Affordable ways to train for the intermediate level ITIL certs?

N2IT

Has anyone seen any training classes for intermediate level ITIL certifications? In particular the operational phase.

Thanks in advance

ITILTRAIN

If you are interested ijn doing it online (that is the least expensive option) there are three options on the market.

1. itSM Solutions out of the USA (itSM Solutions LLC)
2. Mountainview out of Canada
3. Art of Service out of Australia

itSM solutions is 100% online (including the exams using a web cam proctor)and is built around professionally produced video's with built in courseware and online mentoring support

Mountainview and AOS is voice over powerpoint with a book and support. The AOS book ships from Amazon.

Best of Luck,

goforthbmerry

For what its worth, I used AOS for the Foundation level and found it very good. I don't know what their material is like for the intermediate level. I would be very interested in finding out. I will be paying for my own training and I will not be able to afford the typical instructor lead training that I am sure is better.

N2IT

goforthbmerry wrote: »

For what its worth, I used AOS for the Foundation level and found it very good. I don't know what their material is like for the intermediate level. I would be very interested in finding out. I will be paying for my own training and I will not be able to afford the typical instructor lead training that I am sure is better.

Sounds good. Yeah the gentlemen above provided some good information too. Still a bit pricey, I am trying to get my company to pay for my training but so far it hasn't gone so well. Currently working on Project +

Hey it's something I suppose, but it's not really where I want to go. I guess it can never hurt to understand how all IT functions and processes work.

eMeS

Just my .02 here...

ITIL training is something that doesn't work very well in an online setting.

I've spoken with numerous people who've attended online training from various providers at all levels of the ITIL scheme. Here's what I've seen:

1) Those that have attended and completed these types of classes and think they know what they're talking about, generally don't. I'd put these firmly in the paper cert category.

2) Those that have attended these types of classes and an instructor-led class from a good instructor with actual experience in the field. Overwhelmingly these people agree that the instructor-led face-to-face courses are a better way to communicate and learn about a complex, subjective topic like ITIL.

You'll get more out of a face-to-face instructor-led course, specifically one with an instructor with actual experience helping organizations adopt ITIL.

If I'm interviewing someone, and they're claiming some level of certification beyond foundation, I'm very likely to ask them how they earned it. Online ain't what I'm looking for.

The other argument in support of online training, besides expense, is that it doesn't take you away from your work. That argument is weak. In order to learn a complex topic, you need be away from your work so that you can focus on learning. Just because we can multitask doesn't mean that it's always a good idea.

Yes, I said it, learning requires focus!

I'll close with this...there's a reason that courses delivered through some online mechanism are less expensive...may you get what you pay for.

MS

Turgon

eMeS wrote: »

Just my .02 here...

ITIL training is something that doesn't work very well in an online setting.

I've spoken with numerous people who've attended online training from various providers at all levels of the ITIL scheme. Here's what I've seen:

1) Those that have attended and completed these types of classes and think they know what they're talking about, generally don't. I'd put these firmly in the paper cert category.

2) Those that have attended these types of classes and an instructor-led class from a good instructor with actual experience in the field. Overwhelmingly these people agree that the instructor-led face-to-face courses are a better way to communicate and learn about a complex, subjective topic like ITIL.

You'll get more out of a face-to-face instructor-led course, specifically one with an instructor with actual experience helping organizations adopt ITIL.

If I'm interviewing someone, and they're claiming some level of certification beyond foundation, I'm very likely to ask them how they earned it. Online ain't what I'm looking for.

The other argument in support of online training, besides expense, is that it doesn't take you away from your work. That argument is weak. In order to learn a complex topic, you need be away from your work so that you can focus on learning. Just because we can multitask doesn't mean that it's always a good idea.

Yes, I said it, learning requires focus!

I'll close with this...there's a reason that courses delivered through some online mechanism are less expensive...may you get what you pay for.

MS

I think you make some very valid points which are applicable to all kinds of training. Personally I like face to face instruction and in terms of ITIL I think its a good thing and I sign up to the principles. A few things though...

1. classes cost money and for the self financing the cheapest option is usually considered first and often with good reason.

2. Time off from work isn't an option for many people. Holiday entitlement is generally used for family holidays.

3. Getting approval from work to spend on ITIL classes can be difficult to justify when the department just wants the foundation papers to tick a box.

4. Not all face to face instruction cuts the mustard. Sometimes it's low quality and over priced. This is a problem we see in all kinds of classroom training ( I have no experience of ITIL).

5. I agree on the time away from work for complex subjects. Im my case that means the CCIE and as there is no time at work to get into that as I have deadlines and meetings, its an evening and weekend thing, energy levels and family commitments allowing. You do need quiet time to do things properly.

For my part there is no budget or emphasis at work for getting ITIL certified and no direct reward for doing so. But I like to keep an open mind and when I do get around to it, it will be on my own time and at my own expense. I will still invest though.

eMeS

Turgon wrote: »

I think you make some very valid points which are applicable to all kinds of training. Personally I like face to face instruction and in terms of ITIL I think its a good thing and I sign up to the principles. A few things though...

1. classes cost money and for the self financing the cheapest option is usually considered first and often with good reason.

2. Time off from work isn't an option for many people. Holiday entitlement is generally used for family holidays.

3. Getting approval from work to spend on ITIL classes can be difficult to justify when the department just wants the foundation papers to tick a box.

4. Not all face to face instruction cuts the mustard. Sometimes it's low quality and over priced. This is a problem we see in all kinds of classroom training ( I have no experience of ITIL).

5. I agree on the time away from work for complex subjects. Im my case that means the CCIE and as there is no time at work to get into that as I have deadlines and meetings, its an evening and weekend thing, energy levels and family commitments allowing. You do need quiet time to do things properly.

For my part there is no budget or emphasis at work for getting ITIL certified and no direct reward for doing so. But I like to keep an open mind and when I do get around to it, it will be on my own time and at my own expense. I will still invest though.

I agree completely with your points. I will point out though:

Point 1 - The "cheapest" option is not always the "least expensive". There are a lot of cheap training products out there covering training in many areas. Cheap usually doesn't cut the mustard. Not to mention there are many online training options that have exactly the same cost as their face-to-face counterpart.

Point 2 - If the organization you work for doesn't account for time needed for training, then that organization shouldn't be a part of your long-term employment plans.

Point 3 - Agree completely. If all the organization wants is a certain number of people Foundation certified, then that's fine. Everyone should be honest about why they need training/certification, and if this is it, then that's fine.

Point 4 - Agree completely. In all areas of training this is the case. Sadly there is not a great way to judge quality before you have your butt in the chair at the class. However, this low quality is equally evident in all modes of training delivery. There are many low quality online training products out there, which is part of why some of them seem to be the least expensive option.

Point 5 - Almost everyone that I speak to that attempts one of these complex things through an online delivery method reports the same thing; that they didn't really focus on the topic because they continued to do other activities like surf the net, read email, or their regularly scheduled work activities. Learning requires focus, simple as that.

MS

Turgon

eMeS wrote: »

I agree completely with your points. I will point out though:

Point 1 - The "cheapest" option is not always the "least expensive". There are a lot of cheap training products out there covering training in many areas. Cheap usually doesn't cut the mustard. Not to mention there are many online training options that have exactly the same cost as their face-to-face counterpart.

Point 2 - If the organization you work for doesn't account for time needed for training, then that organization shouldn't be a part of your long-term employment plans.

Point 3 - Agree completely. If all the organization wants is a certain number of people Foundation certified, then that's fine. Everyone should be honest about why they need training/certification, and if this is it, then that's fine.

Point 4 - Agree completely. In all areas of training this is the case. Sadly there is not a great way to judge quality before you have your butt in the chair at the class. However, this low quality is equally evident in all modes of training delivery. There are many low quality online training products out there, which is part of why some of them seem to be the least expensive option.

Point 5 - Almost everyone that I speak to that attempts one of these complex things through an online delivery method reports the same thing; that they didn't really focus on the topic because they continued to do other activities like surf the net, read email, or their regularly scheduled work activities. Learning requires focus, simple as that.

MS

Yep spot on.

N2IT

I'm with a company that won't pay for training. ITIL and my office certifications I paid for myself along with my degree. I have two children with a misses who is in nursing school. I have a aggressive hunger to learn, however I am restricted by a budget. If I have to self study I have no problem with it. That's why I backed off ITIL for now. I am going through project + at the moment which is okay, nothing special, but I am learning still.

eMeS I agree an instructor led class would be awesome. I wish I had the time and resources to pull that off, unforntantly I don't.

Hopefully my company will eventually pay for SAP training for me. I deal with several modules at a low level. Paid for training is a merely a dream for me at this point.

O well one can hope!

eMeS

N2IT wrote: »

I'm with a company that won't pay for training. ITIL and my office certifications I paid for myself along with my degree. I have two children with a misses who is in nursing school. I have a aggressive hunger to learn, however I am restricted by a budget. If I have to self study I have no problem with it. That's why I backed off ITIL for now. I am going through project + at the moment which is okay, nothing special, but I am learning still.

eMeS I agree an instructor led class would be awesome. I wish I had the time and resources to pull that off, unforntantly I don't.

Hopefully my company will eventually pay for SAP training for me. I deal with several modules at a low level. Paid for training is a merely a dream for me at this point.

O well one can hope!

SAP will probably get you more $$$ more quickly. It would (should) take a long time for someone to go from foundation to expert in ITIL, and be credible. There's always demand for SAP people, especially those that are certified.

MS

rfult001

I have had some good experiences with Instructor-Led Online courses through BMC. I know they offer some of the ITIL courses like this through WebEx, but I haven't taken them yet. But there is the problem of not being focused on the class because some walks in and has something "urgent" for you to do.

NNB

At the end What training provider have you choose? Could you suggest one? Thanks

rob7278

Everybody learns differently - some learn best through self-paced study guides, some learn best through CBT (computer based training) and some learn best through classroom training. If I am provided with an accurate syllabus or exam objectives and I have access to the same text books that are provided if I were to enroll in classroom training, then there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to score just as well through an online course or through self-paced study - assuming I am taking the time to truly learn the objectives that will be tested on in the exam. In most cases the classroom training will be 1-2 weeks long, where as someone going the self-paced learning route may take 2-3 months to work through and absorb the objectives. Some people may require a tutor to learn a course, where some people could read through a course once and be able to pass an exam - it is a very broad generalization to say that classroom instruction is the best way to learn.
Additionally I personally do not feel that ITIL is a complex subject - it is quite the opposite, it is a very common sense approach to provide a uniform set of processes and procedures to the IT industry.

Todd Burrell

I can speak directly to the ITIL Intermediate classes as I have taken 4 of them remotely with my company. They are instructor led and I use a Live Meeting type of delivery for the slides from the book along with a conference call. Overall the quality of the class has been good. I will say that the delivery method for the first 2 classes was that I took the classes after work on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 2 weeks and then took the exam a few days later. The last 2 classes have been taught 8 hours a day for 3 straight days with the exam a few days later. I found the 3 straight days of ITIL materials to be a little overwhelming as the material is a bit dry.

I would think that you could take the ITIL Intermediate classes remotely without much trouble. I will say that the exam formats for the intermediate exams takes some getting used to. But overall a remote class should not be that difficult for these classes.

lawrencewong76

@Turgon and Emes,

I for one beg to differ on your statements with regards to having an instructor led training. There are good points to having these BUT there seems to be some inconsistency (could be cultural).

My situation:
I possess a wide area of experience + knowledge.
experience: Education (lecturer/trainer) , Administration, Information Technology, basic Accounting, Analyst (system), Help-desk, Service Delivery Analyst, also worked as a contract software developer.
Knowledge: Mas. in IT, Bachelors in HR + IT
Countries i have worked in : US (off-shore contract), Australia (local), Malaysia (local)

---

I have seen instructors teaching different courses. --> Some are good while others not so good.
I have seen students (adult and teens) learning on their own. --> again some are able to learn quickly and APPLY the knowledge while others not so good.


I personally did the ITIL foundation in 2013 recently and passed it. It is easy to pass....just read the textbook.
@ Emes, you said this: "1) Those that have attended and completed these types of classes and think they know what they're talking about, generally don't. I'd put these firmly in the paper cert category."

Well FYI, I have many times tried to implement sound approaches (sometimes best practice versions) in places where i worked and it was unsuccessful (without having obtained my ITIL foundation yet). Kept getting rebuffed from people who are senior indicating that "I do not know the situation in the company". When asked why a process should be in place...e.g Disaster Recovery Policy + BCP, all i said was do the math/accounting in the event of a failure coupled with frequency and hardware/application issues. After listening to my reasons (very justifiable both in accounting and IT) they just can't be bothered. AMAZING!!!

However, After i did show them I had the ITIL cert (foundation only), they stopped and started taking me seriously....Go figure??????

So this could be chalked up to organizations (not limited to below) who:
1) Dont bother about best practices and keep doing what they have been doing for the past few years
2) Do bother about best practices and try to inculcate it into their staffs (whereby resistance can be an issue)
3) Do bother but does nothing about it. <--this happens generally in asian countries (i use "generally" with some reservations)

People in Organizations (@eMes your cert kind staement):

Well I myself would prefer to modify your statement from:
"1) Those that have attended and completed these types of classes and think they know what they're talking about, generally don't. I'd put these firmly in the paper cert category."
To:
"1) Those that have attended and completed these types of classes and think they know what they're talking about, generally don't. However, if they have actual work experience in related fields and study them either as a formality OR a means to gain better understanding of where they can improve would be a plus. Also those who do self-study coupled with experience would have an advantage over those without the experience as they have limited basis to where/what they can refer to."

Note: Your statement holds true IF the cert kind individuals have no experience and only gets these for show-tell situations. Also this leads to a fairly serious issue of people "buying" certs and i personally have met with colleagues who did that. (this gets on my nerves especially if they dont know how to do the work).

I can point out more stuff BUT in summary:
It all depends on the individual taking the exams/certifications and how others perceive these individuals.
a) the individuals (do the exams on their own of instructor led, with experience on their belts or not)

@eMes <--u need to watch for the below
b) the others (interviewers who can tell whether people got the certs properly or not by testing them in the interviews on their knowledge and experience)<--this minimizes the flawed candidates and hence can prove your statement.

DH44MAG2

I've been working with PassionIT Group and I have been very satisfied. They offer all ITIL levels along wirh many other project management related courses.Their ITIL e-learning options are, in my opinion, comparably affordable and they offer the least expensive classroom and online courses I've found. Besides that, regardless of which format you choose, they offer mentoring to help you prepare for the exams. So far I'm very pleased.

OctalDump

DH44MAG2 wrote: »

I've been working with PassionIT Group and I have been very satisfied.

PassionIT Group are recording some courses for ITPro.tv. I'm not sure if those courses (on ITProTV) are endorsed by Axelos.

One thing to be aware of is that Axelos has changed their relationships with the Examination Institutes, so that from 31 December 2017, PeopleCert will be the only Examination Institute for ITIL. This might affect some of the suppliers of courses.

DH44MAG2

Good points!

I checked with Scott at PassionIT and was told that the ITIL courses being recorded at ITProTV are accredited by PeopleCert as are all of the ITIL classes offered by PassionIT (both classroom and online).

Liz Gallacher

DH44MAG2 wrote: »

I checked with Scott at PassionIT and was told that the ITIL courses being recorded at ITProTV are accredited by PeopleCert as are all of the ITIL classes offered by PassionIT (both classroom and online).

All reputable ITIL training is accredited by an Examination Institute - currently Exin, BCS, Peoplecert, APMG - this will continue to be the case, even when the number of EIs reduces. To say PassionIT is already accredited with PC is not saying anything about t being any better or worse than any other accredited training.

DH44MAG2

Not sure what your point is here...

I was merely responding to OctalDump's post stating that PeopleCert was going to be the only EI. His post piqued my curiosity and I happened to be working with Scott at PassionIT for my next level certification, so I asked. They are also accredited through EXIN, but since that wasn't pertinent to OctalDump's post, I didn't bother mentioning it. I was just sharing what I thought to be a point of interest.

If you are looking for whether I would recommend PassionIT or not, see my previous posts. I would recommend them to anyone looking for ITIL certification. I find their instruction exceptional, their focused reviews and mentoring timely and on point, their staff highly trained and experienced, and their prices among the lowest in the industry (at least that I can find).

I apologize if I misinterpreted your post or took it the wrong way - it's been a really long and difficult week and maybe I'm being a a little bit too sensitive....

OctalDump

I think what I was trying to get at is whether or not the specific courses were accredited as sufficient to take the intermediate level exams, which require attending training. Given that the ITProTV ITIL RCV course is ~8 hours, I wasn't sure if that course would be accredited for taking the exam or not. The classroom training is usually 3-5 days for intermediate level exams.

But, yeah, Axelos is pretty protective of the IP so most training is from accredited providers.

And it is useful to know that PassionIT Group (or any provider) is with PeopleCert already, since they will be the only EI from 2018. I imagine some of the smaller providers might be weighing up their options still.

DH44MAG2

Hi OctalDump

I was replying to Liz's post that was, to me anyway, a little on the dismissive side and it hit me wrong last night... Probably should have slept on it prior to replying.

When I talked with Scott about the accreditation, I got the impression that the recordings were indeed sufficient to fulfill the requirements. The difference in hours I'm guess can be chalked up to the lost classroom interaction (questions, answers, and discussion), breaks, and the time spent on exercises which we're expected to do on our own.

Next time I talk to him, I will verify the above and post back here.

DH44MAG2

I had the opportunity this week to talk to Scott at PassionIT Group and he verified that the ITIL course material is accredited and that the videos in combination along with the associated course material does indeed satisfy the class requirement for the ITIL intermediate certifications.

ItsmHarun

ITSM Technologies in Dheli (India) provide the best and affordable ITIL Certification Course.

genxfinalrevision

I used a training company called GoGo. The price was so low that to mention it may make one question the credibility of the organization (but don't)...it was during a promotion that I have seen them run more than once. I think an intermediate course runs about $500 for 1-year access normally...I paid less than that and received every single intermediate training, lifecycle and capability (but only 90 days access).

I found the material to be pretty decent. The instructor and presentation was clear. They did provide a lot of cool extras, like tables and graphs and of course two sample papers for each subject. I will say that I am basically a self-studier so I primarily looked for the cheapest Axelos approved outfit. Having said that, I would be hard-pressed to believe that other training companies were delivering that much better of an option. To be quite plain about it, at the end of the day, either you are going to grasp the material and succeed or find a new path.

DH44MAG2

As mentioned above, PassionIT Group is developing eLearning modules in conjunction with ITProTV and the courses are excellent - I just finished RCV. They have Foundation, RCV, and OSA.

Before I started in this direction I wanted to make sure that the path to expert was going to be available so I asked - they told me that in the next couple of months or so they are suppose to have SOA, PPO and MALC available as well - they then plan on doing the Lifecycle classes.

DH44MAG2

SOA and PPO are now available - MALC in a couple of weeks

ItsmHarun

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