Training Roadmap - Training guidance on ITIL V2 and ITIL V3 qualifications
We are continually getting queries from clients in various states of bewilderment, who KNOW they need to develop their ITSM skills but do not know how to navigate through the maze of qualifications.
We all know that, in the ITIL® V2 days, training was limited to Foundation, Managers and Practitioner certification. Life was easy! An awareness ‘sheep dip’ for staff and managers then, for those who were directly impacted by the project or the new processes, Foundation first, then for those who needed more detailed training, Practitioner or Managers certificates. Quick, neat and all done and dusted in a matter of weeks or months. The fact that Support and Delivery processes were only 10 of many as defined in all the other ITIL books was neither here nor there! Then along came ITIL® V3 which DOES cover the rest of the processes. V3 has added a whole new level of certification complexity. To make matters more complicated, ITIL® V2 certificates still exist and, if we are to believe the BCS, the Practitioner exams will continue as long as there is a market.
This is not the opportunity to debate the value to the IT industry of the 13 ITIL® V3 exams BUT, and it is a very big BUT, if you are an IT professional who has a job of work to do and needs to build an effective level of competence to do that job, or implement the process itself then you must take the effectiveness of the training into consideration.
Two aspects of qualifications are crucial.
There is a qualification which helps you, as an individual, do your job better. The other is the value of a qualification to your company. The new complication is that for the ITIL® Expert certificate, there are too many weeks (anything up to 11 weeks – depending on your role) of training to complete within a typical training year. If you are a trainer you have to set aside a massive 25% of a year to cover the 13 courses needed to be allowed to deliver ITIL® V3 training.
All of which means that the training programme must be especially well focussed and there is no room for unnecessary training.
Stage One
Stage one must be to establish the requirements of the job – what is the individual expected to show competence in and at what level, in order to deliver job targets. This is the well established ‘Invertors in people’ approach. The competence gap will next be documented in a training needs analysis exercise. Competence might be established at 3 basic levels
- L1. Able to carry out a task to achieve results without detailed activity supervision – includes trainees.
- L2. Supervisor/manager level – be able to direct and coach team members
- L3. Process/function owner – able to direct and improve, set targets be accountable for the success of the process/function. This is also the global manager level
Typically L1 is awareness and foundation level, L2 is capability and practitioner level and L3 is the strategic level for Strategy and CSI. L3 also includes the Executive Briefing managers who are affected by the processes but have only indirect or resource allocation (Headcount, facilities and funding).
Stage Two
Stage Two is the training programme selection. Lifecycle Certificates give the person a general view of processes within a specific area – like Design – and provide background to a set of closely related processes. Capability narrows the study area to a set of processes more focussed around a particular set of responsibilities. For an in-depth look at a single process – like SLM – there are the V2 Practitioner courses.
Stage Three
Stage Three is the development itself – which ideally includes a pre-training briefing the formal course/s followed by a programme of on-the-job support, coaching or mentoring to build up competence terminating in an appraisal interview – or at least a de-brief.
Because our queries are mostly from people who have already fallen into Stage Two, we have devised a development matrix to assist in defining the training programme.
The roles listed are based on those to be found in the five IT Service Management V3 Lifecycle books so it may be that you will relate to more than one ‘line’ in the table. You should treat these overlaps as complementary and seek advice direct from the Training Provider if you feel you need more clarification.
One final note; If you are a consultant, achieving the ITIL Expert in ALL the lifecycle arenas should be considered mandatory even if you already hold the ITIL® V2 Managers Certificate.
If you have ambitions to be, or already are, an IT Service Management tutor, you will have to pass every exam you wish to teach.
If you want to talk through your options, please ring us on +44 (0) 1494 876 502, we will be delighted to help you put together an appropriate programme.