To say that businesses are increasingly dependent on the performance and integrity of their Information Technology (IT) Systems, processes and Infrastructure, is a major understatement. Be it banking and finance, retail or manufacture, IT forms the backbone for efficient services. To better manage IT services, the guidelines laid under the ITIL scheme are a standard to enable efficient cost effective performance. Today ITIL is the accepted framework for IT Service Management. Alignment to ITIL processes and methodologies does give an edge to organizations specifically focused on Infrastructure Management.

“The Infrastructure Management Services (IMS) industry currently accounts for US $524 Billion, nearly 25% of the US $ 2.3 Trillion IT Spend, and this is moving towards a remote delivery model where services are increasingly delivered by vendors from low-cost locations.”

In 2004, Bharti set a precedent for “Equipment and Network Management Services” when it signed a $ 750 Million outsourcing deal with IBM. This was a global first in the telecom space and since then other organizations have followed in similar patterns. In March 2007, Idea Cellular did a deal valued at that time of about $ 600 million plus for a 10 year period.

Similarly from a situation of owning and maintaining huge IT infrastructure has grown the practice of using outsourced models via data centres and “Remote Infrastructure Management” or RIM. This is also seen in line with the increasing availability of SAAS or “Software As A Service” applications. The growth of RIM has been so rapid that Gartner predicts that by 2012, 20% of businesses will own no major IT Assets.

“As organizations make plans to navigate the economic recovery and prepare for the return to growth, our predictions for 2010 focus on the impact of critical changes in the balance of control and power in IT," Brian Gammage, VP and Research fellow at Gartner. 

Outsourcing of Infrastructure Management, as an Industry; thus is probably the next big opportunity. RIM or Remote Infrastructure Management as an Industry may be valued in the region of $ 26-28 Billion by 2013, as per a study conducted by Nasscom and McKinsey, titled: “The Rising Remote Infrastructure Management Opportunity: Establishing India’s Leadership“. It states that the global RIM industry has grown at more than 80 percent CAGR, from $2 billion in 2006 to $6 billion in 2007 to $7 billion in 2008.

As an industry the opportunities are great, therefore for any Organization benchmarking its processes against internationally recognized and accepted standards is of the utmost importance to catch a piece of the potential $ 26 Billion pie. That explains the necessity for the organizations to be “ITIL Aligned”.

The next step to understand is that your processes and systems are only as good as the people who work and manage them. I quote Aristotle, to explain it for me.

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