What is Governance and Practice in ITIL ?

Governance and Practice | What is Governance and Practice in ITIL ?

Governance and practices serve as guidelines and benchmarks that IT organizations can adopt to ensure that their business performance remains competitive and are performed accordingly.

Governance is a platform used to ensure proper implementation of policies and strategy. It defines roles, responsibilities and standards that should be applied in the business environment. There are two important types of governance in IT:

• Corporate Governance:

“The ethical behavior by directors or others in the creation and preservation of wealth for all stakeholders.” The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 is an example of measures that has been taken to avoid fraudulent behavior by corporate giants.

• IT Governance:

“An integral part of corporate governance that ensures that the organization’s IT sustains and extends the organization’s strategies and objectives.” There are rules and regulations that IT must comply to and IT is expected to utilize as well as create additional value by using existing resources. It is important to distinguish between Governance and Management:

• Governance is about maintaining proper policy and procedures to ensure that IT is “doing the right things”.

• Management is about “doing things right”.

Good practices encourage service providers to maintain a competitive advantage with competitors. Organizations can learn, enhance or develop their services to meet the benchmark set by best practices of competitors.

Best Practice is “the best identified approach to a situation based on observation from effective organizations in similar business circumstances”. ITIL® is an example of Best Practice.

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Governance and Practice in ITIL

In ITIL, governance and practice explain two different—but connected—things: who sets the direction and how the work actually gets done.

Governance in ITIL

Governance is about leadership, oversight, and accountability. It sits at the top of the organization and focuses on making sure IT supports the business in the right way.

In simple terms, governance answers questions like:

Are we investing in the right IT initiatives?
Are risks being managed properly?
Are we complying with laws, regulations, and internal rules?
Is IT delivering real value to the business?

Governance is usually handled by the board or senior management. They don’t fix incidents or run daily operations. Instead, they set policies, define priorities, and make sure the organization stays on course.

Example:
If leadership decides that cybersecurity is a top priority and mandates strict data protection standards, that’s governance in action.

Practice in ITIL

A practice is how work gets done day to day.

In ITIL 4, practices replace the old idea of rigid “processes.” A practice brings together everything needed to achieve a goal—people, skills, tools, information, and workflows.

Practices are practical and flexible. They focus on outcomes, not just following steps.

Examples of ITIL practices include:

Incident Management
Change Enablement
Service Desk
Problem Management
Information Security Management

Example:
When a system goes down, the Incident Management practice kicks in. The issue is logged, investigated, fixed, and reviewed so future disruptions can be reduced. That hands-on work is the practice.

How Governance and Practice Work Together

Governance sets the boundaries and expectations. Practices operate within those boundaries to deliver results.

Think of it this way:

Governance says what matters and what limits apply.
Practices figure out how to make it happen.

They’re different, but they depend on each other.

ITIL 3 vs ITIL 4 (Quick Context)

ITIL 4 introduced a big shift in thinking:

Processes became practices
Rigid workflows became flexible ways of working
The focus moved from IT efficiency to value creation

Governance still provides direction, but practices now adapt to what works best for the organization.

Easy Way to Remember

Governance decides and controls
Practices plan and perform
Governance sets the rules
Practices do the work

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In ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), Governance and Practice are two key ideas that explain how IT is directed and how work actually gets done.

1. Governance (in ITIL)

Governance is about direction, control, and accountability.

In simple terms:

Governance ensures that IT supports business goals, uses resources responsibly, and manages risk.

What governance does

Governance:

Sets policies and rules
Defines who is accountable
Ensures compliance (legal, regulatory, internal)
Aligns IT activities with organizational strategy
Monitors performance and risk

Example

A company’s board decides:

IT must prioritize cybersecurity
Cloud vendors must meet compliance standards
Major IT investments need executive approval

That’s governance — high-level decision-making and oversight.

2. Practice (in ITIL)

A practice is a set of organizational resources designed to perform work or achieve an objective.

In simpler words:

A practice is how IT work is planned, executed, and improved.

What a practice includes

Each ITIL practice combines:

People (roles & skills)
Processes
Tools & technology
Information
Partners & suppliers

Examples of ITIL Practices

Some common ITIL 4 practices:

Incident Management
Change Enablement
Problem Management
Service Desk
Service Level Management
Information Security Management

Example:

Incident Management practice handles service outages:

Detects incidents
Logs them
Resolves them
Reviews them to improve future response

That’s a practice — hands-on operational work.

Governance vs Practice (Quick Comparison)

Aspect	Governance	Practice
Focus	Direction & control	Doing the work
Level	Strategic	Operational
Responsibility	Board / executives	IT teams & managers
Purpose	Ensure value, manage risk	Deliver and improve services