One of the primary challenges that ITIL faces is related to cloud computing. Can
ITIL remain relevant in a flexible cloud environment? As an example, ITILapproved
Change Management is difficult when IT has little or no influence over
cloud computing environments. Critics have suggested that cloud violates the
policies that control ITIL processes. However, cloud computing in the pharma
industry is already being leveraged for new drug development, clinical trials and
HIEs as vast amounts of data from next generation sequencing are being stored,
analyzed and manipulated in cloud environments. The additional ability to
collaborate with teams across geographies while meeting regulatory
requirements using cloud is also making the investment in the cloud attractive.
Pharma companies that have moved towards cloud are experiencing liberation
from their own IT infrastructure to become more agile and responsive to
business needs. In such an environment, ITIL needs to get rid of its burdensome
processes of seeking “bureaucratic” approvals in complex IT environments and
instead focus on increasing the efficiency and benefit delivered by cloud.