ITIL is an abbreviation for IT Infrastructure Library. Indeed, ITIL is a framework of best IT practices. What is ITIL Certification? Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) developed it. Earlier, lack of standard operating procedures drove the requirement. CCTA was later named Office of Government Commerce (OGC). In fact, they are current custodians.
In the early 1980s, CCTA formulated a set of recommendations. Recommendations provide a “practical, no-nonsense framework for identifying, planning, delivering and supporting IT services to the business.”
The certification has gone through multiple versions. The first version 1 consists of more than 30 books. This lasted till late 2001. In 2001, ITIL version 2 was introduced. This particular version consists of 8 books. What is ITIL certification? These books have the answers.
Standards and Procedures
Books transfer to proper standards. A board was set up to accredit this as a professional course. Hence, ITIL became an accredited course led by the Information Systems Examinations Board (ISEB). ISEB ensures the examinations covers best IT practices.
ISEB conducts the examinations. EXIN is also conducting the exams. How to prepare? Join Online ITIL courses for preparing.
ITIL is a growing international certification. Employers pay top dollar for experts.
Current ITIL Status- ITIL life Cycle Management
The OGC announced ITIL Version 3. Now known as the ITIL 2007 Edition. It consists of 26 processes in five core publications:
- Service Strategy: This is the initial phase. The objective is to outline and focus on services as a core strategic asset. Understand the policies and procedures while implementing a service strategy.
- Service Design: Once the service strategy is signed off, the service design phase begins. In this particular phase, proper understanding of business gaps and solution development is required. Designing a solution requires an understanding of capacity and resource availability.
- Service Transition: This phase covers the transition from development to production operations, including testing and quality control.
- Service Operation: Service operations is a critical component. Managing operations is the key skill. You are responsible to know processes. Consequently, you need to mitigate and reduce risks. It addresses service operation processes. You need to manage events. Ensure you understand incidents. Bachelor level degrees in IT focus on the service operations side of business. In fact, BS IT scope in Pakistan entails updating students of technical skills and plans to manage operations.
- Continuous Service Improvement: Quality is a never-ending perspective. And this holds true for the IT segment as well. Consequently, continuous Service Improvement is a guideline.
Other ITIL content exist. However, they revolve around the above stated IT service management framework.
ITIL Qualification Scheme and Credit System
ITIL Certification is based upon a credit scoring. There are multiple expertise levels. Becoming an expert requires passing various exams. Each examination has a value. Hence, being ready for these exams is a must.
IT is a core framework. It requires different skills. Hence, organizations need different expert levels.
Five different certification levels are being offered:
- Foundation
- Practitioner
- Intermediate
- Expert
- Master
Accredited Certification
This is a credited level certification. Eventually you need to accumulate 22 credit hours. There are different paths. You choose. Depends upon your level of interest. And also the need of the market.
Don’t let the scope scare you away. The framework develops skills to design, develop, deliver and manage new or improved services. Lack of IT framework causes budget issues. In conclusion, ITIL solves these problems. It is the standard for IT service management.
Significantly, we recommend that you research further. What level are you wanting to achieve? This can be based upon your skill set, choice and job requirements.
ITIL V 3 Foundation Certification
ITIL V3 is a foundation certification examination. Conclusively, it focuses on the basic life cycle processes.
There is no prerequisite for taking the exam. However, basic understanding of IT governance is a must. The ITIL V3 foundation certification level covers the above stated life cycle processes. Therefore, be ready and prepared. ITIL v3 foundation certification training is the best way to prepare.
Qualified the foundation examination? Consequently, the next step is to go to a higher level.
The Foundation exam has 40 multiple-choice questions and lasts for up to one hour. Although the cost of exams can vary between EIs and ATOs, the Foundation exam is generally in the range of $220 to $250 USD.
ITIL Practitioner
ITIL practitioner is the latest level of certification. It focuses on skill sets supporting business objectives. A practitioner focuses on change management, communication and measured metrics.
In conclusion, the prerequisite for this level is the V3 Foundation accreditation.
ITIL Intermediate
ITIL intermediate is another stepping stone. 8 total courses fall under Intermediate status. You have the option of choosing between any of these two categories.
Service life-cycle modules:
- Service Strategy (SS)
- (SD) Service Design
- Service Transition (ST)
- (SO) Service Operation
- Continual Service Improvement (CSI)
Service Capability modules:
- Operational Support and Analysis (OSA)
- Planning, Protection and Optimization (PPO)
- Release, Control and Validation (RCV)
- Service Offerings and Agreements (SOA)
Apparently, AXELOS recommends having at least two years of IT service management experience. And accredited training is required. Each Intermediate module exam is typically $350 USD.
Here is when you define what your career goals are. What kind of technical expertise you want to become.
ITIL Expert
The ITIL expert is a prize coveted certification. Came this far? Indeed, you are a professional. Expert certification is a prerequisite for the Master certification. Becoming an ITIL expert is one of the reasons to the question of why should I pursue a computer engineering degree. With an ITIL expert certification, you can boast of a knowledge base that is highly valued in the industry.
To qualify for the Expert, you must obtain at least 17 credits. Conclusively, these credits come from the Foundation, Practitioner and Intermediate modules. Professionals also take the Managing Across the Life cycle (MALC) exam. This earns them a total of 22 credits. The MALC exam typically costs $350 USD.
ITIL Master
The most coveted certification is the ITIL Master degree. You certify yourself as the master of all the core processes. Core processes range from strategy management to delivery management. Thus, you become the go-to person for all IT issues. Issue with IT deployment? Teams need help in troubleshooting? Eventually, you are the end solution.
The cost of the Master program is $4,000 USD. You require confirmation prior. Indeed, it is expensive. However, it is worth it. Very few people qualify.
