Other operational guidance
3. ICT Infrastructure Management
To assist with the implementation of ITIL practices a further book was published (Apr 9, 2002) providing guidance on implementation (mainly of Service Management):
8. Planning to Implement Service Management
And this has more recently (Jan 26, 2006) been supplemented with guidelines for smaller IT units, not included in the original eight publications:
9. ITIL Small-Scale Implementation
ITIL advocates that IT services must be aligned to the needs of the business and underpin the core business processes. It provides guidance to organisations on how to use IT as a tool to facilitate business change, transformation and growth.
The ITIL best practices are currently detailed within five core publications which provide a systematic and professional approach to the management of IT services, enabling organisations to deliver appropriate services and continually ensure they are meeting business goals and delivering benefits.
The five core guides map the entire ITIL Service Lifecycle, beginning with the identification of customer needs and drivers of IT requirements, through to the design and implementation of the service into operation and finally, on to the monitoring and improvement phase of the service.
Adopting ITIL can offer users a huge range of benefits that include:
improved IT services
reduced costs
improved customer satisfaction through a more professional approach to service delivery
improved productivity
improved use of skills and experience
improved delivery of third party service
ref: http://www.itil-officialsite.com/AboutITIL/WhatisITIL.aspx