Passing your ITIL Intermediate Exams – Publication Review by Dwight Kayto, President of Art of Change
When 'Passing your ITIL Intermediate exams' came out I was quite pleased to see such a book become available to help those attending the intermediate courses. As an accredited trainer I know firsthand the additional level of difficulty students' face in these courses. I hoped the book would be useful and to cut to the chase let me say I highly recommend it.
Given there are nine intermediate courses I was curious as to how the book would approach covering them all. I couldn't have been more pleased with the approach and contents. Authors Taylor (formerly Tarin) and Lacy have done a superb job of creating a document that would substantially benefit anyone taking or teaching these courses. While the book begins by describing how it can be used to aid planning, studying, learning and review, I feel that even for general interest and as a reference, this book should prove to be useful time and again.
The book describes how to prepare to take an intermediate training course and provides an approach to learning. I would say that besides purely learning the materials on an intermediate course, knowing how to prepare and learn the material and prepare for the exam is extremely important. Instructors are now required to hold the certificate for any course they teach so at least you can be sure your instructor has taken the exam you will take. They should also be able to advise you on how to prepare and approach the course. Given that you will have lots to learn and remember in the course content, you may not remember all the good advice so having this book will definitely help. A case study and exam prep round out the beginning chapters.
Chapters six to eleven cover introductory concepts, principles, processes, common activities, organizing for service management, technology and implementation and improvement. These sections have a wealth of information about ITIL V3 and more than just providing information, the authors have written the book in a way that will develop your knowledge and competence. Each chapter ends with practice questions which help build your knowledge, competence and confidence.
The remaining chapters each cover one of the five lifecycle and four capability courses providing sample questions, answers and rationale for the answers. Additional topics include key principles, processes, roles, implementation and technology considerations.
In summary, this book can be used for all the intermediate exams. This plus the quality of writing and structure of the book make it invaluable, in my opinion, for anyone pursuing the intermediate certifications. As I also mentioned, it is a great reference book as well. Shirley Lacy, Candace Taylor (formerly Tarin) and the OGC are to be commended for producing this book.
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