Final answer:
ITIL covers five core activities, with Service Strategy being central to the lifecycle. This phase is crucial for outlining an organization's approach to delivering IT services that meet customer needs effectively.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) covers five core activities. Service Strategy is one of these activities and is central in the lifecycle. ITIL's Service Strategy helps organizations understand the concept of service and how to deliver value to customers through IT service management. The five core components of ITIL include Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation, and Continual Service Improvement. Each component represents a phase in the lifecycle of a service, starting from the initial strategy and concept through to design, transition, and day-to-day operation, and finally to the ongoing improvements.
Having a robust Service Strategy is crucial because it lays out the organization's approach to designing, developing, and implementing service management. It includes principles, processes, and policies that guide the organization toward meeting its customers' business needs and objectives. Importantly, it includes the assessment of the IT services market and the identification of opportunities for investment in services.