Archive for the ‘ITIL’ Category

A Few ITIL Prep Links

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

OK.  I passed the ITIL v3 Foundation exam last week.  I thought I’d share a few web resources that I’ve found that are helping me prepare.

Taruu - This site has a fantastic set of free tools including a practice exam, a study guide, and an online glossary.  This was the #1 resource I used.  I must have taken the test at least 7 times before taking the actual exam.

CBT Nuggets ITIL Foundation Prep – This is another resource that was incredibly valuable.  The information is presented clearly and precisely.  It’s a little pricey at $400, but not as pricey as the PMP prep materials I had to buy.

ITIL v3 Foundation Exam Prep from The Art Of Service – I borrowed a copy of this material and it became my “scan sheet” moments before I sat for the exam.  It’s a quick read and covers a lot of the finer points on the exam itself by telling you the types of questions the exam will ask and how to answer them.

ITIL Braindump – This website is a collection of brain dumps, though admittedly I’m not sure if they’re actual dumps or just similar questions because I didn’t see ANY of the questions in this site’s 3 dumps on the actual test, though the structure the questions is very similar.  I don’t suggest memorizing the answers, so much as making sure you understand the questions.

So the question is, can you pass the exam using JUST these 4 resources?  The answer is YES!  I honestly feel you could probably pass with just the first three items listed here.  So go out there and get yourself some ITIL, it’s good stuff!

Posted in ITIL | 5 Comments »

ITIL v3 Foundation – Check!

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Well, I passed the ITIL v3 Foundation Certification test this morning.  Did it in under 25 minutes.  I am now, officially, ITIL v3 Foundation Certified! w00t! w00t!

Posted in ITIL, Leadership, Management | 1 Comment »

ITIL Testing Day Is Here!

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Well, today is the big day.  In about 9 hours and 45 minutes, I’ll be sitting down for my ITIL Foundation test.  I generally dislike the day before testing day.  I’ve usually spent the last several days cramming my head full of the information I need to pass the test, taking pre-exams and assessments to make sure I understand the materials, and I usually fail the last pre-exam miserably!  It was that way with the PMP.  The day before the test, I failed the pre-exam twice, and while I can’t say I “aced” the PMP, I did pass it the first time out.  So I’m hoping the the same is true for ITIL.

Having been in IT management for the past 17 years, I have a solid foundation on general IT operations management concepts and theories.  ITIL is merely a formalization of that knowledge, as it relates specifically to the ITIL framework and it’s 5 Phases: Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operations, and Continual Service Improvement (see, I did that without looking up anything).  I’m excited because, upon passing, I’ll join a small group of professional who hold both certifications, which will make me infinitely more marketable, since I not only know how to run your IT operations, cut your costs, and improve your processes, but I also know how to get your projects done.

So I’m excited and nervous at the same time, and maybe that’s exactly how I should be.

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A Practical Approach To ITIL

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

I thought I’d comment on a few things that have been written over on The IT Skeptic regarding ITIL.  Skeptic states in his post that ITIL is not brain surgery, and I absolutely agree with him.  Though he and I disagree, I think, on a coupleof finer points regarding whether or not there’s any value to having the certification, I think he has an excellent point.  In particular, in discuss the development of a CMDB.

CMDB is part of the Service Transitoin lifcycle.  It’s basically a database of information related to your IT systems and how those systems relate to one another.  For example, my CMDB might contain information regarding servers, desktops, network routers, switches, etc.  This information is supposed to help me more effectively manage my network because, as the theory goes, having the information readily available means I can more accurately determine the interdependencies of systems on my network.

Implementing a CMDB is a fairly straight forward process.  In fact, there are a number of “off-the-shelf” tools that would qualify as “CMDB’s”. So how to you implement it?  You start with your plan.  How much information do you want/need to track?  What kind of information do you want?  How often do you expect that information to change?  How is your network configured? etc.  

One very useful tool that I’ve used is ServiceDesk Plus from Manage Engine.  It utilizes SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) to gather information about the resources available on your network and store them in it’s database.  It also tracks “ownership” information of those resources, such as asset assignment, purchase details, and change details, all components of a good CMDB.  Another useful aspect of ServiceDesk Plus is that by using the CMDB aspects, I can more accurately manage service desk requests because the requesting party’s system information is immediately accessible from the technician interface.

Now granted, SDP is probably not going to be extraordinarily useful for a network with 40,000 nodes.  But for the small to medium-sized business, it’s an excellent tool.  Another thing to remember is that the CMDB is only one part of your overall ITIL adherence.  There’s also the service desk, process management, project management, incident management, availability management, change management, and much, much more.  But if you’re looking for a simple tool to begin the process, I’d highly recommend the ServiceDesk Plus application.

Posted in CMDB, ITIL, Service Desk Management | 2 Comments »