Disney's ITIL Implementation: IT Service Management Success
This paper examines how Disney's Theme Parks & Resorts division implemented the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework to improve service delivery across its parks, resorts, cruise ships, and water parks. It discusses the business rationale for adoption, the measurable outcomes achieved, the organizational challenges encountered during implementation, and the strategies Disney used to ensure staff buy-in. The paper also compares ITIL with related frameworks—ISO/IEC 20000 and Val IT—explaining why ITIL's descriptive, flexible approach made it a better fit for Disney's operational needs than the more prescriptive standards-based alternatives.
- Introduction to Disney's ITIL Adoption: Why Disney adopted ITIL across its parks
- Outcomes of ITIL Implementation at Disney: Benefits gained from ITIL for Disney operations
- Challenges of Implementing ITIL: Organizational and cultural barriers to ITIL adoption
- Disney's Strategy for Successful ITIL Adoption: How Disney secured staff buy-in and training
- Comparing ITIL, ISO/IEC 20000, and Val IT: Key differences between ITIL and competing frameworks
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses a well-known real-world organization (Disney) as a concrete case study, making abstract IT service management concepts accessible and grounded.
- Balances multiple angles — business rationale, implementation outcomes, organizational challenges, and framework comparison — giving the paper analytical breadth.
- Acknowledges change management as a human challenge, not just a technical one, demonstrating awareness of organizational behavior alongside IT processes.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively uses the case study method to illustrate theoretical ITIL principles in practice. By anchoring each analytical point to Disney's specific operational context — such as the scale of its 11 parks and 42 resorts, mobile ride-availability features, and employee training incentives — the author moves beyond simple definition to applied analysis. The concluding comparison between ITIL, ISO/IEC 20000, and Val IT demonstrates the ability to evaluate competing frameworks using organizational fit as a criterion.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a logical progression: it opens by establishing the business case for ITIL adoption, then moves to outcomes, then challenges, then Disney's specific implementation approach, and finally a comparative framework analysis. This structure mirrors a standard problem–solution–evaluation format common in applied IT management papers, making it easy for readers to follow the argument from motivation through execution to broader insight.
Introduction to Disney's ITIL Adoption
Disney adopted ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) in order to keep up with the growing trend of offering the best possible experience to visitors at its parks and resorts. The main goal was to ensure that new and returning visitors all received a consistent, high-quality experience globally. Disney's Theme Parks & Resorts is the company's largest division, contributing approximately 30 percent of total Disney revenue. It was therefore essential to keep this division profitable and to streamline the numerous applications running across its 11 parks, 42 resorts, cruise ships, and water parks (Nelima, 2013).
The number of visitors the organization receives annually exceeded the total number of tourists who visited South Africa during the FIFA World Cup, which indicates the enormous scale of the operation. It was therefore vital that the company adopt a service delivery system guaranteeing systems availability at all times. Theme Parks and Resorts is the only segment of Disney that interacts directly with guests, making it critical that every guest interaction be favorable. Given the volume of visitors on any given day, all systems must work in unison continuously. The sheer number of applications that Theme Parks & Resorts (TP&R) relies upon necessitated an ITIL implementation to ensure that all applications and servers remained available and reliable. Increasing the reliability of different applications and systems was the primary objective, because the failure of a single application could result in a negative guest experience.
References
Esteves, R., & Alves, P. (2013). Implementation of an information technology infrastructure library process — the resistance to change. Procedia Technology, 9, 505–510.
Lavine Sr, D. A. (2011). Leveraging ITIL/ITSM into network operations. Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Graduate School of Engineering and Management.
Nelima, S. M. (2013). Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) adoption and its effect on organizational performance — a survey of listed firms on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. [University thesis].
Temple, K. L. (2014). Transformational process mapping to Theory U: A case study of a United States city government's information technology and innovation branch transformational alignment to improve business service. [University thesis].
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