Certifications in ITIL^®: a small orientation guide

Many IT organizations around the world use ITIL to organize and structure themselves. For good reason: The use cases of the framework are extremely diverse. However, this impressive spectrum of possibilities is almost impossible for newcomers to grasp in all its breadth and depth. How good that a variety of different training courses and certificates provide assistance in fully exploiting the potential of the framework. All training courses are based on the ITIL Foundation, which we have already presented elsewhere in this blog.

In the following, I would like to give an overview of which certificate is useful for whom.
ITIL 4 is divided into two major areas: the Managing Professional and the Strategic Leader.

The ITIL 4 Managing Professional

The ITIL 4 Managing Professional (as successor to the ITIL v3 Expert) has extensive ITIL knowledge as well as a practical understanding of the methods underlying service management. This enables him to support his organization as an expert in word and deed.

The path to becoming a certified Managing Professional leads via the ITIL 4 Specialist courses "Create, Deliver & Support", "Drive Stakeholder Value", "High Velocity IT" and the ITIL 4 Strategist course "Direct, Plan & Improve". Only those who have successfully completed all four training courses can call themselves Managing Professionals.

But what are the contents of the individual modules - and who are they aimed at?

Create, Deliver & Support

The ITIL 4 Specialist module "Create, Deliver & Support" significantly addresses the environment that an organization must create in order to successfully establish and permanently operate service management. For example, it has to meet the requirements for modern workflows, agile methods, and smooth internal collaboration.

The module addresses all those who are entrusted with the implementation of overall service management and the development of individual services - i.e. team leaders, service managers and other experts.

Drive Stakeholder Value

"Drive Stakeholder Value", the second of the ITIL 4 Specialist modules, revolves entirely around increasing customer satisfaction and the question: How can services provided by IT be delivered and used more effectively and, above all, in a more customer-oriented manner?

Essentially, this module is about applying the customer journey concept already established in marketing and sales to IT processes as well: All customer-related activities and contact points are clearly structured in order to follow a uniform, goal-oriented plan in the future. In addition to these basics, the module shows participants concrete methods and approaches for further increasing customer and user satisfaction through service improvements.

With this mix of topics, the module appeals in particular to senior service managers in companies, but participation is also worthwhile for all other participants in IT service management.

High Velocity IT

How can the speed of IT processes be significantly increased? The "High Velocity IT" module provides a wide range of solutions that meet all regulatory and business requirements. It also illustrates the role that Lean and Agile principles play in service management.

Training and certification are tailored to companies that are already undergoing a digital transformation or want to or need to start one.

Direct, Plan & Improve

Finally, the last building block on the way to becoming a Managing Professional is the ITIL 4 Strategist course "Direct, Plan & Improve". The module is dedicated to various strategic methods that can be used to continuously improve the internal structures and processes of an organization.

It is aimed at all those who are involved in change processes within the company - i.e. employees with personnel responsibility, service management managers as well as project managers.

The ITIL 4 Strategic Leader

The second important qualification that can be achieved in ITIL is that of ITIL 4 Strategic Leader. For this certification, in addition to the mandatory ITIL Foundation and the "Direct, Plan & Improve" module, the "Digital & IT Strategy" module must also be successfully completed. This broadens the participants' view to open up a new perspective: that of joint strategy development for IT and business.

With its holistic approach, the module is aimed at managers who want to transfer the concepts of ITIL to a strategic level in order to drive a future-oriented corporate course.

The ITIL modules: Expertise that benefits everyone

Even though the various modules in this blog post have been assigned to specific target groups: The trainings bring valuable expertise to companies far beyond these groups that can be put into practice on a daily basis. Especially the Managing Professionals modules can benefit anyone involved with responsibility in service management - process owners as well as executives or service managers.

Our YouTube channel provides a good overview of the individual modules:

• ITIL 4 Create, Deliver & Support
• ITIL 4 Drive Stakeholder Value
• ITIL 4 High Velocity IT
• ITIL 4 Direct, Plan & Improve
• ITIL 4 Leader Digital & IT Strategy

Still questions about ITIL certifications? Let us advise you on your individual training journey!