ITIL® Operational Support & Analysis

ITIL® is recognised internationally as the best practice approach to IT Service Management aligning the provision of IT Services with the needs of the business. It is used globally by thousands of organisations throughout the private and public sectors to improve the way in which they implement and manage IT Services.
The ITIL Intermediate Qualification in Operational Support and Analysis (OSA) Certificate is a freestanding qualification but is also part of the ITIL Intermediate Capability stream, and one of the modules that leads to the ITIL Expert Certificate in IT Service Management.
Delegates are expected to understand OSA within the context of their own business environment, have experience of working in a service management capacity and are responsible for at least one of the following management disciplines: event management process, incident management process, request fulfilment process, problem management process, access management process, service desk, technical management, IT operations management or application management.

Audience: Who is the course for?

• Business managers & process owners
• Operational staff involved in the OSA processes & who wish to enhance their role-based capabilities
• Those who require a deeper understanding of the OSA processes and how they may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organisation

Course duration:

Five day. The exam is taken during the fifth day.

Benefits to the individual:

• Recognised professional qualification
• Understand the application of ITIL guidelines and frameworks that contribute to industry best practice
• Helps individuals to understand the Operational Support and Analysis processes and how they may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organisation.
• Pre-requisite module for ITIL Expert certification in IT Service Management

Benefits to the business:

• The adoption and application of proven best practice processes results in improved IT services and increased productivity throughout the business
• Improved customer satisfaction and less down time through quicker fixes
• Better process management leads to increased efficiency and reduced costs
• The framework is flexible, scalable, and systematic and can be used within different organisations irrespective of size or industry

Prerequisites:

Delegates must hold the ITIL Foundation Certificate. In addition, it is recommended that before the course, delegates read the ITIL Service Lifecycle core publications, particularly Service Operation. Delegates will also need to undertake 12 hours of self-study reviewing course materials & key areas of Service Operation to prepare for the exam.

Course outline:

The objectives of this course are:

• To give delegates an in-depth understanding of the Operational Support and Analysis processes and how they may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organisation
• To enable delegates to apply the practices of Operational Support and Analysis

The course is conducted through interactive group study using practical examples and activities. An in-depth case study allows delegates to see how the theory is applied in a real life situation. Over the five day course, the following topics are covered.

Introduction to operational support and analysis

• The value to the business of OSA activities
• The lifecycle within the OSA context
• Optimising service operation performance

Event management

• The event management process inclusive of its design strategy, components, activities and operation including its organisational structure, as well as any interfaces with other processes
• Efficient event management and provision of examples showing how it is used to ensure service quality within OSA
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from event management.

Incident management

• The incident management process inclusive of its components, activities and operation including its organisational structure, as well as any interfaces with other processes
• The measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support incident management within OSA practices
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from incident management

Request fulfilment

• The request fulfilment process inclusive of its components, activities and operation including its organisational structure, as well as any interfaces with other processes
• The measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support incident management within OSA practices
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from request fulfilment as related to OSA

Problem management

• The end-to-end process flow for problem management inclusive of problem analysis techniques, error detection, components, activities and operation including its organisational structure, as well as any interfaces with other processes
• A measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support problem management within OSA practices
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from problem management.

Access management

• The end-to-end process flow for access management process inclusive of components, activities and operation including its organisational structure, as well as any interfaces with other processes
• A measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support access management within OSA practices
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from access management as related to OSA

The service desk

• The complete end-to-end process flow for the service desk function inclusive of design strategy, components, activities and operation, as well as any interfaces with other processes or lifecycle phases
• The service desk validation components and activities and how these test components are used to ensure service quality within OSA
• A measurement model and the metrics that would be used to support the service desk function within OSA practices.

Functions and Roles

• The end-to-end process flow for OSA functions (i.e. technical management, IT operations management, and applications management) inclusive of design strategy, objectives, components, activities, roles and operation including its organisational structure, as well as any interfaces with other processes
• The roles within each OSA process and generic roles
• The benefits and business value that can be gained from functions as related to OSA.

Technology and implementation considerations

• Technology requirements for service management tools and where/how they would be used within OSA for process implementation
• What best practices should be used in order to alleviate challenges and risks when implementing service management technologies

Exam details:

The 90 minute closed book exam consists of eight multiple choice, scenario-based, gradient scored questions. Each question will have four possible answer options – one is worth five marks, one is worth three marks, one is worth one mark and one is an incorrect answer worth no marks. The pass mark is 28/40 or 70%.

 ITIL Operation Support & Analysis Course Description

ITIL official glossary