---
Title: "What Is ITIL? Framework and Practices Explained"
Url: "https://computer.io/glossary/itil"
Topic: "ITSM"
Description: "ITIL is a widely used framework of best practices for IT service management. What ITIL covers, its key practices, ITIL 4 and how it relates to ITSM."
---

# What is ITIL?

ITIL is a widely used framework of best practices for IT service management that guides how organizations plan, deliver and improve IT services. Its current version, ITIL 4, organizes guidance into practices such as incident management, service desk and change enablement.

## Key ITIL 4 practices

| Practice | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| Service desk | Single point of contact |
| Incident management | Restore service |
| Problem management | Remove root causes |
| Change enablement | Safe changes |
| Service request management | Standard requests |
| Knowledge management | Share knowledge |

## ITIL and AI

ITIL defines what good service looks like; AI agents can automate many practices, such as request fulfillment and incident triage.

## FAQ

### What does ITIL stand for?

It originally stood for IT Infrastructure Library; today it's used as a name.

### Is ITIL certification worth it?

It's common for IT service management roles.

### What is the difference between ITIL and ITSM?

ITSM is the practice; ITIL is a framework for it.

## Related terms

- [ITSM (IT service management)](https://computer.io/glossary/itsm)
- [Service desk](https://computer.io/glossary/service-desk)
- [Incident management](https://computer.io/glossary/incident-management)

## How Computer helps

- [Service desk automation](https://devrev.ai/solutions/service-desk-automation)

## Further reading

- [It service desk](https://devrev.ai/blog/it-service-desk)