ITIL4 Training - Ireland

Quality-driven service management is a cornerstone of business success. SureSkills is the leading Irish provider of IT Service Management training and the longest directly accredited company in Ireland. Regularly audited to ensure our training programmes and trainers are consistent with the highest standards of the accreditation body, Axelos, be assured that with SureSkills you can apply useful knowledge and realise real business value.

ITIL 4, which was released in 2019, maintains the same focus on automating processes, improving service management and integrating the IT department into the business. However, it also updates the framework to accommodate and answer to modern technology, tools and software.
Since ITIL’s last update, the IT department has grown to become integral to every business and the new framework accommodates this by being more agile, flexible and collaborative. ITIL 4 contains nine guiding principles that were adopted from the most recent ITIL Practitioner Exam, which covers organizational change management, communication and measurement and metrics.
These principles include: 

• Focus on value
• Design for experience
• Start where you are
• Work holistically
• Progress iteratively
• Observe directly
• Be transparent
• Collaborate
• Keep it simple

The newest version of ITIL focuses on company culture and integrating IT into the overall business structure. It encourages collaboration between IT and other departments, especially as other business units increasingly rely on technology to get work done. ITIL 4 also emphasizes customer feedback, since it’s easier than ever for businesses to understand their public perception, customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

Looking to upgrade the service management skills or the skills of your team?  Perhaps you are looking for advice on how to begin a large ITIL project? If so, contact a SureSkills training consultant. We have lots of experience and are here to help. 

AXELOS have publicly stated that they are committed to building on previous versions of ITIL and ensuring that ITIL 4 will become even more relevant to organisations worldwide by: Ensuring that there is a smooth transition path. Making ITIL 4 more relevant to organisations undergoing rapid digital transformations. Retaining and building on the basics like Change Management, which is even more relevant in today,’s rapidly changing environment. Supporting and interfacing emergent technologies and frameworks such as DevOps, Lean and Agile. We understsnd that this will be delivered over time in ITIL 4. 

ITIL 4 has been designed to help organizations meet the increasing demand from the current complex digital environment. The new scheme is aligned with ITIL 3 and has been streamlined to encourage conversion beyond ITIL Foundation level. The benefits of a candidate moving to ITIL 4 are: 

• Demonstrates that a candidate has the knowledge to navigate the modern digital landscape 
• Shows that a candidate's certification/skills are up-to-date

It’s the latest version of the world’s most popular IT service management framework, is scheduled to be released in Q1 of 2019.
Some Background to previous ITIL versions.
1989 - First released and grew to a library of over 30 books.
2000 - Version 2 was published in a new format initially Service Support and Service Delivery books covering 10 processes and the Service Desk Function.
Six additional volumes were added between 2001 and 2006.
2007 - Version 3 was published in a Service Lifecycle format of five core books, covering 23 processes the Service Desk, and Application, Technical and Operational Management Functions.
2011 – Version 3 was refreshed as 2011 Edition with a number of new processes, BRM, Design Coordination and Transition Planning & Support, and a rewrite of the Service Strategy and CSI books.
An ITIL Practitioner volume was later added in 2015.
2018 – ITIL 4 announced by AXELOS (not ITIL V4). The '4' is to align itself with the 4th Industrial revolution. 

Axelos manages ITIL (JV between the UK's OGC and Capita plc) ITIL4 and is being developed by them via a team of more than 150 industry experts contributors and writers, along with the new ITIL Development Group consisting of more than 2,000 members many from some of the world’s largest organisations (public and private). 

ITIL continues to be the gold standard for ITSM best practices and interest in the topic is as high as ever.

ITIL processes and best practices have been a powerful tool for organizations to maintain and improve their service management for decades. Two of the biggest criticisms of ITIL, though, have been its relationship with the ITSM community and failure to keep up with recent trends in software development and IT operations. ITIL 4 addresses these by making this update community-driven and identifying Agile, DevOps, and Lean as key focus areas for integration with traditional ITIL best practices. 

As with previous upgrades, we understand that existing ITIL 3 customers will wish to upgrade to 4.
However, if you have taken only ITIL v3 Foundation, then the recommended approach is to take ITIL 4 Foundation in order to be able to transition to the new scheme.
There is a large amount of new material in ITIL 4 Foundation therefore a new single exam is required to assess your knowledge of the new ITIL 4 Foundation guidance. ITIL 4 Foundation is scheduled for release in Q1 2019. 

ITIL learners holding a low number of credits beyond Foundation have two recommended options to transition to ITIL 4 - dependent on what they want to achieve in the IT Service Management standard.
OPTION 1: You are encouraged to take ITIL 4 Foundation and a further module in their preferred area of interest, becoming either an ITIL Specialist, Strategist or Leader.*
OPTION 2: You are encouraged to achieve 17 credits from ITIL v3 to become eligible to take the ITIL Managing Professional transition module. We understand that the examinable modules for ITIL Managing Professional and ITIL Strategic Leader will be available in H2 2019. 

If you are an ITIL learner who has achieved 6 credits or more since v3 Foundation, then it is in your interest to continue collecting v3 credits to prepare you for an easier transition to ITIL 4 and gain the ITIL Managing Professional designation. You will need to reach 17 credits to be eligible to take the ITIL Managing Professional transition module. This benefits you as an ITIL learner as you will then become eligible to fast track past the v3 Managing across the Lifecycle course and exam. 

If you have achieved ITIL v3 Expert, you can take the ITIL Managing Professional transition module as soon as it is released to achieve the ITIL Managing Professional designation.
After achieving the ITIL Managing Professional designation, if you are interested in pursuing the ITIL Strategic Leader stream, you would only need to complete the ITIL Leader Digital 8 Strategy module. Once you have completed both streams you are eligible to move towards ITIL Master. Further details about the release of ITIL Master will be released at a later date.

We would encourage ITIL candidates to continue accumulating ITIL 3 credits, in order to more easily transition to ITIL 4.

AXELOS are slowly releasing information to us. However, please note your current and past investment in ITIL training and certification will be protected. Existing qualifications will still be recognised. 

SureSkills will be scheduling our first ITIL 4 Foundation courses in March 2019 so if you are interested in being at the leading edge IT service management email us or fill in a contact us form.

Similar to previous versions of ITIL® the new qualification scheme provides a modular approach for certification in the framework. Axelos is aiming for a smooth transition to ITIL 4 so has assured all partners that current certifications for ITIL will remain valid following the update.

All credits gained will help go towards ITIL 4's new certification scheme. So if you have ITIL v3 certifications or are planning to undertake training, the word from SureSkills and Axelos is; keep it going.