Capability or Lifecycle? Which route to ITIL Expert for a Release Mgr/App Supp Mgr

Hi,
Well I have decided to go for the ITIL Expert but not sure which route to take - Lifecycle or Capability. I am not just interested in the ITIL Expert just as a fancy Certification or Qualification on the CV other wise either route would have probably done. It is key and in many ways, a career decision. So would like to make the right decision, as it is a long, difficult and more importantly, expensive journey to ITIL Expert.

About me –
Over 12 years in the industry. Have worked my way up from a being a Bespoke Applications Developer, Designer, Systems/Business Analyst, Project Lead and in the recent 5 years Project Manager, Applications Support Manager, Service Release Manager.

I have read the stuff on ITIL Official website about both routes but it still doesn’t give me a very clear idea as to what kinda roles and activities they involve.

I am not sure but I think the Capability route will be more suitable to me because I like ‘Operational’ ‘Functional’ and ‘Process Oriented’ stuff. I like to get my hands dirty and interested in ‘on the ground’ stuff. But I don’t see myself doing the actual stuff on the ground but like to be a ‘Hands on Manager’ if you know what I mean. I have always respected Managers who know what they are managing and how it is on the ground level and have always tried to be one.

I don’t think I would like to sit in a meeting or boardroom and just talk management crap and create useless strategies and go blah blah etc without having a clue of what it is on the ground. I would like to bring the best of both worlds – enough ground level hands on knowledge but when required be able to move away from low level details to be able to make decisions and mange things from a Business Benefit/Value perspective. Afterall it is in the end driven by that.

So somehow I don’t think the Lifecycle route is for me. But I don’t know if my interpretation and conclusion is correct and want to be sure.

Let me put it this way, I found the Service Transition and Service Operation areas more interesting than the Service Strategy and Service Design and I was okay with CSI. Is this a sign that I ought to be heading the Capability route?

I am also aware there are other ways/route to it which probably are more confusing and overlapping than the reasonably straightforward and 'complete' Lifecycle or Capability routes.

Any guidance and advice?

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Claire Agutter

Hi Nadz

Whichever route you take to Expert, there will be some focus on Strategy and Design. There's probably less Strategy in the Capability route than the lifecycle route.

You may be one of the people who would benefit from 'crossing the streams'

and going for a mix and match.

You could, for example, take OSA, RCV and PPO to get some good grounding in those areas, and then take the CSI lifecycle to cover that lifecycle area in detail (it's not covered to any great depth in the 3 Capabilities).

The rule of thumb that's always given (and that you've seen) is Lifecycle for Managers and Capabilities for doers...but it's probably not as simple as that.

There isn't really any substitute for a good read through the syllabi from the official site to help you choose.

I hope that helps a bit, happy for you to PM me if you've got any specific questions, I've taught/written all the v3 courses so I can give you some more feedback on specific areas if you want it.

Claire

Nadz

Thanks Claire. What you say does make a lot of sense. RCV and OSA were something which I was planning to start on anyway's and probably will give what you suggested some thought. And I definitely will have to read the stuff on the official website on each module in more detail to get a better idea.

What would have also helped is if I could get my hand on some sample tests in each of the areas to get a real feel of how the exam for each module would be. Many times it is what gives you a feel to what they are testing you for and what is they are expecting from you.

But somehow even after some (not a lot) Googling, I haven't found any. Any clue where I could lay my hands on some?

Regards,
Nadz

eMeS

If it's a significant career decision then ultimately you'll want to do both tracks.

The intent of the different tracks was that the Lifecycle track was to be geared more towards management, and the Capability track was to be geared more towards hands-on practitioners. However, in practice the courses don't convey that intent very well, instead they really come off as slightly different approaches to presenting the same thing.

My advice is that the market largely isn't going to care if you earned Expert through strictly the Lifecycle or Capability paths. What I would do is pick the classes that are the most interest to you from both paths until you secure enough credits to sit the MALC.

MS

Nadz

MS Thanks for that. A few questions though..

eMeS wrote: »

If it's a significant career decision then ultimately you'll want to do both tracks.

Not exactly sure what you mean here. Why do you think I will need to do both?

eMeS wrote: »

The intent of the different tracks was that the Lifecycle track was to be geared more towards management, and the Capability track was to be geared more towards hands-on practitioners. However, in practice the courses don't convey that intent very well, instead they really come off as slightly different approaches to presenting the same thing.

The way I look at it is, the 5 core publications pretty much cover the whole area. And as far as I know, none of the publications have any specific divisions within them which separates the 'Management' aspects from the 'Practitioner' aspects. So someone who understand all the 5 core publications, pretty much understands the Best Practices. I am probably being a little dumb here but I have kind of at times struggled to understand the concept of the bifurcations. Especially when they both converge in the end to the same ITIL expert.

I also struggle to understand what is meant by 'Management' and Practitioners. I will elaborate more on this. If you look at both the SO and RCV write-up, both say they are suitable for a 'Release Manager'. So here I am, a 'Release Manager', and I don't know how I would divide what I do into 'Management' aspects and 'Practitioner' aspects. So in what scenario would I pick 'SO' and in which case 'RCV'?

Lets say as an Organisation I am looking to hire a ITIL Consultant/Expert or say recruit one. In which scenarios would I pick an ITIL Expert who has come the Lifecycle way and in which scenarios, the one who has come the Cabability way? What's the difference between the two? Or are we saying they will have the same/similar skills, knowledge, ITIL abilities. Then back to the question why the separate streams?

And what's there in MALC that consolidates all these various paths into one and makes them an equal 'ITIL Expert'?

eMeS wrote: »

My advice is that the market largely isn't going to care if you earned Expert through strictly the Lifecycle or Capability paths.

This probably answers my question above. So are we saying that ITIL Expert ultimately is a 'Qualification' or 'Certification' and no more than that?

eMeS wrote: »

What I would do is pick the classes that are the most interest to you from both paths until you secure enough credits to sit the MALC.

Makes sense but as you said, ultimately if it doesn't matter, then I would also like to ensure I pick the most effective, easiest and cost efficient way.

Sorry for bombarding you with all these questions. But having read your profile and various response to other posts, I felt you would be in the best position to answer them.

eMeS

Nadz wrote: »

Not exactly sure what you mean here. Why do you think I will need to do both?

You'll find that the people that are truly involved in the world of ITIL, and have made a career at service management, have most likely completed all of the v3 intermediate courses.

Nadz wrote: »

The way I look at it is, the 5 core publications pretty much cover the whole area. And as far as I know, none of the publications have any specific divisions within them which separates the 'Management' aspects from the 'Practitioner' aspects. So someone who understand all the 5 core publications, pretty much understands the Best Practices.

Yep, I'd largely agree with that, except that attending 5, 3-day classes does not equal "understanding of the best practices". Understanding of what ITIL best practices describe is something that is developed over a significant amount of time.

Honestly I would take a v2 manager in terms of understanding over anyone whose only exposure to ITIL has been v3 classes. To earn v2 manager one really had to understand, and likely had applied to material in a work setting.

Nadz wrote: »

I am probably being a little dumb here but I have kind of at times struggled to understand the concept of the bifurcations. Especially when they both converge in the end to the same ITIL expert.

I can give you a bifurcated answer to this. First, the intent was that there is a difference between someone that will lead implementations, and someone that might carry out activities of a process. Also, there is nothing that says because you've taken 1 intermediate class than you must taken any others, so not everyone necessarily ends at expert. Someone that has the role of Change Manager might choose to only take the RCV practitioner class

The second part of my answer is money. A large catalog of classes means more classes can be sold.

Nadz wrote: »

I also struggle to understand what is meant by 'Management' and Practitioners. I will elaborate more on this. If you look at both the SO and RCV write-up, both say they are suitable for a 'Release Manager'. So here I am, a 'Release Manager', and I don't know how I would divide what I do into 'Management' aspects and 'Practitioner' aspects. So in what scenario would I pick 'SO' and in which case 'RCV'?

Lifecycle classes are intended for those who might lead an implementation of ITIL best practices, whereas Capability classes are more targeted for people who carry-out aspects of processes. At least that is the theoretical intent as described way back in 2007 at the road shows when v3 was introduced. Those are often very different roles.

Nadz wrote: »

Lets say as an Organisation I am looking to hire a ITIL Consultant/Expert or say recruit one. In which scenarios would I pick an ITIL Expert who has come the Lifecycle way and in which scenarios, the one who has come the Cabability way? What's the difference between the two? Or are we saying they will have the same/similar skills, knowledge, ITIL abilities. Then back to the question why the separate streams?

First, no one that's doing any of the hiring knows enough about ITIL certification to know that there might be a difference. There is an intended theoretical difference, but for all intents and purposes the path that you chose, or even if you mixed items from the different paths, isn't going to matter. There is really no practical difference.

Credit is also given for v2 classes. I know people that had v2 credits and maybe only took one of the new intermediates and had enough credits to sit the MALC and earn the Expert credential.

Nadz wrote: »

And what's there in MALC that consolidates all these various paths into one and makes them an equal 'ITIL Expert'?

Passing the test at the end of MALC is what makes deems someone an Expert. There's one other path to Expert, but it's no longer relevant. MALC ties together all of the other material and focuses heavily on a few concepts that are only touched on in the other intermediates.

Nadz wrote: »

This probably answers my question above. So are we saying that ITIL Expert ultimately is a 'Qualification' or 'Certification' and no more than that?

I'm not sure why it matters, but OGC calls it a "qualification". Part of being good at understanding ITIL implies an ability to decipher all of the nonsense received pronunciation that the English use, which should be much easier for you than me

.

MS

Nadz

MS Firstly, Thank you so much for taking time and effort to answer all those questions. Much appreciated.

And Finally after seeing your answers, it is now beginning to make some sense.

eMeS wrote: »

Yep, I'd largely agree with that, except that attending 5, 3-day classes does not equal "understanding of the best practices". Understanding of what ITIL best practices describe is something that is developed over a significant amount of time.

Can't agree more.

eMeS wrote: »

Lifecycle classes are intended for those who might lead an implementation of ITIL best practices, whereas Capability classes are more targeted for people who carry-out aspects of processes.

This is the best explanation anyone has ever given me and I am now beginning to understand the difference. Which may also make me rethink the route I might want to take.

eMeS wrote: »

I'm not sure why it matters, but OGC calls it a "qualification". Part of being good at understanding ITIL implies an ability to decipher all of the nonsense received pronunciation that the English use, which should be much easier for you than me .

I wouldn't know MS, am not a Brit by Origin

but know what you mean. One of the weirdest thing I learnt while reading in a ITIL publication was that 'Good Practices' is better than 'Best Practices'. I was like how can 'Good' be better than 'Best'?

But anyways...thanks a lot for all that information. Really helped me.

Thanks
Nadz.

Fugazi1000

An interesting thread.... thanks guys.

On the 'best practice' vs. 'good practice' topic - I do remember a discussion in the class when it was highlighted that v3 has 'deprecated' the use of best practice and now refers only to good practice. The concensus of the class was that 'who knows what's best?' At least good can be seen to be good - and can encourage continuous improvement. Best practice implies there is no other way that is valid, and that it cannot be improved. Both very unlikely. So, in this case, I do think good is better than best.

N2IT

Fugazi1000 wrote: »

An interesting thread.... thanks guys.

On the 'best practice' vs. 'good practice' topic - I do remember a discussion in the class when it was highlighted that v3 has 'deprecated' the use of best practice and now refers only to good practice. The concensus of the class was that 'who knows what's best?' At least good can be seen to be good - and can encourage continuous improvement. Best practice implies there is no other way that is valid, and that it cannot be improved. Both very unlikely. So, in this case, I do think good is better than best.

That is a very interesting way of looking at it. One that I can buy into.

Claire Agutter

I remember having this discussion when the V3 manuals first came out.

We rationalised it as best practice is the way that we should do things in a perfect world. As best practices get more widely adopted, organisations tweak and adapt them to suit their own needs and they become 'good' rather than 'best'.

I did think we'd based that on something in the core volumes, but I'm darned if I can find it now!

Theresa C

I've recently completed all of the Lifecycle and Capability exams along with MALC, and agree that Capability is more for doers and Lifecycle is for Managers.

The exams certainly reflected that, the Capability exams focussed far more on "real life" scenarios requiring action, whilst the Lifecycle exams tended to be more focussed on the theory in the books. Whilst you cover similiar material for both streams the application of the theory in the exams is very different depending on the stream.

I've come from an Operational/Delivery background with a bit of consulting thrown in and found Capability to be far more practical if that helps?

@EMES, have to agree on the V2 certification!, and I found it a huge help when doing the V3 exams too!