The Foundation Bridge Class Moves to Two Days

Based on the advice of the Foundation Syllabus Review team that met in late 2008, the required syllabus hours for V2/V3 Foundation Bridge course will be increased to 9.5 hours, effective May, 2009. The result will be a two day Foundation Bridge course instead of the current single day. I am extremely supportive of this decision because it will better meet the needs of our learners, both from a certification and knowledge perspective. We want individuals and organizations who have already invested in ITIL V2 education to explore and leverage the new processes and lifecycle context from ITIL V3. However, we want them to gain that knowledge in a meaningful way, not just as a means to pass an exam. Now they can.

While our pass rates for Foundation Bridge have been very high, we have been concerned about the standard of the one day course. At ITSM Academy, we have never been "all about the certification". The one day structure crams a lot of information into a short span of time, with little to no time to assimilate the materials or study for the exam. The two day course allows for a better pace, a night to study, and an opportunity for practical advice, dialogue and exercises. Learner feedback repeatedly recommends spreading the material over more time.

Similarly, the one day Bridge course has not effectively prepared learners for Intermediate courses. Our instructors have noticed that learners entering the Intermediate courses (Lifecycle or Capability) with Foundation Bridge certification have not been as prepared as those who completed the full V3 Foundation course. The two day format will allow more time for assimilation and improve a learner's success in advanced courses - while also respecting their V2 Foundation knowledge and existing certification.

So, if our learners can have a better experience, get certified and come away with actionable V3 knowledge, why wait until May? At ITSM Academy, we have decided to move to a two day Foundation Bridge format, effectively immediately. And the best news is that, for a limited time, we are happy to offer the higher quality two day course at the one day price.

Continual Service Improvement

The first certification course focused on Continual Service Improvement (CSI) will rollout on March 2-4 at ITSM Academy. This three day course is part of the ITIL V3 Lifecycle stream and is culled from the ITIL publication of the same name.

With so many Intermediate courses to release, our Curriculumn Development team examined what process education was already available in some form and what critical aspects were not yet being well covered. While there are many courses available that cover the common processes of Incident, Problem, Service Desk, Change Release and Configuration, there has been a lack of formal education on CSI.

Our experience with ITSM implementations indicates that organizations usually have or gain the skills necessary to implement and execute key processes. What seems to be lacking is the knowledge of how to define, measure and use process data to sustain and improve service quality. Continual Service Improvement is a running theme throughout ITIL, MOF and ISO/IEC 20000. In the famous line from Nike - there is no finish line!

So we have decided to begin our Lifecycle series with the stage that encompasses the entire Service Lifecycle - CSI. It is our hope and intent that in doing so, our learners will enter other Capability and Lifecycle courses already equipped with the core CSI skills needed to manage, execute and improve any process or lifecycle stage.

For more information about the CSI Lifecycle Certification course, please visit http://www.itsmacademy.com/Detail.bok?no=118