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• ITIL

July 28, 2020

What is ITIL 4 and why do I need it? If you’re new to ITIL® 4 and don’t know where to start, or if you’ve started but you’re not sure about your next steps, keep reading.

ITIL 4 is an evolution from ITIL v3. It provides practical methods and techniques so organisations can easily transition, adopt, and adapt to the new ways of working in the technological era of digital services.

In contrast to ITIL v3, ITIL 4 puts more emphasis on business value, achieved through the integration of various frameworks. Such as Lean IT, Agile, and DevOps – that provide a holistic end-to-end picture.

A huge ITIL 4 differentiator is the service value system (SVS) that demonstrates how opportunity/demand is turned into value. The SVS consists of a set of guiding principles, governance, service value chain activities, a set of 34 practices, and continual improvement. The current body of knowledge consists of six core books plus an online portal.

What ITIL 4 designation can I earn?

 

The ITIL 4 certification scheme is similar to the ITIL v3 certification scheme but has been streamlined to offer two main designation paths with seven modules, in total, between the two designations. Participants will start at the Foundation level and progress to either the Managing Professional (MP) or Strategic Leader (SL) stream – or do both!

How do I become an ITIL 4 Managing Professional (MP)

The courses involved in achieving the ITIL 4 MP designation provide the knowledge necessary for managing IT teams, projects, and IT service management workflows. To achieve ITIL 4 MP designation, candidates must be certified in ITIL 4 Foundation and all four modules that comprise the ITIL 4 Managing Professional stream including:

• ITIL® 4 Specialist – Create, Deliver & Support
• ITIL® 4 Specialist – Drive Stakeholder Value
• ITIL® 4 Specialist – High Velocity IT
• ITIL® 4 Strategist – Direct, Plan & Improve (Note: This module is shared by the two streams and only needs to be successfully taken once to apply toward both the MP and SL designations.)

If you’re an ITIL v3 Expert or have acquired a minimum 17 ITIL v3 credits, you qualify to take the bridging certification course, ITIL 4 Managing Professional Transition. It lets individuals ‘bridge’ their knowledge between ITIL v3 and ITIL 4 and bypass the ITIL 4 Foundation course along with the four additional ITIL MP advanced courses. We want to remind you that though there are no official scheduled retirement dates for the ITIL 4 Managing Professional Transition course, or ITIL v3 courses, they will probably not be around for much longer beyond mid 2021.

How do I become an ITIL 4 Strategic Leader (SL)

The ITIL 4 strategic leader designation is for leaders and aspiring leaders who want to gain a clear understanding of how IT influences and directs the business strategy – not just for IT operations, but for all digitally-enabled services. To attain the SL designation candidates must be able to demonstrate that they have at least a minimum of three years managerial experience, have completed their ITIL 4 Foundation certification, and have successfully attained both of the two following modules:

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• ITIL® 4 Strategist – Direct, Plan & Improve – (Note: This module is shared by the two streams and only needs to be successfully taken once to apply toward both the MP and SL designations.)
• ITIL® 4 Leader – Digital & IT Strategy

Benefits of ITIL 4 for organisations

The ITIL 4 Foundation exam