If you work in Information Technology, you know that the only constant is change. Over the past decades, ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) has established itself as the most widely adopted IT service management framework on the planet. However, to keep pace with the speed of digital transformation, it had to evolve.

In this comprehensive guide, we explore the framework’s evolutionary journey, detailing the crucial differences between ITIL V3, ITIL 4, and the new ITIL Version 5. Our goal is to provide the technical clarity you need—as a professional or manager—to lead strategic IT in the age of Artificial Intelligence.

Read also: The Definitive Guide to ITIL 5

1. ITIL V3: The Era of Standardization and Silos

Last updated in 2011, ITIL V3 was designed for a world where IT was essentially seen as infrastructure and support. Its greatest achievement was bringing order to operational chaos through highly defined workflows.

The Service Lifecycle
The foundation of V3 was the Service Lifecycle, composed of five linear stages:

• Service Strategy: Defining the market and business objectives.

• Service Design: Designing the technical solution and architecture.

• Service Transition: Building, testing, and preparing for production.

• Service Operation: Daily support and ensuring stability.

• Continual Service Improvement (CSI): Learning from failures and optimizing.

While it brought much-needed standardization, V3 suffered from rigidity. An excessive focus on processes often created “silos,” where development and operations teams rarely communicated, leading to bureaucracy and sluggishness in the face of emerging Agile methodologies.

2. ITIL 4: The Value Co-creation Revolution

Launched in 2019, ITIL 4 broke away from V3’s linearity. It recognizes that IT doesn’t deliver value as a “pre-packaged bundle”; instead, value is co-created through active collaboration between providers and consumers.

The Service Value System (SVS)
Instead of a rigid lifecycle, ITIL 4 introduced the SVS—a model describing how all organizational components work together. At the heart of the SVS is the Service Value Chain, which offers six flexible activities (Plan, Improve, Engage, Design & Transition, Obtain/Build, Deliver & Support) that can be combined into different value streams.

The Four Dimensions
To ensure a holistic approach, ITIL 4 requires every service to be analyzed from four perspectives:

1. Organizations and People: Culture, skills, and structure.

2. Information and Technology: Data, systems, and technical knowledge.

3. Partners and Suppliers: Third-party relationships and contracts.

4. Value Streams and Processes: How activities are coordinated to create value.

Another landmark change was replacing “processes” with 34 practices, integrating Agile, DevOps, and Lean concepts directly into IT governance.

3. ITIL Version 5: Digital Mastery and the AI-Native World

We have reached the technological frontier with ITIL Version 5. This version doesn’t discard what we learned in ITIL 4 but expands it to handle extreme complexity and the ubiquity of Artificial Intelligence. In ITIL 5, the distinction between “business” and “IT” disappears: we now speak of Digital Products.

Crucial Naming Shift
One of the most symbolic changes in this version is the removal of the word “Service” from core components. In ITIL Version 5, the focus is so broad it isn’t limited to services; we now use only Value System and Value Chain. This reflects the total integration of technology across the entire organizational structure, encompassing both services and products.

The 6Cs AI Model
ITIL Version 5 introduces the AI Capability Model, classifying AI capabilities into six practical functions:

• Creation: Generating new content, code, and designs.

• Curation: Organizing and improving the quality of existing data.

• Clarification: Assisting in navigating and summarizing complex information.

• Cognition: Identifying patterns, anomalies, and predictions.

• Communication: Natural interface between humans and systems (Chatbots, Agents).

• Coordination: Autonomous execution and orchestration of actions across systems.

Complexity Thinking
Unlike previous versions, ITIL Version 5 adopts Complexity Thinking. It recognizes that organizations operate in different contexts: Ordered (clear cause and effect), Complex (cause and effect only understood in retrospect), Chaotic (requires immediate action), and Confused. This perspective prevents companies from trying to apply rigid solutions to complex problems, encouraging experimentation and agility.

4. Direct Comparison: The Evolution of Concepts

5. Which Version Should You Study or Apply Now?

This is the question we get most often at PMG Academy. The answer requires strategic maturity:

• ITIL V3 is legacy: While its infrastructure concepts still exist, the certification has been discontinued. Studying V3 today has mostly historical value for understanding how traditional legacy companies operate.

• ITIL 4 is the foundation: If you are just starting out, ITIL 4 Foundation remains your entry point. It is impossible to grasp the complexity of Version 5 without mastering the value stream and co-creation concepts of ITIL 4. Furthermore, you can reach the higher levels of ITIL Version 5 by holding an ITIL 4 Foundation certification.

• ITIL Version 5 is the competitive edge: For already certified professionals seeking leadership positions in digital transformation or AI governance, Version 5 modules (such as AI Governance) are the essential next step.

While ITIL 4 focused on Service Value Chain activities, ITIL Version 5 revives and evolves the lifecycle concept, but in a much more dynamic way, integrated into the reality of modern digital products.

The New Lifecycle in ITIL Version 5: From Static Design to Dynamic Product Management

One of the most impactful changes for those who followed the transition from V3 to ITIL 4 is how ITIL Version 5 reorganizes workflow. While V3 had 5 linear stages and V4 had flexible activities, Version 5 introduces a cycle of 8 integrated stages, specifically designed for the development and operation of digital products in high-complexity environments.

Unlike the rigid cycles of the past, these stages act as “stepping stones” that can be accessed in different orders, depending on your company’s Value Stream.

The 8 Stages of the ITIL Version 5 Lifecycle
For professionals seeking certification or leading engineering and operations teams, understanding these stages is vital for aligning IT with the business:

1. Discover: Focus on exploring opportunities and prioritizing needs. This is where PESTLE and market understanding come into play.

2. Design: Creating prototypes and detailed specifications, focusing on user experience (UX) and functionality.

3. Acquire: Securing necessary resources, whether cloud infrastructure from partners or specific talent.

4. Build: Where code is born and technological solutions are integrated and tested.

5. Transition: Safely introducing the product into the “live” environment (production), ensuring vendors and systems are ready.

6. Operate: Maintenance and monitoring. Here, SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) concepts come in to ensure reliability.

7. Deliver: Ensuring users access the service as agreed in SLAs and collecting real-time feedback.

8. Support: Restoring normal operations and investigating problems, using automation to reduce support toil.

Why this changes your career and your company
In ITIL V3, IT often “threw the project over the fence” to operations after transition. In ITIL 4, we started talking about streams. Now, in ITIL Version 5, the lifecycle demands continuous end-to-end collaboration.

This means the Operations team must be involved from the Discover and Design stages, and the development team must have full visibility into the Support stage. This approach removes the last vestiges of bureaucratic silos and allows the company to use AI to automate decisions between these stages, such as auto-scaling resources or self-healing incidents.

Real-World Application: Evolved Change Management
For the modern manager, this new cycle allows Change Enablement (formerly Change Control) to be fully automated. In CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) pipelines, the transition between Build and Operate happens in seconds, with governance occurring “within the code,” eliminating the need for slow Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings.

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Want to master these 8 stages and lead digital transformation in your organization? At PMG Academy, our courses prepare you not just for the exam, but to apply the ITIL Version 5 Value System and Value Chain in your company’s daily operations.

Does your IT department currently act more in the “Support” stage, or is it already integrated starting from “Discover”? Share your reality with us!

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Beyond ITSM: The Era of Digital Product and Service Management (DPSM) and AI Governance

The evolution of Version 5 marks a fundamental shift: we are moving from a model focused purely on “IT Service Management” (ITSM) to a Digital Product and Service Management (DPSM) model. This shift recognizes that in modern enterprises, the boundary between business and technology has vanished.

What is DPSM and Why Does It Matter?
Unlike the past, where IT was support, today IT is the product. DPSM focuses on total integration between the digital product lifecycle and value delivery. This ensures technology is not seen as an isolated cost, but as the central engine of innovation and business strategy.

Complexity Thinking: Navigating Uncertainty
Another pillar of Version 5 is the adoption of Complexity Thinking. ITIL now recognizes that not all problems are created equal. It categorizes contexts into four levels to guide decision-making:

• Ordered: Cause and effect are known. Linear processes work well here.

• Complex: Cause and effect can only be understood in retrospect. Requires experimentation and rapid feedback.

• Chaotic: Requires immediate action to stabilize the system before any analysis.

• Confused: When the nature of the system is not yet understood, requiring deep investigation.

Understanding this distinction is what separates an operational manager from a strategic leader. Applying rigid methods in complex contexts is a recipe for failure; ITIL Version 5 provides the flexibility needed to adapt governance to your organization’s actual level of uncertainty.

Conclusion: Lead the Technological Evolution

ITIL has evolved from a library of physical books to a living organism pulsing at the rhythm of Artificial Intelligence. From the organizational rigidity of V3, we moved through the agility of ITIL 4 and arrived at the digital mastery of Version 5.

The future of management doesn’t belong to those who memorize manuals, but to those who have the insight to understand which mindset the moment demands. IT is no longer a support department; it is the engine driving the market value of modern companies.

Ready to take the next step in your career? At PMG Academy, we offer the most up-to-date training so you can master ITIL 4 and prepare for the new challenges of Version 5.

Explore our ITIL courses and transform your governance today!

And you? Which version is your company or your career currently stuck in? Share your experience in the comments below!