itSMF Conference, v3 Qualifications and News

Well I've just returned from this year's itSMF conference '[R]evolution?'. I've mixed feelings about it this year as I felt that the quality of some of the seminars wasn't as high as last year. Perhaps I was unfortunate in my selection of which I chose to attend. That said, there were some excellent seminars and I shall endeavour to write my thoughts and share some useful nuggets from those in the coming weeks. As always, I'm sure it won't be long before the itSMF publish all the presentations on their website. Incidentally, we're supposed to be seeing a brand new design for their website launching at some point in Decemeber. About time too!

Today I just wanted to bring two things to your attention:

1. The ITIL v3 Qualification Scheme has been finalised (well, according to the website, but at the conference Rosemary Gurney did put in a little caveat). You can read the full qualification scheme information on the OGC's Best Management Practice website.

2. The final edition of the ITIL Refresh news is out (picked up a copy at the conference and now see it online).

That's all for the moment, more to come soon!

ITIL Refresh v3 - Update

Things seem to be moving along on the ITIL Refresh v3 front according to a communication published on the OGC ITIL website.

All five core titles were delivered by the author teams by mid-October. Since then the Editorial Board has reviewed the books and carried out work to ensure integration and alignment across all titles. IAG members have been asked to nominate their preferred title to review. The review will start on 7 November and end on 27 November after which there will be a period for further integration work and editing, and for authors to make revisions. Public QA is scheduled for mid-January and a call for participants will be made imminently.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the ITIL refresh at the itSMF 'Theory into Practice' conference from the 13th-15th November. Rest assured that I will be posting my thoughts on what I hear shortly after I return.

ISEB and EXIN reinforce ITIL commitment

Well, it looks like we can still continue booking, studying for, aspiring to the ITSM qualifications already on offer from ISEB and EXIN. I spotted this statement published yesterday...

Statement BCS-ISEB and EXIN

Following recent announcements by OGC on ITIL®. BCS-ISEB and EXIN, 26 July 2006
Introduction
BCS-ISEB and EXIN, the two independent worldwide IT examination providers, would like to update you on our position with regard to the continuation of our work in the IT Service management area, following recent announcements by OGC on ITIL®.
Continuity

The recent announcement of OGC may cause concern among students, course providers, experts and companies and raise questions about the continuity of the ITIL® based IT Service Management Certification program.

This program is currently managed by the ITIL® Certification Management Board (ICMB). Through the ICMB the influence of the IT Service Management community on the Certification program is guaranteed.

In this statement we explain why the examination institutes BCS-ISEB and EXIN are able to safeguard and continue their IT Service Management Certification services in the future.

BCS-ISEB and EXIN own the current ITIL® certification program consisting of ITIL® examinations on various levels in over ten languages. Together with itSMF, both parties are involved in preparing the alignment of the ITIL® certification program with the upcoming refresh of the core ITIL® books.

As the initiators of the ITIL® certification program, we have made many contributions to the ongoing development of ITIL®, through papers, presentations, memberships of a number of committees, and editorial boards.

As global players in the area of certification for IT Service Management, we will continue to closely cooperate with the parties involved in the current ITIL® based certification services to safeguard and support the quality of the worldwide qualification & certification program in the IT Service Management field.
Future

We will continue to guarantee the quality of training institutes providing ITIL® courses for the ITIL® Foundation, Practitioner and Service Manager Certification.

Current applications for accreditation are valid, and we encourage new training provider prospects to become accredited. BCS-ISEB and EXIN and other stakeholders, will aim at a continued cooperation with accredited training providers in order to maintain the high quality of the ITIL® certification standard.

BCS-ISEB and EXIN have indicated that it is our intention to continue to work with all of the existing members of the IT Service Management community, and are committed and ready to continue the development of ITIL® and by doing so work with the current IT Service Management community and also maintain, improve and safeguard the standards of IT Service Management around the world.

We look forward to the continuation of our cooperation and the further development of ITIL® and IT Service Management.

BCS-ISEB
Pete Bayley
Director of Qualification Products
British Computer Society

EXIN International
Joep van Nieuwstadt
CEO

For more information please contact:
EXIN International on telephone number +31 (0) 30 234 4820 or
BCS-ISEB on number +44(0) 1793 417494

It's official - APMG has the rights to ITIL

Well, we knew it was coming but it's now official. At 4pm GMT on July 20th 2006, APMG signed a contract with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) to become the new accreditation body for ITIL.

The questions for many (including myself) are:
'Where does this leave the itSMF?',
'Where does this leave the ITIL v3 Refresh?'

I don't have the answers - but I'll be watching this space with many over the coming months.

ITIL Refresh v3 - Update

There are a lot of rumours flying around at the moment centred around the OGC's Commercial Activities Recompetition (CAR) project which many fear will have a negative impact on the ITIL Refresh and indeed, the future of ITIL, training and its' qualification scheme currently adminsitered by the ISEB and EXIN. The OGC released an official statement on 15th June 2006 to try and mitigate these concerns, although I have to say that I am still concerned and will continue to watch this space.

The other major news in ITIL at the moment is the publication of the ITIL v3 Refresh Scope and Development Plan and the revised Glossary of Terms, Definitions and Acronyms.

I haven't quite read through both documents yet, but I'll post some of my observations once I have. At the moment I'm cringing at the idea of having to purchase an entire library in order to follow a process through the entire lifecycle. Mind you, if they were to publish each process as an entire lifecycle in addition to the lifecycle books themselves then that might help. At this stage I'm really not sure!