Managing Across the Life Cycle (MALC)
Program Overview
ITIL® is a set of best practices guidance that has become a worldwide-adopted framework for Information Technology Services Management (ITSM) by many Public & Private Organizations. Since early 1990, ITIL® has been evolving from focusing on Functions and Processes under versions 1 and 2 to focusing on the Full Service Lifecycle Management under current version.
In addition to the existing benefits of aligning IT goals and objectives with the business, improving quality and reducing cost of operation; ITSM and ITIL® now emphasizes the following areas:
- Assist in transforming IT Service Management onto a strategic business asset
- Assist in defining and managing the complete lifecycle of IT Service Management Process
- Provide guidance on the development of Services Strategy, the development of Service Design, the Transition of Services from current to desired state, the Implementation and the Continuous improvement of the those Services
Through lectures and practice exam questions participants explore the concepts of good practice in IT Service Management based on the ITIL® Edition 2011Framework.
The ITIL® Intermediate Qualification: Managing Across the Lifecycle Certificate is a free-standing qualification, but is also part of the ITIL® Intermediate Lifecycle stream, and one of the modules that leads to the ITIL® Expert in IT Service Management. The purpose of this training module and the associated exam and certificate is, respectively, to impart, test, and validate the knowledge on industry practices in service management as documented in the ITIL® publication.
Note:
The success in achieving this certification is highly dependent upon participants’ effort in doing their homework, and self-study before and during the program.
Duration
This program is offered over a 5-day period where it combines theoretical and hands-on knowledge transfer, including individual and group practical exercises. The Minimum number of students per session is 6 where the maximum is 18.
- This five (5) days classroom training course with examination held on the afternoon of the 5th day is accredited by LCS examinations institute.
- The course includes approximately 30 hours of student-instructor interaction, a sample and a formal examination.
- The format of the examination consists of a closed book paper of 8 multiple choice complex questions, to be answered within 90 minutes. (Candidates sitting the examination in English and who do not have English as their first language will be allowed additional 30 minutes to allow use of a dictionary). The pass mark is 70% or more – 28 or more correct answers.
Audience
The main target group for this ITIL® Intermediate Qualification Certificate includes, but is not restricted to:
- Chief information officers
- Senior IT managers
- IT managers
- Supervisors
- IT professionals
- IT operations practitioners
- IT development practitioners
- Individuals who require a business and management level understanding of the ITIL® service lifecycle and how it may be implemented to enhance the quality of IT service provision within an organization
- Individuals seeking the ITIL® Expert in IT Service Management certificate, for which this qualification is the final mandatory module
- Individuals seeking progress towards the ITIL® Master in IT Service Management, for which the ITIL® Expert in IT Service Management certificate is a prerequisite.
Prerequisites
Candidates wishing to be trained and examined for this qualification must already have two (2) credits from the ITIL® Foundation certificate and must, as a minimum, have obtained a further 15 credits from ITIL® Intermediate qualifications, and therefore a total of at least 17 credits. Documentary evidence of this must be presented by candidates for the MALC qualification.
In addition to the prerequisite entry criteria, in order to be eligible for the MALC examination candidates must have fulfilled the following requirements:
- Candidates must have undertaken at least 30 contact hours for this syllabus as part of a formal, approved training course/scheme. Contact hours are hours of instruction, excluding breaks, with an accredited training organization (ATO) or an accredited e-learning solution.
Before attending training for the certification it is also strongly recommended that candidates read the ITIL® Service Lifecycle core publications.
Content and Objectives
Through a series of lectures designed at achieving a clear understanding of the ITIL® Best Practice lifecycle approach and through various exercises, assignments and discussions, participants can expect to gain the competence in the following areas upon successful completion of the education and examination components related to this certification:
- Key concepts of the service lifecycle
- Communication and stakeholder management
- Integrating service management processes across the service lifecycle
- Managing services across the service lifecycle
- Governance and organization
- Measurement
- Implementing and improving service management capability.
The program will cover the following modules:
The candidates will be able to understand, describe, identify, demonstrate, apply, distinguish, produce, decide or analyze:
Key concepts of the service lifecycle
- Managing services and service management
- The service lifecycle:
The five stages of the service lifecycle and how they interact with each other
Considering services from end-to-end: justification, design, measuring, testing, deploying, operating and looking for ways to improve - Service value across the different stages of the service lifecycle:
How service strategy elements dictate what constitutes value, and how value is defined and measured
Realizing business value in service operation
Testing and demonstrating the service value in service transition
Monitoring service measurements and using them to support all stages of the service lifecycle - Other key concepts:
Core, enabling and enhancing services
Organizing for service management
Use of the RACI model to define and clarify roles and responsibilities, particularly in interfaces between processes and between service lifecycle stages
Risk assessment and risk management
Sharing knowledge across the service lifecycle, and the use of knowledge management
Communication and Stakeholder Management
- Co-ordination of business relationship management across the service lifecycle and the role of business relationship management in communication
- Stakeholder management and communication
- The value of good communication and ensuring its flow across the service lifecycle:
The use of service models to aid communication on service strategy and value creation
Communication during service design
Communication during service transition
Communication during service operation
Communication during continual service improvement
Integrating Service Management Processes Across the Service Lifecycle
- The integration of service management through the service lifecycle
- The impact of service strategy on other service lifecycle stages
- The value of a service lifecycle perspective when designing service solutions
- The inputs and outputs of processes and stages in the service lifecycle
- The value to business and the interfaces of all processes in the ITIL® Service Strategy core publication:
Strategy management for IT services
Service portfolio management
Financial management for IT services
Demand management
Business relationship management - The value to business and the interfaces of all processes in the ITIL® Service Design core publication:
Design co-ordination
Service catalogue management
Service level management
Availability management
Capacity management
IT service continuity management
Information security management
Supplier management - The value to business and the interfaces of all processes in the ITIL® Service Transition core publication:
Transition planning and support
Change management
Service asset and configuration management
Release and deployment management
Service validation and testing
Change evaluation
Knowledge management - The value to business and the interfaces of all processes in the ITIL® Service Operation core publication:
Event management
Incident management
Request fulfillment
Problem management
Access management - The value to business and the interfaces of the seven-step improvement process, along with the role other processes play
Managing Services Across the Service Lifecycle
- Identification and assessment of customer and stakeholder needs and requirements across all service lifecycle stages, and ensuring appropriate priority is given to them
- How the service design package (SDP) provides a link between service design, service transition and service operation
- Managing cross-lifecycle processes to ensure appropriate impact and involvement at all required service lifecycle stages:
Flow of knowledge/experience/skills between lifecycle stages
Involve service transition in early stages of the service lifecycle
Involve operations staff, business users and other relevant stakeholders in service rehearsals - Implementing and improving services, using key sources of information for identifying the need for improvement:
Service level management (SLM) review meeting – reviewing management information and trends to ensure that services are meeting agreed service levels
Customer satisfaction surveys
Reviewing business trends and changed priorities, and keeping ahead of business projections - The challenges, critical success factors and risks of the service lifecycle stages, and potential conflicts and competing issues across the service lifecycle
Governance, Roles, People, Competence and the Organization
Starting with the need for governance, it covers the people skills and competencies, the types of service providers and organizational structures.
To meet the learning outcomes and examination level of difficulty, the candidate will be able to evaluate, check, co-ordinate, detect, monitor, test, judge, analyze, differentiate, organize, and attribute:
- Governance:
The importance and impact of good governance on service management
The use of governance in sourcing
The role of the IT strategy or steering group in setting direction, policy and strategy for IT services
The application of governance in change management, through change authorization to ensure the integrity of live services. The role of the change advisory board (CAB)
The support from management systems to ensure appropriate governance - Organizational structure, skills and competence:
The challenge and application of organizational development
Assessing and applying various organizational structures for service management, and combining several perspectives in matrix organizations
Skills and competence - Service provider types and service strategies:
The different service provider types, and the implication of choosing a specific type
The selection of appropriate service
Measurement
- Measuring and demonstrating business value
- Determining and using metrics:
Service measurement
Service, process and technical metrics
CSFs and KPIs
Using measurements and metrics to validate, justify, direct, intervene - Design and development of measurement frameworks and methods:
Design and development of a service measurement framework
Designing measurement methods and metrics
Monitoring and control systems
Monitoring, reporting and control
Monitor control loops - Use of event management tools to increase visibility of the infrastructure and IT service delivery
Implementing and Improving Service Management Capability
- Implementing service management
Understanding the high-level goals and objectives of the organization. Identifying the external (legislation, competitors etc.) and internal (organizational structure, culture etc.) drivers
Service strategy implementation taking a service lifecycle approach - Assessing service management
Assessing the current situation regarding service provision:
Strategic assessment
SWOT analysis
Gap analysis and IT service management maturity assessment
ISO/IEC 20000 certification
Six Sigma
COBIT
CMM
Assessing current and defining future required maturity levels, quality and cost of provision
Using benchmarking to identify need for improvement for each service lifecycle stage - Improving service management
Planning for improvement with short-, medium- and longer term improvement initiatives
Using the CSI approach and Deming Cycle to ensure that the organization continues to move forward with continual improvement
The seven-step improvement process, to measure progress and enable potential improvements to the service lifecycle to be identified - Key considerations for implementation and improvement of both the practice of service management and the services themselves:
Having the appropriate business case which shows the return on investment or the return on value
Stakeholder change management - Key considerations when planning and implementing service management technologies
Summary, Exam Preparation and Directed Studies
This module summarizes the material covered in the previous modules and prepares candidates for the examination through the review and practice of a mock examination. The Examination is comprised of eight (8) multiple choice, scenario-based, gradient scored questions. The standard duration of the exam is Maximum 90 minutes.
Program Material
This training program includes the following as reference documentation:
- Program slide presentation
- Syllabus Document
- ITIL® acronyms and glossary
- Sample examination questions and answers
Simulation and practical application
We provide the students with real life experiences; for the purpose of discussion and to show the value of using best practice, we can use the client organization as a “case study” example (when a private course is delivered).
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