ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how Lean IT creates a foundation for sustained IT operational excellence and explores how the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a best practices framework for IT service management, complements Lean IT. It focuses on the future of cloud computing and its implications for the IT organization, from a Lean IT perspective. Cloud computing is suddenly threatening to disrupt many traditional IT organizations and practices. The IT organization is like a black box to many business executives and managers. Traditional IT organizations structure themselves around technical domains and skill sets. This approach aims to reduce cost through economies of scale, where specialized resources are concentrated, and the cost of centralized systems and services are shared across many customers. The ITIL volumes describe a comprehensive but generic future state which must be adapted to the idiosyncrasies and culture of a particular IT organization and the business that it serves.
