The current version of ITIL is version 3. The previous version to this, ITIL Version 2, had adopted a somewhat different approach to the present, with far more focus upon operational process, rather than lifecycle.

Equally, the publications themselves were different. They consisted of seven distinct sets:

Service Support;

Service Delivery;

ICT Infrastructure Management;

Planning To Implement Service Management;

Applications Management;

The Business Perspective;

Security Management.

Within these sets are the specific descriptions and definitions of the various ITIL disciplines.

Version 2 was officially replaced on May 30th 2007, by ITIL v3, following a lengthy period of redevelopment called the ITIL Refresh.