ITIL v3 Foundation Certificate (without a course)

[cojak]

I think I can do it without a course because:

-other threads on CUK say the foundation is not too hard/do-able without a course
-I have done technical certifications after just reading the book
-While I have been on some great technical training courses, I have been on others that are not so good. Everyone learns at their own pace/in a different way, this does not match the one size fits all style of in classroom traning

Two questions for cojak. Is it possible to go straight to the "Passing your ITIL Foundation Exam" book without any background? Are the Cabinet Office books a bit dry? If so would I be better of with the down to earth "Dummies" book?

I am finding youtube do really seem to be putting out some good eductional videos now. Anyone got any youtube ITIL suggestions?

So you're only wanting to pass the test, not actually learn about the framework?

At least get the Dummies book, then you'll find out what it's all about.

As for the videos, I have no idea as I've never bothered with them. I go straight to the source material when I need to learn aspects of ITIL, and groups on LinkedIn and the ITSkeptic when I want to debate aspects.

[monkfish]

Mind me asking why you think it will be easy enough without a course?

It won't teach them anything about applying ITIL in the real world...

That Groupon offer looks interesting provided you get quality training. I suspect, with online training, there's a large amount of "personal interpretation" which could prove interesting without a subject matter expert teaching you.

You can find the reputable training companies doing ITIL foundation for around 500 UK beer tokens or less. Don't go by "RRP" of the big ones but look at the location and see what other companies (bulk resellers?) are providing the same course in same location - chances are it will be the exact same training company. "Tower Bridge" and the use of google spring to mind.

If it were me spending myco's training budget I'd prefer to be in an environment geared up for learning, traning etc with no outside distractions, but thats just me. By all means a ferret around the internet for some content that could help (who posted a linky recently to a "e-books" website?), just depends if you want to do a bob and have a piece of paper or if you want the proper course material and training to build upon during your career?

[malvolio]

Incidentally, I'm currently working as a Service Architect (look it up) and have been delivering serious ITIL consultancy for many years. I did Foundation in 1997 but nothing formal since. But that's based on 25 or so years in successful service delivery in a vast range of environments. I've also coached people through Foundation and the old Manager's Certificates.

Cojak is way more qualified than I am and works in a different environment to me, where academic rigour matters; but that is still backed up by years of on the ground effort.

In the same way that doing Prince2 in a week doesn't make you a PM, passing ITIL exams don't mean you know anything about ITIL. What it does mean is that you will understand why things are done a certain way.

[northernladuk]

Problem with the ITIL it is nothing like a technical course and the last time I saw one of the multichoice papers (about a year ago) it was a right bastard. Some very sneaky questions in there and you have to read every letter of the question and understand the hidden message as all 3 answers are correct to ITIL, just not answer the question exactly. I have had some right arguments about some of the questions. I can't remember any questions exactly but there may be a question that says 'What is ITIL for' and then give you three answers that all appear correct so you have to go back to the question and understand what they want. No amount of techie courses is going get you passed that and a fundamental knowledge of the service environment and course work will help you answer. If you had been working in a service environment I would have said your approach was fine. Coming in green from techie land I would be very nervous...

But anyway... if you want resources google and torrents are your friend. Do a ton of searching and eventually you will come up with training vids, past papers, example papers with similar questions and even the books in PDF format. Be careful with it though as some of it doesn't distinguish between v2 and 3 and can be difficult to work out.

I passed my Prince by learning the past papers verbatim. 60% of the questions were repeated. This used to be true for ITIL but they have re-hashed the questions a couple of times I believe now so maybe not so useful.

[CoolCat]

and of course blindly doing everything ITIL tells you will lead to many problems

[cojak]

and of course blindly doing everything ITIL tells you will lead to many problems

But since we're only talking about the ultra-basic Foundation exam that isn't exactly an issue in this thread.

Clients wanting ITSM implemented properly just bring in me and Mal...

[Antman]

My take on these exams is that you take them to augment your value proposition.

No-one is going to take on somebody for an ITIL role with no experience and a foundation certificate. But it may help you get into a company using ITIL and once you see it in action, then it might be the start of some path to gain experience.

Take the long view on these.

[Darren_Test]

Best ITIL V3 foundation material (surprise its FREE as well)

The Best ITIL V3 foundation material is in YouTube (and its FREE!)

See this playlist from our Aussie friends (Charles Sturt University)

ITIL study buddies with subject ITI597 - YouTube

154 videos (1 video is course advt), download them using MP3 converter & get it in a CD or in your MP3 player & enjoy while in Office or driving to office. (or even MP4 videos if you are free in office!)

With in a month guaranteed ITIL Pass, If you are on bench make this as your next week's goal & put full efforts & arrange exam through VUE or Prometric week after. Also try few sample exams.

As some one used this, I am confident that no other material is as good as this. Also narration and graphics are simply Brilliant! (knowing how boring is the subject!)

[evilagent]

Hope it's ok to resurrect this old thread.

Anybody have any experience of usng ITIL in their work?

Any advantages to gaining the qualification / insights?
Better / not better / different / no comparison to Scrum/Agile?

(looking to learn something new)

thanks

[malvolio]

Hope it's ok to resurrect this old thread.

Anybody have any experience of usng ITIL in their work?

Any advantages to gaining the qualification / insights?
Better / not better / different / no comparison to Scrum/Agile?

(looking to learn something new)

thanks

I would turn that around. Anyone outside pure code preparation that isn't using ITIL these days is in the wrong job. And coding - even the Agile nonsense - will sit inside an ITIL-based service wrap. ITIL is how the IT world works these days, even in places where they have never consciously implemented it as a discipline.

Do Foundation to understand the terminology and concepts. But it's not a methodology* like Prince2, it's pragmatic best practice applied to a range of operating environments.


* You want a methodology, learn ISO 2000-1 which describes a set Service Management solution based on loose ITIL concepts. But that isn't ITIL-conformant. Deep, isn't it...