ITIL V2 Scheduled to Retire (finally!) - ITIL V3 to be Primary Focus for the Foreseeable Future

For those new to ITIL, it may be confusing to understand why both ITIL V3 and ITIL V2 continue to co-exist, especially when deciding on the appropriate exams and certifications.

It should be noted that, while nearly 95% of registrants to ITIL Prime focus on the ITIL V3 Foundation certificate, there are still folks who sit the ITIL V2 Foundation exams.

Well, the "owners" of ITIL, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) in the UK, has finally indicated that ITIL V2 will be retired. Following the results of an industry-wide survey, the OGC has announced dates for the retirement of ITIL V2.

• ITIL V2 Foundation to cease 30 June 2010
• ITIL V2 Manager to cease 31 August 2010
• ITIL V2 Practitioner to cease 31 Dec 2010
• Following the above dates, exam takers will be able to re-sit each V2 exam until June 2011

ITIL Prime will continue to support both versions of ITIL practice exams for the foreseeable future.

Many still believe the ITIL V2 Service Support and Service Delivery processes and functions to be more practical and actionable, with a direct applicability to infrastructure support and operations (which is nearly prescriptive in some regard).

And though much of these best practices can be found within the broader "holistic" view of the ITIL V3 Service Lifecycle approach, the ITIL framework should take care to remain useful within industry without becoming overly burdensome to understand and implement.