Change and transformation in IT projects are often confused as being one and the same thing, when they are actually very different. I frequently come across people saying their organisation is undergoing a transformation when in fact the truth is the said project is just part of continuous change or improvement.
But how are change and transformation different?
Change and transformation are very distinct things. Change is very much a continual process; it is about evolution and it is always ongoing. It is about transitioning from one state to another. Changes can be large or small, simple or complex, but are generally incremental in nature.
Transformation, on the other hand, is about fundamental change. It is generally immediate in nature and concerns a complete shift from one state to the other.
An example of change is a minor alteration in working practice, whereas transformation would be an organisation deciding to change its focus, business practices, culture and ways of working.
Adopting a service management approach to IT is ideal for both change and transformation.
Service management, with its processes you can adapt and adopt as needs be, is the ideal solution to handle both IT change and transformation. ITIL®, the most commonly used framework for service management, offers a structured, customisable and scalable framework you can adapt and adopt to enable both IT change and transformation.
Whether you are simply changing an IT service or participating in an organisation-wide transformation programme in which IT is a key cornerstone, ITIL can be of use and you should start employing the framework as distilled in the ITIL Lifecycle Publication Suite as soon as possible.