How different are we?

When it comes to rolling out a new tool based on the ITIL framework, a bulk of the expense comes from customizing the tool to fit our own unique way of running our IT organization.

Should we be so unique?

Most IT organizations are not business differentiators, they are cost centers tasked with providing commoditized service: e-mail, databases, storage, etc. Why should we be so unique? I know there are IT teams on the cutting edge, providing industry-changing technology solutions, but surely this is a fairly small percentage.

So if we top and tail the landscape, remove the languishers and the “bleeding edgers”, and just take the middle 50 percent, why are we so different from each other? The tools are almost interchangeable, and we all use very similar software.
Why don't we have the same policies, governance, processes, etc.?

Is the effort we put in to be different from each other worth it? Are we bringing value to the party?

When building an internal wall that will not be visible to anyone unless it fails, is there any point in going outside the basic, standard and cheapest design and implementation?

I would be interested in hearing other opinions on this.