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ITIL Overview
The ITIL abbreviation stands for IT Infrastructure Library. Originally, ITIL was developed by the
Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) as a set of comprehensive and
iter-related codes of practice. In IT community such code of good practice was / is very useful in terms
of achieving the efficient support and delivery of high quality, cost effective IT services. CCTA,
renamed the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) maintains the library and releases all
updated related to ITIL.
The OGC is an office of HM Treasury (UK). It acts as an independent of any commercial intersts
organization involved in ITIL (independent from software companies, software vendors, integrators,
training protocols). This is why the ITIL is so widely used - its main asset is independency.
ITIL is accredited by Information Systems Examinations Board (ISEB). ISEB is an organization
which prepares delegates for the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management. The ISEB
was formed in 1967 and currently functions under the auspieces of the British Computer Society
(BCS). The ISEB aims to provide industry-recognized qualification thet measure comptence, ability
and performance in many areas of information systems, whit the aim of raising industry standards,
promoting career development and providing competitive edge for employrs.
Aother organization which provides ITIL examination is EXIN. The EXIN is an independent
organization, Dutch-based IT examination provider. The EXIN esablishes educational requirements,
develops and organize examinations in the field of Information Technology. The main goal of EXIN is
to promote the quality of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector and the ICT
professionals working in this sector by means of independent testing and certification.
ITIL Foundation Certification
ITIL Service Management Foundation Certification is a first step to start the career in ITIL.
The foundation certification is a passport for the next certificates: practitioner and manager
(master). Before preparation to the course it is good to know which certification company is going
to be involved in the process. There are two main accredited companies which organize the
preparation and exams: EXIN and ISEB - these two companies have already been described on the
be covered. To pass EXIN exam there's a need to take a look at Security Management module of
the ITIL Foundation. This is the only difference between EXIN and ISEB exams.
The remaining but common things in exams are:
- multiple choice exam (only one answer in a question is correct)
- the exam takes exactly 1 hour (60 minutes)
- to pass the foundation exam 26 out of 40 points should be correct. There are always 40 questions
on the exam
- EXIN and ISEB ITIL certification is a pre-requisite for the practitioner and manager's certificates
Before the exam it is good to spend at least 3 days for learing the materials. The ITIL foundation
exam covers 13 modules (in EXIN)and ISEB exam covers only 12 modules (excluding Security
Management module as mentioned before). The modules are divided into Serivce Delivery and
Service Support parts. Good preparation to the exam means reading all the training materials at
least 2 times. After good preparation questions are very easy to pass the exam even in 30 minutes,
however some questions are very tricky, that is why all of them should be read very carefully.
The example exam question can be:
Which of the examples below is not an example of a configuration item?
a. A PC cooms cart
b. A user manual
c. A company's organization chart
d. A unique identification number
The correct answer is "d" as the unique identification number is an attribute in Configuration
Management Database.
ITIL Practitioner Certification
The ITIL Practitioner Certificate in IT Service Management (ITIL Practitioner) is a proof
that certified person has a deep knowledge in one of the ITIL processes. As the name of the
certificate indicates, practitioner certification is not only about understanding but also about practice
and speciality.
- Release and Control (ITIL Practitioner Release and Control Certification)
- Support and Restore (ITIL Practitioner Support and Restore Certification)
- Agree and Define (ITIL Practitioner Support and Restore Certification)
Each of the practitioner certifications is a pass to the manager's certificate. It is good to know
that the best ITIL managers are certified in all the areas mentioned above - this is because
manager's certificate is not about only one area but about all of them. That's why it is worth to
deeply understand all aspects of ITIL processes before attending to manager's certificate.
Practitioner level is dedicated usually for team leaders and specialists who would like to spread out
their knowledge onto new subjects. The courses are highly recommended befor taking the exam.
The average training for one set of processes mentioned above takes 5 days and is followed by the
exam.
The practitioner exam is very simillar to the foundation exam and consists of 40 questions - multiple
choice. 26 points are required to pass the exam. Please note that before taking practitioner exam
you have to posses ITIL Foundation Certification.
ITIL Service Manager Certification
The ITIL Service Manager is the highest level on the itil certification path. Before taking the exam
at least one of the ITIL Practitioner certification is required. Due to complexity and wide range of
material and practical experience manager's certification is sometimes called master's
certification.
Intensive course and and long training is highly recommended before taking the exam. Also it is
adivsed to work even several years in ITIL environment to deeply understand what the itil master is
about. There are of course intensive courses organized by various companies. The courses should
prepare candidates to Service Manager's certification, however even intensive training is not so
valuable as many years of ITIL experiences.
Average training is 10-15 day in course lerning with lot's of materials to self-study after the class.
During the class training emphasis is on practical case studies which is about 60% of the whole
manager's curriculum. Other remaining 40% is theory. ITIL Manager Certification is a pass for wide
career opportunities including such roles as service architect or line service manager. This is the
reason for which - during the training - candidates have to present their 'solutions' to complex
ITIL v2 Certification Path
The picture below presents 3 main levels for itil certification path. It is recommended to prepare
very well before each of the itil exams. For some certifications eg. practitioner or master it is
desired to posses some work experience in itil environment. Othrewise it might be difficult to
understand how itil processes work and passing the final exams will be very stresfull and difficult.
The first level is the ITIL Foundation Certification in IT Service Management (ITIL Foundation). The
Foundation Certficate is a proof of understanding of the itil basis which includes most of itil
terminology, terms, concepts and relationships between various ITIL processes.
The next level is Practitioner Certificate in IT Service Management (ITIL Practitioner) wich is
basically the proof of the practical knowledge in such areas as release and control, support and
restore and/or agree and define.
The highest, 3rd level is ITIL Service Manager certification. This certification proofs the highest skills
ITIL V3 Certification Path
The picture below presents the current certification path in the newest, 3rd version of IT
Infrastructure Library.
The starting point is ITIL Foundation for Service Management which is worth 2 points. There are 5
modules discussed during this training which are Service Strategy, Service Design, Service
Transition, Service Operation and Continual Service Improvement. The exam focues on these 5
modules, and comprises of 40 questions. There are no tricky questions so once you learnt the
subject you shouldn't have any problems to pass the exam. There are 60 mins. available to anwer
all the questions. The exam is multiple choice exam with only one correct answer. Please explore
the sections with example questions and answers. Everybody who managed to pass the ITIL
Foundation Exam (2 points) is allowed to move forward to get more points from either Lifecycle or
Capability Modules. Depending on your choice you can receive 3 points for each exam in Lifecycle
path (left side of the picture), or 4 points from Capability Path (right side).
Once you receive 22 points you can attend Managing through the Tifecycle training and recive ITIL
Expert certification
ITIL Service Lifecycle Modules are:
2. Service Design (SD) 3. Service Transition (ST) 4. Service Operation (SO)
5. Continual Service Improvement (CSI)
ITIL Service Capability Modules are:
1. Planning, Protection and Optimization (PP & A) 2. Service Offerings and Agreements (SO & A) 3. Release, Control and Validation (RC & V) 4. Operational Support and Analysis (OS & A)
Service Strategy
The purpose of ITIL Service Strategy
The purpose of ITIL Service Strategy
Before we move to serive strategy let's quickly think of its purpose.
Service providers have to remember that the success in a business comes from deep understanding
of what the cutomers' expectations are and where to look for possible improvements in those
needs. Customers love buying not products but satisfaction of particular needs.
Therefore, to provide services with the highest possible satisfaction to the customer we first have to
answer several questions such as: what the needs are, where to look them for, what's the real
reason they occur and many other questions. This requires a long investigation and understanding
of who may be our potential customer, who is our current cutomer, why we lost the previous
clients.
Moving forward we discover that this wider context forces us to clearly define our market place and
our borders between which our services are provided and between which we operate in. What is
worth to underline is that service strategy has never succeded when it was created in isolation of
the general strategy and culture of the organisation that the service provider belongs to.
The strategy adopted by the service providers has to be compliant with the over-arching strategy
the provider operates in. Also the selected service strategy should provide sufficient value to all the
customers we do business with and of course meet stakeholders expectations. Regardless the scope
of services provided the strategy is a must and all providers need it to be in the business.
In ITIL version 3, the Service Strategy part is in the core of the ITIL V3 lifecycle. It acts as
a guide to all IT service providers in terms of helping them to determine:
1. what kind of services should be offered and who should be offered to 2. how to measure the service performance and productivity
3. how visibility and control over value creation can be achieved applying financial management
Key Concepts in Service Strategy
Key Concepts in Service Strategy
Publication for the Service Strategy defined various key ITIL concepts. All of them can be listed as
four different "P" s of strategy.
The four Ps of Strategy
1. Perspective which is distinctive vision and direction
2. Position defines all the basis on which the service provider will compete with others 3. Plan which is extremely important factor defining on how the provider is going to / will
achieve its vision
4. Pattern the fundamental way of dealing with circumstances, problems and simply doing things. One can say these are distinctive patterns in actions and decisions made over time
Service Value and Service Provider Types
Service Value
Service Value relates to the customer's perception of the business outcomes and comprises of two
main elements such as Service Utility and Service Warranty.
In the ITIL v3 publications, Service Utility is what the customer gets in terms of outcomes
supported and/or constraints removed whereas Service Warranty defines how the service is
delivered and its fitness for use, in terms of availability, capacity, continuity and security.
Service Value also incorporates the referenced concepts of services such as Assets, Value Creation,
Value Networks and Value Capture.
Service Provider Types
Because there are many different strategies and service providers within the organization, it was
agreed to divide service providers into separate types. There are 3 main types of service providers
which are:
1. Type I: this type of service provider exists or can exeist within an organization solely in order to deliver service to one specific business unit
2. Type II: dedicated to service multiple business units in the same organization 3. Type III: this service provider is the wider one and operates as an external service
provider serving multiple external
customers.
Service Design
The purpose of IT Infrastructure Library Service Design
Servide Design can be described as a one of five stages in the overall Service Lifecycle modules. It
has close relationship with change and transition business processes. Its role within the business
change process is quite simple and is defined in the itSMF (The IT Service Management Forum) in
the following way:
"The design of appropriate and innovative IT services, including their architectures, processes,
policies and documentation, to meet current and future agreed business requirements."
Such definistion has several implications to the goals and objectives of the Service Design. The main
goals and objectives can be:
1. prepare and deliver design for services to meet business outcomes that were previously agreed
2. responsibility for design processes to support the overall service lifecycle
3. to identify risks and manage them if possible. If not possible to notify appropriate groups about the risks
4. produce and maintain documentation especially plans and design for processes, all standards used within the organization, policies, architectures and frameworks, operational
documents to support all activities closely related to design of IT solutions
5. to develop skills especially withing workforce and capability to support organization in IT areas
6. to make sure IT service quality is on the approvpriate level by contribution the overall improvement in the IT service quality.
7. to design secure and IT infrastructures (networks, datacenters, work environments etc.), software applications
8. to prepare (design) methods and metrics for measurment purposes
Service Design begins when discussing business requirements with the people from business side. Following through meetings on which design aspects are discussed, ends with ready to implement service solutions dedicated to meed business needs and excpectations. It is very important to notice that all those business needs have to be properly documented in order to avoid desing mistakes at the finishing stages. Serive Design Package is a set of documentation, service solution that meets business requireements and is a starting point for Service Transition.
Aspects of Service Desing and four Service Desing Ps
Aspects of Service Desing
In Service Design publication authors distinguished fife different aspects like:
•
primarly new or modified/changed service solutions that meet business needs•
set of service management tools and information systems like e.g. the Service Portfolio•
something that is more abstract: technology architectures and management systems based on that architectures•
several processes, capabilities and roles•
measurement methods and metrics.Four Service Desing "P"s
To ensure consistent and integrated environment in IT processes and activities and basically in the
whole organization a holistic approach should be implemented and adopted in Service Design. Such
attitude will ensure high quality of the services provided as well as end-to-end business continuity.
To make sure the service desing is properly adopted there are four Ps that should be considered
when dealing with service design:
1. People have to have poper skills and posses competencies in order to get involved in the provision of IT services
2. Products which are technology management systems utilized in the process of IT service delivery
3. Processes roles and activities have to be in close relation to each other
4. Partners who are primarly vendors, 3rd software companies, manufacturers, suppliers involved in the provision of IT services
Service Design Package (SDP) already mentioned in Service Design purpose article defines the general aspects of an IT service and the requirements within all stages of its lifecycle. SDP is
generated for major changes in IT infrastructure (including software and hardware), IT services or even service retirement.
Key Processes within ITIL Service Design
Key Processes within ITIL Service Design
In Service Design publication there are several processes and activities defined. All of them
co-operate with each other. It is important to keep all of them in mind when taking service desing into
consideration.
Service Catalogue Management (SCM)
According to itSMF the purpose of Service Catalogue Management is to provide a single, consistent
source of information on all the ageed services, and ensure that it is widely available to those who
are approved to access it. It is very simillar to the change management database from itil v3,
because SCM is a central source of information about services delivered by a service provider.
Service Level Management (SLM)
This process is to ensure that all the services provided are on tha appropriate level of quality. The
main role for this process is to negotiate and then document with business measurable service
targets. Also it monitors and presents reports on delivery performance and basically the level of
service. Service Level Agreements (SLA) as well as Operational Level Agreements and Service
Improvement Plans are the part of Service Level Management process.
Capacity Management
Its main goal is to ensure that IT capacity resources meet demand for services provided. Capacity
Management includes service and component capacity management across service lifecycle.
Other processes within ITIL Service Design are:
•
Availability Management•
IT Service Continuity Management•
Information Security Management•
Supplier ManagementPurpose of Service Transition
Service Transition is dedicated to deliver required by business side all necessary services. Service
Design Package is produced at a Service Design stage and this is the starting point for Service Transition. Very often due to unpredictable circumstances business requirements change. Then
corresponding changes into the package are required in order to provide the service. The role of
service transition is not to focus on just one or two application implementations but it is rather
focused on the wider acpect of implementing the service. Basically the Service Transition is
responsible for the implementation of all aspects of the service. People involved in service
implementation have to be concious of the following things:
•
who is the requestor of the service because there's a huge possibility that this person/persons will judge the quality of the service. Also it is always good to remember orfind out (if possible) what is the business value for the service delivered
•
to investigate and identiy all staheholders within supplier, your customer and his/her cutomers who may be sponsors of the service•
be prepared for desing modifications when implementing the service because as it's already been mentioned in this article business requirements can change. Two golden rulesusually help in such situations: 1. Patience is a virtue and Customer FIRST!.
Key Processes and Activities in Service Transition
Key Processes and Activities in Service Transition
Service Transition is one of the most important parts of ITIL lifecycle modules because this part of
lifecycle has huge impact on service design and operations. Within Service Transition we can
distinguish the following processes:
•
Change Management - its purpose is to ensure all changes are handled bystandardized procedures and methods. Also takes responisbility for recording all changes in
the Configuration Management System
•
Service Asset and Configuration Management (SACM) - protects and ensures configuration items (CI) within the service lifecycle.•
Knowledge Management - basically it focuses on people and knowledge by ensuring right people have right knowledge at the right time. Such combination of people, time and•
Transition Planning and Support - this process simply controls, manages and identifies possible risks of failures across transition activities.•
Release and Deployment Management - main goal of this process is to deal with positioning all aspects of services provided to the business. It deals with services that arealready in production and establishes effective use of changed or new services
•
Service Validation and Testing - deals with validation and testing services that are new or changed in the IT infrastructure. Also it verifies if if the new/changed services meetbuesiness requirements.
•
Evaluation - another ongoing process that considers the input to Service Transition, addressing the relevance of the service design.ITIL Service Transition Key Principles
Service Transition has a deep impact on other processes withing lifecycle, that is why it has to be
supported by principles which help utilize effective and productive use of changed or primarly new
services. To those principles we can include:
Knowledge
Keeping in mind that knowledge transfer between different supporting units or people working
within those units is a key factor in terms of providing support to services.
Formal Policy
Setup the formal policy and common standards for framework to implement all requested and
required by business changes.
Utility and Warranty
Understanding utility and warranties for all services. It is impossible to transition a service without
knowing what is the nature and purpose of the service, epecially in terms of the outcomes and
removed business constraints.
Course corrections
Managing and anticipating course corrections which simply means to be proactive and determined
likey course correction requirements, and when elements of a
service do need to be adjusted, this is undertaken logically and is fully
Service Operation
Purpose of Service Operation
Purpose of Service Operation
Purpose of Service Operation is to make sure services are delivered at agreed levels. Its purpose is
to also manage the technology, infrastructure and applications implemented in organization in order
to meet cutomers' needs.
In fact this is the the stage in the whole lifecycle where services basically deliver the value to the
business because from business point of view this stage has the highest visibility. It is Service
Operation staff responsibility to ensure that the value to the business is delivered.
At this stage there may be some confilciting goals appear and it is important to know how to balace
this. Some examples are:
- technological, internal IT perception versus external business point of view.
- stability versus responsiveness.
- quality versus time to deliver versus cost of service.
- reactive attitude to supprt services versus proactive activities.
All the conflicts mentioned above are just examples. In practice there are much more of them and
each one has to be balanced and maintained by the Service Operatin staff. Excessive focus on one
