ITIL Refresh v3 - Qualifications Update

I attended a webinar hosted by Axios systems yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to hear some information direct from the horses's mouth (Chief Architect Sharon Taylor) that I had not heard previously. Today I will focus on the key qualification related points.

Existing qualifications will remain valid and recognised by each EI (Examination Institute). You should not end up in a situation where taking the Foundation exam with one EI does not qualify as the pre-requisite for the next stage of examination with another EI. v2 exams will be phased out at some point in 2008.

There will be 'Upgrade / Bridging' qualifications for those that wish to take them. As the v2 qualifications remain valid there is no requirement to upgrade.

Focusing on v3 qualifications Sharon provided an overview of the Global Panel of Examiners who are appointed by AMPG. The panel is responsible for setting competency standards and actively auditing the EIs and TPs (Training Providers). Membership of the panel includes:
Training providers
Trainers
Examiners
Universities
End Users

One of the key points Sharon made was the creation of a single-exam standard. All the EIs (currently ISEB, EXIN, APMG) will draw their questions from a single exam bank. It is hoped that this will help maintain the quality and consistency of the certifications.

Examinations will be available in multiple languages although no date was provided.

This is where it began to differ from what I have heard (and published here) previously. The progression through the exams in no longer the old 3 levels (which we knew already). What I didn't know is that they are changing to a 'career path' oriented system. There is a desire that ITSM be seen as a valid and worthwhile profession within the IT industry and it is hoped this may go some way to achieving this.

There will still be a foundation exam introducing the lifecycle approach. The first ITIL v3 Foundation exam will be available for sitting on 13th June 2007.

Following the foundation it sounds like there may be two streams of 'Intermediate learning'.
1. Service Management (aka Manager)
2. Service Capability (aka Practitioner)

To this end a modular system will be introduced. This will enable us to customise career paths to our own needs. Sharon said that there will be a phased delivery on examinations at these levels, no dates as yet.

The other major change is the approach to training itself. Instead of training being primarily the domain of the classroom there are going to be self-paced online e-learning courses and virtual classrooms. Exams will be available on demand and we are waving goodbye to the long handwritten 3 hour examinations (maybe I don't want to take the ITIL v2 manager's after all!).

Finally, ITIL v3 revision guides will form part of the complementary publications suite.

The title of her presentation was 'ITIL v3, The Future is Now.' I'm certainly encouraged by the changes (implementation of them remains to be seen of course). The future is just 25 days away!