Okay, so the U.K.’s Office of Government Commerce have released the latest ITIL v3 publication, <i> Passing your ITIL Foundation Exam: the Official Study Aid</i>. First let me say that this book is an excellent idea and an essential part of ITIL. Certification is one of the primary functions of ITIL these days, almost overshadowing the guidance function. Study aids would have been useful in ITIL v2, and there is a thriving industry in unofficial ones. In ITIL v3 they are, as we say, essential.

Exactly what is the target market for this book is unclear though. Those attending a foundation training course ending in the exam will (or should) receive course notes that provide much of the value of this book. They usually include study notes and practice questions. Perhaps many accredited training organisations (ATO) will choose to use this book instead of providing their own material. On the other hand, most ATOs are unlikely to have waited this long for this book and will have prepared their own courseware by now.

It is not widely known that the exam is available online for those who only want to purchase certification without the expense of an associated training course. But, as word gets out, a growing number of people are circumventing the training industry and self-preparing for the ITIL foundation exam.

It certainly isn’t widely advertised by the industry. For them this book is very useful, though it does seem that those dedicated to providing certification “on the cheap” are equally committed to getting their study materials for free or nearly free. There is a thriving industry in stolen IP on eBay (as I reported in my blog), and the appeals for pirated copies of ITIL v3 books began appearing on the ITIL forums within days of publication. All in all, that sector of the market is unlikely to want to spend the £15 for a copy.

Nevertheless, the idea of this book is a good one and it is likely to sell widely and well.

So, How Good is It?

Students often approach the idea of an exam with trepidation. But, the IT industry is very weak on professional certification. For many IT people, it is the first exam they have sat in years. Given the industry’s cavalier attitude to tertiary qualifications in general, it may be the first serious exam they have seen since high school. So, often there is a certain level of nervousness. This book is designed to help allay that nervousness.

The first edition of Passing your ITIL Foundation Exam may have the opposite effect, for three reasons:

First, at least three of the answers to sample questions are plain wrong, which will only undermine the confidence of students thinking they have got on top of ITIL. Anyone confident enough of their knowledge of ITIL v3 to challenge the answers in this book is unlikely to be sitting their foundation exam.

For reference, the correct answers are:

Page 89

6.6 SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

6.6.1 Questions

Question 4: Option d should have been: 5,2,3,4,1

Page 90

6.6 SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

6.6.2 Answers

Question 3: The correct answer should have been: d - all of the statements are correct as stated in Section 6.4

Page 157

12.2 ANSWERS TO SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Question 4: The correct answer should have been: a. The rationale supplied is correct.

These corrections come from a correction slip which will reportedly be included with all subsequent copies sold.

Secondly, the sample questions are deliberately harder than those in the actual exam, but this is not stated anywhere in the book (it is mentioned in the errata sheet referred to above). That should up the stress levels for those going into the exam room.

Third, whole tracts of the book have been rendered obsolete by APMG revising the foundation syllabus (yet again) in response to widespread protests at the amount of material included in the earlier version.

Okay, so the U.K.’s Office of Government Commerce have released the latest ITIL v3 publication, <i> Passing your ITIL Foundation Exam: the Official Study Aid</i>. First let me say that this book is an excellent idea and an essential part of ITIL. Certification is one of the primary functions of ITIL these days, almost overshadowing the guidance function. Study aids would have been useful in ITIL v2, and there is a thriving industry in unofficial ones. In ITIL v3 they are, as we say, essential.

Exactly what is the target market for this book is unclear though. Those attending a foundation training course ending in the exam will (or should) receive course notes that provide much of the value of this book. They usually include study notes and practice questions. Perhaps many accredited training organisations (ATO) will choose to use this book instead of providing their own material. On the other hand, most ATOs are unlikely to have waited this long for this book and will have prepared their own courseware by now.

It is not widely known that the exam is available online for those who only want to purchase certification without the expense of an associated training course. But, as word gets out, a growing number of people are circumventing the training industry and self-preparing for the ITIL foundation exam.

It certainly isn’t widely advertised by the industry. For them this book is very useful, though it does seem that those dedicated to providing certification “on the cheap” are equally committed to getting their study materials for free or nearly free. There is a thriving industry in stolen IP on eBay (as I reported in my blog), and the appeals for pirated copies of ITIL v3 books began appearing on the ITIL forums within days of publication. All in all, that sector of the market is unlikely to want to spend the £15 for a copy.

Nevertheless, the idea of this book is a good one and it is likely to sell widely and well.

So, How Good is It?

Students often approach the idea of an exam with trepidation. But, the IT industry is very weak on professional certification. For many IT people, it is the first exam they have sat in years. Given the industry’s cavalier attitude to tertiary qualifications in general, it may be the first serious exam they have seen since high school. So, often there is a certain level of nervousness. This book is designed to help allay that nervousness.

The first edition of Passing your ITIL Foundation Exam may have the opposite effect, for three reasons:

First, at least three of the answers to sample questions are plain wrong, which will only undermine the confidence of students thinking they have got on top of ITIL. Anyone confident enough of their knowledge of ITIL v3 to challenge the answers in this book is unlikely to be sitting their foundation exam.

For reference, the correct answers are:

Page 89

6.6 SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

6.6.1 Questions

Question 4: Option d should have been: 5,2,3,4,1

Page 90

6.6 SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

6.6.2 Answers

Question 3: The correct answer should have been: d - all of the statements are correct as stated in Section 6.4

Page 157

12.2 ANSWERS TO SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Question 4: The correct answer should have been: a. The rationale supplied is correct.

These corrections come from a correction slip which will reportedly be included with all subsequent copies sold.

Secondly, the sample questions are deliberately harder than those in the actual exam, but this is not stated anywhere in the book (it is mentioned in the errata sheet referred to above). That should up the stress levels for those going into the exam room.

Third, whole tracts of the book have been rendered obsolete by APMG revising the foundation syllabus (yet again) in response to widespread protests at the amount of material included in the earlier version.

Okay, so the U.K.’s Office of Government Commerce have released the latest ITIL v3 publication, <i> Passing your ITIL Foundation Exam: the Official Study Aid</i>. First let me say that this book is an excellent idea and an essential part of ITIL. Certification is one of the primary functions of ITIL these days, almost overshadowing the guidance function. Study aids would have been useful in ITIL v2, and there is a thriving industry in unofficial ones. In ITIL v3 they are, as we say, essential.

Exactly what is the target market for this book is unclear though. Those attending a foundation training course ending in the exam will (or should) receive course notes that provide much of the value of this book. They usually include study notes and practice questions. Perhaps many accredited training organisations (ATO) will choose to use this book instead of providing their own material. On the other hand, most ATOs are unlikely to have waited this long for this book and will have prepared their own courseware by now.

It is not widely known that the exam is available online for those who only want to purchase certification without the expense of an associated training course. But, as word gets out, a growing number of people are circumventing the training industry and self-preparing for the ITIL foundation exam.

It certainly isn’t widely advertised by the industry. For them this book is very useful, though it does seem that those dedicated to providing certification “on the cheap” are equally committed to getting their study materials for free or nearly free. There is a thriving industry in stolen IP on eBay (as I reported in my blog), and the appeals for pirated copies of ITIL v3 books began appearing on the ITIL forums within days of publication. All in all, that sector of the market is unlikely to want to spend the £15 for a copy.

Nevertheless, the idea of this book is a good one and it is likely to sell widely and well.

So, How Good is It?

Students often approach the idea of an exam with trepidation. But, the IT industry is very weak on professional certification. For many IT people, it is the first exam they have sat in years. Given the industry’s cavalier attitude to tertiary qualifications in general, it may be the first serious exam they have seen since high school. So, often there is a certain level of nervousness. This book is designed to help allay that nervousness.

The first edition of Passing your ITIL Foundation Exam may have the opposite effect, for three reasons:

First, at least three of the answers to sample questions are plain wrong, which will only undermine the confidence of students thinking they have got on top of ITIL. Anyone confident enough of their knowledge of ITIL v3 to challenge the answers in this book is unlikely to be sitting their foundation exam.

For reference, the correct answers are:

Page 89

6.6 SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

6.6.1 Questions

Question 4: Option d should have been: 5,2,3,4,1

Page 90

6.6 SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

6.6.2 Answers

Question 3: The correct answer should have been: d - all of the statements are correct as stated in Section 6.4

Page 157

12.2 ANSWERS TO SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Question 4: The correct answer should have been: a. The rationale supplied is correct.

These corrections come from a correction slip which will reportedly be included with all subsequent copies sold.

Secondly, the sample questions are deliberately harder than those in the actual exam, but this is not stated anywhere in the book (it is mentioned in the errata sheet referred to above). That should up the stress levels for those going into the exam room.

Third, whole tracts of the book have been rendered obsolete by APMG revising the foundation syllabus (yet again) in response to widespread protests at the amount of material included in the earlier version.

As far as I can tell, the affected areas have not been announced or documented officially anywhere. But the following information was posted on the itSMF Forum:

“…a number of sections in the Study Aid are no longer covered by the syllabus. I have identified the following sections that may be excluded from the reading/training:

2.5.2 Service Level Package

2.6.1 Service Model

4.3.1 Value Creation

4.5.1 Strategy generation

4.5.2.2 Basic concepts (Service Portfolio Management)

4.5.2.3 Roles (Service Portfolio Management)

4.5.3.2 Basic concepts (Demand Management) - the paragraph about differentiated offerings and service levels

4.5.3.3 Roles (Demand Management)

4.5.4.2 Basic concepts (Financial Management) - the paragraphs about Service valuation, Demand modelling, Compliance and Variable cost dynamics analysis

4.5.4.3 Roles (Financial Management)

5.5.2.3 Basic concepts - the paragraphs about Service Provider

8.3 Business Value - all paragraphs except Return on Investment (ROI)”

In Short

So, the first edition of the book contains wrong answers, extra-hard questions and more material than necessary to pass the exam. Other than that, it is a good little book and not overly expensive for a change.

Here you will find a more cogent summary of the qualification scheme than you can find anywhere else in one place, though as we can see from the third problem described above, the ITIL v3 certification scheme is still in such a state of flux that chapter 1 of the book will be outdated soon enough.

The subsequent chapters contain a brief summation of some general ITIL topics, and of each of the five ITIL v3 books, followed by sample questions. It ends with basic preparation advice and a sample exam. These summations are very brief but they may well be adequate study notes (time will tell).

Many people feel one has to delve deeper into a topic than just the bare bones in order for understanding of those bare bones to stick. Readers may also want to refer to their training course notes; to the very good ITIL v3 introduction book, The Official introduction to the ITIL Service Lifecycle; and possibly to the five core books themselves, in order to thoroughly “swat” the exam.

Most interestingly, the study notes in this book form a competitive ITIL v3 introduction to that provided by The Official introduction to the ITIL Service Lifecycle, and at half the price. Passing your ITIL Foundation Exam is exactly the same size book. It covers the five core books in less depth, but it spreads wider to cover the certification scheme and technology considerations.

So, cash-strapped ITIL-ers should consider this book not just as a study aid, but as a good budget-priced introduction to ITIL v3 that just happens to include study questions to ensure you are grasping the principles. Just wait for the second edition.

Rob England, better known as the IT Skeptic, is an IT commentator, consultant and entrepreneur living in a little house in a little village in a little country far away.