Program Overview

The ITIL Intermediate Qualification: Service Operation (SO) Certificate, although a stand alone qualification, yet is also part of the ITIL Intermediate Lifecycle stream, and one of the modules that leads to the ITIL Expert in IT Service Management Certificate.

The ITIL Certificate in Service Operation is intended to enable the course participants to apply the ITIL best practices during the Service Management Lifecycle.

Duration

This program is offered over a 3-day period and includes approximately 21 hours of student-instructor interaction; a 1.5 hours formal certification exam on the afternoon of the fifth day, or the following week. The Minimum number of students per session is 6 where the maximum is 12.

The course approach combines theoretical and hands-on knowledge transfer, including individual and group practical exercises.

• Note: The success in achieving this certification is highly dependant upon participants’ effort in doing their homework, and self-study before and during the program. Therefore, it is highly recommended that:
  • The exam is scheduled one week to maximum two weeks after the training to allow sufficient time for preparation.
  • Course participants purchase the appropriate ITIL® V3 OGC publication to complete at a minimum 12 hours of personal study by reviewing the syllabus and the pertinent areas of the ITIL Service Management Practice core guidance, in particular Service Operation publications

Delivery Methods

- Instructor led Classroom based
- Virtual Web based

Audience

The target group of the ITIL Expert Qualification Service Operation is:

• Individuals who require a deep understanding of ITSM/ITIL Service Operation phase and its related processes and how it may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organization.
• IT professionals that are working within an organization that has adopted and adapted ITIL who need to contribute to an ongoing service improvement program This may include but is not limited to, CIOs, CTOs, managers, supervisory staff, team leaders, designers, architects, planners, IT consultants, IT audit managers, IT security managers, service test managers and ITSM, trainers, business managers and business process owners.

Prerequisites

Individuals who have attained and have a proof of one of the following certifications:

• V3 ITIL® Foundation certificate in Service Management; OR
• V2 Foundation plus the V3 Foundation Bridge certificate;

It is also strongly recommended that course participants:

• Possess 2 to 4 years professional experience working in IT Service Management
• Have exposure working in the service management capacity within a service provider environment, with responsibility emphasizing on Service Operation environment.

Content and Objectives

Through a series of lectures designed at achieving a clear understanding of the ITIL Best Practice lifecycle approach and through various exercises, assignments and discussions, participants will gain the necessary knowledge enabling them to capture:

• Service Operations Principals
• Service Operation Processes
• Common Service Operation Activities
• Organizing Service Operation: Functions
• Technology Considerations
• Implementation Considerations
• Challenges, Critical Success Factors and Risks

The program will cover the following modules:

Introduction

This module introduces the candidate to the concepts and terminology of the Service Lifecycle and the role of ST within the Lifecycle; where the course participants will have the ability to capture, understand and describe, identify, demonstrate, apply distinguish, produce, decide or analyze:

• Service Operation as a practice
• Service, its value proposition and value composition
• Functions, Processes and Roles
• The purpose, goals and objectives of Service Operation
• The scope of Service Operation and the types of processes used by Service Operation
• The position of Service Operation within the service lifecycle , the interfaces, inputs and outputs
• Potential value to business

Service Operation Principles

This module covers the Service Operation Principles, where the course participants will have the ability to capture, understand and describe, identify, demonstrate, apply distinguish, produce, decide or analyze:

• Organizational issues including: Functions, Groups, Teams, Department and Divisions
• Achieving balance in Service Operations
• Providing Service
• Involvement in Design and Transition
• Operational Health
• Communication
• Documentation

Service Operation Processes

This module covers the managerial and supervisory aspects of the ITIL processes covered in the Service Operation stage (but excludes the day to day operation of the processes which is covered in the Operational Support and Analysis Capability module; where the course participants will have the ability to capture, understand and describe, identify, demonstrate, apply distinguish, produce, decide or analyze:

• Event Management
• Incident Management
• Request Fulfillment
• Problem Management
• Access Management

High level discussion of operational activities of processes covered in other Lifecycle phases:

• Change Management
• Configuration Management
• Release and Deployment Management
• Capacity Management
• Availability management
• Knowledge Management
• Financial Management
• IT Service Continuity Management

Common Service Operation Activities

This module covers the activities commonly performed in Service Operation; where the course participants will have the ability to capture, understand and describe, identify, demonstrate, apply distinguish, produce, decide or analyze:

• Monitoring and Control
• IT Operations
• Mainframe Management
• Server Management and Support
• Network Management
• Storage and Archive
• Database Management
• Directory Services Management
• Desktop Support
• Middleware Management
• Internet/Web Management
• Facilities and Datacenter Management
• IT Security Management in relation to Service Operation
• Improvement of Operational Activities

Organizing Service Operation

This module covers the Service Operation functions and maps them to roles and responsibilities and activities. It also covers Service Operation organizational structures; where the course participants will have the ability to capture, understand and describe, identify, demonstrate, apply distinguish, produce, decide or analyze:

• Functions
• Service Desk
• Technical Management
• IT Operations Management
• Application Management
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Service Operation Organizational Structures

Technology Considerations

This module covers technology as part of implementing service management process capabilities. It also covers the special technology functions and features that are related to Service Operation practices; where the course participants will have the ability to capture, understand and describe, identify, demonstrate, apply distinguish, produce, decide or analyze:

• Technology, tools and telephony requirements for the Service Operation processes and activities, including:
  • Generic Requirements
  • Event Management
  • Incident Management
  • Request Fulfillment
  • Problem Management
  • Access Management
  • Service Desk

Implementation Considerations

This module covers how implementation considerations contribute to Service Operation; where the course participants will have the ability to capture, understand and describe, identify, demonstrate, apply distinguish, produce, decide or analyze:

• Managing Change in Service Operations
• Service Operation and Project Management
• Assessing and Managing Risk in Service Operations
• Operational Staff in Design and Transition
• Planning and Implementing Service Management Technologies

Challenges, Critical Success Factors and Risks

This module covers the challenges and risks facing Service Operation and how Critical Success Factors contribute to Service Operation; where the course participants will have the ability to capture, understand and describe, identify, demonstrate, apply distinguish, produce, decide or analyze:

• Challenges, Critical Success Factors and Risks

Summary, Exam Preparation and Directed Studies

This module summarizes the material covered in the previous modules and prepares candidates for the examination through the review and practice of a mock examination. The Examination is comprised of eight (8) multiple choice, scenario-based, gradient scored questions. The standard duration of the exam is Maximum 90 minutes.

Program Material

This training program includes the following as reference documentation:

• Program slide presentation
• ITIL® V3 acronyms and glossary
• Sample examination questions and answers

Simulation and practical application

We provide the students with real life experiences; we use the client organization as “Case study” example for the purpose of discussion to show the value of using best practice. We integrate group exercises and sample exam questions to simulate and practice the subject matter.