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Standards Affecting IT with a Focus on CMM and ITIL Aimee LaBounty, Ziyong Li, and Yunlin Lu INFSY5800-G04-FS06 Dr. Mary Lacity November 16, 2006 Executive summary Process improvement using IT standards can help managers implement functional processes and achieve successful projects. Project failures are costly to organizations. In 1995 the Standish Group estimated that $81 billion was spent on cancelled software projects by American companies.68 It is in the organizations best interest to explore options to help improve processes. Project success can increase as processes are standardized. This paper explores four IT standards researched by obtaining and studying various sources including journal articles, professional presentation power point slides, white papers, and case studies: ISO COBIT ITIL CMM ISO, an organization of national standards, enables organizations to compete globally. Organizations can obtain customers world wide, because ISO is recognized by many people. ISO helps improve internal communication and can reduce company costs. There are currently over 15,000 published ISO standards.32 COBIT with its strong focus on control of IT systems enables organizations to better align IT and business. Business requirements are met with IT resources. The COBIT framework includes 34 control processes further detailed with 215 control objectives. The value of IT can increase when an organization implements COBIT.33 ITIL identifies best practices for IT service management. ITIL was not widely adopted until the 1990’s, but is becoming more popular throughout the world. ITIL uses service agreements between IT and business. The service agreements increase communication flow and help reduce errors due to lack of communication or misunderstandings. Organizations can decrease cost, increase efficiency, and improve internal and external customer satisfaction by implementing ITIL.1, 35, 66 HP is an active support