Certification Schema

With the publication of ITIL 4, AXELOS introduced a new ITIL Certification Schema that match the series of ITIL 4 books. While all recent versions of ITIL have started with Foundation and ITIL 4 being no different, the similarities end there.     

As depicted in the diagram above, ITIL 4 has a series of certifications which begin with Foundation.  Once certified in ITIL Foundation, an individual can either complete the ITIL Managing Professional certification or the ITIL Strategic Leader.  If both of these certifications are attained, the individual will have earned the ITIL Master Certification.

ITIL Foundation

ITIL 4 Foundation is designed as an introduction to the service management best practices and covered the following.

ITIL 4 Foundation candidates will have an understanding of the following:

• A holistic approach to the facilitation of co-creation of value with customers and other stakeholders in the form of products and services
• The guiding principles of ITIL 4
• The Four Dimensions of Service Management
• Key concepts from Lean, Agile, DevOps, and why these are important to deliver business value
• How ITIL practices described in ITIL 4 will maintain the value and importance provided by the current ITIL processes, whilst at the same time expand to be integrated to different areas of service management and IT, from demand to value.

OwlPoint, through its partner ITSM Academy, provides multiple options for the ITIL 4 Foundation training and certification.

To take the ITIL Foundation exam, no prerequisite is required.

ITIL Foundation exam format

• Multiple choice examination questions
• 40 questions
• 26 marks required to pass (out of 40 available) – 65%
• 60 minutes’ duration
• Closed book

To obtain the designation ITIL 4 Managing Professional, the candidate must complete all four modules. In order to completed the modules, each has its own curriculum, exam, and certificate.

The four modules of Managing Professional are:

• ITIL 4 Specialist Create, Deliver and Support
• ITIL 4 Specialist Drive Stakeholder Value
• ITIL 4 Specialist High-velocity IT
• ITIL 4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve.

If you are already an ITIL v3 Expert or have obtained 17 credits under the ITIL v3 scheme, AXELOS has provided a transition path to ITIL 4 Managing Professional Certification by taking the Managing Professional Transition Module.

To obtain the designation ITIL 4 Strategic Leader, the candidate must complete the two modules. In order to completed the modules, each has its own curriculum, exam, and certificate.

The two modules are:

• ITIL 4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve
• ITIL 4 Leader Digital and IT Strategy

To achieve the ITIL Master certification, you must be able to explain and justify how you have personally selected and applied a range of knowledge, principles, methods and techniques from the ITIL Framework and supporting management techniques, to achieve desired business outcomes in one or more practical assignments.

Every ITIL Master candidate will select a different range of experiences that are personal to them, so there is no fixed syllabus for this qualification. There is also no prescribed training course since the theory being tested will vary depending on the nature of the situation each candidate will choose.

To be eligible for the ITIL Master certification, you must:

• have achieved the ITIL Expert certificate; and
• have worked in IT service management for at least five years in leadership, managerial, or higher management advisory levels.

In order to achieve your ITIL Master certificate, you must ensure you have extensive practical hands-on experience with ITIL and can demonstrate active involvement in implementation of the practices.

For more information on ITIL 4 or the related ITIL 4 Certifications, feel free to schedule an appointment with an OwlPoint ITIL 4 expert.