ITIL® Capability Release Control and Validation

The course is aimed at IT professionals who wish to develop specific, related key ITSM capabilities. This is achieved through acquiring a deeper, working understanding of how key aspects of service transition are practicably put into place across the Service Lifecycle. The course will help individuals understand the specifics of process integration, the roles and responsibilities performed by the key functions, together with an understanding of the impact of business change on the successful planning, management and release of IT services.

The Service Capability series is focused on role based clusters in a modular set, each with a certification. Each cluster contains groupings of processes and roles from within Service Management, intended to offer candidates a balanced knowledge of ITIL practices which have direct interaction and dependencies in their daily use.

This Release Control and Validation module focusses on:

• Change Management
• Service Asset and Configuration Management
• Service Release and Deployment Management
• Service Validation and Testing
• Knowledge Management
• Service Evaluation

Candidates completing the course can expect to gain an understanding of Release, Control & Validation (RCV) and its importance to the provision of service and the achievement of operational excellence.

This includes:

• competency in the principles, objectives, processes, activities, methods & functions employed within RCV and how they interact with the rest of the Lifecycle
• an appreciation of the technology considerations for RCV
• an awareness of the implementation considerations for RCV
• insight into the operational challenges, risks and critical success factors associated with RCV
• recognition of how to measure RCV
• realisation of the importance of IT Security and its contribution to RCV

Who will the course benefit?

• Individuals who require a detailed understanding of Release, Control & Validation and how it may be implemented to enhance the quality of IT service provision within an organisation
• operational staff involved in Change Management, Release & Deployment Management, Service Validation & Testing, Service Asset & Configuration Management, Request Fulfilment, Service Evaluation and Knowledge Management, who wish to enhance their role-based capabilities
• IT professionals operating as Service Improvement stakeholders within an ITIL aligned organisation
• individuals seeking the ITIL Expert certification in IT Service Management

This includes but is not limited to IT Professionals, IT Operational Practitioners, Business Managers and Process Owners.

Pre-Requisites

Candidates wishing to be trained and examined for this qualification must already hold the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management (the V3 Foundation or v2 Foundation plus Bridge Certificate). Please note that documentary evidence of this qualification and photographic ID will be required prior to sitting the examination. It is also strongly recommended that candidates be able to demonstrate a familiarity with IT terminology and understand the context of Release, Control & Validation management in their own business environment In addition it is suggested that candidates have some experience of working in a service management capacity within a service provider environment, with responsibility relating to at least one of the ITIL processes of Change, Release, Configuration, Service Evaluation, Service Validation & Testing, Quality Assurance or Knowledge Management.

Introduction to Release, Control & Validation (RCV)

• service as a concept (the role of utilities, warranties, capabilities & resources)
• service as a value proposition & value composition
• the ITIL processes, functions and roles
• the RCV processes and how they interact across Lifecycle
• the value to the business
  

Change Management

• the purpose, goal, objectives and scope of the process
• the business value of the process
• process policies, design and planning considerations
• change requests
• the activities of managing changes
• the process triggers, inputs, outputs and interfaces
• measuring change
• day-to-day change management operational activities
• the relationship between CSI and organisational change
  

Service Asset & Configuration Management

• the purpose, goal, objectives and scope of the process
• the business value of the process
• process policies and basic concepts
• the process activities
• the Configuration Management System (CMS)
• measuring the process
• day-to-day configuration management operational activities
  

Service Validation & Testing

• the purpose, goal, objectives and scope of the process
• the business value of the process
• process policies and basic concepts
• test models & validation conditions
• test data and test environments
• measuring the process
  

Release & Deployment Management

• the purpose, goal, objectives and scope of the process
• the business value of the process
• process policies, basic concepts, design and planning considerations
• implementation planning
• the activities of transfer, deployment, retirement, verification and early life support
• the process triggers, inputs, outputs and interfaces
• recording deployment information
• challenges, risks and critical success factors for the process
  

Request Fulfilment

• the purpose and scope of the process
• establishing a self-help practice
• the relationship of the process to Release and Incident Management
• challenges, risks and critical success factors for the process
  

Service Evaluation

• the purpose, goal, objectives and scope of the process
• process terminology
• effects of change and evaluation of effectiveness
• challenges for the process
  

Knowledge Management

• the purpose, goal, objectives and scope of the process
• the business value of the process
• DIKW
• process strategy & practical techniques
• data and information management
• stakeholder support
• measuring the value of the process
• day-to-day change management operational activities
• the relationship with CSI
  

Roles & Responsibilities

• the key roles / functions responsible for executing each process step
  

Technology & Implementation Considerations

• generic requirements
• evaluation criteria for technology and tools
• how to implement Service Management technologies
• practices for process implementation
• the Deming Cycle
• challenges, critical success factors & risks of implementation
  

Examinations

The training includes detailed preparation for the examination which will be held at the end of Day Five.

A 90 minute, multiple choice paper featuring eight scenario-based, gradient scored questions.

Each question will have 4 possible answer options, one of which is worth 5 marks (the 'correct' answer), one which is worth 3 marks, one which is worth 1 mark, and one which is a distracter and achieves no marks.

In order to qualify for a pass, candidates must achieve a minimum of 28/40 (70%).