Top 10 Books to Read; for the ITIL Foundation Certification
In today's time, we talk about business and technology together. Nobody can deny the fact that without technology, it is almost impossible to stay competitive in the market. If a company wants to go up in the market, they need to enhance their IT capabilities and evolve their corporate objectives as well. This process is not as easy as it sounds, but we have to go through it for a better future. This is not an overnight change we are talking about here. We can only develop IT services of an organization if it is driven by the awareness of the current processes and management. And if it is not an internally driven change, then IT service management (ITSM) will only be a waste of time and effort. It will not move you up in the market but let you down, giving competitors a chance to lure the consumer market.
If we talk about the information technology infrastructure library (ITIL), it is a compilation of practices that most of the biggest companies like NASA, IBM, and HSBC use. Startlingly, it was a set of books and was designed to let the world know about the standard procedures for good IT management. It helps business people to avoid the most common mistakes so that they can deliver the best quality services. ITIL has the design in which there are modules and levels, that cover things from start to end. To be precise, from service strategies to continuous improvement. These are the things that prepare professionals mentally for all the upcoming changes in IT infrastructures. This helps to make sure the best productivity and business goes up as well. It also gives customers a pleasing experience.
What is ITIL?
Information technology infrastructure library (ITIL), as the name implies, is a library of the framework that describes the best practices about how to deliver IT services. It is a framework of IT service management that is used by most of the big companies in the world. It has directions for organizations that describe how to utilize IT as a tool that encourages change and transformation in business. There is one goal, to achieve a level of predictable service and to improve efficiency. It can only be done by enhancing the performance yo the extreme level. It is owned by Axelos, and the Central Computer and Telecommunication Agency (CCTA) of United Kingdon developed it in the 1980s.
The lifecycle of ITIL consists of five phases, and each of them contains policies, processes, and supporting principles.
- Service Strategy
In this phase, the focus is to define services as a strategy and how to implement and maintain a deliberate strategy. All the business processes, compliance, corporate governance, policies, and decision-making are addressed by service strategy to make sure that business is on the right track of service improvement.
- Service Design
In this phase, all the business management processes like availability, capacity, and service level are assessed, just to design the new services and to improve the existing ones.
- Service Transition
In this phase, the transition from the development phase to the production operations takes place. It also includes all the testing process and quality control.
- Service Operation
In this phase, we oversee the management of all the services that are in production. All the service operations are addressed in this phase, such as access management, event management, incident response, the helpdesk support, and the lifecycle of applications.
- Continuous Service Improvement
In this phase, we try to look for the new requirements for all the previous stages of ITIL. It is based on operational feedback and customer feedback. It helps to make sure that all the policies are followed the way they were supposed to be. And by doing this, we can make the existing and future services better.
How to Prepare for ITIL Foundation
There is a lot of hard work one has to do if he wants to go for a certification. The same scenario is with the ITIL foundation. But there are some ways to prepare yourself that will give you success. Let's look into them.
- The practice is what is going to make you perfect for the exam. You have to practice for the exam with the same pattern that will be in the exam. This is how you will be familiar with it. And, when you are taking those practice tests, keep the time constraints in mind.
- You should always take some time to understand the material for the ITIL foundation certification because it is an important thing. It is the only way you will be able to understand the question and then answer it accurately.
- Lifecycle and modules are two very significant things in ITIL, so make sure you have mastered both of them well. At the intermediate level, we study each part of the lifecycle and every module individually. It depends on which ITIL foundation certification you are going for, and you prepare according to that.
- Make sure to memorize all the keywords as they are essential for ITIL. There are multiple keywords in ITIL, such as service strategy, service design, service transition, service level agreements, and operational level agreements. In ITIL, some keywords link with some other keyword. And, one more thing, you should only keep ITIL in mind when taking the test. All the previous experiences should not influence your answers.
Top 10 Books for ITIL Foundation
Books are the best way to study and to learn something. You can find books that have helped millions to pass the certification exams. There are some books for ITIL certifications as well. Let's look into the top 10 books.
- ITIL 4 foundation exam study
- ITIL foundation exam study guide
- Foundations of ITIL
- ITIL 4 exam study guide
- Passing you ITIL foundation exam
- Foundations of IT service management with ITIL
- ITIL Lite
- Measuring ITIL
- ITIL foundation handbook
- Introduction to the ITIL service lifecycle