ITIL 4 Cram Guide
ITIL 4 Cram Guide
ITIL® 4
Foundation
Certification
Last Minute Cram
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system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
By Andrew Ramdayal
Contents
1.1 Recall the definition of: ....................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Describe the key concepts of creating value with services: .......................................................... 5
1.3 Describe the key concepts of service relationships ....................................................................... 6
2.1 Describe the nature, use and interaction of the guiding principles .............................................. 7
2.2 Explain the use of the guiding principles: ........................................................................................ 8
3.1 Describe the four dimensions of service management ................................................................ 10
4.1 Describe the ITIL service value system.......................................................................................... 11
5.1 Describe the interconnected nature of the service value chain and how this supports value
streams ...................................................................................................................................................... 12
5.2 Describe the purpose of each value chain activity ....................................................................... 13
6.1 Recall the purpose of the following ITIL practices ........................................................................ 15
6.2 Recall definitions of the following ITIL terms ................................................................................. 18
7.1 Explain the following ITIL practices in detail, excluding how they fit within the service value
chain ........................................................................................................................................................... 20
b) Utility: The functionality offered by a product or service to meet a particular need. It's what the
service does, essentially.
c) Warranty: Assurance that a product or service will meet agreed-upon requirements. It's the
assurance that the utility of a service will be available when needed.
d) Customer: The person or group who defines and agrees upon service requirements and is the
recipient of a service. They may or may not pay for the service directly.
e) User: The person who uses the service on a day-to-day basis. They might or might not be the
same as the customer.
f) Service Management: A set of specialized organizational capabilities for enabling value for
customers in the form of services. It involves coordinating and integrating people, processes, and
technology to deliver value to customers.
g) Sponsor: The person or group that authorizes the budget for service consumption. They provide
the resources for service provision.
c) Organization: The entity responsible for creating and delivering services. This includes the
people, processes, technology, and resources involved in service delivery.
d) Outcome: The result or effect of consuming a service. It represents the changes, benefits, or
improvements achieved by the customer as a result of using the service.
e) Output: The tangible deliverables or products produced by a service. Outputs are the direct result
of service activities and contribute to delivering the intended outcomes.
f) Risk: The possibility of an undesirable event or outcome that may impact the achievement of
objectives. Risk management is essential in service delivery to identify, assess, and mitigate
potential risks.
g) Utility: The functionality or capability provided by a service to meet a specific need. Utility is about
what the service does and how it contributes to achieving desired outcomes.
h) Warranty: The assurance that a service will meet agreed-upon requirements and perform as
expected. Warranty provides confidence to the customer that the service will be available when
needed and will deliver the promised utility.
c) Service Provision: The process of delivering and fulfilling the agreed-upon service offerings to
customers. It includes activities such as service design, service transition, service operation, and
continual service improvement to ensure the effective delivery of services.
d) Service Consumption: The process by which customers use and benefit from the services
provided by a service provider. Service consumption involves the utilization of service offerings to
achieve desired outcomes and fulfill specific needs or requirements. It may include activities such as
requesting, accessing, and utilizing services according to agreed-upon terms and conditions.
1. Nature: The guiding principles represent core values and beliefs that underpin the ITIL
framework. They are derived from successful practices and experiences across various
organizations and industries. These principles are universal and timeless, applicable in any
organization regardless of its size, industry, or maturity level.
2. Use: The guiding principles serve as a compass for decision-making and behavior within an
organization. They provide a foundation for aligning ITSM activities with business objectives,
fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. Organizations
use these principles to inform strategic planning, design service offerings, and improve
service delivery processes.
3. Interaction: The guiding principles are interrelated and complementary, working together to
enable effective ITSM practices. While each principle can stand alone, they are most
powerful when applied collectively. For example, focusing on value helps organizations
prioritize investments and resources, while fostering collaboration ensures that all
stakeholders contribute to the achievement of shared goals.
In summary, the guiding principles in ITIL 4 provide a holistic framework for organizations to
navigate the complexities of modern ITSM. By embracing these principles, organizations can foster
a culture of continuous improvement, adaptability, and customer-centricity, ultimately driving
business value and success.
This principle encourages organizations to assess their current capabilities, resources, and
processes realistically and start their improvement journey from their existing state.
Use this principle to avoid overwhelming changes and leverage existing strengths and
assets. It advocates for incremental improvements over time rather than waiting for perfect
conditions to begin.
This principle promotes an iterative approach to service improvement, where changes are
implemented incrementally, and feedback is gathered continuously to inform future iterations.
Use this principle to break down complex initiatives into smaller, manageable increments,
gather feedback from stakeholders early and often, and adapt plans and actions based on
the feedback received.
This principle emphasizes the importance of collaboration and transparency across teams,
departments, and stakeholders to facilitate effective communication, decision-making, and
problem-solving.
Use this principle to foster a culture of collaboration, share knowledge and information
openly, and ensure visibility into processes, activities, and outcomes to build trust and
alignment.
This principle advocates for simplicity and practicality in the design and implementation of
ITSM practices, avoiding unnecessary complexity and bureaucracy.
This dimension encompasses the structure, culture, and capabilities of the organization and
the individuals within it. It includes aspects such as roles, responsibilities, skills,
competencies, and the overall organizational culture.
Organizations and people play a crucial role in service management, as they are responsible
for designing, delivering, and supporting services. Effective management of this dimension
involves ensuring that the organization's structure and culture support service objectives,
and that individuals have the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their roles
effectively.
This dimension focuses on the information and technology required to support service
delivery and enable business outcomes. It includes data, knowledge, systems, tools, and
infrastructure necessary for designing, deploying, and operating services.
Information and technology are essential enablers of service management, providing the
foundation for automation, analytics, and decision-making. Effective management of this
dimension involves ensuring that information and technology assets are aligned with
business needs, secure, reliable, and capable of supporting service requirements.
This dimension refers to the relationships and collaborations with external entities, including
partners, suppliers, and other third parties. It includes contractual agreements, service level
agreements (SLAs), and other arrangements for procuring, integrating, and managing
external services and resources.
Partners and suppliers play a vital role in service management, providing specialized
expertise, resources, and capabilities that complement or extend the organization's own
capabilities. Effective management of this dimension involves selecting and managing
partners and suppliers strategically, establishing clear expectations and agreements, and
fostering collaborative relationships to achieve mutual goals.
This dimension focuses on the end-to-end processes and value streams that deliver services
to customers and stakeholders. It includes the activities, workflows, controls, and measures
used to plan, design, transition, operate, and improve services.
Value streams and processes are essential for ensuring that services are delivered
efficiently, consistently, and in alignment with business objectives. Effective management of
this dimension involves identifying and optimizing value streams, defining clear process
boundaries and interfaces, and continuously improving processes to enhance service quality
and performance.
1. Service Value Chain: The service value chain is a series of interconnected activities that
organizations perform to deliver valuable products and services to customers. It consists of
six key activities:
Plan: Establishing objectives, policies, and plans to achieve desired outcomes.
Improve: Continuously improving services, processes, and practices.
Engage: Understanding and shaping the demand for services and engaging with
stakeholders.
Design and Transition: Designing new or changed services and transitioning them
into operation.
Obtain/Build: Sourcing, building, and configuring resources to deliver services.
Deliver and Support: Ensuring effective delivery and support of services to meet
agreed-upon levels of service.
2. Guiding Principles: The guiding principles are fundamental concepts that guide an
organization's decisions and actions. They provide a foundation for aligning ITSM activities
with business objectives and fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous
improvement.
3. Governance: Governance refers to the framework, policies, processes, and controls used to
direct and control the organization's activities and ensure that they align with strategic
objectives. It includes defining roles and responsibilities, establishing accountability, and
monitoring performance to ensure compliance with standards and regulations.
4. Service Value Chain Activities: These are specific practices and processes performed
within each activity of the service value chain to create value for customers and
stakeholders. They are based on ITIL practices and other relevant frameworks and
standards.
5. Practices: Practices are sets of organizational resources designed for performing work or
accomplishing an objective. They include processes, procedures, roles, and guidelines for
carrying out specific activities effectively and efficiently. ITIL 4 introduces a set of 34
practices categorized into three types: general management practices, service management
practices, and technical management practices.
6. Continual Improvement: Continual improvement is an ongoing process of enhancing the
organization's capabilities, processes, and services to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and
adaptability. It involves identifying opportunities for improvement, implementing changes, and
measuring outcomes to ensure that the organization continues to deliver value to customers
and stakeholders.
Overall, the ITIL service value system provides a comprehensive framework for organizations to
understand and optimize the delivery of services, aligning ITSM activities with business objectives
and customer needs to maximize value creation and outcomes.
1. Interconnected Activities: The service value chain consists of six interconnected activities:
Plan, Improve, Engage, Design and Transition, Obtain/Build, and Deliver and Support. These
activities are not performed in isolation but are interdependent and interconnected. Each
activity contributes to the overall delivery of value by feeding into and receiving inputs from
other activities.
2. Value Streams: A value stream represents the sequence of activities and steps required to
deliver a specific outcome or service to a customer. It encompasses all the activities,
resources, and interactions involved in creating and delivering value. The service value chain
supports value streams by providing a framework for organizing and coordinating the various
activities and resources needed to deliver value effectively and efficiently.
3. End-to-End Perspective: The service value chain takes an end-to-end perspective,
covering the entire lifecycle of services from planning and design to delivery and support. It
ensures that organizations consider the entire value chain when designing and delivering
services, rather than focusing on individual activities or processes in isolation.
4. Value Co-Creation: Value streams involve the collaboration and co-creation of value
between the organization and its customers and stakeholders. The interconnected nature of
the service value chain enables organizations to engage with stakeholders at each stage of
the value stream, gather feedback, and adjust activities and resources to meet evolving
needs and expectations.
5. Optimization and Continual Improvement: By understanding the interconnected nature of
the service value chain, organizations can identify opportunities for optimization and
improvement across the entire value stream. They can streamline processes, eliminate
redundancies, and improve collaboration to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of
value delivery.
Overall, the interconnected nature of the service value chain ensures that organizations can deliver
value to customers and stakeholders consistently and efficiently by coordinating and aligning
activities across the entire service lifecycle. It supports the creation of value streams by providing a
structured framework for organizing, managing, and optimizing the delivery of services from end to
end.
Purpose: The Plan activity is focused on establishing objectives and defining the approach
for achieving those objectives. It involves strategic planning, setting policies, defining service
offerings, and identifying opportunities for improvement.
Importance: Planning is crucial for aligning ITSM activities with business objectives and
ensuring that resources are allocated effectively to deliver value to customers and
stakeholders.
b) Improve:
c) Engage:
Purpose: The Engage activity focuses on understanding and shaping the demand for
services and engaging with stakeholders to ensure their needs and expectations are met. It
involves building relationships, gathering feedback, and communicating effectively with
customers, users, and other stakeholders.
Importance: Effective engagement is critical for building trust, fostering collaboration, and
ensuring that services are aligned with customer needs and expectations.
Purpose: The Design & Transition activity is responsible for designing new or changed
services and transitioning them into operation. It involves defining service requirements,
designing service offerings, testing and validating changes, and preparing for service
deployment.
Importance: Designing and transitioning services effectively is essential for ensuring that
they meet business requirements, are delivered efficiently, and can be operated and
supported effectively in production.
e) Obtain/Build:
Purpose: The Obtain/Build activity focuses on sourcing, building, and configuring resources
to deliver services. It involves procuring hardware, software, and other resources, as well as
building and configuring systems and infrastructure to support service delivery.
Importance: Obtaining and building resources effectively is crucial for ensuring that services
are delivered reliably, securely, and at the required level of quality.
Purpose: The Deliver & Support activity is responsible for ensuring the effective delivery and
support of services to meet agreed-upon levels of service. It involves managing service
operations, handling service requests and incidents, and providing technical support to
users.
Importance: Delivering and supporting services effectively is essential for maintaining service
availability, reliability, and performance, and for ensuring that customers and users can
access and use services when needed.
b) Relationship Management:
c) Supplier Management:
d) IT Asset Management:
Purpose: Monitoring and Event Management is responsible for monitoring the performance
and availability of IT services and infrastructure, detecting and escalating events or incidents,
and initiating corrective actions to prevent or minimize service disruptions. It involves
collecting and analyzing monitoring data, correlating events, and generating alerts and
notifications to support proactive management and decision-making.
f) Release Management:
Purpose: Service Configuration Management is responsible for maintaining accurate and up-
to-date information about the configuration of IT services and infrastructure. It involves
identifying and controlling configuration items (CIs), establishing baselines and
configurations, and ensuring that changes are properly managed and documented to support
service delivery and continuity.
h) Deployment Management:
i) Continual Improvement:
j) Change Enablement:
k) Incident Management:
l) Problem Management:
Purpose: Problem Management is responsible for identifying and addressing the root causes
of incidents and recurring issues to prevent future incidents from occurring. It involves
investigating problems, analyzing trends and patterns, and implementing corrective actions
and workarounds to minimize the impact of known errors on service quality and availability.
Purpose: Service Request Management is focused on handling user requests for standard
and predefined services and fulfilling these requests in a timely and efficient manner. It
involves capturing and categorizing service requests, providing information and guidance to
users, and processing and fulfilling requests according to agreed-upon service levels and
procedures.
n) Service Desk:
Purpose: The Service Desk is the central point of contact for users to request assistance,
report incidents, and seek guidance on IT services. It involves logging and tracking service
requests and incidents, providing first-line support and resolution, and escalating complex or
unresolved issues to other support teams as needed to ensure timely resolution and
minimize disruption to business operations.
Purpose: Service Level Management is responsible for defining, negotiating, and managing
service levels and agreements with customers and stakeholders to ensure that services
meet agreed-upon quality, performance, and availability targets. It involves identifying
service requirements, establishing service level agreements (SLAs), monitoring service
performance, and reviewing and updating SLAs as needed to align with changing business
needs and priorities.
An IT asset refers to any tangible or intangible item that is used to deliver IT services. This
can include hardware, software, documentation, facilities, and other resources that are
owned or managed by an organization.
b) Event:
An event is any detectable or discernible occurrence that has significance for the
management of the IT infrastructure or delivery of IT services. Events are typically generated
by IT systems and components, such as alarms, alerts, or notifications, and may indicate
changes in state or require attention.
A configuration item is any component or item that needs to be managed in order to deliver
an IT service. CIs can include hardware, software, documentation, facilities, and other
elements that are relevant to the delivery and support of IT services. Each CI is uniquely
identifiable and has attributes and relationships with other CIs.
d) Change:
A change is the addition, modification, or removal of anything that could have an effect on IT
services. Changes can include modifications to hardware, software, documentation,
processes, or any other aspect of the IT infrastructure or service delivery. Changes are
typically managed through a formal change management process to ensure that they are
authorized, assessed, and implemented in a controlled manner.
e) Incident:
f) Problem:
A problem is the underlying cause of one or more incidents. Problems are typically identified
through the analysis of incidents, recurring issues, or trends in IT systems and services.
Problem management is the process of identifying, investigating, and resolving the root
causes of problems to prevent future incidents from occurring.
g) Known Error:
A known error is a problem that has been identified and documented, but for which a
permanent resolution has not yet been implemented. Known errors are typically associated
with workarounds or temporary fixes to minimize the impact on service quality and
availability. Once a permanent resolution is implemented, the known error record is closed.
b) Change Enablement:
c) Incident Management:
d) Problem Management:
Problem Management is a practice focused on identifying and addressing the root causes of
incidents and recurring issues to prevent future incidents from occurring. It involves
investigating problems, analyzing trends and patterns, and implementing corrective actions
and workarounds to minimize the impact of known errors on service quality and availability.
Service Request Management is a practice focused on handling user requests for standard
and predefined services and fulfilling these requests in a timely and efficient manner. It
involves capturing and categorizing service requests, providing information and guidance to
users, and processing and fulfilling requests according to agreed-upon service levels and
procedures.
f) Service Desk:
The Service Desk is the central point of contact for users to request assistance, report
incidents, and seek guidance on IT services. It involves logging and tracking service
requests and incidents, providing first-line support and resolution, and escalating complex or
unresolved issues to other support teams as needed to ensure timely resolution and
minimize disruption to business operations.