What is ITIL Foundation?
Are you an IT professional that is interested in IT service management? Not sure what ITIL is or what is on the ITIL foundation certification? First, let’s investigate what ITIL is and its guiding principles. And then we can talk about the ITIL Foundation certification as well as some of the terminology that you will need to know when taking the ITIL Foundation exam.
What is ITIL?
ITIL is an abbreviation of the term Information Technology Infrastructure Library. ITIL is a set of best practices for delivering IT services. It can help manage risk, strengthen customer relations, and build an IT environment that can change based on the organization’s needs.
The goal of ITIL is to create predictable IT environments and offer the best customer service to customers by streamlining IT processes and identify opportunities to improve IT services. The most recent iteration of these best practices is ITIL 4. This iteration not only focuses on automation, improvement and integration but also accommodates for modern technology.
What are the ITIL 4 Guiding Principles?
The guiding principles were established to offer IT service providers a company culture that should be integrated into their overall IT business structure. These principles include:
- Focus on value
- Start where you are
- Progress iteratively with feedback
- Collaborate and promote visibility
- Think and work holistically
- Keep it simple and practical
- Optimize and automate
How Does ITIL Help a Business?
ITIL provides a professional approach to IT service management. The benefits of adhering to ITIL best practices can help reduce the cost of IT, improve IT services, offer standards to abide by, improve productivity, and properly use IT professional skills and experience. ITIL can also help a business improve their IT service by managing risk, reducing disruption and failure, and building a stable environment that can grow with demand.
What is ITIL Foundation?
ITIL Foundation is a certification level that proves proficiency in widely adopted best practices for successful IT service management. In addition to Foundation, ITIL also offers certification at the practitioner, intermediate, expert, and master levels.
The ITIL 4 Foundation certification tests IT professionals on fundamental aspects of ITIL best practices. During this exam, you will be tested on your knowledge of modern IT and how digital service organizations operate, how value streams increase speed and efficiency, how cultural principles improve work that benefits the whole company, and commonly used-service management terms and concepts. Some of the ITIL Foundation terms include:
Service Management – a set of specialized IT services that are available to a customer that offers an appropriate mix of people, process, and information technology. The goal of service management is to maximize the value gained from technology-driven products and services.
Incident Management – ensures that the normal IT services are restored as quickly as possible to minimize the impact to the customer.
Problem Management – proactively preventing incidents from happening or to minimize the impact of an incident that can’t be stopped.
Critical Success Factor (CSF) – the element of a service that must function as intended for the service to be a success. If someone can’t reach their coworkers over the network or they are instead connected to the wrong coworker, the service’s critical success factor has failed.
Software as a Service (SaaS) – the licensing of software on a subscription basis, centrally hosted by a software vendor. Microsoft has moved to a SaaS model, allowing users to pay a monthly subscription to use Microsoft Office and other software in the cloud.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) – is a metric that measures the success of the service. If the service is not meeting the initial KPI metrics than improvements must be made. For a network connection, it may be important to connect within 5 seconds, anything over that duration would infringe on the user’s time.
Service Level Agreement (SLA) – an agreement that is signed by both the customer and IT service that guarantees a set level of performance.
Operation Level Agreement (OLA) – an agreement between internal teams within the IT organization to ensure that the proper SLA is met for a customer.
Root Cause Analysis (RCA) – a methodology used to analyze the root cause of an incident. Removing the root cause would restore the service to business as usual and prevent the problem form occurring in the first place.
How Can You Learn about ITIL Foundation Curriculum?
An easy way to become knowledgeable about ITIL Foundation best practices is by attending Peloton College’s Information Technology Support Specialist program. Our IT program prepares you for entry-level employment in IP traffic management and implementation as well as security protocols for Local Area Networks (LAN). As a student, you will be exposed to PC architecture, operating systems, and hardware. Emphasis will be placed on networking operating systems (NOS) and proprietary Cisco routers and switches.
In addition to ITIL Foundation certification, our IT program will prepare you to sit for the CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+ certification exams. Plus, you will be prepared to sit for the CCNA and CWNA certification exams. All important exams for IT professionals to obtain to prove proficiency to employers and build confidence in IT abilities.
How Long is the Information Technology Support Specialist Program?
Attending full-time, you can complete the Information Technology Support Specialist program in as little as 9 months. Both day and evening classes are available.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know what ITIL foundation is, are you ready to lay a foundation of IT knowledge that you can build upon throughout your entire career. If you are interested in an entry-level position in IT service management and have an interest in ITIL best practices, then attending Peloton College’s IT Support Specialist program may be the right path for you. Take the first step and start a challenging and rewarding career today.
Want to Learn More?
Under this Information Technology training program, you will learn Network Administration and how to build, troubleshoot and maintain computer systems. You will also learn to build networks to specifications using Cisco routers and switches. The Information Technology Support Professional program at Peloton College will prepare you to sit for the following certifications: including CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, CCNA, CWNA and ITIL foundation certifications.
The mission of Peloton College is to be the premier provider of hands-on training and education by providing you with the necessary skills to secure occupational careers. Contact us today to learn more.
