Abstract—Cloud computing has become an increasingly popular means of delivering precious IT enabled business services. Customers and end users access the IT services catalog through self-service portals, using and paying for only those services they need, when and where they need them. When an organization adopts cloud computing it quickly becomes apparent that the traditional approach to IT service management frameworks such as Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) needs to be reviewed. This paper is focusing on the ITIL Service Strategy process and the impact of cloud computing on its sub processes implementation. Four case studies from organizations who either partially implemented or are planning to implement cloud computing have been consulted to propose enrichment to ITIL when cloud computing is adopted. Index Terms—Cloud computing, ITIL, IT service strategy, IT service management. I. INTRODUCTION Cloud computing is relatively new model of enabling convenient and on demand network access to a pool of configurable computing resources and services. Cloud services deliver compute, storage, software, applications, etc. via Internet to customers on a self-serve basic. Customers can subscribe to these services based on their requirements. These services are flexible, adaptable, and utility based where customers pay for their subscription as they use it. Despite the growing recognition and importance of cloud computing however, little effort has been made towards incorporating it into established IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks like Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Cloud computing is an entirely new form of infrastructure with its own unique components, process and users. There is a need to accelerate the design and implementation of ITSM processes and capabilities to manage the cloud and consequently help reduce operational expenses and increase efficiency of cloud-based infrastructure [1]. ITIL is a widely accepted approach to ITSM in the world. ITIL provides a cohesive set of best practice, drawn from the public and private sectors internationally. It is supported by a comprehensive qualifications scheme, accredited training organizations, and implementation and assessment tools. The best practice processes promoted in ITIL support and are supported by the British Standards Institution's standard for IT service Management (BS15000). Manuscript received January 20, 2014; revised March 11, 2014. This work was supported by Zayed University Grant No R14040. The authors are with Zayed University, P.O. Box 19282, Dubai, UAE (e-mail: basel.almourad@zu.ac.ae, mohammed.hussain@zu.ac.ae). The ITIL originated as a collection of books, each covering a specific practice within IT service management. After the initial publication in 1989–96, the number of books quickly grew within ITIL V1 to more than 30 volumes. In 2000/2001, to make ITIL more accessible (and affordable), ITIL V2 consolidated the publications into 8 logical "sets" that grouped related process-guidelines to match different aspects of IT management, applications, and services. In July 2011, the 2011 edition of ITIL V3 was published. It provides a more holistic perspective on the full life cycle of services, covering the entire IT organization and all supporting components needed to deliver services to the customer. Furthermore, ITIL V3 enables organizations to deliver appropriate services and continually ensure they are meeting business goals and delivering benefits. The ITIL V3 best practices are currently detailed within five core publications that introduce five Service Lifecycle stages: Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation, and Continual Service Improvement Fig. 1. Fig. 1. Service life cycle. II. MOTIVATION AND THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH As organizations move toward cloud services, many IT leaders find their existing ITIL structures do not support cloud well, resulting in frustration and limiting the value of cloud promises. This will expose the business to unnecessary complexities with no accountability for the end services being delivered and poses serious risks for any IT organization migrating to cloud solutions. The most significant ITIL 2011 edition was published at the end of July, 2011. The review of the new five published books reveal limited considerations about ITIL and the new industry trend The Impact of Cloud Computing on ITIL Service Strategy Processes Mohamed B. Al Mourad, Member, IACSIT, and Mohammed Hussain International Journal of Computer and Communication Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 5, September 2014 367 DOI: 10.7763/IJCCE.2014.V3.351