Welcome to ITIL Training Zone’s Frequently Asked Questions.
We have answered the top, most asked questions about ITIL and ITIL Training.
Please click on any link to learn more…
What does ITIL stand for anyway?
ITIL is an acronym for ‘IT Infrastructure Library’, although you will not really read or hear anyone calling it that too often because ITIL has pretty much become a word in its own right.
It’s worth remembering that ITIL is actually a set – or library – of books providing best practice guidance on how to design, build, implement and enhance IT Services. The origins of ITIL lie with the UK Government in the early nineties where ITIL was originally focussed more around leveraging Infrastructure best practices. Since then ITIL has evolved considerably and has been successfully adopted and adapted for best use within thousands of organizations worldwide.
How do I correctly pronounce ITIL?
You can pronounce it however you want – some people pronounce it ‘eye till’ and some people pronounce it ‘it ill’.
The pronunciation will obviously vary depending on your language and country of origin. Either pronunciation is correct - although we believe ‘eye till’ is most commonly used today.
What is ITIL?
In short, ITIL is a way of managing IT services to make sure they meet business needs. IT services can be anything from email to internet banking to running large scale applications on expensive corporate infrastructure.
In order to make sure IT Services are performing well, available to their users or customers and are stable and secure, we need to carefully manage and control them. This also includes activities like providing timely support and ensuring that changes are done correctly first time.
Think about the last time an IT service failed. For users and customers it is really annoying and for businesses it hits their bottom line profits!
ITIL provides guidance on good ways of helping to make sure IT services behave as they should for the benefit of the business.
Tell me more about where ITIL came from?
ITIL was originally developed by the UK Government and was enhanced over time through three versions to reach version 3 - where it is today.
ITIL is still actually owned by the UK Goverment through their ‘Office of Government Commerce’ (OGC) who are part of the UK Governments Treasury Department. The OGC are also responsible for keeping a watchful eye of how the Government spends its tax payer’s money on IT investments and projects.
The OGC has commissioned a separate company called the APM Group to manage, administer and safeguard ITIL on their behalf.
What is the role of the APM Group?
The APM Group is responsible for administrating and governing all ITIL examination bodies, such as EXIN and ISEB, all ITIL training courses (every syllabus) as well as accrediting and governing the actual ITIL training providers themselves - like ITIL Training Zone.
Why do I personally need an ITIL qualification?
ITIL has many benefits for you and your organisation regardless of the size, complexity and location of where you work.
For you personally:
- Globally recognised qualification in IT Service Management
- Proves you have learnt ITIL
- Enables you to expand your role/horizons
- Helps you to command a higher salary in the market
For your organization:
- Helps deliver and maintain cost effective services
- Drives Improved service quality
- Helps develop better customer relationships
- Ensures documented processes and procedures
- Drives quality and standardization
How can I learn more about ITIL?
Take a good look around at our website where you will find lots of free resources to help you start to learn. Simply register for a free account and you can download free resources and take a free lesson.
Then, if you decide the course is right for you, you can study with us too.
Why not look at the courses we offer and take one for a free ‘test drive’ today?
Do you offer any corporate evaluations of your online ITIL training courses to help us decide if Training Zone is really right for us?
A. Yes, ITIL Training Zone provides corporate organisations with the ability to evaluate any of our online courses, by providing a nominated person with a special evaluation access training account. After completing our online request form, and providing us with some additional details, qualifying organisations will be granted an evaluation account to test the video tutorials, study guides and relevant course materials. Request an evaluation account here
So how long will it take me to implement ITIL?
That all depends of you, your organization and what you need to achieve to meet your business and IT goals. So it’s impossible to answer that here.
Many organizations around the world employ qualified ITIL people who work in project teams to implement ITIL gradually over a number of months and years.
The deliverables from these projects (such as new ways of working, new processes, new supporting tools) are careful built and handed over to Service Operation teams who actually go about running, managing and improving day to day services to meet business objectives.
You’ll need to decide what you need to implement, how you’re going to go about it and what you’re trying to achieve. The size, cost, timescales and complexity of all this varies dramatically by organization.
Remember - there are no ‘hard and fast’ rules that dictate you have to implement ALL of ITIL so it is always best to determine which areas will add the most value to your organization.
However, the bottom line here is that YOU need to know, and be able to prove you know, what you are doing with ITIL – so taking a certified training course is the best first step for you personally.
I’ve only heard of ITIL Version 2 - what’s inside ITIL Version 3?
Version 3 is the latest version of ITIL and was first published in mid 2007 as an updated set of core books (library). ITIL Version three has a new lifecycle structure and introduces many new concepts, processes and functions.
The five core volumes of ITIL are called:
- Service Strategy
- Service Design
- Service Transition
- Service Operation
- Continual Service Improvement
Have a look at the free resources on ITIL Training Zone to learn more about the changes between ITIL Version 2 and ITIL Version 3.
I’ve already got ITIL Version 2 qualifications – why should I upgrade?
In a nutshell to ‘stay ahead of the pack’, keep your knowledge updated and most importantly be able to understand how to leverage the new processes, functions and concepts for safe delivery and operation within your organization.
Upgrading your skills to ITIL version 3 is certainly not a ‘painful’ process, although there is much to learn over and above ITIL version 2.
How do I get qualified in ITIL Version 3?
The entry level course for ITIL version 3 is the Foundation course. This course is aimed at anyone with an interest in ITIL – you don’t need any previous experience or knowledge. The Foundation course gives you an introduction to ITIL and explains all the key terms and the structure of the ITIL framework.
Once you have completed your ITIL Foundation and passed the Foundation exam, you can move onto the Lifecycle and Capability courses.
For a more detailed explanation of the ITIL qualification scheme read our Upgrade to ITIL V3 page now.
I’m qualified in ITIL Version 2 - do I have to do all the courses again?
No, absolutely not. Here’s how you can upgrade.
If you’re ITIL Version 2 Foundation qualified, you can do a Foundation Bridge Course. This course is coming to ITIL Training Zone really soon, so sign up for our newsletter or check back regularly for details.
If you’ve passed the ITIL Version 2 Manager’s exam already, then you’ll need to do a Manager’s Bridge Course.
This will show you the differences between ITIL version 2 and ITIL Version 3 in considerable detail and allow you to upgrade your knowledge accordingly.
The Manager’s Bridge is also coming soon to ITIL Training Zone, so sign up for our newsletter or check back regularly for announcements.
I don’t really like online training - why is ITIL Training Zone different?
We appreciate some people are uncomfortable about learning online. Will you understand the course? Will you make the time to study? Will you be able to receive support from a qualified tutor?
Well, we have done everything to make ITIL Training Zone as effective as possible for you.
We’ve even developed FLEX-IT, our own tailored online learning system which analyses your learning style and gives you study tips.
We have included video tutorials, quizzes and exercises to keep you motivated. Plus you have always got access to a qualified tutor to answer any questions or queries.
Don’t take our word for it – sign up for your First Lesson Free!
Also, don’t forget all the advantages of online training. You can learn at your own pace. You can go back to sections that you didn’t understand. You can fit your study time around your work and home life.
What’s the difference between the EXIN, ISEB and the APMG syllabus that Training Zone follows?
Each of these is an examination institute (EI) that, for ITIL examinations, is under the overall control of the APM Group (not to be confused with APMG). There is very little difference between the EI’s syllabuses and our online training courses will meet the requirements of all of them for the ITIL V3 Foundation. Many of our customers who live in North America and Europe have studied with us, and then successfully gone on to pass their ITIL V3 Foundation examination at a Prometric Center.
How do I book and pay for my V3 Examination?
Remember, your final exam is not included in the price of your ITIL Training Zone Course.
You will need to arrange your exam booking and payment separately.
For the ITIL V3 Foundation exam – you can take this at any Thomson Prometric or Pearson Vue Examination Test Center. There are thousands of these centers all over the world. To find the nearest Promteric Center to you – follow these steps in our Prometric Guide explaining how to book your ITIL Exam.
For other exams - you will need to contact an Examination Institute directly.
Examination locations, dates and prices all vary depending on your country – so please check directly with them.
Here are the contact details for the existing Examination Institutes:
APM Group
The APM Group is based in High Wycombe, England, UK.
APMG United Kingdom
Tel: 01494 452 450
APMG United States
Tel: +1 617 576 5755
EXIN
The Exin International Head Office is in Utrecht, Holland.
Exin International
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Tel: +31 30 234 48 25
Exin Asia
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Tel: +603 2282 7490
Exin USA
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Tel: +1 781 878 1235
Exin Japan
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Tel: + 81 3 3230 2541
Exin South Pacific
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Tel: +61 3 9899 3200
ISEB
ISEB United Kingdom
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Tel: +44 1793 417 655
What’s Next?
Read about ITIL Version 3 Training Courses
Register for Free ITIL Version 3 resources
Register for a Free account to access your first lesson
Read about the benefits of online learning
I didn’t see my question here – how can I get in touch?
Use the Contact Us form to drop us an Email
We’re committed to continual improvement and we regularly add new FAQs to this page.
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