1) What is ITIL®?
Business and technology go hand in hand. In this era, one cannot exist without the other. In order for a company to be successful, both the IT and corporate objectives need to evolve. An IT Service Management (ITSM) is responsible for the development of the IT services driven by the knowledge of the current processes involved in the organization.
The
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) is a framework designed for the standardization of selecting, planning, delivering, and maintaining the
IT services and processes within an organization. The framework helps in achieving the predicted service delivery by improving efficiency. With the ITIL® framework, IT administrator works as a business service partner and not just back-end IT guy.
One of the reasons why ITIL® is so well-appreciated and demanded globally is because of its versatility. ITIL® has been designed by keeping in mind the needs of different organizations. This allows the organization to incorporate the framework according to their requirements. One can estimate the scalability and flexibility of ITIL® with the fact that it can be easily adapted due to its ability to work in alignment with other practices such as Six Sigma, COBIT or TOGAF.
2) Certification Levels in ITIL® 4
The ITIL® 4 certification scheme has been designed in a way to align it with the existing ITIL® v3 and provide a clear path for the practitioners to continue developing their skills.
Levels of ITIL Certification within the ITIL 4 Certification Scheme:
- ITIL V4 Foundation - now available
- ITIL Managing Professional (MP) - launching 2019/2020
- ITIL Strategic Leader (SL) - launching H1 2020
- ITIL 4 Master - launching H2 2020
ITIL V4 Foundation:
The ITIL® 4 Foundation Certificate is an introduction to ITIL® 4 framework. It allows the candidates to understand the IT Service Management by using the end-to-end operating model. It deals with the creation, delivery, and continual improvement of IT services and products. Professionals who are ITIL® 4 certified know who ITIL® can be used to enhance the IT Service Management.
ITIL® 4 is the next evolution of the ITIL® framework. It consists of a stream of four modules named ITIL® Managing Professional (ITIL® MP). These four modules are:
This module includes the expansion of the current ITIL® scope to cover the creation of the services. It also covers the activities involving the ‘core’ service management.
In this module, the focus will be on integrating the value streams and activities for creating, delivering, and supporting IT-enabled services and products.
In this module, all the interaction and engagement between the service provider and the customer, suppliers, users, and partners will be covered. The main aim of this module is to use the IT-enabled services to convert demand into value.
This module will help the candidates gain knowledge about SLA design, CX and UX design, communication, multi-supplier management, customer journey mapping, relationship management and many more.
This module explores the different ways in which the digital organizations and digital operating models function in high-velocity environments.
Working practices like Agile and Lean, and technologies like Automation, Automatic testing and Cloud are used to focus on the delivery of services and products in order to obtain maximum value.
This module helps the candidates hone their practical skills to create an organization that believes in learning and improving and has an effective strategic direction.
It will cover the impact of the different working practices in the organization. It also provides candidates with practices and strategies to plan and deliver improvements.
ITIL® V4 was introduced with new updates and schemes such as the embodiment of ITIL® Foundation and the ITIL® Master exams.
Once a student clears the foundation level examination, the next steps are the Managing Professional and Strategic Leader. Both these levels have a different set of examination and scheme.
ITIL® Managing Professional (MP) is designed for apprentices who engage with technology and digital teams throughout the organization.
They are not just confined to the IT departments. This course attempts to give experience and expertise to run successful teams, IT projects, and workflows.
Modules cover ‘ITIL® Specialists’ in -
- Drive Stakeholder Value
- Create, Deliver and Support
- High Velocity IT
| ITIL® Master |
Managing Professional Transition | ITIL® Managing Professional | ITIL® Strategic Leader |
| ITIL® Specialist | ITIL® Specialist | ITIL® Specialist | ITIL® Strategist | ITIL® Strategist | ITIL® Leader |
| Create, deliver and support. | Drive Stakeholder Value | High Velocity IT | Direct. Plan and Improve | Direct. Plan and Improve | Digital & IT Strategy |
| ITIL® V4 Foundation
|
This ITIL® Strategic Leader (SL) exam is designed for those who engage with “every digitally equipped assistance”.
The objective of this course is to develop the apprentice on how to utilize technology to address and deliver business procedure. It also emphasizes the role of IT in this process.
ITIL V4 Syllabus includes -
- ITIL® Leader – Digital & IT Strategy
- ITIL® Strategist – Direct, Plan, and Improve
Both of these exams end at the same level which is the ITIL® Master exam. It is the most advanced level in the examination.
3) Certification Levels in ITIL® V3
After the completion of classroom training and a written exam, the admins can complete their ITIL® training and get a certification.
Levels of ITIL Certification within the ITIL V3 Certification scheme:
- ITIL Foundation Certification Level
- ITIL Practitioner Certification Level
- ITIL Intermediate Certification Levels
- ITIL Expert Level
- ITIL Master Level
This is the certificate for entry-level candidates and focuses on the key terminologies, elements, and concepts that will be used in the lifecycle of the ITIL®.
This certification will help the professional adapt the ITIL® framework according to the business objectives of their organization. This course can be taken up any time after a foundation certificate has been received. This course will also include metrics, communication, and organizational change management.
This certification covers different concepts associated with the ITSM. It is divided into two tracks- service lifecycle and service capability modules.
At this stage, the admins will be able to demonstrate the entire scheme of ITIL®. After this certification, the admin will obtain skills pertaining to the
best practices of the ITIL®. Apart from the exam, to earn this certification, one needs 17 credits from previous modules and managing across the lifecycle module.
This is the highest level of certification in which the admin needs to explain why they chose their areas of study, methods, and principles. There is no certification exam. The admin must submit written assignments and some oral interviews.
4) Career Benefits of having ITIL® Certification
Here are the top career benefits of having an ITIL® certification:
- You will gain a detailed insight into the ITIL® framework helping you manage work better.
- You will have better job prospects.
- You will be recognized for your expertise and management skills in the organization.
- You will be able to understand the common terminologies used in business across the industries.
- You will be able to better know the relation between business and IT.
- There are several ITIL® v3 certifications that will help you build sharper skills set.
- The ITIL® certifications will open doors for you in terms of job roles within your organization.
- ITIL® is used globally, so there is a lot of potential for job growth in the market.
- For a person who has ITIL® Training, ROI will be much higher.
- Certified ITIL® professional is in high demand and the market is stable enough for them to be in demand for a long time. So, investing in ITIL® certification is a low-risk effort.
The overall goal of ITIL® is the improvement of the business service. There are a certain set of practices that helps IT service management. The support system of the business service is optimized using the capabilities of the people, process, technology, and suppliers.
- ITIL® is one of the most accepted and recognized approaches to IT service management and delivery. It is well-regarded all over the world.
- ITIL® is a set of practices, not methodology, making it compatible with popular frameworks like PRINCE2 and PMP.
- ITIL® acts as a service provider by running the IT department. This makes IT into a core part of the business.
- Processes like the ITIL® Incident Management and Problem Management that quickly restores the services and also creates workarounds.
- ITIL® also allows organizations to prevent incidents by reviewing major incident reviews and eliminating root causes.
- ITIL® helps your team better understand and manage customer expectations service level management and business relationship management.
- Change Management is one of the disciplines of ITIL® that allows Continual Service Improvement (CSI).
- ITIL® helps in the management of accounts, budget and charging requirements related to service costs.
- Risk analysis and management activities are one of the processes involved in the ITIL.
- ITIL® helps keep the customer satisfaction high giving the organization competitive management.
6) Credit System & Transition from ITIL® V3 to ITIL® V4
The
ITIL® credit system is used to provide support to the certification scheme of the ITIL®. This is done by recognizing your investment in the certifications.
ITIL® V3 Credit systemIn the ITIL® v3 credit system, a specific credit value is assigned to every ITIL® certification. It is done on the basis of its level of ITIL® content. After the candidate has completed the ITIL® examination, certification and credits are awarded. These credits can be used to get the ITIL® Expert level of certification. For this, the candidate must have at least 22 credits. The credits also include the 3 credits from the ITIL® practitioner that covers the full spectrum of ITIL® best practice.
Before advancing to the ITIL® Expert, 17 credits are required to be earned. These can be earned in any order once the two credits for ITIL® Foundation have been completed.
Here is detailed information on the credits assigned to different ITIL® Certification levels:
ITIL® Certification Level
|
Credits
|
ITIL® V3/V4 Foundation Certification
|
2
credits
|
ITIL® Intermediate Service Lifecycle stream:
Service Strategy (SS)
Service Design (SD)
Service Transition (ST)
Service Operation (SO)
Continual Service Improvement
(CSI)
|
3
credits each
|
ITIL® Intermediate Service Capability stream
·
Planning,
Protection, and Optimization (PPO)
·
Service
Offerings and Agreements (SOA)
·
Release,
Control, and Validation (RCV)
·
Operational
Support and Analysis (OSA)
|
4
credits each
|
ITIL® Managing Across the Lifecycle (MALC)
|
5
credits
|
The following credit values are needed for certification levels higher than the ITIL® Foundation:
ITIL® Certification Level
|
Number
of Credits Required
|
Composition
of Credits
|
ITIL® Foundation
|
None
|
None
|
ITIL® Intermediate
|
2
credits
|
2
credits from ITIL® Foundation
|
ITIL® Managing Across the Lifecycle (MALC)
|
17
credits
|
2
credits from ITIL® Foundation and a minimum of 15 credits
from ITIL® Intermediate or complementary
qualifications
|
ITIL® Expert
|
22
credits
|
2
credits from ITIL® Foundation, minimum of 15 credits from
either ITIL® Intermediate or complementary
qualifications, and 5 credits from ITIL® MALC
|
The transition from ITIL® v3 to ITIL® 4 scheme:
One can gain the knowledge and skills required to learn the core concepts of the update while transitioning from ITIL® v3 to ITIL® 4 scheme.
ITIL® v3 Foundation certified
Once you have obtained the ITIL® v3 Foundation certification, you can straight away take the ITIL® 4 Foundation to transition into the new scheme. A new single exam will be required to cover the new material in the ITIL® 4 Foundation.
ITIL® Intermediate/Practitioner level
If you have started collecting credits from Intermediate or Practitioner levels, it is better to continue with the v3. This will help you prepare for the east transition while gaining the designation of the ITIL® Managing Professional.
ITIL® v3 expert
If you are on this level, get the ITIL® Managing Professional designation by taking the ITIL® Managing Professional Transition module as soon as it is released.
After achieving the destination, you will only need to pursue the ITIL® Leader Digital and Strategy module instead of completing the ITIL® Strategic Leader stream. Completing both the streams will make you eligible to move towards the ITIL® Master.
7) What is ITIL® Service Capability:
ITIL® Service Capability modules:
- ITIL® Operational Support and Analysis
- ITIL® Planning, Protection, and Optimization
- ITIL® Release, Control, and Validation
- ITIL® Service Offerings and Agreements
ITIL® Operational Support and Analysis
- ITIL® Operational Support and Analysis (OSA) module focuses on enabling event, problem, incident, access, request, IT operations, technical, and application management.
- This module teaches organizations and individuals, the management of day-to-day operations of IT services.
- The candidates also learn the implementation of the ITIL® processes enabling them to deliver and support IT services.
- The worth of this module is 4 credits.
ITIL® Planning, Protection, and Optimization
- One of the certifications of the ITIL® Service Capability workstream is the Planning, Protection, and Optimization (PPO) module.
- The module focuses on enabling availability, capacity, demand management, information security, and IT service continuity.
- Based on the ITIL® Service Design publication, the PPO course helps to develop an understanding of the ITIL® Service Design processes.
- The PPO module is worth 4 credits.
ITIL® Release, Control, and Validation
- This module focuses on the practical applications of Release, Control, and Validation (RCV).
- This includes enabling plans, test, and implementing new services to meet the needs of the user and organization.
- The course’s content is from the guidance contained in the ITIL® Service Transition publication.
- The module is worth 4 credits.
ITIL® Service Offerings and Agreements
- ITIL Service Offerings and Agreements (SOA) focuses on the practical applications of the SOA practices to enable portfolio, service catalog, service level, supplier, demand, and financial management.
- This course is based on the guidance mentioned in the ITIL® Service Design and ITIL® Service Strategy publications.
- This course helps the candidates understand the stages of the lifecycle of ITIL® – service strategy, design, transition, and continual improvement.
- The SOA module can help you earn 4 credits.
8) Why ITIL® V4 was launched by Axelos?
The most significant purpose for developing an advanced version of the ITIL® V3 was because of its specific shortcomings. These are -
1. An unsatisfactory involvement with the ITSM Community
2. Incompetent to perceive the current trends in software developments and IT services.
The latest version addressed the bad relationship issues by giving them heads-up as it will publish the updates in the community, thus avoiding any hindrance in the free flow of data. Moreover, to give the students a complete overview from the beginning, the whole foundation course under the ITIL® V4 has been revised. It is updated based on the requirements of modern business. What makes these revisions so accurate is the fact that they are based on the feedback of millions of ITIL® practitioners and are completely practical.
Evolution of ITIL® V4 -
- Evolved ITIL® practices in the wider context of customer experience, value streams, and digital transformation.
- Embracing advanced ways of connecting with the community by adapting to the new ways of working such as DevOps, Agile and Lean hence promoting new alliances.
- The framework of ITIL® V4 is designed to give comprehensive guidance to organizations on how they should address the new service management challenges effectively and utilize the latest technologies which will help them transform digitally.
- Designed to assist the organization to provide effective governance and deliver accurate IT service management which is flexible, coordinated and integrated. The flexibility also allows the organization to provide accurate data all over the business without any interruptions to the free flow of data, ultimately improving the customer experience.
- This update has made the ITIL® way more extensible. agile, and collaborative.