ITIL® 4 Strategist: Direct, Plan and Improve

This course provides IT leaders, practitioners and support staff with the practical skills necessary to create a ‘learning and improving’ IT organization, with a strong and effective strategic direction. It provides practitioners with a practical and strategic method for planning and delivering continual improvement with the necessary agility. The course is based on the ITIL 4 best practice service value system featured in the latest 2019 guidelines. 

This course is designed to provide the candidate with the practical skills necessary to create a ‘learning and improving’ IT organisation, with a strong and effective strategic direction.

While some topics are specialist in nature, others are valuable to all practitioners. Regardless of organisational role, everyone has authority, even if it is limited to personal direction.

Everyone should plan. And everyone should be contributing to, if not leading, improvement.

This course explores and explains principles, methods and techniques that can be universally used to direct, plan and improve.

This course will also provide practitioners with a practical and strategic method for planning and delivering continual improvement with the necessary agility.

• Understand the following key terms:
  • Direction
  • Planning
  • Improvement
  • Operating Model
  • Methods
  • Risks
  • Scope of control
• Understand the differences between the following key concepts:
  • Vision and Mission
  • Strategy, Tactics and Operations
  • Governance compliance and management
  • Policies, Controls and Guidelines
• Understand the concepts of Value, Outcomes, Costs & Risks and their relationships to direction, planning & improvement
• Identify the scope of control and within this:
  • Know how to cascade goals and requirements
  • Know how to define effective policies, controls and guidelines
  • Know how to place decision-making authority at the correct level
• Know how to ensure that controls are sufficient, but not excessive
• Know how to use the ITIL continual improvement model to improve the service value system or any part of the SVS
• Know how to identify assessment objectives, outputs, requirements and criteria
• Know how to select an appropriate assessment method for a particular situation
• Know how to define and prioritize desired outcomes of an improvement
• Know how to build, justify and advocate for a business case
• Know how to conduct:
  • Improvement reviews
  • Analysis of lessons learned
• Know how to embed continual improvement at all levels of the SVS
• Understand the nature, scope and potential benefits of organizational change management
• Know how to use the key principles and methods of Communication & OCM
  • Identify and manage different types of stakeholders
  • Effectively communicate with and influence others
  • Establish effective feedback channels
• Know how to establish effective interfaces across the value chain
• Know how to define indicators and metrics to support objectives
• Understand the differences between value streams and practices and how those differences impact direction, planning and improvement
• Know how to select and use the appropriate methods and techniques to direct, plan and improve value streams and practices.
  • Addressing the 4 dimensions
  • Applying the guiding principles
  • Value stream mapping
  • Optimization of workflow
  • Elimination of waste
  • Ensuring & utilizing feedback

Candidates must hold the ITIL 4 Foundation certificate.

(*Classroom Courses only)

Teas, Coffees, Refreshments and a full Lunch*

Pre-course reading materials

The Exam fees

• Individuals continuing of their journey in service management
• ITSM managers and aspiring ITSM managers
• Managers of all levels involved in shaping direction and strategy or developing a continually improving team