What is ITIL V3?

ITIL is a framework consisting of best practices and processes that can be adopted in order to provide IT service management (ITSM). Since its first publication in the 1980s, ITIL has become one of the most widely used framework by organizations to provide ITSM. The framework places importance on improving customer satisfaction by providing effective service delivery while being cost effective.

Over the years, the different versions of ITIL have released in order to stay aligned with changing business requirements. Termed ITIL V3 the third version of ITIL best practices framework was released in 2007. An update to ITIL V3 was made in 2011, because of which, ITIL V3 is also called ITIL 2011 V3. This latest version is more suited for today’s business environment because it includes strategic elements so that the IT service management is more aligned to the business requirements.

ITIL V3 Fundamentals

ITIL V3 Incident management

In today’s business environment, it is imperative to ensure the business operations are conducted seamlessly without any hurdle. In case of an unexpected disruption to a service within the organization, productivity gets compromised. ITIL V3 Incident Management process adopts a set of best practices for effective incident handling and incident resolution to ensure smooth business operations with minimal or no downtime.

ITIL V3 Change management

Change is inevitable in every organization; technologies continually change and have to be replaced, existing solutions/applications have to be upgraded, etc. ITIL V3 provides a set of best practices termed Change Management to handle, prioritize and roll out changes efficiently. By utilizing change management effectively, downtime can be avoided.

ITIL V3 Problem management

The Problem Management team is responsible to perform a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and to find a permanent fix/workaround for recurring incidents. It is recommended to have an effective communication strategy and to follow a proactive approach to avoid any major incident occurrence. Problem is one or more incidents with an unknown root cause. Problem management maintains a known error database, KEDB whose solution is unknown.

ITIL V3 Framework

ITIL V3 comprises of five sections- service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation and continual service improvement. Let us take a look at what each of this section comprises.

Strategy Generation
Financial management
Demand management
Service Portfolio management

ITIL Service Design

In this section, the design of the IT service comprising architectures, processes, policies and documentation are determined to address the business requirement of the organization. Service Design includes seven processes:

Service Catalog Management
Service Level Management
Availability Management
Capacity Management

IT service Continuity Management
Information Security Management
Supplier Management

ITIL Service Transition

ITIL Service Transition stage ensures that the current state of service is not compromised when an organizational change is deployed. Service Transition includes seven processes:

Transition Planning and Support
Change Management
Service Asset and Configuration Management
Release and Deployment Management

Service Validation and Testing
Evaluation
Knowledge Management

ITIL Service Operation

ITIL Service Operation is crucial to ensure the businesses meet customer requirements. This stage comprises of processes and functions to ensure seamlessly flow of everyday operational tasks, monitoring infrastructure and related services. Service Operation includes five processes:

Event Management
Incident Management
Request Fulfillment
Problem Management

Access Management

ITIL Continual Service Improvement

In the ITIL continual service improvement stage, rigorous quality checks are conducted to ensure the service process is improved consistently. Continual Service Improvement includes three processes:

The 7 improvement process
Service Measurement
Service Reporting

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What’s the difference- ITIL V2 vs ITIL V3

Essentially, ITIL V3 or ITIL 2011 builds on the operational processes and best practices of ITIL V2 and strives to ensure IT service management is more comprehensive to suit today’s business climate. ITIL V2 was established in the 2000s and was more process focused.

ITIL V3 retains the five lifecycle publications that was was part of the previous versions. However, ITIL V3 has a very critical upgrade- it places great emphasis on aligning ITSM with business goals by focusing on strategic elements. Let us take a closer look at how ITIL V3 differs from the previous version ITIL V2.

ITIL V2	ITIL V3
ITIL V2 was process oriented. Essentially, it modeled the organization and their ITSM approach	Emphasis is more on a service lifecycle approach to ITSM
Process areas had been grouped in ITIL V2	Clearly defines roles and responsibilities in each process
Had 7 core books	Has 5 core books
ITIL V2 had 1 function and 10 processes	Includes 4 functions and 25 processes
The processes in ITIL V2 were efficient and cost effective	Here, the processes were not only aimed to be efficient and cost effective but also include a strategic emphasis on service approach

ITIL V3 Certification

Over the years, the popularity of ITIL V3 has increased significantly; it has become one of the widely used methodology to ensure a seamless flow of ITSM process. ITIL V3’s wide acceptance globally and its popularity has made ITIL V3 certification one of the most coveted certification in the IT industry. As mentioned above, ITIL V3 is more aligned to the business requirements of today and ITIL V3 certification can be achieved after completing five levels:

Foundation Level

This is the entry level certification that provides the candidate taking the certification with a general background on the fundamental terminology and concepts in ITIL service lifecycle, interaction between the different lifecycle stages and the processes adopted for ITSM.

Practitioner Level

The second stage in the ITIL certification level is the Practitioner level. This level will equip the candidate taking the ITIL certification with capabilities to adopt and sustain ITIL.

Intermediate Level

IT industry recognized qualification level is the Intermediate level where module level focus in provided on IT service management.

Expert Level

Candidates completing the Expert level certification will be able to showcase superior ITIL V3 best practices skills and possess a detailed and in depth knowledge on the entire ITIL V3 process.

Master Level

Candidates vying to complete the Master level in ITIL V3 certification should aptly demonstrate their knowledge on ITIL V3 and provide supporting documentation including successes achieved in practical assignments where ITIL V3 was implemented for IT service management.

ITIL V3 Foundation

ITIL V3 Foundation is the first level of certification that is provided when a candidate beings their quest to Master ITIL V3. Essentially, the ITIL V3 foundation level will provide an overall understanding of ITIL V3 terminology, basic definitions and concepts.
The ITIL V3 foundation level can be taken by candidates who want to:

Gain a beginners level knowledge on ITIL V3 framework
Understand how to implement ITSM based on ITIL V3 framework.

Format of ITIL V3 Foundation Level Examination

The certification can be taken by anyone who wants to learn about ITIL processes and there is no eligibility criteria. ITIL foundation acts as a prerequisite to take other level exams. This enables individuals to start their career path in IT profession.Please note that there are no prerequisites to take the ITIL V3 foundation level exam. The format of the exam would be as follows.

The foundation level examination comprises of 40 multiple choice questions and awards 2 credits to candidates who clear this level.
A minimum of 65% (26/40) would ensure the ITIL V3 foundation level certification can be procured.
It should be noted that ITIL V3 foundation level examination is a closed book exam.