ITIL, which stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is a framework and approach for IT service management. It covers the process of providing IT services to a business, and certifications are offered in this area to enhance the knowledge of other IT professionals. Let’s take a look at some benefits of an ITIL certification.
5 Levels of Certification
Similar to other certifications and providers, there are multiple levels of certification. They range from beginner to advanced, which helps you increase your knowledge and get deeper into the framework if you are interested or required to. The five levels are:
- Foundation – the first level, which includes terminology and how the process is implemented in a business.
- Practitioner – It has been developed to provide a step between Foundation and the Intermediate Level
- Intermediate – the next level up from practitioner , which includes several different streams and is more advanced than Foundation.
- Expert – allows you to understand the entire ITIL framework in detail.
- Master – uses deep knowledge and a lot of experience, and is targeted towards those involved in the planning side of ITIL for a business.
ITIL Processes Help Businesses
One of the benefits of an ITIL certification is that it is related to a process that helps businesses. The ITIL framework has been claimed and proven to increase IT efficiency, reduce costs, and increase management ability for an organization. Knowing the ITIL framework can help you suggest ideas or make plans in your team or organization on how to improve certain processes.
Companies Look for ITIL Qualified Employees
Employers mention ITIL as a desired certification for many roles, and for some it is a required certification. A quick search of some job websites indicates that several roles can benefit from having an ITIL certification:
- Programme & Project Management
- Help Desk & IT Support
- Networks & Systems Administration
- Management
- Consultants
- Database Development & Administration
- Business/Systems Analysts
- Security
- Architects
- Developers/Programmers
- Engineering – Network
- Engineering – Hardware
- Engineering – Software
- Web Development & Production
- Team Leaders
Employers are realising the benefits of ITIL and the certifications that come with it. Even though it’s primarily targeted towards those involved in help desk or support work, all kinds of roles, as mentioned above, can benefit from it. So, one of the benefits of an ITIL certification is that it improves your marketability to other types of roles in the IT industry.
Benefits of an ITIL Certification – Increase Your IT Service Management Knowledge
Obtaining an ITIL certification, even if it’s the Foundation level, will increase your knowledge in IT service management. Studying the course material, and being tested in an exam environment will ensure you know more than the average person about this area.
This can help you get a job in the field, such as in the help desk or support area of IT.
It can also be useful for IT Project managers, who are involved in service management. Even though the PMP or Prince2 certifications are more commonly linked to project management, the ITIL certifications can be very useful as well.
Also, if you don’t work in any of these roles, the ITIL certifications can still be valuable. It increases your knowledge and can help you do your job better as a developer, network administrator, team leader, or many other kinds of roles.
Do you have your ITIL certification? What benefits of an ITIL certification have you found?