What is the Value System?
The ITIL Value System is the overarching model showing how all components and activities of an organisation work together to facilitate value creation through digital products and services. It takes two inputs — Demand (what stakeholders need) and Opportunity (ways to create value) — and converts them into a single output: Value.
Think of it as the engine room of an IT organisation. Everything an IT team does — designing services, responding to incidents, improving processes, governing technology choices — is captured somewhere in the value system. The five components are not separate silos; they work together continuously.
🧭 Guiding Principles
Seven recommendations that apply in all circumstances, regardless of organisation type or size. They guide decisions and actions throughout an improvement initiative or service management activity.
- Start where you are
- Think and work holistically
- Optimise and automate
- Progress iteratively with feedback
- Keep it simple and practical
- Focus on value
- Collaborate and promote visibility
🏛️ Governance
The means by which an organisation is directed and controlled. Governance sets direction through policies and objectives, ensures that strategies are carried out, and holds people accountable for performance.
⛓️ Product and Service Lifecycle
In ITIL v5, the Product and Service Lifecycle Model (PSLM) replaces the ITIL 4 Service Value Chain. It consists of eight activities: Discover, Design, Acquire, Build, Transition, Operate, Deliver, and Support. Each product or service uses a specific combination of these activities — called a value stream — to flow from demand to value.
🛠️ Practices
Sets of organisational resources — people, processes, tools, and knowledge — designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective. ITIL Foundation introduces 34 management practices, covering everything from incident management to continual improvement.
🔄 Continual Improvement
An ongoing activity at all levels of the organisation to align services, practices, and the value system with changing business needs. Continual improvement uses a 7-step model: What is the vision? Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How do we get there? Take action. Are we getting there? How do we keep the momentum going?