The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has been around since the mid 1980s, and is well established in many parts of Europe. IT organizations in North America, Scandinavia and parts of Asia/Pacific have suddenly taken a keen interest in ITIL. They are being driven by a strong desire to: improve their operational environments as a result of keen market competition, increase user expectations, improve credibility with the business, improve availability, and manage increased complexity, and governance and compliance (e.g., SOX). IT organizations have also tried, and failed, to implement IT network operations and systems management software tools without having sound processes. Therefore, a key endeavor is to improve core processes and integrate with technology and the organization enhancements (people).

The demands for ITIL consulting and educational services have always been small but steady. As a result, they have been dominated by small, specialized consulting companies like QWR, CEC Europe (now part of Hewlett-Packard), Manage One (now part of Hewlett-Packard), Fox IT, PinkRoccade and Pink Elephant and Covestic.