Benefits of ITIL 4 for CIOs
Blog: Good eLearning
These days, the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) is inextricably linked to corporate strategy and value creation. Digital and technological elements cannot be separated from corporate concerns, and CIOs must be able to optimize the efficiency of IT while also governing it in a way that aligns with high-tier business goals. This requires not only the right hardware and tools, but also IT team members with the right skills and experience.
ITIL, previously known as the ‘Information Technology Infrastructure Library’, is an IT service management (ITSM) framework created by AXELOS. The latest iteration, ITIL 4, offers a systematic yet flexible approach to ITSM that focuses on continually optimizing IT services. It approaches this in terms of both IT management and IT strategic leadership, and is modernized and adaptable enough to even incorporate other approaches such as DevOps and Lean.
By investing in ITIL 4 training for both themselves and staff, CIOs can enjoy a variety of benefits related to efficiency, collaboration, risk management, and more. The ITIL framework not only enables solid management but also ensures that IT is doing all it can to keep stakeholders, customers, and clients happy.
With that in mind, let’s look at the biggest benefits of ITIL 4 for CIOs.
Brass tacks optimization
The first thing worth mentioning about ITIL 4 is its proven value as an IT service management framework. Organizations across the world work with ITIL practitioners to establish and enhance IT operations with optimized productivity, efficiency, collaboration, and adaptability.
Not only does it help CIOs get their teams fighting fit, it also fosters a mindset geared towards continuous improvement. Replacing time-consuming or wasteful processes and sharing data throughout the IT service lifecycle leads to frequent cost reductions while also enhancing enterprise agility and growth potential.
With its holistic yet flexible approach, ITIL 4 can be adopted by virtually any organization that uses IT to deliver products and services. Even for businesses that already utilize alternative IT frameworks, such as COBIT 2019 or Lean, ITIL 4 training can offer unique, actionable insight that leads to tangible value creation.
An organic community
The global ITSM community played a key part in the development of ITIL 4 and its optimization as a modern IT framework. ITIL practitioners and their feedback helped to shape the framework and will continue to do so with AXELOS vetting feedback from experts on the front lines of ITSM. AXELOS even announced ‘My ITIL’, an online networking resource to connect practitioners and provide them with fresh insight.
The advantages of this are twofold. Firstly, CIOs can be sure that ITIL 4 offers actionable insight, tools, and best practices based on top-tier expertise. The sheer diversity of the ITIL 4 syllabus empowers continuous delivery, the planning and development of new services, change management, and almost anything else a CIO may need to prioritize. Secondly, a company with ITIL 4 practitioners on staff can rely on them to continuously incorporate new feedback and insight from the wider practitioner community.
An important thing to keep in mind here is that the practitioner community can also be extremely helpful to ITIL 4 students. If a CIO is interested in their employees focusing on aspects such as integrating ITIL 4 with other frameworks or prioritizing certain value-generating processes over others, they will find no shortage of videos, blogs, whitepapers, and other free online training assets to help them along.
Diverse skill sets
The diversity of its certification path has always been a major advantage of the ITIL framework. V4 is no exception, with students having five intermediate modules to choose from. These options can suit different specializations, as well as different positions and levels of authority within an IT department.
For example, certain managers and executives can benefit from studying the ITIL Strategic Leader (SL) stream, while others will have more to gain from the Managing Professional (MP) modules. This also means that students with a variety of skills and backgrounds will have areas of familiarity within the ITIL 4 certification path. With ITIL 4 Foundation being mandatory, all students will also have a solid understanding of the framework’s terminology and general practices, greatly enhancing collaboration between practitioners.
For CIOs who already have ITIL V3 certified practitioners in-house, ITIL 4 also offers a path for updating their skillsets. The ITIL 4 Managing Professional (MP) Transition module was specifically designed for ITIL V3 Expert certification holders, as well as anyone who has already gained 17 V3 credits. By taking the ITIL MPT exam, practitioners can update their qualifications in a fraction of the time.
The benefits of becoming an ITIL Master
ITIL Master certification can be the ultimate career stepping stone for an IT manager. It demonstrates a candidate’s familiarity with all elements of the ITIL 4 framework, as well as their ability to apply it in practice. An ITIL 4 Master can establish and enhance ITIL cultures in any business that utilizes IT to create value, and the qualification is always in high demand.
Earning the ITIL Management Professional or ITIL Strategic Leader qualifications can be similarly advantageous, with certified practitioners often enjoying enhanced career prospects and higher-paying salaries.
It is worth pointing out that the career advantages of ITIL 4 are not only relevant on an individual level. Being more motivated in terms of their own benefits will make candidates more likely to succeed with ITIL certification exams. They will also need to gain experience utilizing ITIL in order to unlock higher certification levels, so they will be eager to apply what they learn in their own positions. This is just another way the value of ITIL 4 training outweighs the costs for businesses as well as individuals.
Alignment with business
A key element of creating value with IT is alignment. A CIO needs to be capable of not only creating IT services that support strategic goals but also ensuring that technology is suitably integrated into strategic decision-making.
The structure of ITIL 4 is designed to enhance the alignment of services with corporate goals. Services are developed and managed as part of a completely tangible end-to-end system. This clarity makes it easier to scrutinize and improve the focus of different elements. At the same time, it can also make it easier for CIOs to justify investments in improvement initiatives in purely strategic terms.
Reliable compliance
In terms of value creation and retention, to say nothing of PR, compliance has become a key feature of IT governance and management. Companies must comply with regulations such as the GDPR to avoid fines and scrutiny while also ensuring that elements like security and data protection meet customer expectations.
The transparency of ITIL 4 pipelines does an excellent job of supporting compliance. Continuous targets ensure that goals are always being met. At the same time, the clear metrics that empower ongoing improvement make it easy to scrutinize compliance-essential processes such as security and testing.
It is worth keeping in mind that this kind of security blanket can greatly enhance the overall appeal of a company’s offering. As we said earlier, compliance relates directly to customer and client expectations, and continuously meeting targets can give businesses a competitive advantage.
Why study ITIL 4 with Good e-Learning?
Good e-Learning is an award-winning online training provider, as well as a fully accredited Market Leader for ITIL training. We prepare our courses to give students a practical understanding of how to apply what they learn while also making sure they can pass their exams in just one attempt.
We work with subject matter experts to deliver highly engaging training resources, including instructor-led videos, practice exams, whitepapers, and even downloadable materials for studying offline. Students can access our courses via the free Go.Learn app, and our support team is fully qualified to answer questions on syllabus content. When a student is ready, they can also contact us to request a FREE exam voucher, as well as FREE resits via Exam Pledge.
Want to find out more? Visit the Good e-Learning website or contact a member of our team today!
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