The course builds on the principles covered as part of the ITIL Foundation course and is aligned to the 2011 syllabus. 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 Service Lifecycle core publications.

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:

• IT professionals, Business managers, Business process owners, Individuals who require a deep understanding of the ITIL Certificate in the Release, Control and Validation processes and of how it may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organization,
• IT professionals that are working within an organization that has adopted and adapted ITIL, and who need to be informed about, and thereafter contribute to, an ongoing service improvement programme,
• Operational staff involved in change management, release and deployment management, service validation and testing, service asset and configuration management, request fulfilment, change evaluation and knowledge management, and who wish to enhance their role-based capabilities,
• Individuals who have attained the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management and wish to advance to higher level ITIL certifications,
• Individuals seeking the ITIL Expert Certificate in IT Service Management for which this qualification can be one of the prerequisite modules,
• Individuals seeking progress toward the ITIL Master Certificate in IT Service Management for which the ITIL Expert is a prerequisite.

Objectives

• Change management
• Service asset and configuration management
• Service validation and testing
• Release and deployment management
• Request fulfilment
• Change evaluation
• Knowledge management

Prerequisites

Hold the ITIL Foundation V3 Certificate

Testing and Certification

The examination is a 90 minute paper with eight (8) multiple choice, scenario-based, gradient-scored questions taken at the end of the course. The pass mark is 28/40. The exam to be charged separately. 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. On successful completion of the course and passing of the subsequent exam x number of credits will be awarded by the examining institute. Exam is included in the course fee.

Course Content

Introduction to release, control and validation (RCV):

• The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of change management principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of release, control and validation.
• The purpose, objectives and scope of service transition lifecycle phase
• The RCV processes in relation to service transition
• Activities related to overall transition planning and ongoing support

Change management:

• The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of change management principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of release, control and validation
• The end-to-end process flow for change management, including its policies, design strategy, concepts, activities, and interfaces with other processes
• A measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support change management within RCV practices
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from change management and the challenges and risks to be managed
• Service asset and configuration management (SACM):
• The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of service asset and configuration management principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of release, control and validation
• The end-to-end process flow for service asset and configuration management, including its policies, design strategy, concepts, activities and interfaces with other processes
• A measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support service asset and configuration management within RCV practices
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from service asset and configuration management and the challenges and risks to be managed

Service validation and testing (SVT):

• The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of service validation and testing principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of release, control and validation
• The end-to-end process flow for the SVT process, including its policies, concepts, activities and interfaces with other processes
• Test modelling techniques and testing concepts (for example, stakeholder requirements, test conditions, environments, data) and how these test components are used to ensure service quality
• A measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support service validation and testing within RCV practices
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from SVT and the challenges and risks to be managed

Release and deployment management (RDM):

• The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of service validation and testing principles, techniques and relationships and the application of them for the effective management of release, control and validation
• The end-to-end process flow for release and deployment management, including its policies, concepts, phases, activities and interfaces with other processes
• Release and deployment models and related activities (for example, design, planning, build, pilots, test, transfer, deployment, retirement). and how these activities ensure service quality
• A measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support release and deployment management within RCV practices
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from release and deployment management

Request fulfilment:

• The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of request fulfilment principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of release, control and validation
• The end-to-end process flow for request fulfilment, including its policies, concepts, activities, and interfaces with other processes (for example, RDM, SACM and change management)
• Request fulfilment models and related activities (for example, effectiveness of designs, changes, performance) and how these activities help to ensure quality service within RCV
• A measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support request fulfilment within RCV practices
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from request fulfilment and the challenges and risks to be managed

Change evaluation:

• The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of change evaluation principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of release, control and validation
• The end-to-end process flow for change evaluation, including its policies, concepts, activities, interfaces with other processes
• Perspectives and considerations for evaluating the effectiveness of a service change
• A measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support change evaluation within RCV practices
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from change evaluation and the challenges and risks to be managed

Knowledge management (KM):

• The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of knowledge management principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of release, control and validation
• The end-to-end process flow for knowledge management, including its policies, concepts, activities and interfaces with other processes (for example CSI processes)
• Related concepts (for example, data-information-knowledge-wisdom (DIKW)) and how these activities help to ensure knowledge transfer and improved decision-making
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from knowledge management and the challenges and risks to be managed
• Release, control and validation roles and responsibilities:
• The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of RCV roles and their application for the effective management of release, control and validation
• Generic roles that support service transition and the RCV processes
• The roles and responsibilities related to transition planning and support, change management, service asset and configuration management, service validation and testing, release and deployment management, request fulfilment, change evaluation, and knowledge management. Where and how these are used, as well as how they fit within the context of service transition.

Technology and Implementation Considerations:

• The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of technology and implementation considerations and their application for the effective management of release, control and validation
• The technology requirements for service management tools, where and how these would be used within RCV (for example, knowledge management and service asset and configuration management)
• The need and benefits of tools that support service transition as related to RCV
• Implementing RCV processes in the context of planning and managing change, service operation, project management, risk management, and staff considerations