The Product and Service Lifecycle Model (PSLM)

The Product and Service Lifecycle Model, usually abbreviated PSLM, is one of the most significant structural changes in ITIL v5. It replaces what was called the Service Value Chain in ITIL 4, and it is not simply a rename — the number of activities changed and the flow logic behind them was restructured.

ITIL 4's Service Value Chain had six activities: Plan, Improve, Engage, Design & Transition, Obtain & Build, and Deliver & Support. The v5 PSLM has eight: Discover, Design, Acquire, Build, Transition, Operate, Deliver, and Support. Two new distinct activities — Discover and Acquire — were introduced, and Design & Transition was split into its separate stages, as was Obtain & Build.

Discover is a new addition — it represents the activity of identifying opportunities, understanding stakeholder needs, and exploring demand before any formal design work begins. This gives the lifecycle an explicit starting point that the old model didn't clearly define.

Design covers translating discovered opportunities into a defined product or service concept. Acquire covers obtaining the components — whether built internally, purchased, or sourced from partners — needed to deliver that concept. Build is the activity of assembling and developing those components into a working product or service.

Transition moves a built product or service into live operation, minimising disruption. Operate covers the ongoing day-to-day running of the live service. Deliver and Support are typically treated as closely linked — Deliver ensures the product or service reaches consumers as intended, while Support handles ongoing assistance, incidents, and requests once it's in active use.

Just like the old value chain, not every product or service uses all eight activities in the same order or with the same intensity — a specific combination and sequence of activities used to deliver a particular product or service is called a value stream. Different products follow different value streams through the same eight-activity model.