I am sorry if this question is not 100% Programming wise, I just didn't know where to ask. Consider yourself lucky if you don't know what ITIL is. You can understand from my tone I don't like it - I find ITIL the complete opposite of how IT Company should work, being too bureaucratic and complicated.

In Germany, where I work, it seems to be very popular, and I have been asked in several job interviews if I know ITIL. Do you know popular is it in the rest of the world? Should I worry about ITIL or I can snub it?

I must also ask my European colleagues - Why do you think is ITIL so popular? Is there a strong empirical evidence that ITIL does work?
By empirical, I mean not personal experiences of the kind "We are a company that is working with ITIL...".

I can hardly imagine a multi-million dollar company like Apple or Google work with ITIL, but I can also hardly see how it can benefit small companies...