The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and its accreditor the APM Group confirmed that the ITIL Software Endorsement Scheme went live in September 2009.

The scheme which has attracted a lot of coverage, allows software tool vendors to submit their ITIL based software tools for assessment by a Licensed Software Assessor.

Licensed Software Assessors are independent assessment bodies, providing recommendations to APM Group about the tools they have assessed. Tools will be assessed by qualified industry experts who must meet the criteria as set by APM Group.

The OGC's seal of approval designates that certain management software products are ITIL process compliant, meaning that the tool conforms to the terminology and prescribed best practices detailed in ITIL V3.

Choosing an ITSM tool has been notoriously difficult and complex as vendor solutions support different ITSM processes to varying degrees. For years vendors have made extensive claims about their tools and compliance with ITIL; however end users have been more sceptical.

Recently, ITP conducted independent research into this complex area, looking at the impact and value of the Software Endorsement Scheme. 1477 respondents participated in the research and it shows that a majority of end users believe that there is a significant "gap" between vendors and their customers resulting from the vendors claims that their software is ITIL compliant. 77% of end users indicated that they use applications/tools from vendors who claimed to automate ITIL processes but only 20% were satisfied with the validity of vendor’s claims that the tools conformed to ITIL standards.

With IT budget cuts, customers are scrutinising which tools to use with 64% stating that compliance assessment would influence their purchase decision favourably regarding a specific tool. The feedback from the ITSM community was rich and is covered in detail in the report. As an example one respondent commented:

 “The vendors still control the tools; inadvertently control the progress of ITSM, which in fact is the stronghold of users. More users must speak up, gang up on the vendors and state their frustrations; the real focus is on the process improvement and not mere tooling.” 

The White Paper which is available to purchase from ITP offers valuable insights into the issues for vendors and purchasers and takes an objective look at the ITIL Software Endorsement Scheme and what it means to the industry.

This is the first report of its kind and is a must read for all those in the ITSM community. 

Report contents:

• Executive summary
• How the endorsement scheme works
• The current licensed software assessors
• Levels of assessment
• User and supplier attitudes towards the concept of a certification Scheme
• Value of such a scheme to the industry
• Benefits to tool vendors
• Endorsed software tools so far
• Methodology
• Interpretation of data
• Demographics
• Key findings
• Key issues raised
• Conclusions