How small and medium enterprises can begin their implementation of ITIL

Sequencing of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes in their order of implementation is one of the pending issues in the ITIL handbooks. Although good practices and process descriptions are quite well exposed, the identification of the first process to be implemented is a complex question for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that has not been deeply analysed. Moreover, SMEs are the organizations that have the largest presence in the world economy; official data of General Business Directory, show that their range of presence in different countries around the world is between 93% and 99%, and the average of employment contribution is around 60%. Consequently, the improvement of information technology service management in this type of enterprises is an imperative issue to accomplish. The research has been focused on two surveys that aim to help SMEs selecting the ITIL process for starting the implementation. In the first survey, data were gathered through a questionnaire applied to SMEs registered in the region of Madrid. The second survey obtained data from experts and enterprises in countries as Spain, Ecuador, Chile, Luxembourg, Colombia, Norway, El Salvador and Venezuela. Finally, the results related to both surveys show that the tendency for starting an ITIL implementation in SMEs points to some of the processes included in the Service Operation.