Running IT-as-a-Service Part 11: DevOps is not different from mature ITIL Release Management
Conclusion: There is debate within the IT industry whether or not DevOps can replace ITIL1. From ITIL perspective, many IT organisations, especially in Australia, have been implementing ITIL processes since 1994 with significant investment in technology and professional services. Hence, it is impractical to just drop ITIL and adopt DevOps. This is because firstly, DevOps covers only Release Management which is only one process of the 26 processes of ITIL v3 and secondly, DevOps in not different from mature2 ITIL Release Management. In this light, existing ITIL organisations embarking on digital transformation should plan to mature Release Management to match DevOps principles. DevOps3 sites need to leverage the lessons learnt from ITIL implementation to enjoy a smooth business transformation as fixing only the software release process without integrating this with the remaining 25 ITIL processes is insufficient to raise the overall IT performance to the level needed by the digital world. This research outlines that ITIL and DevOps can co-exist in the same organisation once brought to the right maturity level.

About The Advisor
Wissam Raffoul
Dr. Wissam Raffoul was an IBRS advisor between 2013 - 2021 who specialised in transforming IT groups into service organisations, with particular expertise in IT Service Management (ITSM), process optimisation, outsourcing and Cloud strategies, enterprise systems management solutions and business-centric IT strategies. Prior to joining IBRS in August 2013, he was General Manager strategic consulting in Dimension Data advising clients on applying technology to improve business performance. Prior to joining Dimension Data, he was a Vice President in Gartner/META Group and issued various research publications covering service delivery processes, centre-of-excellence models, managing outsourcing vendors, benchmarks, maturity models, IT procurement evolution and supply/demand models. In previous positions, he headed HP ITSM consulting Practice in Australia. He also acted as an infrastructure manager, reporting to the CIO at a number of large organisations in government and in the financial and petrochemical industries.