The course builds on the principles covered as part of the ITIL Foundation course and is aligned to the 2011 syllabus. It focuses on the lifecycle aspects of continual service improvement. The course covers the management and control of the activities and techniques within the continual service improvement stage of the lifecycle but not the detail of each of the supporting processes.

Target Audience

This course is primarily for IT Managers and Practitioners involved in the strategy, design, implementation and on- going support and delivery of business IT services and those interfacing with information systems who require an insight into Service Management best practice. This may include Business Analysts, Business Relationship Managers, Project and Programme staff.

Objectives

• This qualification provides a complete management-level overview of Continual service improvement including all its related activities.
• Be prepared for the ITIL Continual service improvement examination

Prerequisites

Delegates are required to meet the following mandatory prerequisites:

• Hold the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management or earlier ITIL (V2) Foundation plus Foundation Bridge or ITIL Expert Certificate in IT Service Management (achieved via Service Manager or Practitioner bridging routes).

Testing and Certification

The Continual service improvement certificate in IT Service Management. The examination is a 90 minute paper with eight (8) multiple choice, scenario-based, gradient-scored questions normally taken at the end of the course. The pass mark is 28/40. The exam to be charged separately. On successful completion of the course and passing of the subsequent exam 3 number of credits will be awarded by the examining institute. Please note you must bring a copy of your ITIL Foundation exam certificate, this is required in order for you to take the exam associated with this course. Exam is included in the course fee.

Course Content

Introduction to continual service improvement:

• The purpose, objectives and scope of CSI
• The value to the business of adopting and implementing CSI
• The context of CSI in the ITIL service lifecycle
• The approach to CSI, including key interfaces and inputs and outputs

Continual service improvement principles:

• How the success of CSI depends on understanding change in the organization and having clear accountability
• How service level management and knowledge management influence and support CSI
• How the complete Deming Cycle works, and how it can be applied to a real world example
• How CSI can make effective use of the various aspects of service measurement
• What situations require the use of frameworks and models, and examples of how each type can be used to achieve improvement

Continual service improvement process:

• What the seven-step improvement process is, how each step can be applied and the benefits produced
• How CSI integrates with the other stages in the ITIL service lifecycle
• How other processes play key roles in the seven-step improvement process

Continual service improvement methods and techniques:

• When to use assessments, what to assess and how a gap analysis can provide insight into the areas that have room for improvement
• How to use benchmarking, service measurement, metrics, service reporting, including balanced scorecard and SWOT, to support CSI
• How to create a return on investment, establish a business case and measure the benefits achieved
• How techniques within availability management, capacity management, IT service continuity management and problem management can be used by CSI

Organizing for continual service improvement:

• The role of the CSI manager, and the roles of service owner, process owner, process manager and process practitioner in the context of CSI and how they can be positioned within an organization
• How to design, implement and populate a RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted, informed) diagram as well as how to use it to support CSI

Technology considerations:

• The technology and tools required and how these would be implemented and managed to support CSI activities such as performance, project and portfolio management, as well as service measurement and business intelligence reporting