Taking the Manager's Certificate in IT Service Management

By Suparno Biswas
This article was written for the brave individuals who aspire to pursue the Manager's Certificate in IT Service Management. The opinions expressed here are based on my experience and may or may not be applicable to all. However, they do seem to be in line with my colleagues and their colleagues who have chosen to take on this challenge.

Here are some tips on how to study:

• 1. Come up with shortcuts (acronyms) for the major activities. Although memorizing the materials is a good practice, there is little time to think with the time pressures of the exam. Here are some examples:
  • For the various elements contributing to cost calculation: PATHES (People, Accommodation, T, Hardware, External resources, Software)
  • Configuration Management tasks: PICSV (Planning, Identification, Control, Status, Verification)
  • General Roadblocks: Lack of CRITT (Commitment from management, Resources, Information, Tools, Training)
• 2. Draw the process flow diagrams for each process and include the interdependencies
• 3. For every process create notes on each of the following topics:
  • Goal and Mission statement
  • Key Process Indicators (KPIs)
  • Major Tasks
  • Roles and Responsibilities
  • Possible problems and hurdles in implementing
  • Planning for each process (watch out for dependencies)
• 4. Think and list what processes can be combined or started together?
  • Configuration and Change
  • ITSCM and Availability Management
  • Draw an overall picture of all the !'processes!( with interdependencies
• 5. Case Study
  • Re-read it before handing it in
  • Watch out for an addendum in the Exam to the Case study
  • Make up questions
  • Identify Problem areas !V do an audit
• 6. While writing a Memo consider the following points:
  • Who is the audience?
  • Be succinct
  • Try not to use ITIL terminology, the reader may not be familiar with them
• 7. Don't forget security (CIA - Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability)