No more overkill on identity verification

Several months ago a directive was issued regarding the mandatory identity verification for every ITIL exam. No consideration given to the amount of extra effort that involved for training providers.... glad to say that the ATOs have rebelled and have been heard.

From this point forward the only time you have to provide proof of who you are is in the following situations:

1. Manager’s Bridge – confirmation of pass at version 2 manager exams
2. Intermediate exams – confirmation of pass at version 3 foundation or foundation bridge
3. Managing Across the Lifecycle (MALC) – confirmation of 17 eligible credits from ITIL examinations
4. Expert – confirmation of a pass at MALC or Manager’s Bridge.

This is a reasonable list as the qualifications worth protecting with a simple picture identity process.

ISO 20000 Foundation - now online

Exin have moved up the stakes in the battle for domination of the ISO 20000 qualification market.

Exin have created a very neat ISO 20000 track of qualifications, starting with the ISO 20000 Foundation exam. The best news is that the exam will be available at Prometric and Vue Pearson testing centres.

Self learning packages can be used to cover the topics in the syllabus. These topics are the definitions and principles of service quality management, the position of ISO 20000 against other frameworks, along with the history of ISO 20000.

The syllabus for ISO 20000 Foundation also looks at how a Quality Management System is defined and built as well as an analysis of the ISO 20000 standard itself.

Could this be the start of the big challenge to ITIL v3? Perhaps it is, but I believe that ITIL and ISO 20000 will continue to co-exist. They have to - if one tries to defeat the other it will simply create support from those who wish to see options.

The v3 Multiple Choice approach

APMG have recently published draft syllabi for all the Service Capabilty and Service Lifecycle programs, along with details regarding the Managing across the Lifecycle capping course.

It is clear from the syllabi that ALL exams for ITIL v3 will be multiple choice.

It raises the question of why depart from the traditional model of multiple choice for the entry (Foundation) and intermediate (practitioner) levels and the challenge of the written response for the advanced (managers) level.

Multiple choice questions support the Blooms Taxonomy that is at the heart of how APMG are pitching the different levels of qualification for ITIL v3. Perhaps this is the reason for going to multi-choice.. OR ... perhaps in an attempt to make all levels of certification more appealing to the mass IT community it is a clever move.

There is no doubt that the ITSM community shudders at the thought of the current exam style ITIL v2 Managers exams. The exam is hard, the marking is hard and the failure rate is high.

On the flip side, the ability to earn points from the markers is there, provided you can demonstrate an understanding, at an advanced level of the theory and its application.

The move to multiple choice really negates the ability of the exam taker to "show their style" as a manager. Now, it is a case of learning the theory in order to give yourself the best chance of passing.

APMG have not helped the industry in the way the new course syllabus support the theory buff. Why not have an element of in course assessment that training organizations can use to ensure that if someone is going to earn the top level certification, that they can in fact communicate effectively? (a must for any Service Managment professional worth their salt).