ITIL is a worldwide recognized set of certifications that focuses on teaching widely used terms, processes, and concepts that helps the individual to improve the growth of the organization. As the markets are getting competitive every day in almost all the business sectors, the ITIL implementation becomes inevitable to survive and flourish in the market. As new businesses emerge, it becomes essential for the current ones to stay updated and deliver the best practices in the information technology industry such that they stay on top of their business.

Before knowing the benefits of ITIL certification, you must first know what ITIL and what does the ITIL course offer.

What is ITIL?

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library is a set of instructions in the form of volumes in a library that describes the best practices for delivering IT services. Throughout history, ITIL has gone through many revisions and currently it consists of five books that cover the stages and process of the IT service lifecycle. ITIL provides an overview of the total cost of ownership so that the company can decrease the expenses which are associated with IT investments. Using ITIL, the organization gets guidance and structure, which reduces the chances of piling up unscheduled work and de-railing current activities and tasks. Also, employees can take up new tasks without any hassle as ITIL provides a broad focus to the process and is also flexible.

ITIL Foundation Certification

The ITIL foundation certification teaches individuals about the key concepts, elements, and terminologies that are found in ITIL. AXELOS formed a joint venture and collaborated to provide the ITIL 4 foundation level certification which is structured such that it educates the candidates about IT service management using an end-to-end operating model for creating, continuously improving, and delivering tech-enabled services and products.

The candidates will learn the following concepts in the certification:
 

• A proper and ideal way of co-creation of value by including customers and other stakeholders and building products and services according to their needs.
   
• The guiding principles of ITIL 4
   
• The primary concepts of DevOps, Lean, Agile, and how these help in providing values to the business
   
• Service management and its four dimensions
   
• The methods in which the current ITIL processes would maintain the value and importance of ITIL 4 which is described in the foundation books.
   
• They also learn to expand such that they can integrate to different areas of service management and IT.

Which professional would be benefitted from this course?
 

• Professional who need a basic understanding of how the ITIL framework works
   
• Employees who have an interest in understanding how ITIL can be used to increase the efficiency of the IT service management.
   
• Professionals whose job description includes working with ITIL as the company has adopted the framework.
   
• However, anyone who has an interest in IT service management can join the ITIL foundation certification as it does not have any prerequisites.

ITIL Foundation course training

ITIL training begins with classroom training which lasts for two and half days where the training provider may take the exam at the end of the training. (this varies depending on the training provider). Another option of distance learning is also available, which is provided by AXELOS’ Accredited Training Organizations who may set their rates for the course. There are no prerequisites required for the ITIL foundation certification, hence, anyone who is interested in IT service management can take up the course.

The exam format for the ITIL foundation course is as follows:
 

• It is a closed book examination that consists of multiple-choice questions.
   
• There are a total of 40 questions asked
   
• The duration of the exam is 60 minutes
   
• The candidate needs to answer 26 questions out of 40 correct (65%) to pass the exam.
   

What to do after passing the exam?

The candidate gets the ITIL foundation certificate mailed along with a one-year subscription to My ITIL which is an online platform that contains the latest resources and content. This content helps the person to apply the concepts that are learned during the training to the workplace and also enhances the skills and knowledge of the candidate. The candidate can make future innovations in IT service management when they use these resources to their maximum potential. The online subscription gives candidates access to:
 

• CPD tools help individuals to map out a professional development path
   
• Professional endorsement is provided through the digital badge that reads you hold an ITIL Foundation certificate
   
• Exclusive white papers
   
• Many templates and publications which progressed the ITIL journey can be accessed.

ITIL Foundation Certification Benefits

Now the main question arises, whether doing an ITIL certification is worth it and what would be the benefits of doing it. We have to understand that ITIL is a globally recognized certification course that is considered best in terms of teaching management practices in the information technology industry. The certification helps the individual to know the key concepts, processes, and terms so that they can make their company survive the competition in the market. Many top organizations consider the ITIL certification as a mark of the candidate knowing to handle IT service management operations. However, before you join the ITIL foundation course, know about all the benefits it offers so that you are confident in taking up the course.

1. Globally recognized certification

The ITIL certification is globally recognized which implies that your qualification would be accepted by companies across the globe. It sets a gold standard for your skills and service management capabilities which is sought by leading service providers to join their company. Hence, the certification boosts your company to an international level.

2. Becoming familiar with the standard language

The ITIL is the standard language for processing IT services hence, the candidate could learn advanced service management processes and use them globally.

3. Improving initiatives using a smart approach

ITIL course provides skills and knowledge which helps the candidates to identify their potential and improve the initiatives to demonstrate their skills and values.

4. Proactive culture could be introduced

Customer satisfaction is one of the main motives of ITIL training hence, the candidates make innovative ideas to satisfy the customers’ expectations and their experience. The service delivery quality could be drastically improved by using the ITIL framework and hence a proactive culture could be developed.

5. Capabilities can be refined and confidence is improved

The ITIL certification increases the capability of the candidate to deliver valuable products which increases the quality of service delivery. Organizations always look for confident and capable service management experts who can compete with the rivals and produce effective results. Hence, the certification can induce confidence in service managers and improve their capabilities to address the challenges in particular areas.

6. You become a primary contributor to the company’s growth

The competence, capability, and productivity of the employee are enhanced by taking up the ITIL certification. This makes the individual a key contributor to the growth of the organization as they also build better connections within the company. The professional knows to minimize the use of resources and make the process cost-efficient by making the maximal use of resources available. This makes the organization attain sustainable growth as the whole process aims to get better ROI by also considering the risk factors that may be associated.

7. Career Growth

The certification enhances the salary and incentives of the person as it is a globally recognized certification. Many project experts have accepted that their salaries were hiked up to 15% after the completion of the ITIL certification course. Also, the foundation course is a stepping stone to get a higher advanced ITIL course which would increase the salary and the reputation of the professional in the organization.

Other benefits include:
 

• The candidates would know about as professionally valued and systematic process to practice IT operations
   
• The individual can identify, plan, and support IT services in an organization which enhances the effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity of the business.
   
• Professionals can identify and focus on the highest value activities which can help the organization.
   
• The person gets the skills and knowledge to focus on the customer’s user experience rather than spending more time on the technical issues.
   
• The person can reflect on how they used to work and introduced the practices of ITIL to see the differences in work efficiency.

How does the business benefit ITIL professionals?
 

• A standard approach can be used to solve problems related to service delivery and hence, customer satisfaction can be enhanced.
   
• Effective communication can be promoted among the IT professionals
   
• Improved delivery of third-party services
   
• IT costs and assets can be viewed clearly.
   
• Better business outcomes are achieved
   
• Redundant works can be eliminated to improve the utilization of resources
   
• Business risk and service disruption or failure can be handled in a simple manner
   
• Performance indicators are used to maintain the benchmarking and direction of each professional.

Conclusion

The ITIL is a course that is recognized across the world. This indicates that the course holds a certain amount of importance in one’s CV and would help them to grow in their career. If you are an individual who is interested in IT service management and would like to know more about it, the course certainly suits you. The ITIL Foundation course does not require any prerequisites and hence any individual who wants to boost their career can start by taking up this course. We have seen the various benefits of the course, such as inducing confidence and gaining knowledge and skills about various tools and techniques to enhance IT operations. This course could be considered as a start to a journey of IT service management where you can see yourself efficiently handling all the business operations and becoming a key contributor to the growth of the company.