I was lucky enough to be invited to attend Axelos’ ITIL 4 Train the Trainer session in Washington DC in November 2018. Hundreds of instructors applied to attend, and only about 100 were actually accepted across a few sessions worldwide. I feel . . .
→ Click to Read More of this Post: ITIL 4 Foundation: Train the Trainer]]>

Flippin’ the IV: November 2018, Washington DC. Axelos ITIL 4 Foundation Train the Trainer Session

I was lucky enough to be invited to attend Axelos’ ITIL 4 Train the Trainer session in Washington DC in November 2018. Hundreds of instructors applied to attend, and only about 100 were actually accepted across a few sessions worldwide. I feel very, VERY lucky to have been chosen. I think the only reason I was chosen was because of my ITIL Foundation LiveLessons product has done so well (thanks to many of you all! <3), and they knew I’d be wanting to create new courseware and hopefully another set of LiveLesson videos for ITIL 4.

The goal of these Train the Trainer sessions was simply to learn the differences between ITIL V3/2011 and ITIL 4. It wasn’t a full-blown ITIL 4 Foundation class, it was a “What’s different, let’s make sure you instructors understand it right here from the horse’s mouth, let’s all figure out together how you’ll teach these new concepts to your students, and let’s all take the official ITIL 4 Foundation Exam so we can be certified ahead of everyone else, and so we can give exam feedback to James The Official Axelos Exam Creator Guy.” It was a ridiculously helpful two days!

The absolutely magical Donna Knapp from ITSM Academy taught the class, and she did a spectacular job. (That’s her, on the right side of the photo.) It was so great to finally meet her in person! I’ve known about her for well over a decade, and I lost counting the number of people who ask me if we’re related. For the record, Donna and I aren’t related, though I wish we were because I admire her to the moon and back!

Before the session, we attendees were sent a final draft edition of the ITIL 4 Foundation book. We knew it wasn’t the official version, but it’s what existed at the time in November 2018. (The good news is that it was very, very close to the official version out now.)

We were all instructed to read it before class, and I dutifully did.

What I Like About the ITIL 4 Foundation Book

What I like most about it is its readability. It’s easy read and understand, and there is a little story that flows through the entire book making the concepts easier to grasp because you get to know each of the characters, their roles, and how these ITIL terms and practices relate to them.

It’s not a terribly huge book, either. It’s not intimidating.

I also admire the heck out of the authors… the team of writers responsible for this thing are some of the industry’s most important (and not to mention some of my favorite) ITSM thought leaders.

Some of the changes to the framework, what little we know about it since this is just a Foundation book, are really logical. They got rid of ITIL processes and functions and now call them all practices. How many times did we have to drill into students’ heads that “The Service Desk is the FUNCTION that does the Incident Management PROCESS.” So we don’t have to worry about that anymore.

Back in ITIL V2/V3/2011 we learned that a PROCESS is a step of steps for getting something done (for turning inputs into outputs). And ITIL 2011 had 26 processes. Like, the process steps for Incident Management are in order and make logical sense… you can’t categorize an incident until you log it, theoretically. But can anyone tell me the steps, in order, of the Information Security Management process, or the Availability Management process? Nope… because there aren’t really any super-specific steps, it’s just something you kinda do. So ITIL 4 gets rid of the word “process” in that sense and replaces it with “practice,” so you’d have an Availability Management practice. Aaaaah, much better.

It’s also nice to see ITIL aligning with DevOps and Agile, because every time I teach a class with anyone younger than 55 in it, everyone argues with me about Change Management and Release and Deployment Management, and how people can’t seem to get anything done without Change Management authorizing everything every step of the way. Now of course, ITIL is and has always been “just a framework,” meant to be adopted, adapted, and even ignored when necessary, but students eager to pass a test really stressed out about that. So it’s nice to see that.

What don’t I like about it?

It is super-confusing to me that a book called “ITIL 4 Foundation” can exist without any other ITIL 4 books. Like, what is ITIL 4 Foundation, um, founded on? It seems really premature. It’s like we’re just watching the movie preview even though there’s no actual movie yet.

I also wish that things had different names, because so many of the names and terms are confusing, especially to someone new.

The Service Value System, the Service Value Chain, and Service Value Streams are three very different things. Service Relationship Management and Relationship Management are two very very different things.

The activities of the Service Value Chain aren’t explained well to me, and no matter how many times I ask for clarification, nobody can clarify it for me… specifically the definition of the “Build/Obtain” piece. In Jill-language, this is the value-chain activity where we buy something or build something. Customer needs a new application? Okay great, let’s decide if we should buy it or build it. Awesome. Makes sense. “All new resources are obtained through the obtain/build activity.” Sweet. Makes perfect sense. But the ITIL definition is “The purpose of the obtain/build value chain activity is to ensure that service components are available when and where they are needed, and meet agreed specifications.” How on earth do you get “buy or build” outta that? And no matter how many times I ask, nobody can explain it to me. So I recognize I might be stupid here, and that I just need to accept it and memorize it and shut up about it. But MAN, do I hate not understanding something in my bones, especially when I have to teach it. Because what if one of my students needs clarification? I’ll be stuck.

What did I think of the ITIL 4 Foundation exam?

I felt like it was a very fair exam.

It was really, really cool and very helpful having James The Official Axelos Exam Creator Guy(“TOAECG” – haha) attend our sessions, so we could not only give him feedback on the actual ITIL 4 Foundation book itself, but so we could give him feedback on the Foundation Exam Syllabus and whether we thought we could teach it all in the recommended 12 contact hours. We were also able to give him feedback on the sample exams, as well as feedback on the real exam. We felt very heard, which we all appreciated so much.

One interesting thing that James The Official Axelos Exam Creator Guy told us is that on the new ITIL 4 Foundation exams, every single possible answer will be something real from ITIL 4. For example, in ITIL 2011 exams, you could get a question like,

“Which ITIL core publication would focus on the diagnosis of problems and identifying root causes?”
and the possible answers would be:
(A) Service Strategy
(B) Service Chewbaccas
(C) Service Operation
(D) Service Spam Spam Eggs and Spam

The correct answer is obviously (D) (C) Service Operation, but you’ll notice that answers (B) and (D) are totally made up things and completely unrelated to ITIL. My examples are silly, but on the real exams of the past, sometimes using totally fake (but plausible-sounding) answers was just cruel.

In the ITIL 4 Foundation exams, all possible answers will be real, actual ITIL 4 things; there won’t be any made-up terms. I appreciate that. We all thanked James TOAECG very much for that.

Was it an easy exam? Nope. Was it the hardest thing I had ever done? Nope. Was I glad I studied? ABSOLUTELY, and that’s coming from me, someone who has written books on this stuff.

If you’re an ITIL V3/2011 ITIL Expert, you can probably pass the ITIL 4 exam just based on your old V3/2011 skills and your smarts. If you’ve only got your ITIL V3/2011 Foundation cert and you took that class/exam a few years ago, then I wouldn’t take the exam lightly.

Personally: I read the entire ITIL 4 Foundation core book, I sat in an intensive two-day session filled with fellow ITIL Experts, and I studied my face off, and I got a 37/40. (I’m not going to lie and tell you I got 100%; I didn’t.) But I was pretty surprised I did that well– I did not feel very confident coming out of the exam session. So when it comes time for you to take the class and take the exam (I would wait until 2020, honestly), TAKE YOUR TIME. I surprised myself, but I was the last one of my whole class to finish my exam. It was tricky, for sure.

“So Jill! When will your ITIL 4 Foundation LiveLessons videos and study materials coming out?”

Not for a while. First off, ITIL 4 isn’t even out yet, though it will be any day now.

But besides that, I am a firm believer in “Never install a new operating system until at least one service pack comes out.” That same logic applies to ITIL and courseware, and especially applies to something like LiveLessons Videos that have to be as perfect as possible the day I create them, because making updates to them is nearly impossible.

So I want to wait until ITIL 4 Foundation has been out for a good while, and for the exams to have a chance to settle down a bit and get the bugs worked out, and to give myself time to get used to teaching it in the real world. I want to make sure my real-life students have solid pass-rates, and that I feel like I’m setting students up for success with my teaching methods, stories, and details. Like I always say when teaching 2011 Service Design: “You can’t rush awesome.”

When I created my ITIL 2011 Live Lessons videos in 2015, I had been teaching ITIL 2011 for a few years, so I was very comfortable with the material, I had my schpiel down, and there were very few do-overs. I want my ITIL 4 Foundation LiveLessons to be that effortless, and I’m sure you do, too. There’s no rush. Relax. You don’t win a medal or a monument if you’re the first person on your block to earn an ITIL 4 Foundation certificate.

Does that mean I’m going to wait 4 years before making the videos? Of course not! But I want to wait until I feel like I can make a really great product that is worthy of your time and money. Hopefully I’ll have something ready by the end of the year.

Until then, THERE’S NO NEED TO RUSH TO GET STARTED WITH ITIL 4 ON YOUR OWN. ITIL V3/2011 IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE, AND ALL ITIL V3/2011 PRACTITIONER and INTERMEDIATE CLASSES ARE ALL USEFUL AND FULLY TRANSFERABLE IN THE ITIL 4 SCHEME!

ITIL V3/2011 ISN’T GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL AT LEAST Q3 2020! YOU HAVE TIME!

ALL CAPS! ALL CAPS! DILUTE! DILUTE! OK! :-D

So with that, sit tight, and let’s take this ITIL 4 journey together. Patience, Grasshopper.

Thanks for reading!

Jill

In this handy Excel spreadsheet, simply enter the exam start-time in the obvious box, and . . .
→ Click to Read More of this Post: Handy ITIL Exam Timer (It’s free!)]]> Are you an ITIL trainer? Do you also proctor exams? Do you struggle with calculating when to tell your exam-takers how much time they have left in an exam session? Well, your pal Jill did some mathing for you. Who loves ya? (Answer: ME.)

In this handy Excel spreadsheet, simply enter the exam start-time in the obvious box, and through the magic of Excel, the other boxes will automagically populate with the countdown times.

This tool works for all ITIL exams, from Foundation, Practitioner, all the way through the Intermediate exams.

Check it out:

Just enter the start time of your exam, and voila! (Click the image for a closer look.)

If you like it, just click here to download it.

I hope this is useful for you!

Enjoy,

Jill

Regardless of what training company you used when you took training from me (TEK Systems, New Horizons, ProTech, BridgeView, Knowledge Peak, Pultorak and Associates, . . .
→ Click to Read More of this Post: Need a copy of your ITIL Certification?]]> I get calls and emails all the time from former students who have lost their ITIL Foundation certificate, and need a copy quickly. I wish I could get it for you, but I can’t!

Regardless of what training company you used when you took training from me (TEK Systems, New Horizons, ProTech, BridgeView, Knowledge Peak, Pultorak and Associates, NETD, etc.), your exam itself was purchased from (and graded by) one of four Exam Institutes (“EI”s): EXIN, Loyalist Certification Services (LCS), PeopleCert, and APM Group (APMG).

One of those companies has your grade and your certificate… not me.

So let’s say your company hired TEK Systems to deliver an ITIL Foundation class at your workplace with me as your teacher. TEK Systems was your training company. I was just a contractor hired by them to teach the class. TEK Systems purchased exams from one of those four Exam Institutes I listed above (and to save you some trouble, TEK Systems happens to use EXIN as their Exam Institute.)

During class, I made you sign into the website of the Exam Institute (either EXIN, Loyalist Certification Services (LCS), PeopleCert, and APM Group (APMG)) that TEK Systems bought the exams from (again, TEK happens to use EXIN), and you created a username and password for the EXIN website, and also you gave EXIN your email and snail-mail address, plus a bunch of other information. Once you were done with your exam, I sent your exam paper to the Exam Institute to be graded. The EI then graded your exam and gave you your results via email. I was completely out of the picture by that point.

So, your grades are completely between you and your Exam Institute. Because I teach for so many companies, I can’t easily list out what training companies use which Exam Institute, especially because training companies can change EIs at any time– so maintaining an accurate and updated list here for you would be nigh impossible.

Hopefully that jogs your memory enough to remember which Exam Institute was used during your exam session, and now you can check a few places:

1. If you still have access to your ITIL Foundation workbook, you can look in the first section of your workbook and there should be a slide that talks about the exam… hopefully there is information about who your exam institute was. Because I have taught for many different training organizations over the years and they all use different workbooks, I can’t tell you where to look in your workbook because I don’t know what workbook you have.

 

2. If you still work for the same company you worked for when you took the training and exam, search your email for your certificate. Your certificate and exam results were sent to your email address. Search for “ITIL” first. If you don’t find anything, then try searching for the name of the Exam Institutes, which are EXIN, Loyalist Certification Services (LCS), PeopleCert, and APM Group (APMG).

 

3. If you don’t work for the same company anymore and no longer have access to your former job’s work email, then you’ll have to contact the Exam Institute directly. I have no way of knowing what Exam Institute used to take your exam, so you’ll have to check with each of them, which are EXIN, Loyalist Certification Services (LCS), PeopleCert, and APM Group (APMG).

 

4. If you checked the “Include my name in the successful candidate register” box when you signed up for the exam (it was in with all the privacy stuff, so many times people don’t check the box), then your name MAY be in the Successful Candidate Register maintained by AXELOS. (AXELOS is the governing body of ITIL– all of those Exam Institutes Report up to them.)   Look up your name; maybe it’s there!

 

5. Your last resort is to contact the company (not me, your trainer) who performed your training… sometimes their logo is on the cover of your workbook, and with any luck their contact info is also there. They can look you up since you (or your company) paid them for your training.

2018 UPDATE: If you took your exam in 2018, there is only one Exam Institute handling ITIL exams for every student and company worldwide; and that company is PeopleCert. So if you took your exam in 2018, check your email for anything from PeopleCert, or go to the PeopleCert website and simply log in there to grab a copy of your certificate. Easy peasy!

That’s all the information I have, but I hope it helps you out!

 

If you can’t get a copy of your certification, then I can certainly point you in the direction of a FANTASTIC series of ITIL self-study videos featuring ME! Once you watch the videos, you can go to EXIN or PeopleCert’s website and sign up to take the ITIL Foundation exam online from any computer with a webcam!

 
Best of luck!

–Jill

It seems like as soon as the syllabus and exams stabilize a bit, APMG changes . . .
→ Click to Read More of this Post: Another new version of the ITIL Foundation Syllabus is on the way…]]> The ITIL Foundation certification can feel like a moving target sometimes. We trainers and courseware providers especially feel this stress because we have to make sure our materials and presentations prepare our students for what they may be asked on the Foundation exams.

It seems like as soon as the syllabus and exams stabilize a bit, APMG changes the exam requirements which means we all scramble to get our courseware updated as fast as possible! This is why exam-preparation books like my ITIL V3 Foundation Exam Video Mentor become outdated… it’s hard to stay up to date when the creators of the exams keep changing the exam topics on everyone.

I’m not complaining by the way… this is just part of the job. But it’s one of the trickier parts…

The new ITIL Foundation syllabus will be released by APMG on July 31, 2012. They are also releasing new sample exams, too. As soon as we get them, you can bet I’ll be pulling a few all-nighters to get our courseware updated and aligned. I’ll also post a link to the new syllabus so you can check it out.

Right now, nobody knows how extensive these changes are going to be. It could be something as simple as adding or removing a few new vocabulary words or small concepts, or it could be something significant like adding entire sections, processes, and topics. It’s a mystery!

Stay tuned…

[UPDATE!] Great news, folks! The 5.4 syllabus update was super-teeny, and didn’t contain any updates to the materials; only updates to the footers courseware providers are supposed to use. So students– this means that you don’t have to change a thing. The sample exams also have not changed– the questions and answers are all exactly the same. Hooray!

The classes will not be offered for much longer, so you need to act soon!

APMG has scheduled the official retirement date of this class as June 30, 2011. . . .
→ Click to Read More of this Post: Time is running out for the Manager Bridge!]]> If you already hold an ITIL V2 Service Manager certification and would like the shortest path to a V3 ITIL Expert, then the Manager Bridge class is for you.

The classes will not be offered for much longer, so you need to act soon!

APMG has scheduled the official retirement date of this class as June 30, 2011. This will be the last component of the ITIL V2 qualification scheme to retire.

So for those of you sad to see ITIL V2 go away, join me in one final drink on June 30, 2011.

[] Which process is responsible for taking calls from end users and restoring their service . . .
→ Click to Read More of this Post: Yet more ITIL Foundation Exam Tips]]> Continuing our series on ITIL V3 Foundation Exam Tips, here are a few more things to keep in mind.

1. You’ll need to know the difference between processes and functions.
   Incident Management or Service Desk? 
   • Incident Management = the process
   • Service Desk = the function

   [] Which process is responsible for taking calls from end users and restoring their service ASAP? Incident Management, because it is the process.

   [] Which function is responsible for taking calls from end users and restoring their service ASAP? Service Desk, because it is the function.

 

2. How can you tell the difference between the activities of Change Management vs. Release and Deployment Management?
   • Change Management = Paper-pushing verbs (e.g., manage, coordinate, monitor)
   • Release/Deployment Management = Action / heavy-lifting verbs (e.g., build, test, install, execute, do, implement

   [] Which process ensures that all authorized changes have been successfully implemented? Change Management
       () Rationale: You’re being asked who ensures that the changes have been successfully implemented. “Ensures” is a paper-pushing word, not a heavy-lifting word.

   [] Which process installs changes? Release and Deployment Management
       () Rationale: Even though the question has the word “changes” in it, don’t rush to the wrong answer! You are being asked who installs changes. “Installs” is a heavy-lifting word, so it’s Release & Deployment Management. 

    

If you’d like more tips and tricks, check out my posts that fall under the “Exam Tips” category in the right-hand column.

Since ITIL was created in the UK, the ITIL books are written in UK English. If you speak American English, you should expect to see some differences in both language and . . .
→ Click to Read More of this Post: More ITIL V3 Foundation Exam tips]]> Continuing in the series of Exam Tips and Tricks, here are a few ways to help my American students navigate the British English often found on the exams.

Since ITIL was created in the UK, the ITIL books are written in UK English. If you speak American English, you should expect to see some differences in both language and spelling.

“Register” = To record; to type into a tool/database
“Register an incident” means “Open an incident ticket”
“Register an RFC” means “Fill out an RFC form”

“Agree the content”
Brits leave off the word “to” after the word “agree”
“Which process agrees the content of a Capacity Plan?” should parse as “Which process agrees to the content of a Capacity Plan?”

British spelling: S instead of Z
Organise = Organize
Utilise = Utilize
Optimisation = Optimization

These aren’t typos! I once had a student tell me that they didn’t choose a certain answer on an exam because they thought it was spelled wrong, and therefore a trick. Aaagh! It’s just the British English spelling; it’s not a trick. (Typos do happen on the real exams, however. If you’re unsure how to answer a question because of a typo, always ask your exam proctor.

 
If you’d like more tips and tricks, check out my posts that fall under the “Exam Tips” category in the right-hand column.

Take your time. You have . . .
→ Click to Read More of this Post: ITIL Foundation Exam Test-taking Tips]]> Many of my students haven’t taken an exam since high school or college, so they’re naturally a bit nervous about it. Here are a few tips and tricks for passing the exam.

• First off, get a good night’s sleep the night before. This will help you more than the extra hour of cramming.

Take your time. You have an hour.

• If you’re taking a paper-based exam in a classroom, you can write on your question packet. Underline keywords (especially words like “not” and “incorrect.”)
• If you’re taking a computer-based exam, you’ll automatically have an extra five minutes added to your exam session to account for network latency, etc.
• Read each question carefully. Even if you see a keyword, read the question and all answers completely to make sure there isn’t a better answer
• Acronyms will be spelled out for you, so don’t have to memorize what ITIL’s acronym alphabet soup stands for
• Expect there to be about three super-hard questions on every exam; don’t get psyched out. Just skip and go back if you can’t answer a question, and don’t forget to use the process of elimination!
• Be suspicious of absolutes, e.g, “always,” “guarantees,” “never,” etc.
• Read questions carefully: Don’t miss the word “not.” It may not always be capitalized or emphasized.
• For testing purposes, always take the pure ITIL approach; do not think about how you’d approach the question in your own organization.

If you’d like more tips and tricks, check out my posts that fall under the “Exam Tips” category in the right-hand column.

On the surface, it sounds great. Nobody pays for travel, and the instructor gets to wear . . .
→ Click to Read More of this Post: Online learning]]> Many of my fellow freelance instructors love the convenience of teaching via an online modality (Webex, NetMeeting, Elluminate, etc.). Online classes mean that instructors can teach from their home offices, and students can take the class from anyplace with a ‘net connection.

On the surface, it sounds great. Nobody pays for travel, and the instructor gets to wear bunny slippers; everyone wins! :-)   Except… not. Student pass rates are lower when students take the class via an online method. Why is that?

My best guess is student engagement. When sitting in front of a PC with speedy ‘net access all day, it is pretty fair to assume most students are going to play with Facebook in another tab. ITIL is a dry topic, and even the best instructor is no match for Farmville.

I’m known for talking with my hands almost as much as I do with my mouth. I flail, I point at things, I gesture and jump around while I teach in a classroom setting. I also hang things on the walls that represent different phases of the service lifecycle, so when I say “Service Design” I can point to that phase and students can quickly remember what Service Design looks like and how it fits in with everything else. The problem is, some of that isn’t really possible via online learning. The flailing works OK, but the pointing at things hung on the wall… not so much.

Students simply cannot get the same quality of training via an online method as they can in a classroom. Any sales rep that says otherwise has never taken ITIL both in a classroom and via online-live and then done a comparison. This means they are trying to sell you a product they don’t understand. This is not cool.

To be fair, I think online training works great for certain types of training; lab-based training (e.g., Outlook) is fine… but lecture-based? No way.

Again, sales reps will think the opposite: “Lecture-based classes are the obvious choice, because students don’t have to do anything but sit back and absorb.” Not true. Lecture-based classes like ITIL Foundations work much better when the instructors and students can have a dialogue; exchanging ideas, questions, group exercises, conversations with body language, nuances, expressions, and laughs. We need to apply this ITIL stuff to students’ lives or it isn’t going to stick… and it’s hard to do that even with sophisticated systems with tons of interactive functionality like WebEx and Elluminate. There simply is no substitute for being in a classroom for a topic such as ITIL.

Some training companies offer online training at a reduced rate, which I think is terrific. Students aren’t getting as much, so they shouldn’t have to pay as much. Training companies that offer no discount for their online training vs. their in-person training are slimy. Don’t choose them. It’s like paying for a 1.75 quarts of ice cream and only getting 1.5 quarts. Sneaky. Uncool.

Service Level Management teaches us that customers can have anything they want, provided they pay for it. You want fresh flowers delivered every time a desktop technician works on your computer? Fresh flowers you shall receive, because that is what you have negotiated and paid for, as shown in your SLA. “Service Level Management works with customers to ensure expectations and service quality match,” right? So don’t expect riveting, engaging, interactive, fun, thoughtful training in an online environment… you’re not going to get it… so you certainly shouldn’t be paying for it. If a sales rep tries to tout online training as a benefit and not as the reduction in service that it truly is, you are being duped.

This isn’t to say students can’t have a good experience via an online class. Online students should expect clear, straightforward, no-frills, Powerpoint-intensive instruction with minimal interaction via an online method. If a student is disciplined to shut Facebook off, then it’s do-able. But the moment another browser window is open, all bets are off.