A Beginners Guide to ITIL® Framework and ITIL® Certification
What do you think is an “Asset” to your company?
Is it the technology, people or the processes?
After all, assets support and accelerate an organization’s operations.
This is exactly where “Resource and Capabilities” come into the picture which any kind of service provider must audit before uttering the word – ‘Service’!
Effective calibration of good resources and capabilities produces great quality fuel whereas, ITIL® Framework creates a smooth runway for your business to take off.
So, what is ITIL® Framework?
The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) is a library of volumes elaborating a framework of best practices for delivering IT services.
IT Infrastructure Library has experienced many alterations in the past and presently, contains 5 books, each one of them covering varied processes and stages of the IT service lifecycle. ITIL®’s systematic approach to Service Management is to facilitate managing the risk factor in businesses, strengthening client relations, establishing cost-efficient practices, and developing a stable IT setting that permits and encourages transformation through growth.
“ITIL® is a framework of best practices, not a cookbook. One should interpret and adapt it to fit the corresponding situation.”
To deliver and support with a quality set of services is an art. Catering to customer requirements needs specific guidelines and clear goals. ITIL® directs the service providing organizations in establishing services and driving them efficiently as well as cost-effectively. ITIL® does what makes the customers happy and ushers more business which serves as the principal objective for most organizations.
Adoption of the ITIL® framework is like laying the best foundation for other organizational endeavours; you can easily build mammoth pillars of new technology trends and techniques on that strong base.
ITIL®’s spectacular journey to glory began in the 1980s. British Government’s Central Computer and Telecommunications agency gave birth to ITIL® which was consisted of more than 30 books which were later reduced and compressed to 7 and then 5 books.
At that time, the objective of coming up with such a framework was not to make it marketable, but to make it convenient and useful to the government, public and private sector organizations.
Since it worked so effectively that every organization today has adopted ITIL®, let’s see what exactly ITIL® Framework does and how.
What does the ITIL® Framework do?
- Improves the value of your services.
- Solves issues and eases processes.
- Enhances the capacity and capability of Information Technology in your organization.
- Provides a strategic alignment between your business and IT.
- Focuses on service delivery and customer satisfaction.
- Grants a better management structure by reducing cost and administering risk
ITIL® is the most popular and widely used approach to Information Technology Service Management. It elevates the efficiency and effectivity of the core processes in your business.
What are ITIL® processes according to ITIL® v3?
ITIL® V3 sets ITIL® processes around these five lifecycle stages which are the core ITIL® books and a group of 26 ITIL® processes is a vital part of these books. Read in detail about ITIL® Lifecycle and Processes here.
Recently AXELOS has launched ITIL® 4 Foundation in February 2019. The new version of ITIL® expands the previous ones by providing relatively more flexible and practical support, keeping in mind its compatibility and usability in today’s world of digital transformation.
ITIL® 4 grants a well-ordered transition to the SVS (Service Value System) that simply represents how the components of an organization work hand-in-hand to ease value creation through IT-enabled services.
The key fundamentals of both ITIL® 4 and ITL v3 continually maintain organizations as well as individuals to achieve value through IT and Digital Services. To compare better, do give ITIL® v3 vs. ITIL® 4 a read!
What is ITIL® Certification?
The ITIL® Certification gives a constructive approach to the ITIL® framework. It consists of a series of qualifications that emphasize on diverse elements of ITIL® best practices. ITIL® qualification allows one to be flexible enough to follow different areas of ITSM that follow different disciplines and then focus on one area that is truly suitable for that candidate’s profile or interest.
ITIL® v3 has five certification levels:
- Foundation
- Practitioner
- Intermediate
- Expert
- Master
The ITIL® 4 certification is the next, more advanced step of with ITIL® v3 which has been planned to provide clear directions for practitioners to continue their ITIL® journey.
ITIL® 4 consists of 4 levels:
- Foundation
- Managing Professional
- Strategic Leader
- Master
ITIL® Framework provides the required discipline to manage and develop in a timely and at the same time, cost-effective manner. ITIL® is popularly considered as the prominent standard for IT Service Management structure.
What will you gain from an ITIL® Certification?
The key objective of opting for an ITIL® Certification is to learn various valuable business management skills. The knowledge you derive from ITIL® certification training is assured to give you great benefits in terms of productivity and personal as well as organizational growth.
These are some of the benefits you would reap from an ITIL® Certification:
- Getting expertise in the ITSM industry makes you a pro at Process Development and Improvement which are vital for any business.
- When it comes to customer experience and customer satisfaction, ITIL® ensures the concepts are well-explained to you through the module for you to not just implement, but to make impactful, cost-effective decisions at your workplace.
- Any business, with a set of loyal, trusting customers goes a long way! How can this be achieved better, is something ITIL® teaches you so that you can come up with higher quality services.
- ITIL® professionals are held high in regard. You may think of showcasing this certification as an accomplishment because it will make your profile stand out amongst all the other ones.
- Many leading and well-known organizations choose ITIL® professionals today to improve and preserve the organizational standards which brings them much closer to the ultimate business goals.
ITIL® is a powerful, world-leading framework for IT Service Management. ITIL® 4 is the most updated version of ITIL® that grants a modern template enabling organizations to produce value by creating fruitful IT-supported products and services.
Denis Matte, an ITSM Solution Support expert, quotes, “To successfully implement ITIL® is to confront human nature and succeed.”
How realistic, isn’t it!
ITIL® is more than just a system than guides; it is a philosophy that makes you an integral part of something that needs to be recreated.
All you need to do is apply that philosophy effectively enough! 🙂
