Service Transition says it nicely

We often talk about the difference between IT Service Management and ITIL. My comments are bound to strike and accord with some and bound to be violently rejected by others. Anyway, I have an opinion and I'm entitled to it.

IT Service Management is the broader view of the elements that IT professionals need to be interested in. In the first pages of the new ITIL v3 Service Transition text the authors promote 4 types of IT assets that have to be managed: infrastructure, applications, information and people.

To me, the procurement and management of these assets can be considered as the focus area of interest for IT Service Management.

ITIL has a primary focus on one element: process management of the infrastructure. I will grant in that in ITIL v3 there is a strong recognition that all elements need to be considered together. However, if we assume that ITIL is part of the solution then we can start to understand the difference between IT Service Management and ITIL.

ITIL is not an application/software development methodology, nor is it a tool that has a speciality interest in knowledge (information) management. ITIL does not provide guidelines for people management; but it is an very useful set of guidelines that can assist IT people understand the things that have to be done when it comes to managing infrastructure.

EXIN - Knocks one out of the park!

Exin have released full details of their Service Quality Management track of programs. Terms such as SQMF, ITSMA, SQMA and how the program hangs together can now be explained.

The track is based predominantly around ISO 20000, but also recognizes the close connections to the ITIL framework.

First the program becomes a lot clearer when you remember that Exin - long time IT Service Management certification gurus have developed new programs that extend upon the long respected ITIL Framework. They have developed two programs in that area. IT Service Managment Foundation (ITSMF) and IT Service Management Advanced (ITSMA). The Exin programs focus beyond the theory of ITIL, by encouraging training vendors to consider implementation and application issues.

Then came ISO 20000 and EXIN recognized the logical flow on for ITIL into this international standard and developed two new programs.

Service Quality Management Foundation (SQMF), based on ISO 20000, but includes Terms and Vocabulary from ISO 9000. This program looks at the theory of ISO 20000 and until recently required a participant to have passed the IT Service Management Foudnation (ITSMF) exam - BUT in July 2007 this pre-requisite was removed.

Most recently Exin have launched the Service Quality Management Advanced (SQMA) program. This program does in fact have TWO pre-requisites. The Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management) AND the Service Quality Management Foundation (SQMF).

The syllabus of SQMA is designed to teach the "HOW" regarding the practical application of Quality Management, especially related to ISO/IEC 20000, and also on certification and auditing based upon ISO/IEC 20000. So while SQMF focuses on theory - which has to be learnt - the focus of the Advanced Certificate will be on managing, organizing, optimizing and evaluating quality systems based upon ISO/IEC 20000.

All in all the program is now a solid alternative for those people looking to lift themeselves beyond the ITIL theory and into a world of standards based Quality Management.

Guidance:

If you are currently ITIL Foundation certified (v2 or v3) learn the SQMF material and pass that exam. Then you can automatically qualify to take the SQMA course (as your ITIL Foundation certificate will be recognized as equivalent to the IT Service Management Foundation certificate.



If we look first at the Service Quality Management Advanced (SQMA) program then a lot of other programs can be explained.

Latest from Exin...

Things are really heating up in the battle of Examination Institutes (EIs). Exin have outlined their plans for the future and while ITIL and the relationship with APMG features, it is certainly not dominant.

Exin have for many years offered a variety of certification programs, but the latest news from them can be seen as a focussed effort to break away from relying too heavily on ITIL.

First bit of news. In the past if you wanted to take the Exin Service Quality Management Foundation (SQMF) exam, (which is Exins answer to the itSMF ISO20000 program) - you first had to pass the ITIL Foundation exam.

That requirement is now gone. So now anyone can take the globally recognized ISO 20000 Foundation certification exam - very good news and well done to Exin. This move demonstrates that understanding ISO 20000 does not require ITIL theory knowledge, but Exin still state the ITIL understanding will help or the participant should have some good working experience in IT; but it is no longer a pre-requisite for taking the exam.

Secondly in the ISO 20000 field, Exin have published the long awaited second level - Service Quality Management Advanced (SQMA) syllabus and certification.

Pilots for this program were held in the Netherlands (makes sense as this is Exin's Head Office location) and Australia (also makes sense as the Aussies are big adopters of new initiatives and proud to lead the way !!).

Exin state that the SQMA program will involve theory elements, but also practical work assignments. However, it yet another attempt to completely confuse the market the way that Exin are describing their program leaves me trying to work out how to position it all.

Yes, there are explanations, but the fact sheet on the Exin Service Quality Management program ISO/IEC 20000 is a combination of both ITIL and ISO 20000 certification.

Here is an example of where the confusion comes from.

Exin "The ISO/IEC 20000 SQM Foundation program is targeted at a ....."

Exin "Exin's SQM program consists of two Foundation exams: Foundation in IT Service Management (based on ITIL) (ITILF) and SQM Foundation (SQMF)."

Deeper reading and analysis uncovers the strategy.

Exin are looking to create a certification for ISO 20000 consultants, based on ITIL and ISO 20000 certification. This could be seen as competition to the APM Groups Diploma in IT Service Management, as the complete Exin track is 4 courses...

1. ITIL Foundation (ITILF)
2. ISO 20000 Foundation (SQMF)
3. ITIL Managers
4. ISO 20000 Advanced (SQMA)

Either way Exin are putting up alternatives and this can only be a good thing for the marketplace.

So, in summary - you can now take an ISO 20000 Foundation certificate without having to first take the ITIL Foundation course and exam.

Next, Exin have announced end dates on all their single practitioner exams.

In effect, all the single practitioner Exin courses are now defunct. So for those vendors that invested heavily in the development of material and the accreditation; well perhaps that work can be used as part of developing the Clustered courses that Exin bought in several years ago.

It would appear that all the single practitioner exams will disappear effective immediate EXCEPT Serice Level Management and Security Management (both expire 1 January 2008).

Next on the "Exin news" is the statement that Exin will offer the APMG ITIL v3 Foundation exam. We knew this was going to happen, but interestinly, and in an even more apparent move to stamp their mark on the ITIL certification world, the certificate issued will be an APMG certificate.

Now perhaps this is by agreement between Exin and APMG or perhaps APMG have dictated that all ITIL Foundation certificates will carry the APMG stamp - but the days of Exin certifications for ITIL Foundation are at an end. I wonder if this is the case for ISEB as well?

Exin take great pains to point out that passing the APMG exam - whereever it is taken is recognized and acts as a starting point for the "broader IT Service Management certification program".

So, the wheels are turning in what was always going to be an interesting few months.

Exin's decision to broaden the availability of the ISO 20000 certification (SQMF) can only be seen as a good thing and APMG have no way to prevent that from happening. However, it would appear that the move by Exin is a clever one in terms of starting to give the marketplace a different path to travel when it comes to certification.

ITIL v3; Headaches for some

Online IT Service Management tools over recent years had a simple model to follow. Map the services offered to 10 processes.

The marketing team must now be running around madly looking for ways to spin their offerings into ITIL v3 compliant status.

The whole issue of compliance when it comes to tools is something that I've had a problem with for some time.

Firstly, the lack of an "ITIL compliant" stamp on a tool must not lead to its removal from the list of potential solutions for an IT organization. Don't lose the potential ideal solution for your company by making ITIL compliance a mandatory item on your checklist.

Make it mandatory that the solution be flexible enough to be adopted to the idiosyncrasies of your organization. This way the review panel knows they are reviewing true potential solutions and not just ones that have an additional logo.

The second reason I have a problem with the whole ITIL compliance process for tools is that I wish I had thought of it!! This is of course contradictory to my first reason.

From a commercial aspect the folks who put the process together have a monopoly and from all reports they make a tidy sum for initial checks, ongoing checks, etc. You just have to applaud the foresight of such a move.

Where will we be in 12 months time..?

It's 24 hours until the official launch of ITIL v3... is this a bit like the Year 2000... everyone expecting fireworks and mayhem, confusion, crashing systems and general destruction on an unprecedented scale... but what actually happened.. NOT MUCH.

The most disruption for Y2K was caused when all the IT folks had to miss the parties; even when they knew nothing would happen!

One thing is for sure, the launch of ITIL v3 does not have folks camping out overnight so as to get the first copies. This is not X-Box !

What will the cynical bloggers be writing about in 12 months. Will it be the demise of ITIL, because of what seemed like a good idea at the time (but actually turns out to be a “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it)… OR will we be applauding ourselves as an industry for having the foresight to see that ITIL v3 was an upgrade that we just had to have.

I simply don’t know, no-one does and don’t believe a word from anyone who says that they know which way the pendulum will swing. The market place will decide and the marketplace is a fickle beast when it comes to changing something that we’ve all grown comfortable with.

Vendors of course will be pushing everyone down the upgrade path; however, this upgrade may in fact be just what organizations need in order to save their cash being spent on what they perceive as “big-cost, small value” projects.

The upgrade may be the justification for decisions against adoption of ITIL that has changed in such a big way; opting for a framework with built in longevity – aka ISO 20000.

Welcome to ITSM View

Welcome to the first entry on the first day of ITSM View, a log dedicated to all matters related to IT Service management.

During the coming months and years every aspect of ITSM will be explored, uncovered, and reported. ITIL, MOF, ISO 20000, every aspect, discipline and approach will be investigated and commented upon.

We hope that you will stick around, and in particular, comment upon the articles presented.

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