ITIL

[Frut02]

ITIL- now I've got my head screwed on and I like to think I do a good job as an it manager- a lot of the system is built using industry standard. However no company/ school will take me seriously if I don't have the ITIL accreditation. Question is, which ones do I need to do? I was a bit confused as there are 13 different courses. I understand that I start with the foundation one, but where do I go from there?? There's also a bit about credits. Can anyone explain please.

 

Nick

[plexer]

I wouldn't agree with your statement about no company taking your serious but I think it's good to be looking at.

 

Ben

[Frut02]

I wouldn't agree with your statement about no company taking your serious but I think it's good to be looking at.

 

Ben

 

I think it's more me feeling like that, I go to apply for a job and see the dreaded itil essential bit and I dismiss it because I don't have it. To move on up from where I am looks like I need it.

[plexer]

I've been applying for a lot of jobs the last 2 weeks and I haven't seen many that say must have ITIL although I do think it's a good idea for moving from schools and it's something I intend to work on myself I also wouldn't not apply for a job because it listed ITIL if I had all the other requirements.

 

Ben

[matt40k]

ITIL pretty good if your building up documentation, defining your documents - i.e. this is a procedure we follow for applying Windows Patches, which is a minor change. This a significant change, we want to do it on this date, we're doing it because, this is the techy bit (i.e. how you'll do it), this is how we'll rollback if it goes wrong, this is how we've tested it, this is how we'll test it once it's done to check its completed ok. So it's pretty good if you have non-techy boss, they at least know you're doing someone on email or whatever and that your not doing it on a whim.

 

It's working doing the essentials - one it means you're hand over will be easier and two you'll need it if your going into any kind of half decent (large) company.

[DPrince]

I'm ITIL, PRINCE2, and FITS certified. I don't think I've ever seen a school asking for an ITIL qualification, and not sure it is particularly necessary - most schools won't follow much of the ITIL framework.

FITS is a better fit (pun intended) for schools, being a cut-down version of ITIL designed specifically for schools. Definitely worth getting your techs qualified in this too.

 

If you're looking at a move to industry, then ITIL and PRINCE2 are both worth having. I got them both for my current position, but they would stand me in good stead if I decided to move on.

I'd suggest foundation level for ITIL is sufficient for most practical uses and job applications. For PRINCE2 you can do a 5 day course and get up to Practitioner level. Note that the qualification only lasts for a finite period before you need to re-qualify.

 

The biggest problem with ITIL and PRINCE2 is that they're not cheap!

[MordyT]

I'm itilv2 certified for 3 years now and despite only one place needing it, it has been a great way to base policies I had to come up with and helped me avoid issues (change management is very good). Despite not needing it, it is good to have.

[arwen]

Most places if they want an ITIL person for 1st/2nd/3rd line the most they will ask for is ITIL Foundation Certification

Personally I have done the course but not the exam (job at the time wouldn't pay for the exam...) and it is mostly common sense in my opinion. Some things they do to prompt good customer service actually hinder it, so from my experience companies tend to pick and choose what bits of ITIL they want to use.

Which is completely against the framework. It is meant to be all or nothing.

 

If you are looking for a job in IT support not in a school, then is it very good to have on your CV. It is pretty much impossible to implement in a school environment however.

[DPrince]

, so from my experience companies tend to pick and choose what bits of ITIL they want to use.

Which is completely against the framework. It is meant to be all or nothing.

 

It is absolutely not an all or nothing approach - that's why it's called a framework. The point is that you're supposed to implement the bits that suit your organisation. It's the flexibility that makes it so useful.

So for instance, FITS is essentially ITIL that has already been cut down and adapted to work in a school environment.

[Gardinho]

I passed my ITIL Foundation v3 a couple of weeks ago.

 

To be honest, I didn't really enjoy the book, but I'm glad I did it. I'm not sure I will be doing any further ITIL qualifications for the time being. The foundation exam is pretty easy to accomplish, providing you put a few weeks of revision in.

 

A lot of jobs I have seen have stated that an 'Understanding of the ITIL Framework is desirable'. This is what encouraged me to do it. Holding the entry level cert does verify and meet that requirement, even if you are by no means an expert in this practise.

 

I also wanted to do something different to supplement my Microsoft certs.

[Frut02]

Thanks all. I am looking at doing the ITIL foundation soon, I think it would be good to have (it looks really interesting). I just did the practice exam and got 29 out of 40 which is a pass. Considering I have never looked at it before think I did fairly well. I applied for the job that wanted ITIL and they got back with an interview date so I at least have a chance to explain to them what I know

 

Thanks for your replies!!

 

Nick

[RichB]

EXIN who do the exams now actually offer an online exam.... which could be of benifit

[Leeoakley]

From the ITIl website:

 

The credits earned through this Credit System can then be used by candidates who are interested in achieving the ITIL Expert Level of certification, which requires candidates to meet a specific set of key requirements, which include earning a required number of credits (22) from qualifications which cover the full spectrum of ITIL Best Practice.

 

 

http://www.itil-officialsite.com/Qualifications/credit-system-image.aspx

 

Basically you get the foundation under your belt, then you train and do exams in areas that are specific to your role.....

 

Each of those courses/exams gives you credits. When you reach a certain number of credits you move up to the next level. You basically start at the bottom an move up when you meet the correct credit level.

 

Depending on the role you have now and the jobs you are looking to move to the Foundation is probably enough as a starting point.