Why choose ITIL?
ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) has long been a name synonymous with quality alignment of organisations’ IT services with business needs. It is a critical practice as it ensures that the value brought to the company by their IT services are of maximum value and that the business does not fall behind emerging technologies.
When this has been achieved, there will be a common understanding of how IT services contribute to the business’ objectives with a focus on the areas that need resources as well as a reliable working relationship between the IT department and the rest of the organisation. This leads to efficient problem identification and the delivery of innovative solutions.
What is ITIL Practitioner?
The ITIL Foundation certification is known for it’s ability to relay a good understanding of the processes involved in service management as well as the common language of ITIL and vital IT concepts. There was however a lack of instruction as to how those processes were to be implemented.
The ITIL Practitioner certification will be your next step after gaining the ITIL Foundation certification. In order to add a more practical element to ITIL training, the ITIL Practitioner course was released early in 2016. The aim of the course and it’s accompanying exam is to validate the skills of IT service management professionals as far as having the ability to apply the key concepts of ITIL in their organisations is concerned.
Areas of focus
After gaining feedback from thousands of ITIL certified professionals, the ITIL Practitioner certification aims to address the areas that were prevalently mentioned as “gaps” in the ITIL framework by focusing on the following areas:
- A more practical approach in guidance towards continual service improvement (CSI), which is one of the lifecycle stages in ITIL, in order to make full use of the benefits of it’s implementation.
- Improving the skills and knowledge of staff members throughout the organisation as far as the implementation of ITIL in their daily roles within the company is concerned.
- Incorporation of new and improved technologies such as automation, cloud-based computing and real-time reporting with the goal of increasing service design quality and service delivery efficiency.
- Enhancing the value of IT service management with the influence of other methodologies and frameworks, such as Agile.
Certification progression
In order to undertake the ITIL Practitioner certification, students will have to have passed the ITIL Foundation level exam as it is a prerequisite. ITIL Practitioner is seen as an additive to the current ITIL qualification scheme and will complement the Foundation level of training as it focuses on the ultimate application of the ITIL framework.
ITIL Practitioner Principles
During your ITIL Practitioner training, you will become familiar with the 9 Guiding Principles that need to be followed during the adoption and implementation of the ITIL framework. These are:
- Focus on value
- Design for experience
- Start where you are
- Work holistically
- Progress iteratively
- Observe directly
- Be transparent
- Collaborate
- Keep it simple
ITIL Practitioner exam
The ITIL Practitioner exam will be based on the different elements of the ITIL core material covering the following areas:
- Leading the staff within your organisation through the implementation of ITIL using the Continual Service Improvement approach. The focus here will be on techniques and methods used during certain steps of CSI.
- Testing your knowledge of the principles that are to be followed when making decisions and taking steps in the implementation of ITIL whilst using the CSI approach.
- Understanding of the areas where competency is vital when adopting ITIL, namely communication, measurements and metrics and organisational change management.
Exam Format
The ITIL Practitioner exam will be of a multiple choice format based on given scenarios. A case study will be supplied in order for the student to utilise the skills and knowledge gained from the course to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the application of ITIL in a practical environment.
Career options
Since the ITIL Practitioner certification is of a higher level than the Foundation certification, it will open up a large scope of career options to pursue once you have completed your studies. A few examples of positions that you will be qualified to apply for after gaining ITIL Practitioner status are:
- Senior Service Manager
- Technical Relationship Manager
- Project Office Manager
- Project Co-ordinator
- Senior Application Engineer
- IT Change Analyst
- Senior Network Engineer
- Service Desk Manager
- Technical Relationship Engineer
- IT Service Transition Analyst
Final notes
If you have already undertaken ITIL training and have gained your certification, the ITIL Practitioner certification will only bolster your skills and knowledge as far as the framework is concerned. Career progression becomes far more likely as the value that an ITIL Practitioner certified individual brings to the business increases exponentially with practical knowledge as they will have the ability to affect real, positive change.
Incorporating revised processes and best practise will ensure that the framework is followed as it was intended to be and will see your organisation’s operations become ever more streamlined when aligning IT services to business needs and striving towards continual service improvement.
Following the Guiding Principles provided in ITIL Practitioner, improvement initiatives stand a substantially better chance at succeeding if they are adhered to as is intended. Having a theoretical knowledge of affecting change and improving service delivery is all good and well, but it means very little if it cannot be backed up by practical know-how.
ITIL Practitioner offers a safe environment where these skills can be honed with the necessary practice without the worry of consequences when mistakes are made. The scenario-styled course ensures that managerial skills such as communication and negotiation are developed in the process.
In conclusion, ITIL Practitioner strives to turn ITIL certified individuals into even better, well-rounded professionals by ensuring that the skills and knowledge obtained after completing your studies is as complete as possible. Where many were left wondering how to use the knowledge that they had previously gained from other ITIL certifications, it is now much clearer in the presentation of ITIL Practitioner.
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