ITIL® 4 Strategist: Direct, Plan, and Improve

by Kishan Tambralli

What is ITIL® 4 Strategist: Direct, Plan, and Improve?

ITIL® 4 Strategist: Direct, Plan, and Improve is a new qualification that reflects the increased importance of strategy in today's digital world. It is for those responsible for creating an effective IT strategy to achieve business outcomes while also managing day-to-day operational delivery.

The focus on strategy has been reinforced by moving from three levels of certification to four levels with this new qualification. The first level is ITIL® Practitioner, which covers service management best practices and processes and a general understanding of how these apply across different contexts - such as process improvement or change management. Whereas the fourth level refers to those who have completed all other levels and can demonstrate significant experience in applying strategic.

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There are three levels in all: Knowledge Expertise Practitioner (KEP) for those with knowledge of the subject matter; Professional Expertise Practitioner (PEP) for those who want to learn more about the process through which businesses should manage their IT services; and finally Advanced Practice Consultant (APC).
The purpose of the framework is to provide organizations with a plan that they can use to manage their service desk.

It has been designed to provide the skills needed to manage service delivery within or across multiple organizations. The program includes three modules: Infrastructure Management, Service Design & Delivery Management, and Knowledge Management. Each module consists of the course content, either online or on-site, at one of our training centers worldwide. These courses are based on best practices from over of experience with IT service management (ITSM) and provide comprehensive coverage of all aspects of ITSM principles, both theory and practice.

3 modules of ITIL 4 Strategist

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Who should attend ITIL®4 Strategist Direct, Plan, and Improve?

ITIL®4 Strategist Direct, Plan, and Improve is a certification from the IT Infrastructure Library that will help you improve service management in an organization. The course provides you with the knowledge of all four lifecycle stages: strategy, planning, implementation, and operation & maintenance. 

Lifecycle Stages of ITIL 4 Strategist

The ITIL®4 Strategist Direct, Plan, and Improve course is for those who are responsible for strategy development. The course will prepare you to plan and execute the service management strategy of an organization by providing knowledge on how to find out what services are available in your environment; determine the best methods to employ based on your needs, resources, culture, and business goals; prioritize initiatives using a strategic framework; develop change plans with clear objectives; establish performance measures (KPIs) that measure progress towards achieving organizational goals; set up metrics systems within Service Management Processes (SPs); create an annual service delivery roadmap aligned with corporate or departmental objectives.

An Overview of the ITIL®4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve:

The ITIL®4 Strategist Direct, Plan, and Improve course will focus on the different objectives of the process. This comprehensive list includes what you need to know to be successful in this role.

  • The strategy management objective ensures that there are processes in place for defining an organization's future direction by developing strategies through identifying opportunities, threats, and issues, establishing strategic goals, creating action plans, and reviewing performance against these goals. 
  • The operational planning objective focuses on developing plans that include people, communication, measures necessary to achieve the desired outcomes of the organization's strategies. 
  • Planning for improvement entails evaluating current performance and making improvements based upon identified gaps between planned and actual results.
    ITIL® is a framework of best practices that helps organizations manage their IT services. The objective of the ITIL® Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve role is to ensure that the organization's strategies are effectively translated into operational plans and improvements are made based upon actual results achieved.

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Key Features:

The key features are: 

  • There is no need for manual data entry - self-explanatory screens guide the user through the process. 
  • Automated workflows take care of dependencies between tasks. This ensures that everything gets done in time and according to priorities. 
  • A dashboard provides real-time visibility into all ongoing projects, including their status, progress, risks, budgeting, and more...
  • The Role Tailored interface gives you a unique view of your organization. For example, you can see each project team's status, budgets, and progress in real-time.

Advantages of ITIL®4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve:

The ITIL ® 4 Strategist Direct, Plan, and Improve exam focuses on directing, planning, and improving the service management lifecycle to achieve business benefits. 

The advantages of the course are:

  • It provides you with a pathway for developing your skills as a Service Manager or an IT Professional.
  • It helps you understand what it takes to succeed in today's competitive global environment.
  • It will help you prepare for leadership roles within organizations that need strong strategy skillsets.
  • It will help you prepare for senior management roles within organizations that need strong strategy skillsets.

Disadvantages of ITIL®4 Strategist Direct, Plan, and Improve:

It is a strategic approach to IT service delivery for the enterprise, emphasizing people, processes, and technology. Some of the disadvantages of this product are as follows:

  • The need for high-level skills to use it successfully.
  • Complexity - the tool is not easy to use or implement.
  • Implementation can take time due to its complexity.
  • There's no flexibility because you have done things their way if you want any results from this system at all.
  • It can't be used outside of one company since it doesn't work well with other ITSM frameworks.
  • Increased cost for training.
  • Increased complexity in implementation, which leads to increased risk.
  • Lack of flexibility.
  • Lack of depth in some areas.

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