What Certification/training?

[wes]

Hi

I am IT Manager for a reasonable size company in the midlands and would like to implement the ITIL best practises over the next 12 months, the issue i have is that I am unsure what training/certification to go for. My role is still slightly hands on but moving more and more in the managment direction. Despite this i am ununsure of whether to go for the Practioner or the Manager certification and training, the 2 main areas of concern are: Which one is correct for what i need to do at my present job and which one will boost both my salary potential and job prospects when i come to look for a new position?

Thanks

Wes

[UKVIKING]

Wes,

There are 3 levels of certification/training for ITIL

1 - Foundation - explains the ITIL concept in 3 days - multiple choice exam 1 hour. Gets you exposed to ITIL concepts.
2 - Practioner - this is usually a 3 days course for certain parts of ITIL - Change, COnfig & Release, Incident & Service Desk, Problem, Service Level Mgmt. it is geared to those who are going to do a specific role and who have already foundation but want/need the concentration class for their role. Exam similar to Foundation
3 - Management - the biggee. 10 days in 2 five day blocks. One for Service Support, One for Service Delivery. Then at least 1-2 days Revision before a 2 day 1/2 day exams - written exams w/o books 10 questions 5 each day - one on each discipline/process usually 30-40 pages per day

The big question is ... why do YOU have to IMPLEMENT ITIL all by your self ?

That is what consultants (what I do ..but I am on a contract at the moment), contractors, staff is for.....

There are several companies which will help you get your staff training and your organization ITIL'ed
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter

[wes]

Help would be nice be from a personal (selfish) perspective i would like to gain the skills and certification.

Would you say that this certification would be time consuming and complex, how does it compare to more technically orientated certifications in complexity???

[UKVIKING]

Wes,

The difference twix the technical course work and the ITIL or PRINCE2 is that these are geared for management process and procedures.

Unlike Microsoft or Unix courses or Programming courses which requires technical comprehension and the ability to repeat the work, the Management processes are pretty straight forward

Each process is defined and it does not require knowing the difference from / or \ or what a iterive loop is.

If you are management more than tech, then ITIL is the way to go.

First do the foundation course.... absorb it.. try to apply Incident and problem in your environment or if you have it already get your staff on the ITIL track.

Once you got the foundation under your belt, go for the Manager's course.

It is 2 weeks of reading writing and understanding each discipline per day (10 disciplines)

Then 4 times a year, the exams are held. You get usually a revision day a week or so before the exams.

I took a week and 1/2 off for the exams which are Wed & Thursday....

I studied on the weekends and at night for a month or so between the course dates and teh exam dates.

However, I failed the Service Support exam because I confused reality with what was book.... and did not account for that in my paper. However I did pass finally

Wes, you have two parallel wants in this thread

ITIL compliance for the company
ITIL certification for yourself

It aint easy for any company to get their processes ITIL'd. It requires a lot of work staff management etc and 1 person should not try to do it all. Program manage maybe... But you need to do it full time almost to get people to get with the program

On the person side, the foundation & practioner cost about 1250-1500 sterling on public web sites like Xpertise, FoxIT etc and the manager's double that for each week

ITIL is worthwhile I think because 1) I am doing it 2) I enjoy it and 3) ITIL can help an organization become better at customer service.
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter