Special: About Best Practices

Since the early nineties a lot of work has been done with best practices, such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). After becoming a hype in the UK and the Netherlands, ITIL is now moving up in the rest of the world. Still there are not many success-stories. Why is that?

Best practices are collections of successful implementations. They show the general picture of set-up results in other organisations. Each organization though is unique by it's context, people, culture, etc.. To adopt a successful set-up does not guarantee the same successes. To implement a best practice is basicly the same as to copy a best practice. Organizations and especially people won’t allow themselves to be pulled through a photocopier though. This can be noticed as well by the differences between organizations, that applied the same best practices.

Successful organizations face their unique nature. They explore the market for the successes of others, but look at the way these results were realized. To design and organize their business they don’t employ the outcomes, but the underlying knowledge. Models, that do justice to the uniqueness of their organizations, make knowledge re-usable in their specific situation.

Successes can’t be copied, formulas for success can. Formulas are no monkey-tricks though. The crux lies in the ideas behind the models and formulas. A good enterprise model relates underlying managerial, economical and technical ideas from both business and ICT. It provides both overview and insight within and across the boundaries of business and ICT. Allowing all stakeholders to communicate from their perspective, while maintaining consistency with the work of others. In modern, complex and dynamic organizations this has become a must.