ITIL®4 Qualification Scheme

                                                                                                                           By Rashmi S.

Exciting news for all ITIL certified professionals that for the first time ITIL Master designation is public and lot of professionals can see their dream come true by acquiring ITIL®4 Master designation. Never before opportunity and dream come true for many like me who have spent two decades in service management industry. So ready for this exciting journey?

Let’s explore how to get there.

* ITIL4 Master will be awarded to candidates who achieve the Practice Manager (PM), Managing Professional (MP), and Strategic Leader (SL) designations.

**To be awarded the Practice Manager designation, a candidate must achieve ITIL MP CDS certificate and ANY five practice-based certifications, OR ITIL MP CDS certificate and any ONE of the pre-bundled courses. These may include the ITAM and BRM extension modules or any practices from the Practice Manager track.

ITIL®4 Certification Streams

ITIL®4 Foundation is prerequisite for all advanced modules below in all streams. ITIL®4 Foundation provides the fundamentals of ITIL.

ITIL®4 Managing Professional Stream

Candidates (Earlier ITIL Experts from v3 or with 17 credits) who have achieved ITIL 4 MP through a transition module ITIL 4 MPT also qualify to have this designation by default

Obtaining a Managing Professional designation gives you the essential skills to run successful IT-enabled products and services.

The four Managing Professional modules are: Create, Deliver and Support; Drive Stakeholder Value; High-velocity IT and Direct, Plan and Improve.

ITIL®4 Managing Professional Certifications

ITIL®4 Managing Professional (ITIL MP) is a stream of four modules that are part of ITIL®4, the next evolution of ITIL.

The four modules 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.

ITIL®4 MP has been created for IT practitioners working within technology and digital teams across businesses.

The Managing Professional (MP) stream provides practical and technical knowledge about how to run successful IT enabled services, teams and workflows.

ITIL®4 Strategic Leader Stream:

ITIL®4 Strategic Leader Certifications

ITIL4 Strategic Leader (ITIL SL) is a stream of two modules that are part of ITIL®4, the next evolution of ITIL.

The two modules are:

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

ITIL SL recognizes the value of ITIL, not just for IT operations, but for all digitally-enabled services. Becoming an ITIL®4 Strategic Leader demonstrates that the you have a clear understanding of how IT influences and directs business strategy.

To obtain the designation ITIL®4 Managing Professional or ITIL®4 Strategic Leader, you must complete all modules in each stream, with ITIL Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve being a universal module for both streams.

After achieving the ITIL®4 Managing Professional designation, candidates would only need to complete the ITIL®4 Leader: Digital and IT Strategy module to achieve the ITIL®4 Strategic Leader designation.

ITIL®4 Extension Modules Certifications:

ITIL®4 Extension Modules is a stream of four modules that are part of ITIL®4, helping you gain the skills you need for the challenges of the future.

The four modules are:

• ITIL®4 Specialist: Sustainability in Digital & IT
• ITIL®4 Specialist: Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services
• ITIL® 4 Specialist: Business Relationship Management
• ITIL® 4 Specialist: IT Asset Management

The ITIL®4 Extension Modules have been created to extend the main ITIL®4 framework and provide organisations and professionals with the guidance to address and harness the challenges and opportunities presented by emerging technologies and themes that impact their operations. These modules allow individuals to learn about ITIL concepts, develop an understanding of relevant ITIL®4 guidance and enable career development opportunities.

ITIL®4 Practice Manager Certifications

The individual practice course is intended for professionals that want to prove and validate their skills in specific practice areas.

There are 15 practices currently available:

• Service Desk
• Incident Management
• Problem Management
• Service Request Management
• Monitoring and Event Management
• Change Enablement
• Deployment Management
• Release Management
• Service Configuration Management
• IT Asset Management
• Relationship Management
• Supplier Management
• Service Level Management
• Continual Improvement
• Information Security Management

The individual practices are offered through one-day training or bundled and combined in 3-day training with practical assignments built into the course, to help you apply what you’ve learned in real-life work scenarios. The combined practice course is aimed towards validating the skills and knowledge of professionals seeking to establish a good cross-practice collaboration and effective service value streams.

There are three combined practice courses currently available:

• Monitor, support and fulfill
• Plan, Implement and Control
• Collaborate, Assure and Improve
   

To achieve the ITIL®4 Practice Manager designation, you will need to have completed 5 individual practices plus the ITIL Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support module, or you will need to have completed the 3-day bundled or combined module plus the ITIL Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support module.

ITIL®4 Master Designation

To be awarded the ITIL®4 Master designation, candidates must have achieved the Practice Manager (PM), Managing Professional (MP) and Strategic Leader (SL) designations. By combining the PM, MP, and SL designations, the ITIL®4 Master demonstrates the capability to apply the principles, concepts, methods and techniques from ITIL in the workplace at strategic, tactical and operational levels.

The ITIL®4 Masters understand business requirements, know how to develop a clear strategy and plan, implement them using practical methods and tools, lead cross-functional teams to achieve growth and success for the organisation.

The path to achieving the ITIL®4 Master includes multiple exams which assess your ability to understand, apply and analyse many ITSM concepts, methods, and tools. This includes a case-based assessment on Digital and IT Strategy, detailed study of at least five management practices or at least one of the specialist Practice Manager tracks combined with Create, Deliver and Support, and assessment on all four of the Managing Professional modules. 

The ITIL®4 Master is the pinnacle of a long and demanding journey but a truly rewarding and valuable experience for anyone who achieves it.

There is no additional process to apply for ITIL®4 Master. Certification will be provided upon successful achievement of the Practice Manager, Managing Professional and Strategic Leader designations.

It was amazing to be part of first batch of ITIL®4 Master in the world. I’m very proud to achieve my dream of becoming ITIL® Master.

Wishing you all the best for Journey!

About Author: Two Decades of extensive Industry Experience/ ITIL®V2 Managers certified(With Distinction score; one of the few globally)/ ITIL®Expert/ ITIL®4 Master certified (Part of first ITIL®4 Master batch globally)