Pink Elephant Revises ITIL Course Titles

ITIL training and consulting firm Pink Elephant announced Friday plans to clarify titles of its ITIL version 3 (v3) intermediate courses to better reflect the roles individuals perform in organizations, and to help guide IT professionals along the most appropriate education path in the ITIL certification scheme.

While official titles for the ITIL certifications exist, authorized training organizations like Pink Elephant may decide on their own course branding. Pink Elephant has revised the titles of the ITIL Intermediates to align to specific functional areas in IT: Manager or Practitioner:

ITIL V3 Intermediate – Lifecycle Stream

The five lifecycle stream courses are renamed ITIL Manager courses, as follows:

• ITIL Manager: Service Strategy
• ITIL Manager: Service Design
• ITIL Manager: Service Transition
• ITIL Manager: Service Operation 
• ITIL Manager: Continual Service Improvement

ITIL V3 Intermediate – Capability Stream

The four capability stream courses are renamed ITIL Practitioner courses, as follows:

• ITIL Practitioner: Operational Support & Analysis 
• ITIL Practitioner: Release, Control & Validation 
• ITIL Practitioner: Service Offerings & Agreements 
• ITIL Practitioner: Planning, Protection & Optimization

“Based on customer feedback, it became clear to us that the ‘Capability’ and ‘Lifecycle’ labels were ineffective in describing who the courses were aimed at,” said David Ratcliffe, president of Pink Elephant, in a press release. “Adding to this confusion is a complex certification scheme that allows for the mixing and matching of v2 and v3 courses to earn credits, but with rules describing limitations because of content overlap.”

“To simplify things, our recommendation for those seeking the ITIL Expert certification is to focus on the ITIL Manager path where you will gain the widest breadth of ITIL knowledge and gain all the credits you’ll need. For those who need education to support a specific project or tactical role choose the individual ITIL Practitioner courses.”

For a complete picture of recommended ITIL education for various IT roles – from coordinator/analyst to CIO - use Pink Elephant’s Personal Development Path.