Crap Factoid Alert: "Two-thirds of companies around the globe are using ITIL"

The IT Skeptic's Crap Factoid Early Warning Service has detected another Crap Factoid (pure B.S. that will be presented so often that everyone will think it true) emerging.

silicon.com reported that

Two-thirds (66 per cent) of companies around the globe are using IT infrastructure library (Itil) - the IT service delivery framework - to help manage their IT infrastructure.

Nice of them to help the mathematically challenged there with the percentage. Statistics always make crap factoids more credible.

Strangely, PR Newswire which came to me via the famous Ajax World reported the same survey as showing:

Fifty-nine percent of U.S. organizations have engaged with Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a best practice framework for IT service delivery... However, only 8% of respondents deemed themselves aligned to the ITIL framework.

Then things become clearer as we read on and find

ITIL and other IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks seem to have broader acceptance in other parts of the world, with 66% of organizations outside the U.S. engaging with -- i.e., evaluating, partially implementing or fully practicing -- ITIL and 17% dubbing themselves practitioners.

So silicom.com's "using" turns out to mean "evaluating, partially implementing or fully practicing", whereas what the reasonable man in the IT shop might expect "using" to mean turns out to be 17%.

Lies, damn lies and statistics eh? The problem is that the absense of any objective certification or assessment of ITIL adoption means anyone can be classed as an ITIL shop, including apparently those "evaluating" it. Shame, silicon.com, shame.

But you can bet this Crap Factoid will gain a life of its own. It will be an unstoppable meme infecting powerpoints and webpages across the planet.

Comments

It was on the web, it must be true...

I can see it now. Company X uses this as a data point to drive the business case for a new product and service development for this "exploding market"... along with a new sales/marketing camapign. Use whichever interpretation of exploding that makes you happy! ;-)

kengon

Vendors use more authorative data for their own business decisio

Vendors use more authorative data for their own business decisions. they're the ones manufacturing dynamite not the ones getting blown up!

Tipping Points...

Skep,

Indeed. My comment was a bit tounge-in-cheek, eh? Surely someone of your level of skep-ticity can appreciate that! ;-P

Still, for the serious part of what I'd posted, there is an element of building a marketing reality (likely story) that such craptoids are the mortar for.

I've seen numerous PowerPoint decks generated (some farily recently resulting in direct questions to me) about how to get in the ITIL game. You and I shall disagree about vendors not getting blown up. It has and does happen.

In a sense, these are a bit weapon-like, in that if appropriate caution isn't taken and due diligence not applied, there will be consequences... the cumulative effects could be lethal.

kengon

It must be the season

It must be the season for crap factoids. Another vendor has recently published the results of a survey, entitled 'ITIL adoption surges despite confusion' claiming on their site that 87% of organizations are now following ITIL. Having read that survey, I'm the one that's confused!

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