ITIL® Service Offering & Agreements Capability Module

ITIL® is recognised internationally as the best practice approach to IT Service Management aligning the provision of IT Services with the needs of the business. It is used globally by thousands of organisations throughout the private and public sectors to improve the way in which they implement and manage IT Services.

The ITIL intermediate qualification in Service Offerings and Agreements (SOA) is a freestanding qualification, but is also part of the ITIL Intermediate Capability stream, and one of the modules that leads to the ITIL Expert Certificate in IT Service Management.

Audience: Who is the course for?

• Business managers & process owner
• Those who require a deeper understanding of SOA processes and of how it may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organisation
• Operational staff involved in the management of service portfolio, service levels, service catalogue, demand, suppliers, financial management for IT services & business relationships

Course duration:

Five day (the exam is normally taken during the afternoon of the fifth day)

Benefits to the individual:

• Recognised professional qualification
• Understand the application of ITIL guidelines and frameworks that contribute to industry best practice
• Helps individuals to understand the Service Offerings and Agreements processes and how they may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organisation
• Pre-requisite module for ITIL Expert certification in IT Service Management

Benefits to the business:

• The adoption and application of proven best practice processes results in improved IT services and increased productivity throughout the business
• Improved customer satisfaction and less down time through quicker fixes
• Better process management leads to increased efficiency and reduced costs
• The framework is flexible, scalable, systematic and can be used within different organisations irrespective of size or industry

Pre-requisites:

Delegates must hold the ITIL Foundation Certificate. It is recommended that, before the course, delegates read the ITIL Service Lifecycle core publications, particularly Service Strategy & Service Design. Delegates will also need to undertake 12 hours of self-study reviewing course materials & key areas of particularly Service Strategy & Service Design to prepare for the exam.

Course outline:

The objectives of this course are:

• To give delegates an in-depth understanding of the Service Offerings and Agreements processes and how they may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organisation
• To enable delegates to apply the practices of Service Offerings and Agreements

This qualification enables delegates to apply SOA practices to the service management lifecycle and specifically in the following key ITIL process, role and function areas:

• Service portfolio management
• Service catalogue management
• Service level management
• Demand management
• Supplier management
• Financial management for IT services
• Business relationship management
• This course also introduces and explores the implementation of SOA practices, as well as technology considerations

Prior to attending this course, delegates are expected to understand the context of SOA in their business environment and have responsibility for at least one of the management processes listed above.

The course is conducted through interactive group study using practical examples and activities. An in-depth case study allows delegates to see how the theory is applied in a real life situation. Over the five day course, the following topics are covered.

Introduction to service offerings and agreements (SOA)

• The value to the business of SOA activities
• The lifecycle within the SOA context
• How services deliver value to customers and the business and the relevance to the SOA processes
• How requirements are identified through the SOA processes
• Understanding return on investment (ROI) and the business case

Service portfolio management

• Service portfolio management, including concepts, methods, activities, roles and operation as well as its organisational structure and the interfaces with other processes
• Service portfolio management in relationship to the service catalogue and service pipeline and how these support SOA
• Metrics and critical success factors (CSFs) associated with service portfolio management in support of SOA

Service catalogue management

• Service catalogue management, including its concepts, activities, roles and operation as well as its organisational structure and the interfaces with other processes
• Service catalogue in relationship to the service portfolio, the business catalogue, the technical service catalogue and how these components are used to ensure service quality within SOA
• Metrics and CSFs associated with service catalogue management in support of SOA

Service level management

• Service level management (SLM), including its concepts, activities, roles and operation as well as its organisational structure and any interfaces with other processes
• SLM components and activities, including service level agreements (SLAs) structures, service level requirements (SLRs), operational level agreements (OLAs), CSFs, underpinning contracts (UCs), their metrics, performance and monitoring
• How these components are used to ensure service quality within SOA

Demand management

• Demand management process, including its concepts, activities, roles and operation as well as its organisational structure and any interfaces with other processes
• Demand for services especially in relation to patterns of business activity and how it is used within SOA
• Service portfolio interaction with demand management and how demand can be managed for service in relation to providing business benefits and in support of SOA
• Metrics and CSFs associated with demand management in support of SOA

Supplier management

• Supplier management process inclusive of its concepts, activities, roles and operation including its organisational structure as well as any interfaces with other processes
• Supplier management components and activities (for example supplier categorisation, supplier evaluation, supplier and contract database, metrics and CSFs) and how these are used to ensure service quality within SOA

Financial Management for IT services

• Financial management for IT services, including its concepts, activities, roles and operation as well as its organisational structure and any interfaces with other processes
• Financial management for IT services components and activities, including budgeting, accounting and charging and how these are used to ensure service quality within SOA
• Metrics and CSFs associated with financial management for IT services in support of SOA

Business relationship management

• Business relationship management, including its concepts, activities, roles and operation as well as its organisational structure and any interfaces with other processes
• Metrics and CSFs associated with business relationship management in support of SOA

SOA roles and responsibilities

• The roles and responsibilities related to all of the SOA processes

Technology and implementation considerations

• Service management tools and where/how they would be used within SOA for process implementation
• The tools that support SOA
• What best practices should be used in order to alleviate challenges and risks when implementing Service Management technologies and designing technology architectures

Exam details:

The 90 minute closed book exam consists of eight multiple choice, scenario-based, gradient scored questions. Each question will have four possible answer options – one is worth five marks, one is worth three marks, one is worth one mark and one is an incorrect answer worth no marks.The pass mark is 28/40 or 70%.

 ITIL Service Offerings & Agreements Course Description

ITIL official glossary