Practices are sets of organisational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing an objective.

Practices replace the processes and functions used in earlier versions of ITIL.

Each practice includes people, information, technology, partners, and processes required to achieve its purpose.

Practices support the service value chain activities and help ensure consistent and effective outcomes.

There are three categories of practices in ITIL.

The first category is general management practices.
These support the overall management of the organisation.

The second category is service management practices.
These are directly related to the design, delivery, and improvement of services.

The third category is technical management practices.
These focus on the technical resources and activities required to manage services.

Practices can be adapted to suit the needs of the organisation.
Not all practices need to be applied in the same way or to the same extent.

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2. How This Applies to TakeCars (Car Rental Marketplace)

This video explains what practices really are and how they function in ITIL 4. For TakeCars, this maps directly to how work is actually organised.

a) Practices = “how we reliably get things done”

In TakeCars terms, a practice is not:

• A tool
• A single process
• A job title

A practice is the combination of:

• People
• Rules
• Data
• Tools
• Partners

All aligned to achieve a specific objective.

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b) Practices vs old “process thinking” (important shift)

Old mindset:

• One process diagram solves the problem

ITIL 4 mindset:

• Process alone is insufficient
• You need people, tech, data, and partners aligned

For TakeCars:

• A refund flow is useless without:
  • Clear policy
  • Payment tooling
  • Trained support
  • Host cooperation

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c) The three practice categories applied to TakeCars

1. General Management Practices

Examples for TakeCars:

• Risk management (insurance, deposits)
• Supplier management (hosts as partners)
• Measurement and reporting
• Continual improvement
• Information security and privacy

These keep the business stable and compliant.

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2. Service Management Practices

Examples:

• Incident management (breakdowns, no-shows)
• Service request management (booking changes)
• Problem management (recurring pickup failures)
• Service level management (host response times)

These are frontline operational practices.

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3. Technical Management Practices

Examples:

• Platform development
• Infrastructure and hosting
• Monitoring and alerting
• Data integrity and backups

These enable the marketplace to function at all.

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d) Exam-critical nuance: practices are adaptable

The exam will often imply:

• “All practices must be fully implemented”

Correct logic:

• Practices should be adapted
• Depth and form depend on organisational context

For TakeCars:

• Incident management may be lightweight
• Governance may be informal
• Still valid under ITIL

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3. Key Things to Read / Remember Right Before the Exam

What a practice is (definition-level importance)

• A set of organisational resources
• Designed to perform work or achieve objectives
• Supports service value chain activities

If an option mentions:

• People
• Information
• Technology
• Processes

It is likely describing a practice correctly.

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Three practice categories (must be memorised)

1. General management practices
2. Service management practices
3. Technical management practices

Category recognition questions are common.

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Common exam traps

• Practices are the same as processes → False
• Practices are only technical → False
• All practices must be implemented equally → False

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One-line memory hook

Practices are reusable capability bundles that support value creation.