Change Enablement is a practice within the ITIL 4 framework that focuses on managing changes to IT services, systems, and infrastructure in a controlled and efficient manner. The primary goal is to minimize the negative impact of changes while maximizing their benefits. This involves assessing, authorizing, and overseeing changes to ensure they are implemented smoothly and successfully. The Importance of Change Enablement Change Enablement is a critical practice for managing the complexities of IT service management. By adopting a structured approach to change, organizations can minimize risks, ensure business continuity, and remain agile in the face of new challenges.  1. Risk Mitigation : Uncontrolled changes can lead to service disruptions, security breaches, and compliance issues. Change Enablement ensures that all changes are carefully evaluated and authorized, reducing the likelihood of negative outcomes. 2. Business Continuity : By managing changes effectively, organiza...

Attending a quality online Instructor-Led Virtual Classroom allows you, the learner, to immerse in material that is presented in a fun, practical manner. This is NOT a Webinar! This is NOT an e-learning self-paced computerized course. You are not on your own! Instructor-Led Virtual Classrooms allow you to : Learn online with a live experienced instructor. Interact in group discussions and activities with others in the class. Engage your instructor with ongoing Q and A throughout. Listen to or share real-world examples. Participate in analyzing sample exam questions with the instructor. Collaborate with chat, open mic, polls, and other interactive tools – VOIP or phone! Learn from; review sessions, videos, workbook activities, study aids, Reference Cards, and more! Benefits Include: Take a class at your home or office – more time for you and yours! Receive materials online – no shipping. No travel, no TSA, stay safe and self-distanced! Less overhead, red...

Donna Knapp is the curriculum development manager for ITSM Academy, where she is responsible for  the development of ITIL course content. By her own admission, it’s a role that indulges her love of learning and passion for sharing her knowledge with others. Gaining the ITIL 4 Master designation is an unexpected outcome to the career path Donna Knapp first set out on. However, she now realizes it’s the culmination of her ITIL journey.  “Early in my career, I was the IT liaison for my organization’s Lean initiatives. At the time, I wasn’t aware of ITIL . Instead, we used IBM’s IT service management framework.” Donna said. “The IBM philosophy was well respected in the IT industry at that time, and dovetailed much of what I was doing in terms of designing and improving our IT service delivery and support processes.” “IBM went on to contribute to the birth of ITIL and by 2005 I was using ITIL as a consultant and educator,” Donna explained. “As I look back, I appreciate that this w...

At ITSM Academy, we take pride in delivering courses that offer a hands-on, experiential approach to learning. Our commitment to practicality is evident in all our classes, where assignments and discussions are designed not only to reinforce examinable terms and concepts but also to provide students with opportunities to apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios. In 2004, the genesis of one of our most popular assignments, "I am the Incident™," took place on the pages of a hotel notepad. This case story-based series of assignments serves as a powerful tool, emphasizing the importance of establishing a common vocabulary and a shared understanding of key practices such as service level management, monitoring and event management, incident management, problem management, and change enablement. In the I am the Incident™ exercise, students are tasked with focusing on a specific service and considering a service level agreement (SLA). Each assignment presents a scenario related...

ITIL ® has long been one of the few professional certifications that did not require holders to re-certify or perform any sort of continuing education to maintain the credential. As of January 2023, that changed. Under PeopleCert's new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program, individuals who hold certain credentials are now required to recertify or record professional development points to keep their certifications in good standing.   PeopleCert , the sole examination institute of ITIL, has designed this program to help candidates show their commitment to continuing professional development and be able to stay ahead in a competitive labor market. By recertifying, individuals can demonstrate their understanding and up-to-date knowledge of best practices to support professional development. Beginning January 2023, all Global Best Practice certifications will need to be renewed after three years. Here are answers to some of the questions you may have: Which certificatio...

By Donna Knapp It’s interesting to see how members of different communities can view a practice so differently. That is currently the case with problem management, the practice of identifying, removing, or mitigating the cause or contributing factors to service disruptions. For the most part, the IT service management (ITSM) community recognizes the value of problem management. They may admittedly struggle to find the time or resources needed to perform the practice. Or they may find it difficult to justify the actions needed to introduce permanent solutions identified as a result of the practice. But they, for the most part, value the practice. Conversely, some members of the DevOps community view problem management, or more specifically, root cause analysis, as a complete waste of time. We’ve found that there are a few common reasons that on the surface make sense, but that have counterpoints worth considering. One reason for the pushback is that the practice of root...

By Donna Knapp Have you ever done business with an organization that liked to brag about all the extras that it provides, but doesn’t get the basics right? To some extent, the accelerated innovation that was sparked by the pandemic fueled this need to focus on the new and shiny. And for some organizations, it is what’s needed to stand out in the crowd, or to compete, or simply to survive. But here is what we know. All the new and shiny in the world can’t make up for a poor customer experience. You cannot sacrifice quality for speed. And a perk here and there can’t overcome the lack of trust that builds up when an organization fails to get the basics right day in and day out. So, what we’ve got to do is strike a balance. A feat that is easier said than done. According to the 2022 State of CIO report, 76% of CIOs say that it’s challenging to find the right balance between business innovation and operational excellence. And yet it is exactly what organizations today need to do… C. All of ...

By Donna Knapp For many organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed one of two ends of a spectrum: poorly defined processes, or overly-rigorous processes. At either end of the spectrum, these organizations likely struggled to adapt as the pandemic impacted our lives. For those with poorly defined processes, things were probably pretty chaotic. For those with overly-rigorous processes, things were most certainly taking way too long. Even organizations with well-defined processes felt, and continue to feel, pressure to speed up the flow of work, minimize toil, and automate processes where possible. To do this, they must develop a culture of continuous improvement and learning. Continuous improvement is an ongoing effort to improve all aspects of an organization; its people, processes, tools, products, services, and experiences… all of which are tightly integrated. Whether improvements are large or small, what matters most is that they are constant. The highest performing organizations a...

By Donna Knapp Look around and it’s likely that many of the organizations that you do business with, and perhaps the company that you work for (or want to work for), are demonstrating a commitment to sustainability. Sustainability has become a top priority for CEOs but what is it? In 1987, the United Nations (UN) defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”   Sustainability is not just environmentalism, although that is an aspect of it. Sustainability is a set of values that are shared by individuals and organizations worldwide who demonstrate their commitment to these values every day through their decisions and actions. Embedded in sustainability we also find concerns for social equity and economic development, as illustrated by the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals . In recent years much of corporate America, including many large multinationals, has signed on to support the s...

Axelos/Peoplecert has released the newest ITIL Specialist course:  Sustainability in Digital & IT .   This course is designed to provide a practical grounding in the key principles of sustainability (as defined in the United Nation’s sustainable development goals ) and then uses the ITIL continual improvement model to introduce methods and models that organizations can use to improve their sustainability. In recent years much of corporate America, including many large multinationals, has signed on to support the sustainable development goals. Investors are also starting to take notice. The movement for ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing is strong and growing, driven by investor demand and regulatory pressure. So strong, that CEOs are starting to take notice. According to a 2021 IBM survey, 37% of CEOs view sustainability as a priority over the next three to four years. According to McKinsey, “In the very near future…[sustainability] will be as funda...

Originally posted on DevClass , June 22,2021 written by Joseph Martins and sponsored by Axelos Experience is everything when it comes to delivering IT-enabled products and services. But it’s no longer about how many deadlines your team smashed, how often you’d exceeded service-level agreements (SLAs), or how many lines of code you’ve spat out. Rather it’s about how the services and products you deliver impact the rest of the organisation’s ability to do their jobs, increase productivity, deliver customer satisfaction and co-create value. “Experience” may be seen as subjective, even ephemeral, compared to the traditional IT metrics, deadlines and SLAs. But if you want proof of its importance, consider how ITIL® 4, the latest revision of the best practice framework for service management from AXELOS, focuses on improving user experience of digital services and how this enhances productivity right across the organisation. Ian Aitchison , VP Product Management at Nexthink, the leader in di...

Most organizations, especially service management organizations, strive to improve themselves. For those of us leveraging the ITIL® best practices, continual improvement is part of our DNA. We are constantly evaluating our organizations and looking for ways to improve. To aid in our improvement goals and underscore one of the major components of the ITIL Service Value System , Continual Improvement .   AXELOS has updated the ITIL Maturity Model and is offering new ITIL Assessment services. This will enable organizations to conduct evaluations and establish baselines to facilitate a continual improvement program. A while back I wrote an article on the importance of conducting an assessment . I explained the need to understand where you are before you can achieve your improvement goals. Understanding where you are deficient, how significant gaps are from your maturity objectives, and prioritizing which areas to focus on first are key to successfully improving. One method many or...