Evergreen Systems, Inc. Announces Second in ITIL Assessment Series; ITIL Adoption Clearly Outpacing All Other Process/Compliance Frameworks in U.S.

STERLING, Va. -- Evergreen Systems, a leading IT technology and process consulting firm, today announced the results of an assessment survey of IT managers and executives regarding the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) conducted at the IT Service Management Forum (itSMF) annual conference in late September 2005. Data from the latest ITIL assessment suggests that ITIL has reached critical mass in large organizations, primarily driven by Service Quality and a need to align IT with larger business objectives. Furthermore, for organizations that participated, ITIL implementation is clearly outpacing other process/compliance frameworks in the enterprise.

The company polled 167 attendees from 108 companies, organizations and institutions to gauge the degree of commitment and focus around adoption and use of ITIL best practices for enterprise IT management. The greatest percentage of survey participants came from the Manufacturing (18 percent) and Financial Services (12 percent) sectors. The full survey results are available at www.evergreensys.com/news_events/press_releases/ITILBenchmark.html and other key findings from the survey include:

--As ITIL gains traction in the U.S., organizations are maturing in their ability to leverage it for business benefit as evidenced by the reported depth and breadth of planning under way. Of the 40 percent of respondents who reported having a published ITIL strategy, 94 percent say their strategy is multi-year and 85 percent indicate that their plan defines business goals and technical priorities

--Most organizations (63.7 percent) report a moderate to very rapid increase over the past 12 months in the pace of ITIL awareness among senior IT management

--Organizations are improving at implementing ITIL from the top down instead of around just service management at a grassroots level. More than 46 percent say that they're leveraging ITIL to re-engineer service delivery end-to-end, including change management and configuration management

--The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is a top priority for IT organizations in 2006 with 64 percent planning a CMDB activity

"Through our work and networking at events like the recent itSMF conference, Evergreen has witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of organizations implementing ITIL programs in the Unites States in 2005," said Don Casson, president and CEO of Evergreen. "Our most recent survey supports our observations with 95 percent of respondents saying they have, or will have, budgeted and approved ITIL projects within the next 12 months. This is an astounding rate, even at an ITIL show, and a majority of the respondents come from Fortune 1000 companies with more than 10,000 employees."

Casson continued, "We also see executive support as a key factor in the success of ITIL projects and critical to the awareness of ITIL in general. While only 40 percent of respondents stated they have a published ITIL strategy, among those that do, 78 percent are budgeted, approved and held accountable at the VP or CIO level. This level of participation is unprecedented in U.S. ITIL programs and bodes well for the success of ITIL in this country. Another trend that suggests U.S. companies are beginning to fully understand and support ITIL is that nearly 66 percent of respondents are rationalizing their ITIL framework with other frameworks like the Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies (COBIT), the Capability Maturity Model (R) (CMM), Six Sigma and Balanced Scorecard to drive efficiency throughout the enterprise. This is nearly double the amount who indicated they were doing this in the February survey we conducted."

Through interviews conducted at the 5th Annual itSMF USA Conference & Expo, Evergreen gathered information from conference attendees on 16 questions. The information extends beyond ITIL commitment to determining respondents' current strategic and operational maturity levels, and their understanding of and alignment with a Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and Service Catalog strategy.

About Evergreen Systems

Evergreen Systems is a highly specialized technology consulting firm focused on helping complex global organizations simplify and optimize the way their IT organizations work. From strategic planning, to policy development, through execution, Evergreen makes sure that what gets planned, gets done.

Leaders in insurance, finance, healthcare and retail rely on Evergreen to address today's major business challenges including: making ITIL and COBIT operable; understanding and organizing their IT assets for better planning and execution; developing automated, streamlined compliance processes and bringing them to life for maximum benefit; and managing complex enterprise change. Global 2000 organizations work with Evergreen for sound strategy, flawless execution and measurable results.