CIs are all of the assets and components of a company’s IT infrastructure that affect the service given to consumers, including any hardware, documents, or even a member of personnel. The Configure Management department collects all of the data and information from these CIs and stores them in a database, which is how they keep track of new information and updates regarding the assets. Using this database, the configuration management department can understand the relationships that the CIs have with each other and how they affect other aspects of the company’s infrastructure of services. CIs have lifecycles, which are followed by the configuration management department. They can be physical, conceptual, or logical.

The configuration management department defines the objectives of the database through planning, and identifies the configuration structures in the IT infrastructure. The department controls the configurations to make sure that they are being properly placed and accepted within the infrastructure. To go along with this, they also conduct audits to make sure the information is correct and that it is working properly within the company.

This department works with other processes in the ITIL Service Management to minimize the number of changes and incidents that could occur in the IT infrastructure. It gives information about configuration problems to the incident management team, links configuration components for the problem management team, and keeps track of all the changes that are made to the configuration components for the change management team.

There is also a part of the ITSM process that is called Problem Management. The difference between these two processes is that the IM department deals with the symptoms of the problems. The Problem Management part of the process solves the underlying problems that have the incidents as symptoms. These two departments work together along with the other processes, which is why it is important to properly record all incidents and how they were resolved. Problem Management needs a proper record in order to cure the root of the problem so that there will be no more incidents related to the problem.

The main tasks of a the IM team are to record the details of the incidents, match the incidents with problems, settle and prioritize incidents, and delegating resolution tasks to other departments to ensure that the incident is well-taken care of. All of these tasks are imperative to reduce the amount of damage that an incident could cause to a company, and it is important that they are done in a timely manner. The team also tries to catch incidents in the making before consumers notice them. Incidents are usually reported by consumers who have problems with the service that they have received, so the IM department also sends out and interprets the surveys that are sent to consumers to catalog the incidents.

The release management department has four major goals: planning the release of the software or software, designing and executing the procedures necessary for the new releases, communicating to customers the new software designs, and controlling the changes to the IT systems.

It also protects the live environment in which the new updates are released by following a list of checks and procedures in order to prevent any occurrences of problems. This department also decreases the amount of interruptions and errors that the company has in the service department due to the constant releasing of problem solving updates. It also prevents illegal copies of software from being used within the IT department because it stores all of the software data in a Definitive Software Library.

A release includes any hardware or software updates that have a large amount of new information or minor updates and bug fixes, and also hardware and software that will fix major problems that the previous ones contained. In addition, updates are released in different portions. A small fix is seen as a sort of patch that solves problems that only a small portion of the software has and is called a Delta release. A full release involves releasing a completely new updated version of a current software or hardware. Lastly, a packaged release includes a grouping of several types of updates, such as a new interface with different types of applications.

Service management creates value for customers by focusing on what is valuable for them and creating goals and implementing strategies to capture their business. The inputs are the resources and capabilities of the department, and as an end result, the outputs are the services for customers.

The newest and most updated of the ITIL is the V3, which is the third version. The previous V2 version focused more on the operational processes, and the V3 version is more concise and now focuses on the service management aspect. The main difference between the two versions is the fact that the recent version is client-based. Having a client-based core is more beneficial to the company and the customer because the goals are set to create more value for the customer, making the customer happier with the end results.

ITIL involves five different processes: service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation, and continual service improvement. These processes are involved in a cycle that never ends, because with IT, there is new information that is learned every single day. With the ITIL process, there is an increased customer and business satisfaction, better services are available, resources are allocated properly, and the company saves time and money.

Service Strategy

This part of the process deals with the strategic portion of service. This includes strategic analysis, planning, and implementation of strategic objectives in order to best serve customers. Service strategy involves analyzing what customers are looking for and coming up with objectives that will enable the company to reach the ultimate goal of providing excellent service to the consumer.

Service Design

The Service Design part of the process involves coming up with new designs to IT services, in addition to tweaking old ones. There are different departments under the service design process because controlling and creating new IT services designs is a very large project. The duties of the different departments include: cataloging new information, monitoring and reporting, allocating resources, managing security, defining blueprints, and making sure that contracts are being fulfilled on the end of the consumer as well as the company.

Service Transition

Service transition is responsible for building and enacting IT services as well as coordinating them. Much like service design, there are several smaller departments that all work under service transition because it is such a large category. These departments are in charge of recording and managing changes, coordinating resources, controlling testing services in live environments, and getting information to everyone within the company about any changes.

Service Operation

Service operation is the process that deals with the delivery and quality of services. It resolves problems that customers are having with services, and catalogs incidents. This process also involves the day-to-day activities of the IT services department, such as routine maintenance and job scheduling.

Continual Service Improvement

This last process analyzes all of the services that they have provided and comes up with plans and strategies to improve on anything. If errors were made or customers were not satisfied, this department is in charge of finding ways to improve upon the error. They determine what their goals and objectives are based upon their analysis of service and process evaluations, and then they implement their action plans and watch and evaluate them to make sure that they are working.

CM has a lot of goals besides just being in charge of every decision that has to do with change. They want to minimize any unfavorable outcomes that change could bring about regarding service, as well as doing a cost-benefit analysis when considering a change. They also aim to create a standardized set of processes that will allow the Change Advisory Board (comprised of major stakeholders that make the decisions for CM) to make decisions quicker.

The CM department creates awareness of changes as well as records them. They create cost-benefit analyses as well as risk analyses when deciding on whether or not to enact a change. The implementation and coordination of changes are also completed by this group.

Change Management is one small facet of IT Service Support, which is a part of IT Service Management. The reason for a CM sector is essentially to have people control what kinds of changes need to occur in a company. The term “change” is very loose; it encompasses anything that could affect the service quality of IT programs. This includes changes in processes, servers, networking devices, and anything else that could potentially cause problems if the changes are not handled correctly.

A problem is the underlying reason for incidents to occur, so the problem management and incident management departments work fairly close together. They often have conflicts because incident management wants to solve the incident as quickly as possible; doing anything they can to repair it quickly. Problem management wants to analyze the incident and solve the core root of the problem, which takes longer than just repairing the incident. Problem management uses findings from the incident management process to understand what the underlying problem is that caused the incidents to happen in the first place.

The main duty of the problem management team is to use incident reports, known errors, and information from other processes and create requests for change and also update problem records and known errors. Problem management creates the requests for change to give to the change management part of the process so that they can alert the company to any changes that have been made to certain procedures. This department is also in charge of keeping track of trends in order to stay ahead of potential problems before they occur.

Classes

There are ITIL training sessions available to take in a classroom, or if there are none offered in your area, you can take the training session online. With either choice, it is up to you to stick with the class and absorb everything in order to prepare for the exit exam. As mentioned previously, there are four levels of training.

Foundation

This is the basic level of understanding for someone who is trying to learn about ITIL. It is for those people whose workplaces are requiring their employees to adapt to the ITIL system and have knowledge of the terminology. The classes involved in this level are different depending upon which route you’ve taken to access the course, but the topics will include: service management processes, service support processes, and service delivery processes.

Intermediate

Once the foundation courses have been taken and the student decides to increase their knowledge, the next level is intermediate. This is split into either lifestyle or capability courses, which is completely up to the student to decide which path to follow. The lifestyle courses include: service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation, and continual service improvement. The capability courses are: operational support and analysis; service offerings and agreement; release, control and validation; and planning, protection, and optimization.

Expert

The intermediate courses require the student to pass all exams in all of the courses in order to move to the next level. In the expert level, students must take a course called Managing Across the Lifestyle.

Master

The master level is the top and most prestigious level out of the four. Essentially, once all three previous levels are passed, then the master status is awarded and the student will be able to teach the ITIL processes.

Exams

All of the levels require taking an exam at the end of each course in order to advance to the next level. Exams will vary depending on each course and which venue you decide to take the courses through. Credits are also needed to advance onto each level. The foundation course has 2 credits, the intermediate has either 15 or 16 depending on which track is taken, the managing across the lifestyle course supplies 5, and  the expert level requires at least 22 credits from the previous courses and levels.

Test Prep

There are many study guides and practice questions available online to prepare for the exams. They do cost money, however they will properly prepare you for the types of questions that will be on the exams. You’ll also be given a course manual that you can study to prepare for the exam as well.

Time

The foundations course is 3 days, the intermediate courses for the lifestyle track is 3 days, the intermediate courses for the capability track is 5 days, and managing across the lifestyle is 5 days. The rest of the courses vary by where they will be taken.

Cost

Receiving certification for ITIL is not an inexpensive task. It can reach well into the thousands depending on how far you would like to take your certification. For just the foundation course and the exam, it can be up to $2,000, depending on if you take it online or in a classroom setting. The price depends on each institution as well as the level. The course price usually includes the cost of taking the exam in addition to the manual and the course itself. It may seem like a very steep price, but the benefits can outweigh the costs depending upon how the certification is used. In some cases, workplaces may pay for the foundations course if it is a requirement for all employees.

To become ITIL certified involves enrolling into an accredited training program that teaches all of the information that an ITIL professional needs to know. There are six parts to ITIL, including: service support, service delivery, planning to implement service management, ICT infrastructure management, applications management, and the business perspective. Courses will be based upon these different disciplines.

V3 Certification

The V3 is the most current version of the ITIL and is more business-based than IT-based. Certification consists of four different levels, and is credit-based. This means that students must gain a certain number of credits at each level in order to advance to the next level. The four levels are foundation, intermediate, expert, and master. For each level, there are only a few mandatory courses and the rest are electives that are chosen by the student often based on their job titles. The first two levels are made for everyone in IT to take in order to understand the terminology. The expert level is more for those in management positions who are going to implement the ITIL processes, and the master level is for those who are going to be teaching the processes.

Foundation Certification

This certification entitles the student to understand the basic terminology and knowledge of ITIL, and is also the prerequisite to the next level of certification. The exit exam for this level is comprised of a multiple choice exam. The training program is open to anyone who is interested in learning about ITIL to benefit themselves in their career or just interested in the subject.

Certification Path

In order to be ITIL certified as a master, students must first past the first three levels. The foundation level must be passed, followed by the intermediate level, then the expert level, and finally the master level.  The ITIL V3 system is based on a point level, and the foundation level has 2 points from passing the exit exam.

The next level can earn either 15 or 16 credits by passing the exams for either Lifecycle or Capability courses. This level is more for those who want a deeper understanding of ITIL. The Lifecycle courses are: service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation, and continual service improvement. The Capability courses are: operational support and analysis; service offerings and agreement; release, control and validation; and planning, protection, and optimization.

The expert level involves receiving 22 credits and does not require an exam. Essentially, after passing the courses in the intermediate level, the student becomes an expert. However, 5 of the 22 credits come from taking a course called Managing Across the Lifestyle.

The last and most prestigious level is the master level. Students in this level will be assessed on how well they can implement and manage ITIL and ITSM (Information Technology Service Management) issues.