More ITIL-Bashing - Institutionalised IT-speak

ITIL-bashing seems to be reaching fever-pitch, so I’m going to throw in a personal gripe – ITIL-speak.  Terminology is one of the few prescriptive elements of ITIL, and although it is useful to have a common lexicon to aid communication, this only helps communication within IT - not between IT and the business users.  IT bods have real problems translating IT-speak, which is riddled with TLAs and long-winded geekery, into language that the business understands.

"Quit your ITIL jibber-jabber!"

I'll give you an example:

Service Request

ITIL-Speak:

• Service Request (ITILv3):    [Service Operation] A request from a User for information, or advice, or for a Standard Change or for Access to an IT Service. For example to reset a password, or to provide standard IT Services for a new User. Service Requests are usually handled by a Service Desk, and do not require an RFC to be submitted.

Customer-Speak:

• I need something new from you

Incident

ITIL-Speak:

• Incident: [Service Operation] An unplanned interruption to an IT Service or a reduction in the Quality of an IT Service. Failure of a Configuration Item that has not yet impacted Service is also an Incident. For example Failure of one disk from a mirror set.

Customer-Speak:

• There's something wrong with the thing I have.

However...
Despite the trend for ITIL-bashing, I find myself stepping in to defend it.  Yes, there are problems, but it is the best we have got at the moment.  It doesn't need to die, only to evolve.  I still believe that an expert-moderated ITIL wiki would provide the best platform for ITIL to realise its potential.  When will that be?  That will be the day the ITIL consulting industry dies.