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Taking the ITIL v3 Managers bridge – some notes

by | Jul 13, 2008 | evilzenscientist, ITIL, Uncategorized

Hopefully these notes will be useful for others; based on my experience of last weeks Bridging course and exam from The Art of Service in Brisbane.

The Curriculum

  • the curriculum is available from APM Group here
  • I didn’t see any surprises in the exam – i.e. everything in the exam was described in the curriculum
  • the focus of the exam is the differences from the ITIL v2 Managers exam.

Differences … but..

  • the bridge does assume that you understand the ITIL v2 space pretty well – i.e. your managers is still fresh!
  • you should read the five ITIL v3 books; there is a lot of contextual information that you really do need to understand.

After four days of cramming in Brisbane I ended up with five annoted ITIL books; five ‘books of notes’; each based on one of the phase books; a book of sample questions and exam-style questions; and finally a book of mind maps from The Art of Service.

For my own learning style the cross-referencing between the ‘bridge notes’ from The Art of Service and back to the books was really useful. It let me refer quickly from a concept – such as Portfolio Management, back to the relevent sections in the books.

Also useful is cross-referencing where the different roles and processes intersect. There is a lot of emphasis on the holistic lifecycle; also on the relationships between phases in the lifecycle. It’s not enough to try and map the v2 linear world onto the v3 map; I found it invaluable working with others to really understand the lifecycle and how it all fits.

Exam is done. Fingers crossed. Results in a week or so.

Phew. The exam is done.

by | Jul 11, 2008 | evilzenscientist, Uncategorized

Two weeks or so – then I’ll have the results.

Now I’ve got an evening to relax in Brisbane; the guys from The Art of Service have given me some pointers.

It’s the middle of the Queensland winter – so it’s about 18’C right now; the patio heaters are on and it’s dark at 5 pm.

Right now I’m settled with a glass of Western Australian Cabernet, listening to classic reggae in a bistro on James St. Lovely.

Training with The Art of Service

by | Jul 9, 2008 | evilzenscientist, Uncategorized

I looked around for a training provider for my ITIL v3 Managers Bridge – it was difficult – especially considering the training and exam have only been live since March 2008.

I called several providers who were claiming to offer training; when I probed on the name of the instructor, references, success rates – there was very little or in several cases no evidential data the course would deliver.

My aims for training seemed quite simple – to learn; to network; to pass the exam.

In the end I selected The Art of Service  – based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Why? Three reasons:

– they proudly show their passrate on the front page:

Course Name Global pass rate The Art of Service pass rate
ITIL V2-V3 Manager Bridge 34% 75%

– recommendation

– awareness and reputation from The Art of Service “Service Management Podcasts”

So how is the course so far? Simply excellent.

Ivanka Menken is the trainer – she is a co-owner of the company and has been at the ‘coalface’ of Service Management delivery since ITIL v1 days. Good knowledge, personable, real world experience – and a good mix of training styles.

I’m hoping this all adds up to a ‘pass’ – the exam is Friday; results a few weeks later.

ITIL Managers bridge – update

by | Jul 9, 2008 | evilzenscientist, Uncategorized

One day left- then the exam.

I must say – the workload and effort for this course is a lot more than for the ITIL v2 Managers cert; there is a lot more reading, homework, mock-exam question taking and general research needed. Also piling on is the ‘body of knowledge’ that is assumed from the v2 Manager exam.

ITIL v3 Managers bridge

by | Jul 7, 2008 | ITIL, Uncategorized

I’m in Brisbane – at the end of day one of my ITIL v3 Managers bridge course.

Phew. I’m tired. Just like the training for the v2 Managers Certificate last year (here, the exam here and results just before new year.)

The training and exam are for the ITIL v3 Managers Certificate. That gives me the ‘ITIL Expert’

The ‘ITIL Expert’ is the new description for the ITIL v3 Diploma; also an update on the Intermediate modules for the direct route – they are slowly being rolled out later this year and into 2009. I wouldn’t expect to see the Managing across Lifecycle until maybe March 2009.

The other interesting point is that the ‘Advanced Level’ in the diagram doesn’t exist yet.