Written by Graham Furnis
This article is in response to a client question regarding what next ITIL courses should be taken after completing v3 Foundation. My answer to this depends just as ITIL suggests on your business objectives and outcomes required.
The ITIL official scheme and module description can be found at the URLs listed at the bottom of this article. There are two basic streams to choose courses from in addition to complementary qualifications. There is no restriction on how you can mix and match the courses as long as the credit totals add up to allow you to progress towards your ITIL Expert certification (if that is your end goal).
The challenge with mixing and matching courses from the two streams and complementary qualifications is the overlap in material content. Some key considerations are outlined below:
The Credit Profiler System
The Credit Profiler System is available through the ITIL Official Site. This system advises ITIL candidates of credit values attained within the qualification scheme, as well as providing general guidance on potential course paths based on approved ITIL courses. It offers some basic feedback on the potential overlap of knowledge when mixing and matching, but I do advise people to still research specific course tables of content.
Complementary Qualifications
In addition to the two basic course streams, there are additional offerings and ways to build credits through courses that are more targeted and in shorter duration. These additional complementary qualifications offer targeted skills building and may be of more immediate value for specific projects or activities you are involved with. The catch, from an ITIL Expert certification point of view, is that there is a maximum of 6 credits that can be used in the V3 certification scheme.
Service Lifecycle Stream Qualifications
The Service Lifecycle stream is designed for the process manager and owner roles, and delivers knowledge in five modules focusing on one ITIL core book at a time, including:
Service Lifecycle Stream Qualifications
The ITIL Capability stream consists of four individual qualifications, and delivers knowledge in four modules focusing on clusters of processes along with their activities, execution, and across phases of the Service Lifecycle. The four modules include :
- Service Offerings and Agreements (SO&A)
- Primarily covering Service Strategy and Design processes, including; Portfolio, Service Level, Service Catalogue, Demand, Supplier and Financial Management
- Release, Control and Validation (RC&V)
- Primarily covering Service Transition and Operation processes, including; Change, Release and Deployment, Service Validation and Testing, Service Asset and Configuration, Knowledge, Request Management and Service Evaluation
- Operational Support and Analysis (OS&A)
- Primarily covering Service Operation and Continual Service Improvement processes, including; Event, Incident, Request, Problem, Access, Service Desk, Technical, IT Operations and Application Management
- Planning, Protection and Optimization (PP&O)
- Primarily covering Service Design processes Capacity, Availability, Continuity, Security, Demand and Risk Management
For more details, visit the official ITIL site at: https://peoplecert.org/browse-certifications/it-governance-and-service-management/ITIL-1/itil-4-foundation-2565
Graham Furnis is fully immersed and passionate in providing ITSM solutions. He is a business-driven IT professional with 20+ years of technology and management experience. He is certified as an ITIL Manager and Expert as well as an accredited instructor.