Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of principles designed to maximize the value of your IT department by aligning IT services with business strategy. Whereas IT Service Management (ITSM) determines delivery of IT services, ITIL outlines how to implement ITSM.

Many Agile organizations also use ITIL to improve their IT operations and maximize productivity across departments. They actually work in similar ways, in that ITIL and Agile are methodologies whereas ITSM and Scrum are frameworks used to implement those methodologies. Continue reading to learn more about how ITIL and Agile complement and enhance each other.

ITIL vs Agile

• Agile methodology is an approach to software development and project management focusing on collaboration, flexibility, and quick delivery. It’s widely used in development teams to deliver value in short cycles.
• ITIL is a framework of best practices for IT service management (ITSM), offering structured guidance for aligning IT services with business needs and future goals.

While Agile promotes speed and adaptability, ITIL brings stability and structure to processes. When used together, they help organizations move fast without compromising on service quality.

ITIL vs Agile: A Side-by-Side Comparison

	Agile	ITIL
Primary Focus	Product development & iteration	IT service delivery & lifecycle management
Core Values	Customer collaboration, adaptability, working solutions	Stability and service value
Timeframe	Short sprints or continuous delivery	Long-term service planning and improvement
Measurement	User feedback and working features	KPIs, incident resolution, change success rates

ITIL Guiding Principles: A Quick Overview

The ITIL framework is built on a set of guiding principles that have evolved over time, with several different versions of ITIL over the years. The latest version, ITIL 4, has been adapted to better accommodate Agile principles, since organizations commonly use both methodologies.

The guiding principles of ITIL 4 are outlined below:

• Focus on value: Ensure that IT activities add value to the organization.
• Start where you are: Assess your current state and build upon existing processes.
• Progress iteratively with feedback: Implement changes in small, manageable increments, with a constant feedback loop to refine and enhance processes over time.
• Collaborate and promote visibility: Strive for open communication and collaboration.
• Think and work holistically: Think about how tasks impact key business objectives.
• Keep it simple and practical: Find straightforward solutions over complex ones.
• Optimize and automate: Identify ways to optimize and automate repetitive tasks.

These ITIL guiding principles overlap with many key Agile principles. For example, Agile also values collaboration, iteration, collaboration, communication, and steady improvement.

ITIL & Agile: How They Integrate

Whereas Agile can be used throughout your organization, ITIL more specifically relates to your IT department and how it delivers IT services to employees and other internal stakeholders.

Project managers may be more well-versed in Agile and Scrum in their day-to-day, whereas ITIL helps ensure that teams throughout your organization have access to the right technological tools and the latest versions of helpful software to perform their jobs more effectively.

In other words, Agile and Scrum help ensure that projects stay on track, whereas ITIL and ITSM help ensure your internal teams have the right resources to complete those projects.

Here are a few more ways they converge in practice:

• Change Enablement: Agile teams deploy frequently, ITIL’s modern approach supports this by aiming to automate approvals and processes for low-risk changes.
• Continual Improvement: Agile teams use retrospectives to learn and adapt, this directly feeds into ITIL’s continual improvement practices.
• Incident and Problem Management: Agile teams owning services can integrate with ITIL’s structured approach to handling incidents and root causes.

This synergy allows teams and businesses to maintain service quality while innovating at speed.

Why Agile Organizations Use ITIL

Agile organizations are capable of quickly adapting to change and always working to improve how they do business. ITIL is like a more specialized form of Agile for your IT department. It is what guides your ITSM processes to ensure that everyone has access to the right tools and technology to do their jobs, as well as ensuring that software stays updated and secure.

The benefits of combining ITIL best practices with Agile:

• Keeps your IT team and development team on the same page
• Helps fix problems fast, with clear steps to follow
• Supports steady and continuous improvements across the entire service lifecycle
• Gives better visibility into what’s working and what needs to be improved
• Helps deliver updates and changes quickly while staying stable

Popular ITIL & Agile Management Software

Jira from Atlassian is a popular tool that organizations use to help manage how their teams use ITIL and Agile methodologies. Jira Service Management directly supports ITSM. Meanwhile, Confluence allows your internal teams to document best practices and procedures.

Learning to use these tools together can help your team better utilize ITSM and Agile.

Improve the Way You Use ITIL & Agile

Continuous improvement is a guiding principle of both ITIL and Agile. At Mumo Systems, we help teams migrate to or re-evaluate how they use Atlassian tools to meet their business objectives across methodologies. We can help support your Atlassian migration or provide more specialized services, such as ITSM consulting, based on the specific needs and goals of your organization.

Reach out to gain insights on how your teams can better use ITIL and Agile.

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FAQs

What is central to DevOps and Agile ITIL?

All prioritize collaboration, automation, and delivering continuous value. Agile and DevOps emphasize speed and responsiveness, while ITIL ensures that rapid change is balanced with service stability.

What is the difference between ITIL and Agile?

Agile focuses on flexible, iterative development and team empowerment. ITIL is a service management framework that structures how IT services are delivered and supported. While Agile drives rapid delivery, ITIL ensures service quality.

What is the difference between Agile Scrum and ITIL?

Scrum is a specific Agile framework used for managing product development in short cycles, while ITIL is a broad framework for managing IT services. Scrum is focused on how teams work; ITIL is focused on how services are planned, delivered, and improved.Is ITIL Agile?
No, ITIL is not an Agile framework. ITIL is a set of best practices for ITSM to align IT services with business needs. Agile is a project management and product development philosophy centered on flexibility, collaboration, and rapid iteration.