ITIL Certification: The Road from ITIL Foundation to Expert

Tuesday, 29 May, 2018

What is ITIL?

ITIL is an acronym for the Information Technology Infrastructure Library that was created in the 1980s by the UK Government’s Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency. The agency understood that a set of standardized service management practices was necessary to align service management delivery from one agency to another. What started out as a set of recommendations grew into ITIL V1. ITIL has had several versions with V1 arriving in late 80s, V2 in late 90s, V3 in 2007 and then ITIL 2011. ITIL is currently undergoing another revision to include how ITIL relates to other frameworks and standards including Agile, DevOps, Lean, ISO 20000 and more.

Who Uses ITIL Today?

The figures vary. In Europe it is suggested that up to 70% of European business leaders consider ITIL a must have in their organizations . Outside of the UK the number of organizations that have adopted and adapted ITIL is estimated to be around 33%.

Why Do Organizations Adopt ITIL?

When organizations adopt and adapt ITIL, they ensure that their services are delivered according to well defined best practices that allows them to increase customer satisfaction and better manage their processes and reduce costs.

ITIL Certification Salaries

No doubt certifications assist in higher paying jobs and raises. Most report that holding an ITIL Foundation Certification can jump your salary $5,000 to as much as $13,000. The 2016 Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report shares that the average salary for ITIL-certified professionals ranges from $92,000 to $105,842 and that more than 90 percent of respondents to their survey reported their average salary with an ITIL Foundation certificate exceeded $98,000.

How to Get ITIL Certifications

#1 – ITIL Foundation

You start with the Foundation Certification. It is a TON of information. There is no requirement to take an accredited course to pass the exam, however it is HIGHLY recommended. The exam is 100% on the content in the course. When you take an Accredited ITIL Foundation course then you know for sure you are getting all the info you need to pass. Courses are available live at training organization location, live online and On-Demand to give you ultimate flexibility.

#2 – What Next After ITIL Foundation?

After ITIL Foundation Certification you can go on to become ITIL Practitioner Certified or move into the ITIL Intermediate courses.

ROUTE 1 = ITIL Practitioner

This is a relatively new certification that was released about 2 years ago and it is the only course out of 12 that actually shows students how to adopt and adapt ITIL. ITIL Practitioner like ITIL Foundation has no formal training requirement, however, it has the lowest pass rate of all 12 exams. There is a great deal of knowledge and practical experience required to pass this exam and we do not recommend students take this exam without having (1) taken the ITIL Practitioner course and (2) taken at least one of the ITIL Intermediate courses. The exam requires you to adopt and adapt what you learned. It is not repeating concepts. It is the most expensive ITIL exam retailing at $469 from PeopleCert.

Route 2 = The ITIL Intermediate Path

This is the second option and the more common path following ITIL Foundation Certification. AND – YOU MUST hold an ITIL Foundation certificate to take these exams. To take any of these exams you MUST have taken an Accredited Course and hold a Certificate of Completion. The Intermediate series is made up of 9 courses split into a Lifecycle track and a Capability track. You can stick with one path or mix and match from the both.

i. Intermediate Service Lifecycle Courses – Managers take this path

1. Service Strategy
2. Service Transition
3. Service Design
4. Service Operation
5. Continual Service Improvement

ii. Intermediate Capability Courses – The people who do the work/implement ITIL take this path

1. Service Offerings and Agreements
2. Planning, Protection and Optimization
3. Release, Control and Validation
4. Operational Support and Analysis

#3 – Becoming an ITIL Expert

After Foundation and completing 17 credits in one of these paths or a combination of courses (some people like to mix and match), then the student has enough points to take the Managing Across the Lifecycle course (MALC) which allows them to sit for the MALC exam. You need a minimum of 17 credits to take MALC.

a. Foundation is 2 credits
b. Lifecycle course are 3 each
c. Capability are 4 each
d. MALC is 5

#4 – PeopleCert Certification Exam

Once you have prepared for an exam and hold the required Certificate of Completion for the Intermediate and MALC courses, then you are ready to purchase and take your exam. The official exam provider for all ITIL exams as of January 1, 2018 is PeopleCert. You can purchase your ITIL Exams from PeopleCert directly or from an Authorized Exam Organization. Exams can be taken at exam centers and Online so you can take them from the comfort of your home or office.

We hope this article on ITIL Certification has been informative and helpful. If you have any questions, we are here to help. You can reach us by phone at, 877.546.4446 or via email at, customerservice@gogotraining.com

3 Tips to Passing Your ITIL Exams

Thursday, 4 January, 2018

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By Guest Author Adrian Bates

Hello, my name is Adrian Bates and I have utilized GogoTraining to acquire three ITIL certifications: ITIL Foundations; ITIL Release Control and Validation Intermediate; and Planning Process and Optimization Intermediate Certification.

Here are a couple of tips and tricks that I use to identify what information is critical to absorb during training. Additionally, I listed a couple of tips that have helped me prepare for an exam.

Tip 1:

Prior to taking the training, I briefly reviewed the “Example Exams” within the module. I tended to focus on the “Question Rationale” portion of the test exam. This explains the reasoning behind how it was determined what the best answer is for each question.  There is an area within the question and rationale titled “Bloom’s Taxonomy Testing Level”. This portion explains what the candidate is expected to understand. This tends to help me during training as key parts of the course tend to stand out as critical pieces of information when reflecting on the example exams.

Tip 2:

Another key piece of information that assists with passing the exams is understanding the functional roles and responsibilities of each process. Each scenario speaks to a specific process and generally asks that you align the process or manager role accordingly.  If you have a fundamental understanding of the Capacity, Availability, Demand, Continuity processes etc…, you will have a higher chance of answering the question correctly.

Tip 3:

The last tip I have is that you thoroughly read the question being asked. Every scenario presents a challenge or obstacle that has to be overcome. Close attention must be paid to what question is being asked. For example, the question may ask something along the lines like; what is the best “approach” to create a successful continuity plan that addresses the issues listed by the Information Security Officer. The answers will vary, some of the answers are known as “distracters”. For example, one of the answers might illustrate a plan. The plan will sound great and may be best way to solve the issue. Keep in mind, you were not asked to solve the problem.  You were asked to assess the best way to approach the problem, and to create a plan that in the end will address the issues.  Again, it is very important that you read the question being asked slowly and to answer it as direct as possible.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my tips and tricks! My goal is to achieve ITIL expert and I have found this technique to be very helpful.  I have passed every exam on the first try and I strongly recommend GogoTraining when preparing for your exams.  Their training material is a great asset. The cost, accessibility to the site, support and training, in my opinion all receive good marks. You will realize this when you take the exam.

ITIL Certification: A comprehensive Guide for Individuals and Organizations

Monday, 9 May, 2016

 

The best performing professionals in the IT industry are passionate about learning. Technology is changing rapidly and it is difficult to keep up with the pace of that change. Also, the rapid changes in environment necessitate change in people. Continuous education is imperative to bring the necessary change.  Top performers understand the need for consistent learning and this is what enables them to have a successful career in IT industry.

Satya Nadella, in his first email to employees after becoming the CEO at Microsoft, wrote,“Many who know me say I am also defined by my curiosity and thirst for learning. I buy more books than I can finish. I sign up for more online courses than I can complete. I fundamentally believe that if you are not learning new things, you stop doing great and useful things. So family, curiosity and hunger for knowledge all define me.” This powerful statement summarizes the usefulness of acquiring new skills and certifications.

ITIL certification is one such certification.  IT professionals who want to advance their career must pursue ITIL certification.  Being ITIL certified results inhigher salaries and career advancement.   In this article we will take you through various aspects of ITIL certifications to help you better understand the opportunities that lie ahead once you get ITIL certified.

What is ITIL?

A few decades ago, Information Technology was complex and expensive and only skilled professionals understood it. People with great technical expertise used to be part of IT departments and they were the ones who consulted businesses on the IT system and components. Unfortunately, very few of them had a sound understanding of what businesses really needed. This wasn’t the only problem. Large IT organizations were merely managing technology rather than providing services.

The development of the ITIL framework led to the standardization of IT processes. This was the time when IT companies shifted their focus on providing services to their customers rather than just managing technology. ITIL laid a strong emphasis on standardization of processes which helped IT companies in two ways:

  1. Improving the quality of services
  2. Reducing the cost of service delivery

It also reduced the dependencies of the advice of the IT professionals in the business and commercial matters and it bridged the gap between technology and business considerably. IT companies became more efficient and effective whenever they adopted ITIL processes. For example

  • Implementing incident management helped in resolving incidents quickly at low costs (they needed fewer resources to resolve incidents)
  • Introducing capacity management that meant that the IT infrastructure was less expensive and more responsive to business demand

A brief History of ITIL

Before explaining details of ITIL certifications, let us have a look at a brief history of ITIL:

                           Year                                                Activity
                          1980s CCTA developed a practical framework for “identifying, planning, delivering and supporting IT services to the business.” ITIL was a library of books – Information Technology Infrastructure Library – that discussed specific IT service management (ITSM) best practices, based on recommendations from the CCTA.
                      1986-96 Initial publication of Version 1 of ITIL consisted of 30 plus volumes
                      1/1/2000 ITIL Version 2 had eight sets of books that grouped related process guidelines for the various aspects of IT, namely services, applications, and management.
                         2007 ITIL Version 3 (ITIL V3 also known as ITIL 2007)consisted of 26 functions and processes that were contained in five core publications namely, Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operations, and Continual Service Improvement.
                         2011 ITIL 2011 edition defined the formal processes that were not defined earlier and rectified various errors and inconsistencies that had crept in over the years.ITIL 2011 continues to be in use today.

ITIL Certifications Overview and Credit System

ITIL credit system follows a modular system where you receive credits on completion of each module. The credits earned become qualifying criteria for next module.

ITIL

 

ITIL Foundation – ITIL foundation deals with key concepts, elements and terminology of ITIL services lifecycle management. The first level of ITIL certification with 40 multiple choice question. There is no prerequisite to undertake this certification. It awards 2 credits to successful candidates. No prerequisites are required to take this examination.

ITIL Practitioner – ITIL Practitioner comes after Foundation and is designed to help people implement what they learned in Foundation.  ITIL Practitioner training classes are full on workshops that help students implement what they learned in Foundation. It awards 3 credits to successful candidates however it is not a prerequisite to take ITIL Intermediate or other advance level exams.

ITIL Intermediate – The eligibility criteriafor ITILintermediate level requires candidates to have passed ITIL Foundation and complete an accredited training course.Candidates are awarded 15 or 16 credits upon successful completion of ITIL Intermediate exams. There are two elements in intermediate level, Service Lifecycle examinations and Service Capability examinations.

Service Lifecycle examinations includes

  • Service Strategy
  • Service Design
  • Service Transition
  • Service Operations
  • Continual Service Improvement

Service capability examinations include

  • Planning Protection & Optimization
  • Release Control & Validation
  • Operational Support & Analysis and
  • Service Offerings and Agreements

ITIL Managing Across the Lifecycle – You must pass ITIL Foundation and ITIL intermediate level exam and earn a total of 17 credits to be eligible for ITIL Managing Across the Lifecycle (MALC) exam. You will earn5 credits on successful completion of MALC exam.

ITIL Expert Level – You should have earned 22 credits from ITIL Foundation exam, ITIL intermediate level exam and MALC exam to be eligible for ITIL expert level exam.

ITIL Master Qualification – You must be ITIL expert level qualified to appear for ITIL master qualification. To achieve this qualification, you must “explain and justify how you selected and individually applied a range of knowledge, principles, methods and techniques from ITIL and supporting management techniques, to achieve desired business outcomes in one or more practical assignments. (Source: www.exin.com)”

Benefits of ITIL certifications for Individuals

ITIL certifications will definitely boost your career and salary prospects. According to various surveys, ITIL certification is one of the top 20 most sought after certifications (in IT industry) in the world. According to an “Indeed” survey, professionals with ITIL certifications earn 38% higher salary as compared to their non-certified peers. Here is a trend of salaries of ITIL certified individuals over past few years:

ITIL benefits

(Source: Indeed.com)

Job Titles For ITIL Professionals

The job titles or designations entirely depend on level of ITIL certifications as well as years of experience in IT industry. After completing ITIL Foundation exam successfully you may enter industry as a Business Analyst or Solution Engineer. At middle and senior level you may become Change Management Manager, Service Delivery Manager, Program Manager – IT, Director – Information Technology, etc.

Advantages of ITIL implementation for Organizations

Continual Service Improvemet

Most of the major IT companies have implemented ITIL. An ITIL implementation report from Gartner says, “clients have identified improved customer satisfaction with IT services, better communications and information flows between IT staff and customers, and reduced costs in developing procedures and practices within an enterprise”. According to a Forrester survey, more than 80% of businesses thought that “ITIL had improved their organizational productivity and service quality significantly”.

If implemented correctly, organizations can derive the following benefits in the medium to long term

  • Improved quality of the services
  • Reduction in cost of delivery IT services
  • Creating values for their customers and meeting business requirements
  • Achieving excellence in whatever they do – Continuously improving the processes
  • Improved coordination with clients and partners
  • Easy to scale the business
  • Focus on SLAs (Service Level Agreements)

Cost of ITIL Certification

Here is a list of pricing for EXIN ITIL Exam cost and passing criteria

                            Course     Pricing (USD)      No of Questions   Pass marks
                   ITIL Foundation            233              40       65%
                   ITIL Intermediate            275
                   ITIL Managing Across                                       Lifecycle            275                  10        70%
                    ITIL Practitioner            319   40 based on a scenario         70%

You can save some bucks on your ITIL examination fee. Contact us on customerservice@gogotraining.com and we will arrange a coupon code for you.

Cost of ITIL Training Program

The cost of ITIL certification courses differs from institute to institute. It depends on the experience of the instructors, their competencies and track record. While selecting a training institute, you mustn’t focus entirely on the cost. It is necessary that you strike the right balance between the cost and other above mentioned factors. GogoTraining offers an excellent combination when it comes to cost and the experiences and skills of the trainers.

You can check out the cost of training program here: https://gogotraining.com/training/libraries/17/itil/

If you want to know more details or have any queries, just send an email at customerservice@gogotraining.com for current discount and offers on ITIL training programs.

Advantages of our Online ITIL Training Courses

  • Instructor Led Training Program
  • Experienced Instructors with 20+ years industry experience
  • Access to Instructors for support and queries
  • Self-paced learning – You can learn at any time as per your convenience
  • Cost effective as compared to classroom programs.

You can take advantage of these benefits and much more from the online courses at GogoTraining. We ensure that our students get the necessary support and incubation that will allow them to not just complete the certification courses in a convenient manner but groom them as efficient ITIL professionals with the required competencies and skills.

How to choose right training provider for ITIL Certification?

The first thing is to ensure that you enroll only to an Accredited Training Service Provider and Examination Institute.

There are a number of Accredited Training Organizations (ATOs)those that have been fully accredited by an approved Examination Institute and provide ITIL certification courses, both online and in person.

  • Check their track record
  • Instructor’s experience
  • Course Details
  • Pass Percentage

GogoTraining is an Accredited ITIL Training Organization. Accredited by Axelos and EXIN in ITIL Foundation through MALC and will be releasing the ITIL Practitioner course Summer 2016.  Course authors have been working in teaching in the field for over 20 years and are considered top in their field.  GogoTraining has the necessary accreditation and we have helped numerous ITIL aspirants to realize their potential of becoming successful ITIL professionals.

Still have a query? We are here to help.  If you want to know more details,  have any questions, or would like to find out about current discount offers on ITIL Training Programs contact customerservice@gogotraining.com.