The Official ITIL (Version 5) Publications Have Arrived

Back in May, I wrote about the arrival of the new ITIL (Version 5) Advanced Certifications and what they mean for service management professionals looking to stay ahead of the curve. Read What Open Book Exams Really Mean for Learners.

At the time, one of the biggest questions we received was:

"When will the official books be available?"

The wait is over.

ITSM Academy now has the official ITIL (Version 5) hardcopy publications available for purchase and immediate shipment.

Why These Books Matter

The transition from ITIL 4 to ITIL (Version 5) is more than a simple update. While many of the foundational concepts remain intact, the framework expands significantly to address how modern organizations create value through products, services, experiences, strategy, and transformation.

These publications provide the detailed guidance behind the certifications and offer valuable reference material for practitioners, leaders, consultants, trainers, and organizations adopting the new framework.

Whether you plan to pursue certification or simply want to understand the future direction of ITIL, these books belong on your shelf.

Available Titles

The current collection includes:

ITIL (Version 5) Product
ITIL (Version 5) Service
ITIL (Version 5) Experience
ITIL (Version 5) Strategy
ITIL (Version 5) Transformation

For professionals pursuing the Managing Professional pathway, the Product, Service, Experience, and Transformation publications form the foundation of the Managing Professional Transition (MPT) designation.

More Than Exam Preparation

While many learners purchase the publications to support certification preparation, the books are designed to be practical reference guides long after the exam is complete.

Inside, you'll find guidance on topics such as:

Product and service lifecycle management
Customer, user, and employee experience
Organizational transformation
Strategic planning and governance
Value creation and measurement
Cross-functional collaboration
Modern digital operating models

These are the challenges organizations are actively working through today.

A Valuable Resource for Leaders

One of the most interesting aspects of ITIL (Version 5) is its expanded audience.

Historically, ITIL was often associated primarily with Service Desk and Operations teams. The new publications speak directly to a broader set of stakeholders, including:

IT leaders
Product managers
Service owners
Enterprise architects
Transformation leaders
Governance professionals
Digital strategy teams

The result is a framework that better reflects how organizations actually operate in 2026 and beyond.

Available Now

The official ITIL (Version 5) publications are available now through ITSM Academy.

Whether you're preparing for certification, building an internal ITSM program, evaluating the new framework, or simply want to understand where service management is headed, these books provide the most authoritative source available.

If you've been waiting to get your hands on the official books, now is the time.

Happy Reading!

Four Service Characteristics

Recently I came across several articles by researchers and experts that laid out definitions and characteristics of services. ITIL provides us with a definition that can help drive the creation of value-laden services: A means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks. An area that ITIL is not so clear is in terms of service characteristics. Several researchers and experts put forth that services have four basic characteristics (IHIP): Intangibility—Services are the results of actions not things. They have no physical presence and represent a logical set of elements. One way to think of service is “work done for others.” Heterogeneity—Also known as “variability”; services are unique items because of the mechanisms used to deliver services, which is people. Because the people element adds variability, the service is variable. This holds true, especially for the value proposition—not eve...

What Is A Service Offering?

The ITIL 4 Best Practice Guidance defines a “Service Offering” as a description of one or more services designed to address the needs of a target customer or group. As a service provider, we can’t stop there! We must know what the contracts of our service offering are and be able to put them into context as required by the customer. Let’s explore the three elements that comprise a Service Offering. A “Service Offering” may include: Goods, Access to Resources, and Service Actions 1. Goods – When we think of “Goods” within a service offering these are the items where ownership is transferred to the consumer and the consumer takes responsibility for the future use of these goods. Example of goods that are being provided in the offering – If this is a hotel service then toiletries or chocolates are yours to take with you. You the consumer own these and they are yours to take with you. ...

What is the difference between Process Owner, Process Manager and Process Practitioner?

This article was originally published in 2015. With the Introduction of ITIL 4, some of the concepts have changed in ways that are described below. ITIL 4 has also introduced new roles, as explained in our blog ITIL 4 and the Evolving Role of Roles . Before we dive into the difference between these roles, let’s first look at a key update in ITIL 4 – the shift from processes to practices. ITIL 4 has evolved to focus on holistic practices vs. isolated processes. By definition, a practice is a set of organizational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective. For example, the purpose of the incident management practice is to minimize the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible. All organizations recognize the need to allocate resources to the management of incidents and mature their capabilities in that area. In ITIL 4, each practice includes resources based on the four ...

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