THE CLEAR PATH TO IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT The Clear Path to ITIL Certification Understanding the clear path to business value ITIL is a registered trade mark of AXELOS
CONTENTS 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 Executive Summary Overview of ITIL Business Value of ITIL & ITIL Certification ITIL Certification Levels Pursuing the ITIL Certification Process and Choosing a Training Provider Summary About VerisVisalign
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The strains of the current economic environment are forcing all organizations to be more and more streamlined. Increasingly, they are looking to IT to help them implement new technologies and services which will create greater efficiencies. To meet this challenge of becoming better and more relevant partners to the rest of the business, IT organizations are looking to adopt methodologies and frameworks such as ITIL in order to utilize best practices to ensure high value services. As a result, ITIL Certification is one of the fastest growing certifications within the IT field. To remain competitive in the marketplace or relevant as their organization begins ITIL adoption, achieving an ITIL certification has become an imperative to all IT professionals. This whitepaper will provide an overview of ITIL, explain its real world benefits to individuals and organizations, and outline the ITIL certification process. OVERVIEW OF ITIL There are five volumes which make up the ITIL library that illustrate the lifecycle model from Strategy, Design through Continuous Improvement. Strategy: Provides direction and vision for establishing IT s as strategic assets Design: Details guidelines for the design and the development of services and service management processes. Transition: Focuses on the transition of new or modified services into operation Operation: Strategies for the delivery and support of services within the organization in order to ensure that actual added value is realized Continual Improvement: Integrates practices of quality management, change management and process improvements in order to provide for perpetual optimization of services. Organizations that adopt ITIL can benefit from increased customer satisfaction, improved cost effectiveness and increased employee satisfaction. The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL ) is a framework for IT Management best practices drawn from public and private institutions internationally, that was first developed in the 1980 s. Since that time ITIL adoption has increased to the point where today it has become the most widely accepted approach to IT Management in the world. The current version of ITIL was released in 2007 and is based upon a life-cycle approach to Management and an increased focus on IT and Business integration. Continual service improvement design transition strategy operation 1 Figures copyright AXELOS Limited 2011. All rights reserved. Material is reporduced under licence from AXELOS. The Clear Path to ITIL Certification
BUSINESS VALUE OF ITIL & ITIL CERTIFICATION Improved Incident and Problem Management to eliminate recurring issues Individual Value Knowledge is a key differentiator in today s competitive job market. Organizations are adopting ITIL and are looking for employees with ITIL certification and experience. If you are part of an organization that is on the ITIL path, obtaining certification will put you well ahead of the curve by increasing your understanding of IT Management and how to measure and evaluate the performance of IT services. Understanding the concepts and terminology of ITIL before adoption increases your organizational value and qualifies you for keys roles within the project. If you are on the job market or simply looking to advance to the next level, ITIL certification increases your value as a potential asset and shows employers that you are proactive and serious about your career. Organizational Value Cost Effectiveness: Best practices adoption will result in greater ROI through: Increased awareness and focus on IT costs Better management of 3rd party and vendor services Reduction of cost per incident Better asset identification and utilization Employee Satisfaction: Increased staff retention, lowering cost of recruitment and training Improved morale of IT Staff as processes improve Increased capability and productivity of IT staff ITIL CERTIFICATION LEVELS There are four levels of ITIL certification, each increasing in complexity and difficulty. The four levels are Foundation, Intermediate, Expert and Master. The ITIL framework provides an organization with a common framework, terminology and set of practices for developing and managing IT s. The adoption of ITIL provides the following benefits: Client Satisfaction: A more professional and disciplined approach to service delivery will increase client satisfaction by: Ensuring the SLAs are met or exceeded Increasing system/applications availability 2 info@verisvisalign.com Figures copyright AXELOS Limited 2011. All rights reserved. Material is reporduced under licence from AXELOS.
Foundation Level This is the starting point in the ITIL certification process. The Foundation certification program will introduce ITIL terminology and concepts and demonstrate how they are used to enhance the quality of IT service management within an organization. The Foundation exam consists of 40 multiple choice questions and requires a score of 65% to pass. The topics covered by the Foundation Certification include: Management Lifecycle Key Principles and Models Generic Concepts Selected Processes Selected Roles Selected Functions Technology and Architecture Intermediate Level Certification The next step of ITIL certification is the Intermediate Level. There are two intermediate certifications paths: Lifecycle and Capability. To complete courses in either path requires passing a challenging exam requiring thoughtful answers to real world scenarios and problems. The Intermediate certifications are aimed at management and upper level employees of an organization who have hands-on experience with these types of issues. Intermediate Lifecycle Path The ITIL Intermediate Lifecycle consists of the following five certifications: Strategy Design Transition Operation Continual Improvement Intermediate Capability Path The capability path consists of the following certifications: Planning, Protection, and Optimization Release, Control, and Validation Operational Support and Analysis Offerings and Agreements ITIL Expert Becoming an ITIL Expert demands a strong knowledge of ITIL best practices and how they ought to be applied within an organization. A candidate must complete the ITIL Foundation certificate plus a number of credits from the ITIL intermediate certifications (17 total credits) in order to qualify for the Managing Across the Lifecycle (MALC) course. ITIL Master Beyond the ITIL Expert certification, a candidate with robust experience around ITIL implementation and adoption may obtain the ITIL Master certification. The process is challenging and a candidate will be required to discuss in detail their actual experiences with completed ITIL projects. PURSUING THE ITIL CERTIFICATION PROCESS AND CHOOSING A TRAINING PROVIDER If you decide to go forward with ITIL certification, it s important that you choose the right training provider. To maximize your investment, you should seek out an accredited training organization with a curriculum that encompasses both the theory and real life scenarios. A strong training partner increases the value of certification training and provides the highest success rate. 3 info@verisvisalign.com
There are options for on-line and classroom ITIL training courses. Although on-line courses may be more cost effective, they often only provide one way communication and may be more focused on memorization of terminology than actual understanding. Classroom training may be more expensive, but provides the opportunity for conversation amongst faculty and peers from other organizations. Once your training is completed, you must schedule your certification exam. High quality training providers often provide certification testing directly following the completion of training. Otherwise, you will need to seek out an organization which is qualified to provide ITIL exam testing. SUMMARY The benefits of ITIL Certification are found at the individual and organizational levels. Organizations that adopt ITIL can benefit from increased customer satisfaction, improved cost effectiveness and increased employee satisfaction. Individuals can increase their value to the organization and demonstrate commitment to their career. The ITIL Certification Path offers multiple options and topics for advanced learning. ABOUT VERISVISALIGN ITIL Training VerisVisalign, known industry-wide as The ITIL Experts, is North America s premier provider of accredited ITIL training and consulting. Our many years of experience have shown that the best learning environment is one where interaction and discussion lead to understanding and retention. Therefore, our curriculum is predicated upon individualized instruction in smaller classroom settings using certified ITSM consultants and experts. ITIL concepts are not only taught, but exemplified through the use of actual project case studies so that the theoretical meshes with the practical. As a result, VerisVisalign has maintained a 98% certification exam success rate. ITIL Consulting VerisVisalign has been involved in ITIL consulting for almost 20 years since ITIL first surfaced in the United States in the late 1990 s. Through our experiences as both practitioners and consultants of ITIL we firmly believe in the value these best practices bring to an organization s environment and culture. We employee seasoned and experienced consultants who have successfully guided many organizations through the process of adopting ITIL. Additionally, our exclusive cloud based application, VerisVisalign-SIM, is a complete quality management solution that lets you assess, measure, and improve everything from your services to processes and systems. VerisVisalign-SIM provides objective evaluation based upon your organization s unique environment, eliminating any potential bias. VerisVisalign is a certified WBE IT Consulting Company with practices in IT Management, Microsoft Technology, Desk, and Training. VerisVisalign is located in Lansdale, PA and Wilmington, DE. 4 info@verisvisalign.com