AXELOS is about to release the ITIL
Practitioner qualification.
The cynic in me is questioning whether
we really need another ITIL qualification. Surely this is AXELOS working on its
bottom line in the only way it can: by pushing more exams (and more books)?
Some of the language used seems to
support this, with AXELOS pointing out the limited uptake of the ITIL
Intermediate (exams, the number of which has been somewhat stagnant over the last few years)
and positioning the Practitioner to be ‘bundled’ with the ITIL Foundation,
their ‘bestseller’ (similar to the successful PRINCE2 Foundations +
Practitioner combination).
And it really annoyed me when they
announced that NO (accredited) training is required for this exam (thus opening
the market to include all grey training organisations and exam-only offers) but
that the accompanying publication is required (thus increasing book sales). Surely
something that is positioned to be PRACTICAL, cannot be learned from a book
(and proven by an exam) but will require actual practice?!
I am still not convinced the actual
certification (and the lack of mandatory, accredited, quality training) is a
good thing, but having done some further investigation into the syllabus and
the (draft) publication, I am starting to get enthusiastic about the
possibilities and the need for this practical qualification.
The starting premise is sound: the
ITIL Foundation is mainly a theoretic course, about the ITIL concepts,
definitions and processes; and whilst the Intermediates address the
capabilities required to manage or perform the various processes (in their respective
Capability or Lifecycle module) it doesn’t explicitly address the more generic
practical skills a Service Management professional needs.
So, in comes the Practitioner.
Arguably between the Foundation and Intermediate courses, but also as a
stand-alone option/qualification.
The architect team has done a great job
identifying those practical capabilities needed and has structured them around the CSI
approach (as everything in life could be considered an improvement of the
existing situation). Within this approach they deal with Organisational Change
Management, Communication and Metrics & Measurements, as well as provide 9
Guiding Principles applicable to just about anything you do.
The overall result (of the book) is a
clear description of the required capabilities but also it provides guidance,
and the approach for making a (service management) improvement.
As such the Practitioner could be seen
as a syllabus around the much acclaimed publication ‘Planning to Implement Service Management’, described by many as the 6th
ITIL Core Publication. But as one of the Practitioner authors told me that
where the ‘Planning to …' publication addresses large, full-scale ‘ITIL
implementations’, the ITIL Practitioner focusses more on ‘everyday
improvements’ that candidates/practitioners should be able to make right now (or
at least after completing the qualification).
And the best thing … not only is the
publication easy to digest, clear in structure and inclusive of many other
‘methodologies’ out there (SIAM, DevOps, Lean, Kanban, Scrum, Agile, Kotter,
PCI, AIM, ADKAR, PROSCI, ABC of ICT, COBIT, CMMI, SFIA, Balanced Scorecard …
they are all mentioned and included); but the publication actually provides
templates and examples that can be easily applied!
This elevates the ITIL Practitioner
out of the theory where people walk away with a lot of knowledge but no real
concept of how to apply this (wood and trees anyone?). I myself often use the
‘excuse’ that ITIL is descriptive and that you can apply it in any way that is
required and that it thus not prescribes you ‘how to do it’.
And whilst the Practitioner guidance is
still not prescriptive, at least it shows a more defined way in which improvements
can be made (with templates).
This is why I am getting exciting
about the possibilities of this qualification: it provides really useful
capabilities that will enhance the uptake and implementation of service
management (ITIL or otherwise). Even the course syllabus is exciting that way as it is
built around a 1:2 ratio of theory vs. practice and thus promises accredited
providers to generate high quality and highly interactive courses, involving
simulations, gamifications etc.
But … many ATOs would already have
included practical elements in their (Intermediate) courses, in particular within
the ITIL MALC course (which also includes elements of CSI, measurements,
communication & organisational change). This leads to the question of
whether this qualification ‘adds’ any value to the existing training courses
and it may leave training providers with either duplicating elements across
multiple courses or a significant redesign of most of their courses to ‘isolate’
the Practitioner elements (and somewhat devaluing those courses that loose those practical components).
And I haven’t even started on the exam
(which, I should remind you, does NOT require you to do ANY training if you so
desire), which is multiple choice and in my opinion does not validate whether a
candidate has the practical capabilities sought.
The best quote I got from AXELOS was
that in their opinion a candidate not undertaking accredited training is most
likely to fail the exam and that this was how the market would self-regulate
grey and inferior offerings. My counter-argument was that the whole structure
of accredited training organisations provides the process to guarantee quality
courses which will improve the acceptance and uptake of the material. ATOs pay to be
accredited (, audited, measured …) and rather than being rewarded for investing
in their relation with AXELOS, they now have to compete with organisations not
hindered by accreditation (but that is perhaps a topic for another blog).
The Practitioner also doesn’t ‘fit’ comfortably in
the ITIL Qualification structure. It does not deal with any specific ITIL
theory (other than CSI), but it collects ‘enough’ points so that candidates can
drop another Intermediate on their way to the Expert qualification (so, if I do
the Practitioner, I don’t have to do Service Operations … or PPO …).
The prerequisites are the Foundation
certification (only) but the material and difficulty of the exam, require a
good understanding of organisational practices which are perhaps not found in
all Foundations candidates (but more in those seeking the Expert qualification).
So, once again, AXELOS has left me
somewhat ambivalent. I applaud their introduction of the ITIL Practitioner and
recognising the capabilities required in the Service Management market; I am
delighted with the content of the guidance, the clarity and the templates; and
I am excited about the prospect of some really practical training products
being developed.
But I am also sceptical about the exam
and the market value it will provide; and I question the chosen approach of
exam-only and the overlap between the Practitioner and the ‘other’ ITIL courses
(Intermediates and MALC).
I sometimes lament ‘the good old days’
of the ITIL Service Manager. One course that covered all material, completed by
two, 3-hour, written, essay exams that were torture. In fact the whole course
was an experience that few people ‘enjoyed’ (or so I have been told ...
multiple times). But those that came out on the other side had proven
something, to themselves and to the world and you knew that the ITIL Service Manager ‘had
what it takes’.
I would love the ITIL Practitioner to
be that (and as such perhaps even be ‘exalted’ above the ITIL Expert
qualification as providing proof of theory+practical capabilities) but without a defined, controlled, quality, practical training program I fear it will become just
another certification ‘tick-in-the-box’.
Time will tell.
the ITIL Zealot
January 2016
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