ITIL Managers Certification - Service Support & Service

[Onore]

Dear Hi LizGallacher & UKVIKING
from what I gather you are both have passed your practitioner exams , so possibly can answer my questions on advise.
I am working an Incident and Porblem Manager for relatively small organizationand would like to move on to Service Support role as sucjh will require red badge .
I know I can just seat practitioner exams without attending 5 day course ( I have to pay myself it's around £1500) at open exam centres for about £150 . I have purchased Service support book and currently going through it to gather some theoretical knowledge as from practical knowledge point of view I have no issues but was wondering is you can advise on format of the exam or where I cand-load sample mock tests etc .
thanks
onore

[LizGallacher]

John and I have both passed the Manager exam. I personally have not sat any Practitioner exams, although I do teach them, as the Managers is the higher certificate.
To correct you - you cannot sit the Practitioner exam without attending a course. You have to be entered by an accredited training organisation. The exam is part multiple choice, part written answer, and is sat at the end of the course. The course itself has a lot of group work, and some mock exams.
The only exam you can sit without a course is the Foundation. I presume you have this qualification. It is a pre-requisite for any other certificates.
It would be difficult to see the value of downloading the written questions, as they need to be marked by someone else.
Hope this helps
_________________
Liz Gallacher,
ITIL EXPERT
Accredited ITIL and ISO/IEC20000 Trainer and Consultant - Freelance

[Onore]

Liz,
many thanks for the response ..I am facing a dilemma with these 2 exams -Practitioner and Service Manager ones ..
I'm ultimtely interested in Service support , so will be aiming for red bage but not sure whether there is any benfit og sitting practitioner exams at all ..( knowing that Service Manager exms are harder - what would you suggeste to go through if I go straight to Service Manager course\certificate ..
thans,
Onor

[dboylan]

Onore,

Keep in mind that the focus of the Service Manager course and that of the Practitioner courses are different. I received my Service Manager cert and then started teaching the Incident/Problem/Service Desk and Config/Change/Release courses.

You would think that having passed the Service Manager course that I would be an instant expert in the Practitioner Level courses. This is not the case.

The Service Manger course consists of 10 days of classroom training to cover the 10 ITIL processes, plus some time spent on the Service Desk and Security Management. Of course the required home study is VERY great. Do not expect to pass the Service Manager test without reading all of both Service Support and Service Delivery books. But still, the amount of time focused in on each process in class is very limited due to the time constraints.

Compare that to a five day course where you go into incredible detail on the how-to's of Incident/Problem/Service Desk. I have spent days, when training, doing nothing but talking about how the Incident Process and the Service Desk interact. Or how Incident Management and Problem Management exchange information. Or how the Service Desk supports the Problem Management process. (I really did love doing that by the way)

I have heard stories of people who sit the Service Manager test and fail because they have passed Practitioner level courses and try to put to much detail into the essay style questions posed on the Service Manager test.

I am not saying that there is not value in both the Service Manager and the Practitioner courses, but they do have different focuses.

The Service Manager is designed for someone who wants the holistic view of how all the ITIL aspects work together. The Practitioner course is the nose-to-the-grindstone detail level of how a few select aspects function and interact.

Which is best for you? I can't say. Think about where you want to go with your career. You say that you want to focus on Service Support, which lends weight to the Practitioner courses. But do you think you can be effective in the Service Support processes without understanding the interactions with Service Level Management or Availability or Capacity management?

Of course I want to be an expert in it all, but that has nothing to do with my career path. It has more to do with my being an ITIL Evangelist.

Just think about what you want to achieve, and then plan your training path appropriately.

Don

[Onore]

dboylan (Don)
Many thanks for your time and expert advise .
I have to look into whole thing from different angle now - and that would probably help me to make my mind up..
thans agan.
Onor

[Onore]

dboylan (Don)
,
With Service support in mind would one be given red badge certificate (not sure if that makes a sence ?) on successfull completion of MANAGER'S COURSE IN IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT: SERVICE SUPPORT couese ?

Thanks ,
Onor

[dboylan]

Onor,

I don't know of any training organizations that separate the training of Service Support and Service Delivery. There are two tests, but that is more for the convenience of the person sitting the test. That way, you can pass one of the tests and only retake the one you failed.

The course (as I have seen it structured) is intended to prepare you for both exams. Having paid to learn both Service Support and Service Delivery, it would be a shame to only attempt the Service Support part of the exam.

I also don't think there would be any benefit to stating on your resume that you passed the Service Support Manager's portion of the exam. Anyone who has a deep knowledge of ITIL would simply assume that you attempted and failed the Service Delivery Manager portion.

Don

[LizGallacher]

I agree with Don. I have seen candidates attend only 1 of the manager courses, but this is usually because they cannot boo the other one in time. You cannot sit only 1 exam (unless it is a resit) and you cannot sit the exam without attending both courses. Also, each course makes more sense when taken with the other!
Even sitting 1 course, but not the exam, would mean that you could not sit the exam later (having done the 2nd course) without a huge gap in between.
_________________
Liz Gallacher,
ITIL EXPERT
Accredited ITIL and ISO/IEC20000 Trainer and Consultant - Freelance

[Onore]

Liz/Don,
thousands of thanks ..I now have more clear view of exams structure etc..

rgds,
Onor