So You’ve Got Your ITIL Certification, But What Next?

Undoubtedly, ITIL Foundation is the most popular IT service management (ITSM) qualification or certification around the globe. But what happens once you’ve undertaken the required studying and passed the exam? For me, there are two key “What next?” options for after ITIL certification:

1. Using the new ITIL learning once “back in the office” (and yes, I know many people won’t actually be in the office)
2. Continuing with ITIL education.

This article covers the first of these. Importantly, these options aren’t mutually exclusive.

Here @Joe_the_IT_Guy looks at what to do with your new ITIL certification, from taking your learnings back to the office, to continuing with ITIL education. #ITSM #ServiceDesk Click To Tweet

First, think about what you’ve learned through the ITIL Foundation certification

Before considering where your new ITIL 4 Foundation certification can be applied in your organization, it’s worth reflecting on what has been learned through the related study. Hopefully, your ITIL learning included the following:

• An introduction to what ITSM is.
• The ITIL 4 “framework,” including the ITIL 4 service value system, the four dimensions of service management, and the ITIL 4 service value chain.
• The ITIL 4 service value system’s key components, including the ITIL guiding principles, governance, continual improvement, and the ITIL 4 management practices.
• How the ITIL 4 service value chain can be used to deliver value to customers.
• The 34 ITIL 4 management practices across general management practices, service management practices, and technical management practices.

There’s probably far more in the ITIL 4 Foundation syllabus than you actively remember. All of which can be considered in the context of improving the status quo in your IT organization. And don’t worry, there’s always the study textbook and online resources to fall back on if more information or guidance is needed.

After completing ITIL 4 Foundation training, the ability of a newly ITIL 4 certified individual to make positive changes back in the office will depend on several factors. Here @Joe_the_IT_Guy explains. #ITSM #ServiceDesk Click To Tweet

Some ITIL quick wins post-certification

After completing ITIL 4 Foundation training, the ability of a newly ITIL 4 certified individual to make positive changes back in the office will depend on several factors, including:

• The company’s previous investments in ITIL training and ITIL practices
• Their seniority in the IT organization
• Their role in the IT organization
• Available resources, including improvement budgets
• The company culture and improvement posture.

For this blog, let’s assume that the newly ITIL 4 certified individual is an IT service desk manager in an organization that hasn’t previously invested in ITIL. If I don’t do this, my trying to articulate what someone could do with their new ITIL 4 knowledge would be filled with options and caveats.

Before doing anything, though, it’s essential to be realistic about what can be achieved by a lone individual in an organization that has probably used the same approach to technology delivery and support for the last decade (or longer). So all those management phrases that probably annoy you apply – for example, “Don’t try to boil the ocean” and “Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

So what could and should someone in an IT service desk manager role try to do with their new ITIL learnings? Here are three potential quick-win opportunities.

What could & should someone in an IT #servicedesk manager role try to do with their new ITIL learnings? Here @Joe_the_IT_Guy shares three potential quick-win opportunities. #ITSM Click To Tweet

Quick win #1: Continual improvement

While it might be easier to jump straight into what you know, so IT support in the case of an IT service desk manager, it’s good to start with the concept of continual improvement.

You don’t have to deliver a highly-formalized continual improvement capability immediately, but creating a continual improvement register to log, help prioritize, and monitor the progress of any identified improvements is a good start.

This start not only provides better insight into what could be improved, but it also begins to engender a culture of improvement.

Where should you start with your new ITIL certification? With Continual Improvement says @Joe_the_IT_Guy, & here he explains why. #servicedesk #ITSM Click To Tweet

Quick win #2: Improve incident management

Here’s the thing – the rest of your organization might not call IT issues “incidents” or consider that it undertakes incident management. No matter, it’s simply terminology.

The key to improving your incident, issue, or ticket management capabilities is to develop a more consistent and efficient incident management process that will help the “mechanics” of IT support and reduce handling time and mean time to resolve (MTTR). Which in turn will reduce downtime and increase customer satisfaction feedback scores.

This change might start with small process-based improvements but can continue in line with the ITIL guiding principles such as “focus on value” and “optimize and automate.”

Quick win #3: Implement problem management

If ITIL is new to your organization, then the concept of problem management is likely to be alien to it. You might also get into terminology battles too if you’re not careful.

The good thing about problem management is that it’s best to “start small” anyway. So, begin in a focused way using incident trends to identify the top problems adversely impacting the organization each month. The early successes can then drive further problem management activity and funding.

Ideally, allowing you to eventually establish a formal problem management capability that proactively identifies and addresses the root cause of recurring incidents, resulting in more stable and reliable IT services.

Take a look at these three 'quick wins' of where to start once you've got your ITIL certification. #ITSM #ServiceDesk Click To Tweet

What next?

These three quick-win areas are just the start. Quick win #4 could be implementing service level management (well, perhaps service level targets for the IT service desk initially). Quick win #5 could be to improve knowledge management. The list of possible small-but-valuable improvements is very long, so it’s essential to prioritize them and focus on making the in-flight improvements succeed to breed confidence in ITIL best practices.

Please remember that these are simply ITIL-practice-based suggestions. You, or the IT service desk manager in this example, should focus on what will make the most significant difference to the organization and its employees (within the limitations of available resources).

Importantly though, don’t just focus on capability introduction or improvement. As the ITIL-based changes deliver results, use this to sell ITIL to colleagues. You might be lucky, and there’s a training budget available for others to receive ITIL training. If not, look at how you can impart your ITIL learnings and new experiences to others via formal education sessions or simply by attending different team meetings.

So, you can do lots when you “return to the office” after getting your ITIL certification. The key is to be focused and, dare I say it, try not to do too much too soon.