The term "library" is used because ASL is presented as a set of books describing best practices from the IT industry.
The ASL framework was developed because ITIL proved inadequate for Application Management.
[citation needed] At that time, ITIL lacked specific guidance for application design, development, maintenance and support.
Newer ITIL versions, particularly V3, have increasingly addressed the Application Development and Application Management domains; the ASL BiSL Foundation has published a white paper comparing ITIL v3 and ASL.
The processes in the Service Organisation cluster support the daily use of the information systems.
[citation needed] There are 5 processes within the Application Maintenance and Renewal cluster.
Also the future of the Application Management organisation, with aspects as skills and capabilities, markets and customers, is very important.