ITIL Series

Hello -

This is the first in a series of communications to help us all become ITIL Foundations certified.

Please let me know if you would like to be removed from the mailing list.

This initial email will cover the basics of ITIL Foundations Certification and conclude with an ITIL question that will help us prepare for the ITIL Foundations Certification examination. The next email will answer the question with some discussion and pose the next question.

What is ITIL?

ITIL is Information Technology Infrastructure Library. It is comprised of 7 books that describe best practices for IT infrastructure management. It has its beginnings around 1986. The first books were published in 1989.

This is not an IBM owned or controlled library.

Why is ITIL certification important?

We live in a credentialed society. Certification is a credential. Many customers, especially in Europe and South America, expect certification in many areas among the people with whom they conduct business.

What does it mean to be ITIL Foundations Certified?

A person who is ITIL Foundations certified is a person who has passed the 40 question multiple choice ITIL Foundations certification examination with a minimum of 26 correct answers. As with ITIL itself, the test is not owned or administered by IBM.

How do I prepare for the ITIL Foundations certification examination?

See http://w3-03.ibm.com/software/tivoli/home.nsf/salestools/area1$Tivoli+Support+and+Services$Roadmap+for+Skills+Development+-+ITIL for "Roadmap for Foundational Skills Development - IT Infrastructure Library ITIL"

This site (as of 07/18/05) will show these options (summarized below):

Path 1. Course SM2i0.

Path 2. TTEC:GO ITIL Overview of Tivoli PRISM, TTEC:GO ITIL 5 Services Delivery Process

Path 3. Six on-line courses with practice examinations1. ITIL: The Service Desk and Incident Management (CUST0181), 3.5 hours 2. ITIL: Configuration and Release Management (CUST0182), 3.0 hours 3. ITIL: Service Level and Capacity Management (CUST0183), 2.5 hours 4. ITIL: Problem and Change Management (CUST0184), 2.5 hours 5. ITIL: Continuity and Availability Management (CUST0185), 2.5 hours 6. ITIL: Financial and Security Management (CUST0186), 2.0 hours

There are some traditional classroom courses from a non-IBM vendor that conclude with the examination. These normally need to be scheduled and may cost green dollars. There are also some TEC sessions that one may attend. Mike Rock (IBM) has taught a course for IBM people.

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Update 08/19/05:

The ITIL DVL course code has been changed from SM2i0 to SM2i1.It is available.

The URL

http://w3-03.ibm.com/software/tivoli/home.nsf/salestools/area1$Tivoli+Support+and+Services$Roadmap+for+Skills+Development+-+ITIL

has not been updated.

SM2i0.********************************************************************************************

Update 09/01/05:

This web site has a compilation of the "ITIL Questions of the Day" through 09/01/05 plus other interesting ITIL course and certification information:

http://w3-03.ibm.com/software/tivoli/home.nsf/swgsites/area1$Tivoli+Support+and+Services

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How do I sign up for the ITIL Foundations certification examination?

New information as of 08/22/05:ITIL Foundations certification examination - At this time one could pursue taking the examination at a local Prometrics test center (they may be affiliated with Sylvan). I will let you know of any further developments in this area.

Old information:

One may sign up from this link:http://w3-03.ibm.com/software/tivoli/home.nsf/salestools/area1$Tivoli+Support+and+Services$Roadmap+for+Skills+Development+-+ITILand take the examination on-line. One can also travel to an examination site and take the examination at that site.

There can be 5 business days from the request for the on-line examination to receiving the sign-on id, password, and URL. You will also need to find a proctor (usually a manager who is not your manager and one who is not ITIL certified).

Plan ahead.

What is the best way to prepare for the ITIL Foundations certification examination?

One of the best ways to prepare is to take the Mike Rock course (see Path 1 above for the on-line version) in a classroom with the test immediately following the course. This course is not a formally scheduled course and may not be offered in the near future.

If you do not take a traditional class then having an ITIL Foundations certified tutor to help you review the material and quiz you on the concepts is essential for maximizing the probability of passing the examination.

I will be happy to be a tutor. Please contact me if you would like assistance. My recommendation: if you do not attend a traditional class then take the Mike Rock on-line course Course SM2i1 and find a tutor to review the material

Top three ways of almost guaranteeing you will not pass the ITIL Foundations certification examination:

3. Path 3 in the roadmap looks good. 18 hours of on-line instruction should do the trick. I will take the course and then the examination without any tutoring (one person who took this path failed the examination but then had a very high score after taking the Mike Rock classroom course). This is a good ITIL course but should not be the sole means, even with a tutor, of preparing for the examination.

2. I have been in product support for years. I will just read the ITIL books and take the examination.

1. I will take the examination cold without any preparation. It is only terminology. How hard can this be?

ITIL Question of the Day:

ITIL is comprised of 7 books. Which of the following books is NOT part of ITIL Foundations?

a. Service Supportb. Service Deliveryc. Securityd. Planning to Implement Service Management

The answer and the next question will be in the next ITIL communication.

Thanks.==========================================================================================

Yesterday's question (07/18/05):

ITIL is comprised of 7 books. Which of the following books is NOT part of ITIL Foundations?

a. Service Supportb. Service Deliveryc. Securityd. Planning to Implement Service Management

The answer is "d. Planning to Implement Service Management". This is a good example of a situation in which logical thought without the ITIL detailed information will not work. One might think a planning book for implementation of service management is part of the ITIL Foundations but it is not.

Today's question:

IT management is all about

a. processes for service management, change control, and financeb. efficient and effective use of the four P's: people, processes, products (tools and technology), and partners (suppliers, vendors, and outsourcing organizations)

c. processes for service support, infrastructure management, and securityd. service delivery and service support

===========================================================================================


IT management is all about

a. processes for service management, change control, and financeb. efficient and effective use of the four P's: people, processes, products (tools and technology), and partners (suppliers, vendors, and outsourcing organizations)c. processes for service support, infrastructure management, and securityd. service delivery and service support

The answer is "b. efficient and effective use of the four P's: people, processes, products (tools and technology), and partners (suppliers, vendors, and outsourcing organizations)".

The words "efficient and effective" are usually associated with the goal of IT management inITIL literature. This is important to remember.

The other answers are partially correct but "b" is the best answer because the question hasthe word "all" in it. This is typical of the type of wording one will see in some of thequestions on the certification examination.

Today's question:

Which process is responsible for restoring normal service operations as quickly as possible?

a. Service Deskb. Incident Managementc. Problem Managementd. Change Management ============================================================================================

Interesting stuff to know:

Hewlet Packard's (HP) product that addresses ITIL processes is called OpenView. One of their example of an OpenView implementation is with PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) in the automobile industry. HP also offers ITIL courses leading to certification. They appear to have been involved with ITIL since 1995 and have won at least one industry award for their ITIL focus.

You may read more about this at these links:

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2002/020805a.htmlhttp://www.hp.com/education/sections/itsm.htmlhttp://www.hp.com/education/sections/itsm_faq_itil.htmlhttp://www.managesoft.com/product/mgs/hpov/index.xmlhttp://www.managementsoftware.hp.com/solutions/hitech/sg/hitech_sg_bb.pdf


Which process is responsible for restoring normal service operations as quickly as possible?

a. Service Deskb. Incident Managementc. Problem Managementd. Change Management

The answer is "b. Incident Management". The Service Desk is a function of Incident Management and not a process. This distinction may appear in examination questions. Always remember that the Service Desk is a function and if the question is asking for a process then the Service Desk is not going to be a correct answer.

Today's question:

According to the ITIL books which processes normally submit a Request For Change (RFC)?

a. Incident Management, Problem Management, Availability Managementb. Problem Management, Availability Management, Capacity Managementc. Incident Management, Problem Management, Capacity Managementd. Problem Management, Release Management, Financial Management============================================================================================


According to the ITIL books which processes normally submit a Request For Change (RFC)?

a. Incident Management, Problem Management, Availability Managementb. Problem Management, Availability Management, Capacity Managementc. Incident Management, Problem Management, Capacity Managementd. Problem Management, Release Management, Financial Management

The answer is "c. Incident Management, Problem Management, Capacity Management". This is a tough one to figure out because some of the educational materials imply that all of the processes can submit an RFC. This is why I used the word "normally" in the question. This would be a good one to memorize.

Today's question:

For quality improvement, Deming proposed the Deming Cycle (or circle). What is the order of the steps in each cycle?

a. Plan, Do, Check, Actb. Plan, Act, Check, Doc. Do, Check, Act, Pland. Plan, Check, Do, Act==============================================================================================


For quality improvement, Deming proposed the Deming Cycle (or circle). What is the order of the steps in each cycle?

a. Plan, Do, Check, Actb. Plan, Act, Check, Doc. Do, Check, Act, Pland. Plan, Check, Do, Act

The answer is "a. Plan, Do, Check, Act". There is also a consolidation phase that enables the organization to take stock of what has been taking place and to ensure that improvements are imbedded. Remember that the Demming Cycle is PDCA with a consolidation phase.

Today's question:

Which of the following is NOT a Service Desk type?

a. globalb. centralc. virtuald. local==========================================================================================


Which of the following is NOT a Service Desk type?

a. globalb. centralc. virtuald. local

The answer is "a. global". There are 3 Service Desk types - local, central, and virtual. These are distinguished by the physical location of the Service Desk personnel. Local means that the Service Desks will be located in the physical localities of the users. Cental means that the Service Desk will be located in one location. Virtual means that the Service Desk is comprised of personnel from various geographic locations. From a user point of view a call to the Service Desk means that the people answering the call will: 1. depend upon the location of the user for a local Service Desk2. always be the same for a central Service Desk regardless of the location of the user3. could be anyone on the team for a virtual Service Desk regardless of the location of the user

Remember there are 3 Service Desk types - local, central, and virtual.

Today's question:

Which of the following is NOT a Tactical Process?

a. IT Service Continuityb. Capacity Managementc. Availability Managementd. Incident Management===========================================================================================


Which of the following is NOT a Tactical Process?

a. IT Service Continuityb. Capacity Managementc. Availability Managementd. Incident Management

The answer is "d. Incident Management".

The Tactical Processes are the Service Delivery Processes: Service Level Management, Availability Management, Capacity Management, IT Service Continuity, Financial Management.

The Operational Processes are the Service Support Processes: Incident Management, Problem Management, Change Management, Configuration Management, release Management.

Remember that the Service Desk is a function of Incident Management and not a process.

Remember that Security Management is not part of Service Support or Service Delivery.

It is a good idea to know these terms.

Today's question:

Configuration Management enters CIs (Configuration Items) into the

a. CDBb. CMDBc. CIDBd. CIRDB=========================================================================================


Configuration Management enters CIs (Configuration Items) into the

a. CDBb. CMDBc. CIDBd. CIRDB

The answer is "b. CMDB". CMDB is the Configuration Management Database. It identifies relationships between Configuration Items. Configuration Management provides a logical model for the infrastructure or a service by identifying, controlling, maintaining, and verifying the versions of CIs.

"CDB" is "Capacity Database" and is used by Capacity Management.

I made up the terms "CIDB" and "CIRDB". They are not ITIL terms.

Today's question:

Which of the following is NOT a task of Configuration Management?

a. Configuration Controlb. Change Controlc. Verification and Auditd. Status Accounting========================================================================================


Which of the following is NOT a task of Configuration Management?

a. Configuration Controlb. Change Controlc. Verification and Auditd. Status Accounting

The answer is "b. Change Control". The tasks of Configuration Management include Configuration Identification, Configuration Control, Verification and Audit, Status Accounting. Change Control is part of Change Management.

Today's question:

The IT organization needs to outsource the server to a vendor. What type of agreement would the IT organization need with the vendor?

a. Service Level Agreementb. Underpinning Contractc. Operational Level Agreementd. External Service Agreement============================================================================================


The IT organization needs to outsource the server to a vendor. What type of agreement would the IT organization need with the vendor?

a. Service Level Agreementb. Underpinning Contractc. Operational Level Agreementd. External Service Agreement

The answer is "b. Underpinning Contract". A Service Level Agreement is usually in writing and usually a contract for services to be provided to a customer. An Operational Level Agreement is an agreement between internal organizations within the same company. "External Service Agreement" is something I made up and is not an ITIL term.

Remember "service Level Agreement" is with customers, "Operational level Agreement" is within the organization, and "Underpinning Contract" is with external parties who provide services to the organization.

Today's Question:

The first task for the activity of incident handling is:

a. first classification

b. analysis and diagnosisc. identification and registrationd. determining if the incident is a service request====================================================================================


The first task for the activity of incident handling is:

a. first classificationb. analysis and diagnosisc. identification and registrationd. determining if the incident is a service request

The answer is "c. identification and registration". The order of the tasks for incident handling is:1. identification and registration2. first classification and support3. determining if the incident is a service request4. analysis and diagnosis if not a service request5. troubleshooting and recovery if not a service request6. incident closure (this activity also follows the handling of a service request)

The names and order of these activities is important to know.

Today's question:

An incident is transferred to a second line support group because that group has the expertise to address the incident. This form of escalation is known as:

a. hierarchicalb. horizontalc. functionald. vertical===========================================================================================


An incident is transferred to a second line support group because that group has the expertise to address the incident. This form of escalation is known as:

a. hierarchicalb. horizontalc. functionald. vertical

The answer is "c. functional". The two types of escalation in ITIL terminology are hierarchical and functional. Hierarchical is a form of vertical escalation in that it involves "going up the chain" such as asking management for resources and other assistance. Functional is a form of horizontal escalation in that it is "peer to peer" and follows the "normal" flow of incidents and problems from one organization to another. The answer "c. functional" is more correct than "b. horizontal" because it is the actual ITIL term.

Today's question:

Which of the following subprocesses is NOT a subprocess of Demand Management?

a. Business Capacity Managementb. Service Capacity Managementc. Application Sizingd. Resource Capacity Management===========================================================================================


Which of the following subprocesses is NOT a subprocess of Demand Management?

a. Business Capacity Managementb. Service Capacity Managementc. Application Sizingd. Resource Capacity Management

The answer is "c. Application Sizing". These are all tasks of Capacity Management. Demand Management is comprised of three subprocesses: Business Capacity Management, Service Capacity Management, and Resource Capacity Management.

The tasks that comprise Capacity Management should be known:Demand Management (Business Capacity Management, Service Capacity Management, and Resource Capacity Management.)Application SizingCapacity Database (CDB)Iterative Activities (Analyze, Tuning, Implementation, Monitoring)

Today's questions (due to requests for more questions there will be 3 questions each day):

The CAB/EC has authorized the implementation of a change. This means that:

a. the change can be implemented immediately without test activities.b. all test activities for the change have been completed.c. testing of the change will be part of the implementation.d. sufficient amount of testing has been completed to minimize the risk of needing to back out the change.

Release Management establishes secure hardware and software environments in the:

a. CMDB and DSLb. CMDB, CDB, and DHSc. SLA and SPOC d. DHS and DSL

Which of the following is NOT an operational process?

a. Financial Managementb. Problem Managementc. Release Managementd. Configuration Management

================================================================================================

Yesterday's questions (08/04/05):

The CAB/EC has authorized the implementation of a change. This means that:

a. the change can implemented immediately without test activities.b. all test activities for the change have been completed.c. testing of the change will be part of the implementation.d. sufficient amount of testing has been completed to minimize the risk of needing to back out the change.

The answer is "a. the change can be implemented immediately without test activities.". The Change Advisory Board/Emergency Committee (CAB/EC) can approve the implementation of a change in an emergency prior to testing of the change. In these situations testing usually takes place after the emergency change has been implemented The important point is that the CAB/EC is a subset of the CAB and can approve changes in emergency situations.

Release Management establishes secure hardware and software environments in the:

a. CMDB and DSLb. CMDB, CDB, and DHSc. SLA and SPOC d. DHS and DSL

The answer is "d. DHS and DSL". The DHS is the Definitive Hardware Store which is secure storage of definitive hardware spare components. The DSL is the Definitive Software Library which contains master copies of all controlled software in the organization.

The CMDB (Configuration Management Database) contains the details of the components (Configuration Items or CIs) in the DHS and DSL.

The CDB is the Capacity Database used by Capacity Management.

An SLA is a Service Level Agreement. SPOC is "Single Point of Contact" and describes the Service Desk function for user contact regarding service incidents.

Which of the following is NOT an operational process?

a. Financial Managementb. Problem Managementc. Release Managementd. Configuration Management

The answer is "a. Financial Management". The Service Support processes are called operational processes. These processes are Incident Management, Problem Management, Configuration Management, Release Management, and Change Management. It is important to know the names of the operational processes (Service Support) and the names of the tactical processes (Service Delivery).

Today's questions:

Which of the following is NOT a task of IT Financial Management?

a. Budgetingb. Risk Managementc. Accountingd. Charging

Two terms that directly relate to the mission of Financial Management are:

a. stewardship and cost efficiencyb. cost recovery and asset protectionc. risk analysis and stewardshipd. profiles of use of services and cost model

Which of the following are NOT cost classifications:

a. Fixed Costs and Variable Costsb. Capital Costs and Operational Costsc. Hardware Costs and Software Costsd. Direct Costs and Indirect Costs

=============================================================================================


Which of the following is NOT a task of IT Financial Management?

a. Budgetingb. Risk Managementc. Accountingd. Charging

The answer is "b. Risk Management". The three tasks of Financial Management are budgeting, accounting, and charging. It is important to know these tasks.

Two terms that directly relate to the mission of Financial Management are:

a. stewardship and cost efficiencyb. cost recovery and asset protectionc. risk analysis and stewardshipd. profiles of use of services and cost model

The answer is "a. stewardship and cost efficiency". These terms are frequently used in financial management discussions. Answer "b" is somewhat correct but answer "a" is better (this is an example of the style of question on the certification examination). "risk Analysis" is part of Service Continuity Management (ITSCM), "profiles of use of services" is part of Capacity Management, and "cost model" is part of the annual Capacity Plan produced by Capacity Management.

Which of the following are NOT cost classifications:

a. Fixed Costs and Variable Costsb. Capital Costs and Operational Costsc. Hardware Costs and Software Costsd. Direct Costs and Indirect Costs

The answer is "c. Hardware Costs and Software Costs". These are cost types. The six (6) cost classifications are Fixed Costs, Variable Costs, Capital Costs, Operational Costs, Direct Costs, Indirect Costs. It is important to know the cost classifications and the cost types.

Today's Questions:

Incident Management classifies each incident with a priority. Priority is determined by:

a. terms and conditions in the SLA b. number of related incidents and urgency c. impact, urgency, and effort to solve the incidentd. capacity, availability, and resources

A Service Request does NOT involve:

a. identification and registrationb. incident closurec. first classification and supportd. investigation and diagnosis

A known error is:

a. an incident that is the same as a previous incident that has been already recorded. b. a problem that is successfully diagnosed and for which a code fix has been provided.c. a problem that has a Request for Change that has been accepted.d. a problem that is successfully diagnosed and for which a workaround has been identified.

=============================================================================================


Incident Management classifies each incident with a priority. Priority is determined by:

a. terms and conditions in the SLA b. number of related incidents and urgency c. impact, urgency, and effort to solve the incidentd. capacity, availability, and resources

The answer is "c. impact, urgency, and effort to solve the incident". The priority is sometimes defined as "Priority = Impact x Urgency". However, the workload required to solve the incident must also be considered. The main point to remember is "Priority = Impact x Urgency". This may show up on the examination with other similar terms. It is important to know the actual terms used in iTIL.

A Service Request does NOT involve:

a. identification and registrationb. incident closurec. first classification and supportd. investigation and diagnosis

The answer is "d. investigation and diagnosis". A service request is handled by the service desk just as other incidents except a problem does not exist. For this reason there is no analysis, investigation, trouble shooting, or recovery. An example of a service request would be a request for a password change or password reset.

A known error is:

a. an incident that is the same as a previous incident that has been already recorded. b. a problem that is successfully diagnosed and for which a code fix has been provided.c. a problem that has a Request for Change that has been accepted.d. a problem that is successfully diagnosed and for which a workaround has been identified.

The answer is "d. a problem that is successfully diagnosed and for which a workaround has been identified.". This is the ITIL definition.

Answer "a" is wrong because a previous incident may have a different solution and may not have a workaround.

Answer "b" is close to being correct. Not all workarounds are code fixes. This is an example of an examination question in which the ITIL definition is needed in order to select the most correct answer.

Answer "c" is not correct because a workaround can be found without an accepted Request for Change.

Today's questions:

CIA means:

a. Capacity Management, Incident Management, Availability Management b. Confidentiality, Integrity, Availabilityc. Configuration Item Assetsd. Change Management, Incident Management, Availability Management

Service Level Management needs an agreement between the IT service provider and another internal service provider. This type of agreement is known as:

a. an Underpinning Contract (UC)b. an Operational Level Agreement (OLA)c. a Service Level Agreement (SLA)d. a Service Level Requirement (SLR)

The Service Catalog (SC) is a:

a. list of all IT services provided which can come into scope for a specific SLA.b. list of all IT services provided which can come into scope for all SLAs.c. list of all IT services that customers have requested.d. list of all IT services provided throughout the industry.

=============================================================================================


CIA means:

a. Capacity Management, Incident Management, Availability Management b. Confidentiality, Integrity, Availabilityc. Configuration Item Assetsd. Change Management, Incident Management, Availability Management

The answer is "b. Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability". Security Management should protect the value of information. CIA is the ITIL term associated with the information protection provided by Security Management.

Service Level Management needs an agreement between the IT service provider and another internal service provider. This type of agreement is known as:

a. an Underpinning Contract (UC)b. an Operational Level Agreement (OLA)c. a Service Level Agreement (SLA)d. a Service Level Requirement (SLR)

The answer is "b. an Operational Level Agreement (OLA)". UC is a contract with an external service provider. SLA is an agreement between the IT service provider and the IT customer(s). SLR is a list of all customer requirements for the service.

The Service Catalog (SC) is a:

a. list of all IT services provided which can come into scope for a specific SLA.b. list of all IT services provided which can come into scope for all SLAs.c. list of all IT services that customers have requested.d. list of all IT services provided throughout the industry.

The answer is "b. list of all IT services provided which can come into scope for all SLAs.". It is important to remember that Service Level Management is responsible for preparing the Service Catalog. The Service Catalog provides a list of the available services, the users, and the maintainers. Service Level Agreements contain services as defined in the Service Catalog.

Today's Questions:

MTTR is:

a. Mean Time To Repairb. Monthly Technical Topics Reportc. Mean Time To Recoverd. Mean Time To Resolve

Let A=Agreed Service Time, D=Downtime, and R=Recovery Time. A simple calculation of availability % is:

a. ((A - (D+R))/A) * 100b. ((A - D)/A) * 100c. (((A+R) - D)/A) * 100 d. ((A - D)/A) / 100

Let A="availability of component A" and B="availability of component B" in a serial architecture. Availability of both being in operation is:

a. (A+B)/2b. A * (1-B)c. A * Bd. (A*B)/2

=============================================================================================


MTTR is:

a. Mean Time To Repairb. Monthly Technical Topics Reportc. Mean Time To Recoverd. Mean Time To Resolve

The answer is "a. Mean Time To Repair". This is the average elapsed time from the occurrence of an incident to resolution of the incident. This is a measurement used by Availability Management. I made up the other terms. They are not ITIL terms.

Let A=Agreed Service Time, D=Downtime, and R=Recovery Time. A simple calculation of availability % is:

a. ((A - (D+R))/A) * 100b. ((A - D)/A) * 100c. (((A+R) - D)/A) * 100 d. ((A - D)/A) / 100

The answer is "b. ((A - D)/A) * 100". This is a calculation that can be input to availability modeling tools. These calculations are part of Availability Management. This is the style of a question one may encounter on the examination.

Let A="availability of component A" and B="availability of component B" in a serial architecture. Availability of both being in operation is:

a. (A+B)/2b. A * (1-B)c. A * Bd. (A*B)/2

The answer is "c. A * B". In a serial architecture one component completes before the next component begins. If one component fails then the other does not get a chance to start. Thus the availability of one component multiplied by the availability of the next component yields the availability of two components in a serial architecture. This calculation is part of Availability Management.

Today's questions:

MTBSI is:

a. Mean Time Between System Incidentsb. Mean Time Between Service Incidentsc. Mean Time Between System IPLd. Mean Time Between Security Incidents

Let A="availability of component A" and B="availability of component B" in a parallel architecture. Availability of both being in operation is:

a. 1 - ((1-A) * (1-B))b. 1- (A*B)c. 1 - ((1-A) + (1-B))d. ((1-A) + (1-B))/2

Security Management protects the value of information in the following ways EXCEPT:

a. Integrity - safeguarding the accuracy and completeness of information and softwareb. Availability - ensuring that information and vital IT services are available and accessable when requiredc. Confidentiality - protecting sensitive information from unauthorized disclosure or intelligible interceptiond. Continuity - providing contact information of the crisis management team

=============================================================================================


MTBSI is:

a. Mean Time Between System Incidentsb. Mean Time Between Service Incidentsc. Mean Time Between System IPLd. Mean Time Between Security Incidents

The answer is "a. Mean Time Between System Incidents". This is the average elapsed time between the occurrence of one failure and the next failure. I made the other terms up. Some of the ITIL examination questions will have variations of terminology. It is important to know the ITIL terminology. This is a measurement used by Availability Management.

Let A="availability of component A" and B="availability of component B" in a parallel architecture. Availability of both being in operation is:

a. 1 - ((1-A) * (1-B))b. 1- (A*B)c. 1 - ((1-A) + (1-B))d. ((1-A) + (1-B))/2

The answer is "a. 1 - ((1-A) * (1-B))". In a parallel architecture each component completes independtly of the other. If one component fails then the other can continue and complete. Thus the availability of the two components is equal to (1 - both not available). Both not available is calculated by multiplying the "not availability" of each component together. The "not avalable for a component" is equal to (1 - available). This calculation is part of Availability Management.

Security Management protects the value of information in the following ways EXCEPT:

a. Integrity - safeguarding the accuracy and completeness of information and softwareb. Availability - ensuring that information and vital IT services are available and accessable when requiredc. Confidentiality - protecting sensitive information from unauthorized disclosure or intelligible interceptiond. Continuity - providing contact information of the crisis management team

The answer is "d. Continuity - providing contact information of the crisis management team". The Continuity Plan is part of IT Service Continuity Management (ITSCM). Remember CIA for Security Management - Confidentiality, Integrity (Accuracy), Availability (Accessibility). Sometimes "Integrity" is presented as "Accuracy" and "Availability" is presented as "Accessibility".

Today's Questions:

MTBF is:

a. Mean Time Between Follow-up b. Mean Time Betweeen Featuresc. Mean Time Between Failuresd. Mean Time Between Fixes

MTBSI is:

a. MTTR / MTFB b. MTTR + MTBFc. MTTR * MTFBd. MTTR - MTFB

Recovery of a system must be made within 2 hours. This type of recovery is called:

a. Intermediate Recoveryb. Reciprocal Arrangementc. Immediate Recoveryd. Gradual Recovery

=============================================================================================


MTBF is:

a. Mean Time Between Follow-up b. Mean Time Betweeen Featuresc. Mean Time Between Failuresd. Mean Time Between Fixes

The answer is "c. Mean Time Between Failures". This is the average elapsed time from the time an IT service or supporting component is fully restored until the next occurrence of a failure to the same service or component. I made the other terms up. Some of the ITIL examination questions will have variations of terminology. It is important to know the ITIL terminology. This is a measurement used by Availability Management.

MTBSI is:

a. MTTR / MTFB b. MTTR + MTBFc. MTTR * MTFBd. MTTR - MTFB

The answer is "b. MTTR + MTBF". MTBSI is Mean Time Between System Incidents. This is a measure of reliability. MTTR is Mean Time To Repair. This is a measure of maintainability.MTBF is Mean Time Between Failure. This is a measure of availabilty (serviceability).These are measurements used by Availability Management. The definitions and what they measure (as noted above) are important to know.

Recovery of a system must be made within 2 hours. This type of recovery is called:

a. Intermediate Recoveryb. Reciprocal Arrangementc. Immediate Recoveryd. Gradual Recovery

The answer is "c. Immediate Recovery". This is part of IT Service Continuity Management. Immediate Recovery is also known as "hot-standby" where exclusive access to systems is provided. It can be an extension of Intermediate Recovery (or warm-standby). Times for Immediate Recovery vary from a second to 4 hours. The time of recovery for Immediate Recovery (a second to 4 hours), Intermediate Recovery (within 24 hours), and Gradual Recovery (up to 72 hours) are important to know. Examination questions may pose a situation with a recovery time and ask for the type of recovery that is needed. Reciprocal arrangements with another organization may work for batch processing environments but do not work well for distributed environments.

Today's Questions:

Which of the following is NOT a release in ITIL terminology?

a. Release Unitb. Delta Releasec. Package Released. Full Release

The content and timing of a release should be authorized in advance by

a. Configuration Managementb. Release Managementc. Change Managementd. Problem Management

Financial Management for IT services interacts with most IT service processes and has particular dependencies upon and responsibilities to all but which of the following?

a. Service Level Managementb. Service Continuity Managementc. Capacity Managementd. Configuration Management

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Which of the following is NOT a release in ITIL terminology?

a. Release Unitb. Delta Releasec. Package Released. Full Release

The answer is "a. Release Unit". A Release Unit is the portion of the IT infrastructure of components that are normally released together. The other terms are releases and are comprised of one or more Release Units.

The content and timing of a release should be authorized in advance by

a. Configuration Managementb. Release Managementc. Change Managementd. Problem Management

The answer is "c. Change Management". There may be questions on the examination that require a fine distinction between Release Management and Change Management. Release Management is responsible for the storage of authorized software, the release of software in a production environment, the distribution of software to remote locations, and the implementation of software to make it operational.

Financial Management for IT services interacts with most IT service processes and has particular dependencies upon and responsibilities to all but which of the following?

a. Service Level Managementb. Service Continuity Managementc. Capacity Managementd. Configuration Management

The answer is "b. Service Continuity Management". The following are some of the interactions that take place:

Service Level Management - cost of meeting customer requirements may have a major impact on the shape and scope of the agreed services in an SLA.

Capacity Management - In planning capacity it may be necessary to discuss costs with individual customers or the organization as a whole.

Configuration Management - Financial Management requires asset and cost information relating to assets (Configuration Items) and their attributes (such as cost).

Today's questions:

Verification and Audit of registered data within the CMDB will be done with the actual data by:

a. Configuration Managementb. Security Managementc. Change Managementd. Financial Management

The number of PC's needs to be adjusted. This business data will be adjusted in the:

a. DSL

b. CDBc. CMDBd. DHS

IT Service Continuity Management is dependent upon the information derived from

a. Enterprise Continuity Managementb. Business Continuity Managementc. Business Continuity Pland. Availability Management

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Verification and Audit of registered data within the CMDB will be done with the actual data by:

a. Configuration Managementb. Security Managementc. Change Managementd. Financial Management

The correct answer is "a. Configuration Management". The tasks of Configuration Management are:1. Configuration Identification2. Configuration Control3. Status Accounting4. Verification and Audit

The number of PC's needs to be updated. This business data will be updated in the:

a. DSLb. CDBc. CMDBd. DHS

The correct answer is "b. CDB". The Capacity Database contains business data such as the number of PC's. The CDB also contains technical data such as limitations of resources and utilization data. The CDB can exist in several physical locations.

IT Service Continuity Management is dependent upon the information derived from

a. Enterprise Continuity Managementb. Business Continuity Managementc. Business Continuity Pland. Availability Management

The answer is "b. Business Continuity Management". ITSCM (IT Service Continuity Management)is part of the overall BCM (Business Continuity Management) process and is dependent on information derived from it. Remember that ITSCM is part of BCM and not the other way around.

Today's questions:

The ITSCM (IT Service Continuity Management) continuity plan will be updated next week. The continuity plan is scheduled to be tested every 6 months. The next test for the current continuity plan is scheduled in 4 weeks. The continuity plan should be tested:

a. in 4 weeks as per the schedule and every 6 months thereafter. b. 6 months after the update and every 6 months thereafter.c. only if the CAB/EC (Change Advisory Board/Emergency Committee) requires the test and then every 6 months thereafter. d. after the update and every 6 months thereafter.

Charging for IT services:

a. should be based upon a cost plus profit for each service in an SLA. b. can result in a change in the user and customer behavior.c. should be based upon an average cost for the same service across all customers.d. should be different for internal and external customers.

The distiction between "user" and "customer" in ITIL is:

a. "user" is an internal person and "customer" is an external person. b. "user" is a person who is not charged for services and "customer" is a person who is charged for services. c. "user" is a person who uses the services and "customer" is the person who pays for the services.d. "user" is a person who can contact Incident Management and "customer" is a person who can contact Problem Management.

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The ITSCM (IT Service Continuity Management) continuity plan will be updated next week. The continuity plan is scheduled to be tested every 6 months. The next test for the current continuity plan is scheduled in 4 weeks. The continuity plan should be tested:

a. in 4 weeks as per the schedule and every 6 months thereafter. b. 6 months after the update and every 6 months thereafer.c. only if the CAB/EC (Change Advisory Board/Emergency Committee) requires the test and then every 6 months thereafter. d. after the update and every 6 months thereafter.

The answer is "d. after the update and every 6 months thereafter." The continuity plan needs to be tested after a change, after a disaster, and every 6 to 12 months. The test should be conducted under realistic conditions.

Charging for IT services:

a. should be based upon a cost plus profit for each service in an SLA. b. can result in a change in the user and customer behavior.c. should be based upon an average cost for the same service across all customers.d. should be different for internal and external customers.

The answer is "b. can result in a change in the user and customer behavior." This is an important point about charging for IT services and may be on an examination. The other answers are not correct because there are no absolute charging models in ITIL.

The distiction between "user" and "customer" in ITIL is:

a. "user" is an internal person and "customer" is an external person. b. "user" is a person who is not charged for services and "customer" is a person who is charged for services. c. "user" is a person who uses the services and "customer" is the person who pays for the services.d. "user" is a person who can contact Incident Management and "customer" is a person who can contact Problem Management.

The answer is "c. "user" is a person who uses the services and "customer" is the person who pays for the services." This is an important disctinction because the SLA (Service Level Agreement) is between the customer and the IT service provider whereas the user is usually one who was not involved in negotiating the SLA. Answer "b. "user" is a person who is not charged for services and "customer" is a person who is charged for services." is not always correct because in some cases the "user" and the "customer" are the same.

Today's questions:

Downtime is also know as :

a. MTBSIb. MTCDB c. MTBFd. MTTR

Accessing the data input section of a service results in an abnormal termination of the service. Problem Management determines that the root cause of the abnormal termination is unknown. This incident is called:

a. a problem.b. a known error.c. an unknown error.d. a system incident.

Some product problems are discovered before an incident has been reported. It is important to be proactive to solve the problem rather than to wait for a user to find it. Being proactive is an important activity of

a. Problem Managementb. Incident Managementc. Change Managementd. Release Management

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Downtime is also know as :

a. MTBSIb. MTCDB

c. MTBFd. MTTR

The answer is "d. MTTR". This is part of Availability Management. MTTR is "Mean Time To Repair". It can appear in the examination as "Downtime" or "Maintainability". MTTR is the average elapsed time from the occurence of an incident to resolution of the incident. I made up the term "MTCDB".

Accessing the data input section of a service results in an abnormal termination of the service. Problem Management determines that the root cause of the abnormal termination is unknown. This incident is called:

a. a problem.b. a known error.c. an unknown error.d. a system incident.

The answer is "a. a problem." A problem is an error in which the root cause is unknown. A "known error" ia an error in which the root cause is known, a workaround is provided, but the definitive fix is not provided. Answer "c. unknown error" is close to being correct but the ITIL term for an unknown error is "problem". Answer "d. system incident" is correct but not as good as answer "a. problem." This is an example of the style of some examination questions in which there is one "very correct" answer and some "sort of correct" answers. The wording of the question and the context of the terms in use for the question need to be carefully considered when there appears to be more than one correct answer.

Some product problems are discovered before an incident has been reported. It is important to be proactive to solve the problem rather than to wait for a user to find it. Being proactive is an important activity of

a. Problem Managementb. Incident Managementc. Change Managementd. Release Management

The answer is "a. Problem Management". It is important to remember the key activities for each process. "Proactive problem management" is a key activity of "Problem Management". The other processes are good answers but "a. Problem Management" is the best answer. Think of "proactive" and "problem management" together.

Today's questions:

Uptime is also known as:

a. MTBSIb. MTBU c. MTBFd. MTTR

Changes have been made in the suite of report generation functions. These changes have resulted in additional changes to the suite of data input functions and the suite of custom input file functions. The type of release containing all of these changes is a

a. delta releaseb. full releasec. package release

d. system release

The single point of contact (SPOC) for passing information back to the user is the responsibility of the

a. Service Deskb. Change Advisory Board (CAB)c. Change Advisory Board (CAB) or the Change Advisory Board/Emergency Committee (CAB/EC)d. Service Level Manager

=============================================================================================


Uptime is also known as:

a. MTBSIb. MTBU c. MTBFd. MTTR

The answer is "c. MTBF". This is part of Availability Management. MTBF is "Mean Time Between Failures". It can appear in the examination as "Uptime" or "Availability (Serviceability)". MTBF is the average elapsed time from the time an IT service or supporting component is fully restored until the next occurrence of a failure to the same service or component. I made up the term "MTBU".

Changes have been made in the suite of report generation functions. These changes have resulted in additional changes to the suite of data input functions and the suite of custom input file functions. The type of release containing all of these changes is a

a. delta releaseb. full releasec. package released. system release

The answer is "c. package release". A package release will contain releases (full and/or delta) from more than one system or suite of functions so that all of the changes can be made at the same time. I made up the term "system release".

The single point of contact (SPOC) for passing information back to the user is the responsibility of the

a. Service Deskb. Change Advisory Board (CAB)c. Change Advisory Board (CAB) or the Change Advisory Board/Emergency Committee (CAB/EC)d. Service Level Manager

The answer is "a. Service Desk". The Service Desk communicates with the user and customer. Other areas of the infrastructure may have a strong desire to communicate with the customer but they need to go through the Service Desk. Remember that SPOC and "Service Desk" go together.

Today's questions:

Average Reliability is also known as

a. MTBSIb. MTBRc. MTBFd. MTTR

The two factors that must be considered when setting up an effective CMDB are:

a. CIs and relationshipsb. scope and level of detailc. DSL and DHSd. verification and status accounting

The control and safeguarding of hardware and software assests is a benefit of:

a. Configuration Managementb. Financial Managementc. Release Managementd. Security Management

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Average Reliability is also known as

a. MTBSIb. MTBRc. MTBFd. MTTR

The answer is "a. MTBSI". This is part of Availability Management. MTBSI is Mean Time Between System Incidents. It can appear in the examination as "Average Reliability" or "Reliability". It is the average elapsed time between the occurrence of one failure and the next failure. I made up the term "MTBR".

The two factors that must be considered when setting up an effective CMDB are:

a. CIs and relationshipsb. scope and level of detailc. DSL and DHSd. verification and status accounting

The answer is "b. scope and level of detail". "Scope" is defined by the area of responsibility of the IT organization. The initial scope in the CMDB can be small and later expanded. If it starts out too large then the implementation may be a problem. Examples of scope are hardware, software, documentation, and environment. The "level of detail" isdefined by the need for information. There may be a need to have keyboards as a configuration item with a relation of "attached to" for a PC Configuration Item. If there is no need for such a level of detail (where one finds a PC one normally finds a keyboard) then having such a level of detail is not effective. Some CI diagrams will show "scope" on the horizontal axis and "level of detail" on the vertical axis. Answer "a. CIs and relationships" and "d. verification and status accounting" relate to the CMDB but are not as correct in this contaxt as answer "b. scope and level of detail". Answer "c. DSL and DHS" relates to Release Management (Definitive Software Library and Definitive Hardware Store).

On the examination look for questions about determining scope and level of detail when defining the CMDB.

The control and safeguarding of hardware and software assests is a benefit of:

a. Configuration Managementb. Financial Managementc. Release Managementd. Security Management

The answer is "c. Release Management". Remember that Release Management is responsible for the DSL (Definitive Software Library) and the DHS (Definitive Hardware Store). "a. Configuration Management" is not the best answer because it is the DSL and DHS that provides control and safeguards more than the CMDB.

Today's questions:

ITIL originated from the UK government in the late 1990's in the CCTA (Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency). In 2001 CCTA was incorporated within the

a. Office of Information Technology (OIT) b. Office of British Standards (OBS)c. Office of Government Computing (OGC)d. Office of Government Commerce (OGC)

A process

a. is a description of logically related activities.b. defines how one or more activities should be carried out.c. is a specific output that provides customer value.d. is a connected series of actions.

A customer reports that his estimate of future workload was incorrect. The future workload is now estimated to be double the original estimate. This is a potential problem area for

a. Service Level Managementb. Availability Managementc. Capacity Managementd. Incident Management

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ITIL originated from the UK government in the late 1990's in the CCTA(Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency). in 2001 CCTA was incorporated within the

a. Office of Information Technology (OIT) b. Office of British Standards (OBS)c. Office of Government Computing (OGC)d. Office of Government Commerce (OGC)

The answer is "d. Office of Government Commerce (OGC)". I made the other answers up. The key point to remeber is that ITIL is registered with the OGC in the UK and they own the ITIL books. The OGC does not administer the test.

A process

a. is a description of logically related activities.b. defines how one or more activities should be carried out.c. is a specific output that provides customer value.d. is a connected series of actions.

The answer is "d. is a connected series of actions.".A procedure is "a. is a description of logically related activities.".A set of work instructions is "b. defines how one or more activities should be carried out.".A service is "c. is a specific output that provides customer value."The examination may have questions that require differentiating between a process and a procedure. A process has an input, adds value, and produces an output to achieve a specific objective.

A customer reports that his estimate of future workload was incorrect. The future workload is now estimated to be double the original estimate. This is a potential problem area for

a. Service Level Managementb. Availability Managementc. Capacity Managementd. Incident Management

The answer is "c. Capacity Management". Each process has potential problem areas. It may be difficult to determine the best answer on the examination for questions of this type. Be sure to review the potential porblem areas for each process.

Today's questions:

A proposal has been put forth to change the testing of a disaster recovery plan from a live environment to a simulated environment provided by a vendor. This is a potential problem area for

a. IT Service Continuity Managementb. Service Level Managementc. Security Managementd. Financial Management

The dependability of a vendor has been called into question. There is an underpinning contract with this vendor to provide a data archival and retrieval service that is documented in the service catalog. This is a potential problem area for

a. Capacity Managementb. Availability Managementc. Financial Managementd. Service Level Management

The Facilities Management Department has incurred a cost for upgrading the flowers along the employee nature trail. This cost type will be handled by Financial Management as

a. a transfer cost

b. an external service costc. a people costd. an accommodation cost

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A proposal has been put forth to change the testing of a disaster recovery plan from a live environment to a simulated environment provided by a vendor. This is a potential problem area for

a. IT Service Continuity Managementb. Service Level Managementc. Security Managementd. Financial Management

The answer is "a. IT Service Continuity Management". Answer "c. Security Management" is somewhat correct. "a." is the best answer because of the need to test in "a live environment". Note that "continuity plan" may be called "disaster recovery plan" or some other similar term in the examination.

The dependability of a vendor has been called into question. There is an underpinning contract with this vendor to provide a data archival and retrieval service that is documented in the service catalog. This is a potential problem area for

a. Capacity Managementb. Availability Managementc. Financial Managementd. Service Level Management

The answer is "b. Availability Management". The dependability of the vendor, in the context of this question, could affect the availability of services. This question provides more hints than one may find on a similar examination question. Answer "a. Capacity Management" is not the best answer because the question is dealing with a specific service that is offered to customers which is more of an availability problem than a capacity problem.

The Facilities Management Department has incurred a cost for upgrading the flowers along the employee nature trail. This cost type will be handled by Financial Management as

a. a transfer costb. an external service costc. a people costd. an accommodation cost

The answer is "a. a transfer cost". This may appear to be "d. an accommodation cost". An accommodation cost is for offices, storage, utilities, and the like. Transfer costs are internal costs from other departments that need to be levied across various organizations. These are often overhead costs for which a specific department cannot be identified as the sole beneficiary. This may also appear to be "b. an external service cost". External service costs are for outsourced services such as security. While the flowers may benefit people, "c. a people cost" are normally associated with labor costs and not overhead.

The recommended cost types are hardware, software, people, accommodation, external service, and transfer. Transfer costs are important. If transfer costs are not properly handled by Financial Management then some services may have a charge that is too low or too high.

HR overhead is an example of a transfer cost.

Today's questions:

Typical roles within IT Service Management (ITSM) include all but the following:

a. Process ownerb. Process auditorc. Process managerd. Process team member (internal and external)

Problem Control is an activity of Problem Management. Problem Control is concerned with all of the following except:

a. Problem identification and recordingb. Problem resolution and release unit updatec. Problem classificationd. Problem investigation and diagnosis

The responsibility for monitoring problem and known error resolution progress is an activity of:

a. Release Managementb. Configuration Managementc. Problem Managementd. Incident Management

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Typical roles within IT Service Management (ITSM) include all but the following:

a. Process ownerb. Process auditorc. Process managerd. Process team member (internal and external)

The answer is "b. Process auditor". I made that up. Auditing tasks are prevalent throughout many ITIL processes. Remember the three typical roles within IT Service Management (ITSM):Process ownerProcess managerProcess team member (internal and external)

Problem Control is an activity of Problem Management. Problem Control is concerned with all of the following except:

a. Problem identification and recordingb. Problem resolution and release unit updatec. Problem classificationd. Problem investigation and diagnosis

The answer is "b. Problem resolution and release unit update". The activity of fixing the code and updating the associated release unit is not an activity of Problem Control. "Problem investigation and diagnosis" does involve finding the underlying cause and providing a workaround. "Problem Control" is very similar to our level 2 product support function. Change Management is responsible for implementing a "Request for Change".

The responsibility for monitoring problem and known error resolution progress is an activity of:

a. Release Managementb. Configuration Managementc. Problem Managementd. Incident Management

The answer is "c. Problem Management". This is an activity of "Error Control". Incident Managemnt reports the progress to the user and customer through the service desk. Configuration Management is concerned with maintaining the status of the appropriate CIs in the CMDB. Release Management may provide progress information to Problem Management.

Today's questions:

A small company is considering combining Incident Management with Problem Management. This idea is

a. good because both are part of the Operational Processes. b. good because both deal with incidents.c. not good because ITIL is a comprehensive description of these practices and does not permit this. d. not good because there is a potential conflict of interest between the two.

Which database provides the information that supports all other Service Management processes?

a. CDB b. DHSc. CMDBd. DSL

The ACME Desktop Model 701 with a yellow cover is a CI in the CMDB. The company acquired 50 of these last year. One of them was crushed during an office move and replaced with an ACME Desktop Model 701 with a green cover. The new ACME Desktop Model 701 with a green cover should be entered into the CMDB as

a. an ACME Desktop Model 701 because the color of the cover does not matter.b. a variant of the ACME Desktop Model 701.c. a change in status of the ACME Desktop Model 701 with the yellow cover that was crushed to the one with the green cover.d. a change to the baseline.

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A small company is considering combining Incident Management with Problem Management. This idea is

a. good because both are part of the Operational Processes.

b. good because both deal with incidents.c. not good because ITIL is a comprehensive description of these practices and does not permit this.d. not good because there is a potential conflict of interest between the two.

The answer is "d. not good because there is a potential conflict of interest between the two." Answer "c. not good because ITIL is a comprehensive description of these practices and does not permit this." is not correct because ITIL is not a comprehensive description of IT practices. ITIL is a description of IT management "best practices" observed and accepted in the industry (this is a good point to remember). However, temporarily deploying staff from second level support to the service desk is a "best practice".

Which database provides the information that supports all other Service Management processes?

a. CDB b. DHSc. CMDBd. DSL

The answer is "c. CMDB" - the Configuration Management Database. Configuration Management provides accurate information on CIs (Configuration Items) and their documentation. Configuration Management and the CMDB is the center of Service Delivery and Service Support.

The ACME Desktop Model 701 with a yellow cover is a CI in the CMDB. The company acquired 50 of these last year. One of them was crushed during an office move and replaced with an ACME Desktop Model 701 with a green cover. The new ACME Desktop Model 701 with a green cover should be entered into the CMDB as

a. an ACME Desktop Model 701 because the color of the cover does not matter.b. a variant of the ACME Desktop Model 701.c. a change in status of the ACME Desktop Model 701 with the yellow cover that was crushed to the one with the green cover.d. a change to the baseline.

The answer is "b. a variant of ACME Desktop Model 701.". The key point to a variant is that the base functionality is the same and minor differences will not result in different functional behavior. Variants help reduce the level of detail of Configuration Items. Answer "a. an ACME Desktop Model 701 because the color of the cover does not matter." is a good answer but not as good as answer "b." because the question mentions the difference in the cover colors and the term "variant" is an ITIL term. This is an example of the style of questions one may encounter on the examination in which there are fine distinctions between the answers.

Answer "c. a change in status of the ACME Desktop Model 701 with the yellow cover that was crushed to the one with the green cover." is incorrect because a CI needs to have a unique identifier and be tracked in the system until it is removed. One does not "change horses in midstream" because the history of the crushed machine is different than that of the new machine.

Answer "d. a change to the baseline." is somewhat correct if a new baseline is to be established. This answer is not as good as answer "b.".

Today's questions:

Which of the following describes a Configuration Item?

a. category

b. relationshipc. attributed. status

Which of the following is the flow in the Error Control process?

a. Error identification, Error assessment, Record solution, Closureb. Error assessment, Error identification, Record solution, Closurec. Identification, Classification, Assign Resources, Investigation, Definition of known errord. Classification, Identification, Assign Resources, Investigation, Definition of known error

The performance of hardware and software needs to be monitored in order to meet Service level Agreements (SLAs). Performance reports are provided to management by

a. Service Level Managementb. Capacity Managementc. Availability Managementd. Incident Management

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Which of the following describes a Configuration Item?

a. categoryb. relationshipc. attributed. status

The answer is "c. attribute". All of these are associated with Configuration Items. It is the attributes that describe the item. "Category" groups the Configuration Items, "relationship" shows the connection between the Configuration Items (this is a key feature of the CMDB), and "status" is used for tracking the lifecycle of a CI ("status" is an important CI concept and may appear in an examination question).

Which of the following is the flow in the Error Control process?

a. Error identification, Error assessment, Record solution, Closureb. Error assessment, Error identification, Record solution, Closurec. Identification, Classification, Assign Resources, Investigation, Definition of known errord. Classification, Identification, Assign Resources, Investigation, Definition of known error

The answer is "a. Error identification, Error assessment, Record solution, Closure". Answer "b." has the incorrect order. Answer "c" is the flow in Problem Control. Answer "d" is the incorrect order for Problem Control.

The performance of hardware and software needs to be monitored in order to meet Service level Agreements (SLAs). Performance reports are provided to management by

a. Service Level Managementb. Capacity Managementc. Availability Management

d. Incident Management

The answer is "b. Capacity Management". Performance management is part of Capacity Management. There is a distinction between availability data (Availability Management) and performance data (Performance Management). Some examination questions may present availability or performance data and ask which process deals with the data.

Today's questions:

A new application is being considered as a service to be offered to customers. A model needs to be created in order to evaluate the suitability of the planned changes required to support this application. For modeling one would contact:

a. Application Managementb. Service Level Managementc. Capacity Managementd. Release Management

Data used in forecasting future capacity needs is found in the

a. Capacity Database (CDB)b. Configuration Management Database (CMDB)c. Definitive Hardware Store (DHS)d. Definitive Software Library (DSL)

All of the processes interact at some level. Financial Management has a strong link to

a. IT Service Continuity Management b. Problem Managementc. Release Managementd. Change Management

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A new application is being considered as a service to be offered to customers. A model needs to be created in order to evaluate the suitability of the planned changes required to support this application. For modeling one would contact:

a. Application Managementb. Service Level Managementc. Capacity Managementd. Release Management

The answer is "c. Capacity Management". Capacity management handles ad hoc tasks such as modeling and application sizing. Remember to associate "modeling" and "application sizing" with "Capacity Management". I made up the term "Application Management".

Data used in forecasting future capacity needs is found in the

a. Capacity Database (CDB)

b. Configuration Management Database (CMDB)c. Definitive Hardware Store (DHS)d. Definitive Software Library (DSL)

The answer is "a. Capacity Database (CDB)". Capacity Management handles forecasts for future capacity requirements. The CDB is not likely to be in a single database. The CDB may exist in several physical locations. There may be a fine line between what is in the CDB and what is in the CMDB in an examination question.

All of the processes interact at some level. Financial Management has a strong link to

a. IT Service Continuity Management b. Problem Managementc. Release Managementd. Change Management

The answer is "d. Change Management". These are the processes with strong links to Financial Management:1. Service Level Management - charging for service levels and budgeting2. Capacity/Availability Management - cost of capacity and availability3. Configuration Management - asset and cost information from CIs in the CMDB4. Change Management - influence of changes on cost

Some examination questions may pose a situation in which Financial Management needs to interact with another process.

Today's questions:

Customer specific charging is a best practice of

a. Financial Managementb. Service Level Managementc. IT Service Continuity Managementd. Availability Management

PIR is

a. Problem and Incident Reviewb. Process Improvement Reviewc. Priority and Impact Reviewd. Post Implementation Review

The continuity plan has a cold-standby option. This option is used when recovery of full IT services can wait up to

a. 24 hoursb. 48 hoursc. 72 hoursd. 96 hours

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Customer specific charging is a best practice of

a. Financial Managementb. Service Level Managementc. IT Service Continuity Managementd. Availability Management

The answer is "a. Financial Management". The best practices of Financial Management are1. Clear definition between accounting and charging2. Connection with Availability Management, Capacity Management, Configuration Management, and Change Management3. Customer specifc charging4. Financing, benchmarks, and investments

PIR is

a. Problem and Incident Reviewb. Process Improvement Reviewc. Priority and Impact Reviewd. Post Implementation Review

The answer is "d. Post Implementation Review". "Post Implementation Review" is also called "Change Evaluation". It is part of Change Management. There may be a question on the examination asking which process uses PIR.

I made up the other terms.

The continuity plan has a cold-standby option. This option is used when recovery of full IT services can wait up to


The answer is "c. 72 hours". "cold-standby" is also known as "Gradual Recovery". This is part of IT Service Continuity Management. Provision of empty accommodation is forseen but everything else has to be installed (computer equipment and restoration of data).

Today's questions:

The ITIL Foundations Certification Examination is administered by

a. OGC - Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdomb. EXIN - Examination Institute for Information Science in the Netherlandsc. ETS - Educational Testing Service in the United Statesd. ISO - International Organization for Standardization in Switzerland

Upon completion of the ITIL Foundations Certification examination you will receive a certificate suitable for framing and

a. a laurel and hearty handshake from your managerb. an attractive gold pinc. copies of the ITIL books Service Support, Service Delivery, and Securityd. an ITIL process flow poster

The continuity plan has a warm-standby option. This option is used when recovery of IT services can wait up to


=============================================================================================


The ITIL Foundations Certification Examination is administered by

a. OGC - Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdomb. EXIN - Examination Institute for Information Science in the Netherlandsc. ETS - Educational Testing Service in the United Statesd. ISO - International Organization for Standardization in Switzerland

The answer is "b. EXIN - Examination Institute for Information Science in the Netherlands".

Upon completion of the ITIL Foundations Certification examination you will receive a certificate suitable for framing and

a. a laurel and hearty handshake from your managerb. an attractive gold pinc. copies of the ITIL books Service Support, Service Delivery, and Securityd. an ITIL process flow poster

The answer is "b. an attractive gold pin". This question will likely not be on the examination but it is information that is fun to know and tell. These are the items that I received after passing the examination.

The continuity plan has a warm-standby option. This option is used when recovery of IT services can wait up to


The answer is "a. 24 hours". Typically this is through an equipped disaster recovery center where only data needs to be recovered. Disadvantages are the distance and sharing with other customers.

Today's questions:

Consider the following risks:

i. IT-based rather than business-alignedii. Business not knowing its requirementsiii. Lack of clear definition of responsibilities of each partyiv. Too low seniority for the SLA managerv. SLAs not supported by adequate UCs and OLAs

Which of these are potential problem areas for Service Level Management?

a. Only i, ii, and vb. Only ii, iii, and vc. All of themd. Only i, iv, and v

Financial Management in a small 20 person company is considering adopting the accounting practices for IT services from the multinational Titanic Information Services Corporation. One of the potential problem areas would be

a. the customers may not like being "nickeled and dimed" for each granular serviceb. obtaining additional staff, hardware, and softwarec. the cost of accounting and charging could be larger than the value received from the informationd. vendor dependency

A critical server machine is suddenly inoperable. The best place to go to find a replacement is in the

a. CMDBb. CDBc. DSLd. DHS

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Consider the following risks:i. IT-based rather than business-alignedii. Business not knowing its requirementsiii. Lack of clear definition of responsibilities of each partyiv. Too low seniority for the SLA managerv. SLAs not supported by adequate UCs and OLAs

Which of these are potential problem areas for Service Level Management?

a. Only i, ii, and vb. Only ii, iii, and vc. All of themd. Only i, iv, and v

The answer is "c. All of them". Some examination questions will present the various risks or benefits of each process in this format. The term "risk" and "potential problem area" are often used interchangeably in this context. It is a good idea to review the risks and benefits of each process for the examination.

Financial Management in a small 20 person company is considering adopting the accounting practices for IT services from the multi-national Titanic Information Services Corporation. One of the potential problem areas would be

a. the customers may not like being "nickled and dimed" for each granular serviceb. obtaining additional staff, hardware, and softwarec. the cost of accounting and charging could be larger than the value received from the informationd. vendor dependency

The answer is "c. the cost of accounting and charging could be larger than the value received from the information". In general one must be sure that for all processes the cost does not exceed the value received. Answers "a" and "b" are somewhat correct but answer "c" is the best answer. Answer "d. vendor dependency" is a potential problem area for Availability Management.

A critical server machine is suddenly inoperable. The best place to go to find a replacement is in the

a. CMDBb. CDBc. DSLd. DHS

The answer is "d. DHS". The Definitive Hardware Store, part of Release Management, has spare components and assemblies that are maintained at the same level as the comparative systems within the live environment.

Today's questions:

Which process is responsible for ensuring the same version of the software for an application is installed on every computer?

a. Configuration Mangementb. Release Managementc. Change Managementd. Network Management

Three keys combine to form an escalation matrix with escalation paths. Which of the following is NOT one of the three keys?

a. escalation triggerb. escalation measuresc. escalation incident d. escalation levels

A software component of the inventory control application is suspected of being corrupt. Where can one find a copy of this component that should not be corrupt?

a. DSLb. DHLc. CMDBd. CDB

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Which process is responsible for ensuring the same version of the software for an application is installed on every computer?

a. Configuration Mangementb. Release Managementc. Change Managementd. Network Management

The answer is "b. Release Management". This question is a bit difficult because one thinks of Configuration Management as tracking the status of the CIs in the CMDB. In this situation the CIs are updated to reflect the installation and not to ensure the installation of the software. Change Management approves changes but it is Release Management that bundles the changes into a version of the release. "Network Management" is not an ITIL term for Service Support or Service Delivery.

Three keys combine to form an escalation matrix with escalation paths. Which of the following is NOT one of the three keys?

a. escalation triggerb. escalation measuresc. escalation incident d. escalation levels

The answer is "c. escalation incident". An escalation trigger can be an incident but other factors, such as the third transfer of the incident, could be a trigger. Remember trigger, measures, and levels are the three escalation keys. This is part of Incident Management.

A software component of the inventory control application is suspected of being corrupt. Where can one find a copy of this component that should not be corrupt?

a. DSLb. DHLc. CMDBd. CDB

The answer is "a. DSL". The Definitive Software Library is used as a source of distribution of each software item. This is part of Release Management.

Today's questions:

Progress control is an incident activity handled by

a. Incident Managementb. Problem Managementc. Configuration Managementd. Change Management

The design and implementation of efficient procedures for the distribution and installation of changes to IT systems is the goal of:

a. Problem Managementb. Change Managementc. Release Managementd. IT Service Continuity Management

Auditing the software on PCs within an organization is the responsibility of

a. Problem Managementb. Change Managementc. Release Managementd. Configuration Management

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Progress control is an incident activity handled by

a. Incident Managementb. Problem Managementc. Configuration Managementd. Change Management

The answer is "a. Incident Management". The key to the answer is "incident activity". One may believe the best answer is "b. Problem Management" because Problem Management monitors problem control progress and provides this information to the Service Desk (which is part of Incident Management). "b" would be correct if the term "problem activity" was used. This is an example of the fine distinction between similar terminology one may encounter on the examination.

The Service Desk would need to monitor the progress of an incident if the Service Desk delegated the solution to an external party rather than Problem Management.

The design and implementation of efficient procedures for the distribution and installation of changes to IT systems is the goal of:

a. Problem Managementb. Change Managementc. Release Managementd. IT Service Continuity Management

The answer is "c. Release Management". The term "change" can often lead one to think about "Change Management" or "Configuration Management". Release Management is concerned with ensuring the proper versions are installed. This does not mean that the same version of software is required to be installed on all machines (an important point to remember).

Auditing the software on PCs within an organization is the responsibility of

a. Problem Managementb. Change Managementc. Release Managementd. Configuration Management

The answer is "c. Release Management". The CI information in the CMDB would be checked and updated as a result of the audit. At times "Configuration Management" may appear to be the process for ensuring that the CI information is correct but it usually is not.

Today's questions:

Which is the correct association of the tasks and processes?

1. assign priority a. Incident Management2. find root cause of problems b. Problem Management3. PIR c. Configuration Management4. identifying relationships between components d. Change Management

a. 1a, 2b, 3d, 4cb. 1b, 2a, 3d, 4cc. 1d, 2b, 3c, 4ad. 1b, 2d, 3a, 4c

Which is the correct association of the acronyms and processes?

1. SLA a. Capacity Management2. CI b. Configuration Management3. CMDB c. Service Level Management4. CDB d. Security Management5. CIA e. Availability Management

a. 1c, 2b, 3b, 4e, 5ab. 1c, 2b, 3b, 4a, 5dc. 1c, 2d, 3b, 4e, 5ad. 1c, 2a, 3c, 4d, 5b

Resilience is the ability of an IT service to remain operational in spite of malfunction by one or more subcomponents. Another term for resilience is

a. Reliabilityb. Serviceabilityc. Fault Toleranced. Continuity

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Which is the correct association of the tasks and processes?

1. assign priority a. Incident Management2. find root cause of problems b. Problem Management3. PIR c. Configuration Management4. identifying relationships between components d. Change Management

a. 1a, 2b, 3d, 4cb. 1b, 2a, 3d, 4c

c. 1d, 2b, 3c, 4ad. 1b, 2d, 3a, 4c

The answer is "a. 1a, 2b, 3d, 4c". This is an example of the style of some examination questions. Usually one can determine two relations that are correct and have a good chance at determining the correct answer. PIR is "Post Implementarion Review".

Which is the correct association of the acronyms and processes?

1. SLA a. Capacity Management2. CI b. Configuration Management3. CMDB c. Service Level Management4. CDB d. Security Management5. CIA e. Availability Management

a. 1c, 2b, 3b, 4e, 5ab. 1c, 2b, 3b, 4a, 5dc. 1c, 2d, 3b, 4e, 5ad. 1c, 2a, 3c, 4d, 5b

The answer is "b. 1c, 2b, 3b, 4a, 5d". This is an example of the style of some examination questions. Usually one can determine two relations that are correct and have a good chance at determining the correct answer.SLA - Service Level AgreementCI - Configuration ItemCMDB - Configuration Management DatabaseCDB - Capacity DatabaseCIA - Confidentiality, Integrity/Accuracy, Availability/Accessibility

Resilience is the ability of an IT service to remain operational in spite of malfunction by one or more subcomponents. Another term for resilience is

a. Reliabilityb. Serviceabilityc. Fault Toleranced. Continuity

The answer is "c. Fault Tolerance". This is an Availability Management term.

Reliability (an Availability Management term) is measured by Mean Time Between System Incidents (MTBSI). It is the ability to work without operational failure. It is very similar to "resilience". When you see "MTBSI" think "reliability". When you see situations involving the overall IT service remaining operational in spite of malfunctions think "resilience".

Serviceability (an Availability Management term) is the ability to maintain the availability, reliability, and maintainability provided by the contractual agreements with the IT service providers.

Continuity is part of many terms used in IT Service Continuity Management.

Today's questions:

Which is the correct association of these acronyms and processes/functions?

1. MTTR a. Service Desk2. CAB b. Service Level Management3. BCM c. Change Management4. OLA d. IT Service Continuity Management5. SPOC e. Availability Management

a. 1c, 2d, 3e, 4a, 5bb. 1b, 2b, 3a, 4d, 5ac. 1e, 2c, 3d, 4b, 5bd. 1e, 2c, 3d, 4b, 5a

SIP is

a. Security, Integrity, and Performanceb. Severity, Impact, and Priorityc. Service Incident Problemd. Service Improvement Program

A new application is being designed with availability measurement built into the application. This is a

a. bad idea because the availability measurement will not be independent of the function.b. bad idea because other measurement tools already in use may not be compatible.c. good idea because the availability measurement will be more accurate than the use of an "off the shelf" measurement tool.d. good idea because the measurement function can be upgraded with upgrades to the application.

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Which is the correct association of these acronyms and processes/functions?

1. MTTR a. Service Desk2. CAB b. Service Level Management3. BCM c. Change Management4. OLA d. IT Service Continuity Management5. SPOC e. Availability Management

a. 1c, 2d, 3e, 4a, 5bb. 1b, 2b, 3a, 4d, 5ac. 1e, 2c, 3d, 4b, 5bd. 1e, 2c, 3d, 4b, 5a

The answer is "d. 1e, 2c, 3d, 4b, 5a".MTTR - Mean Time To RepairCAB - Change Advisory BoardBCM - Business Continuity ManagementOLA - Operational Level AgreementSPOC - Single Point Of Contact

SIP is

a. Security, Integrity, and Performanceb. Severity, Impact, and Priorityc. Service Incident Problemd. Service Improvement Program

The answer is "d. Service Improvement Program". Management can instigate a SIP to identify and implement whatever actions are necessary to overcome any difficulties and restore service quality. This is part of Service Level Management.

A new application is being designed with availability measurement built into the application. This is a

a. bad idea because the availability measurement will not be independent of the function.b. bad idea because other measurement tools already in use may not be compatible.c. good idea because the availability measurement will be more accurate than the use of an "off the shelf" measurement tool.d. good idea because the measurement function can be upgraded with upgrades to the application. The answer is "a. bad idea because the availability measurement will not be independent of the function." We need to avoid situations in which the measurements look good and the customer perceives the service as being unsatisfactory. The design of the application should be separate from the measurement tool.

Other measurement tools may provide "checks and balances" to see if the measurements from a particular tool may be biased. This is why answer "a" is better than answer "b".

Today's questions:

Which of the following are benefits of implementing ITIL?1. Enhanced customer satisfaction2. Formalize the use of procedures3. Improve quality of service4. Motivate staff through better mangement of expectations and responsibilities

a. 1, 2, 3b. all of the abovec. 1, 3, 4d. 1, 3

Identify the following as inputs and outputs of Incident Management:

1. Incident reports from the Service Desk and Monitoring2. Requests for Change to Change Management3. Information about incidents or problems to Problem Management4. Information about users, system configuration, service levels5. Information about solutions, tested workarounds6. Solved and closed incidents7. Information to the user8. Information about changes performed9. Reports to management

a. inputs: 1,4,5,6,8 outputs: 2,3,7,9b. inputs: 1,4,5,6,9 outputs: 2,3,7,8c. inputs: 1,4,5,8 outputs: 2,3,6,7,9d. inputs: 1,2,5,8 outputs: 3,4,6,7,9

Every RFC should be allocated a priority that is based on the impact of the problem and the urgency of the remedy. Recommended priority ratings are:

a. immediate, high, medium, lowb. good, bad, uglyc. high, medium, lowd. critical, urgent, fix, enhancement

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Which of the following are benefits of implementing ITIL?1. Enhanced customer satisfaction2. Formalize the use of procedures3. Improve quality of service4. Motivate staff through better mangement of expectations and responsibilities

a. 1, 2, 3b. all of the abovec. 1, 3, 4d. 1, 3

The answer is "b. all of the above". Usually one can tell if something is not a benefit as it may sound negative such as "Transfer blame for service failure to a vendor". The one exception involves charging for services. One of the benefits of charging for services is that it usually changes the use of the service. Watch out for benefits that belong to a different process than the process in question.

Identify the following as inputs and outputs of Incident Management:

1. Incident reports from the Service Desk and Monitoring2. Requests for Change to Change Management3. Information about incidents or problems to Problem Management4. Information about users, system configuration, service levels5. Information about solutions, tested workarounds6. Solved and closed incidents7. Information to the user8. Information about changes performed9. Reports to management

a. inputs: 1,4,5,6,8 outputs: 2,3,7,9b. inputs: 1,4,5,6,9 outputs: 2,3,7,8c. inputs: 1,4,5,8 outputs: 2,3,6,7,9d. inputs: 1,2,5,8 outputs: 3,4,6,7,9

The answer is "c. inputs: 1,4,5,8 outputs: 2,3,6,7,9". Questions about inputs and outputs can be difficult because what may appear to be information needed by the process is information produced by the process. Sometimes the word "to" indicates the information is going from the process to another area and as such is an output. In this question 2,3,7,9 have the word "to". This would make answers "a" and "c" the most likely to be correct. Since this is Incident Management it follows that "6" is an output so one may conclude that the answer is "c".

Every RFC should be allocated a priority that is based on the impact of the problem and the urgency of the remedy. Recommended priority ratings are:

a. immediate, high, medium, lowb. good, bad, uglyc. high, medium, lowd. critical, urgent, must fix, enhancement

The answer is "a. immediate, high, medium, low". One should look for 4 priority ratings that reflect these adjectives if other terms are in use. Answers "b" and "c" only have 3 priority ratings. Answer "d" uses terms that may not be clear in determining which of the 4 designates the higher priority. ITIL is a set of best practices and as such does not dictate the exact terms to use for the 4 priority ratings.

Today's questions:

Incident workaround data for rapid incident closure is created by

a. Incident Managementb. Problem Managementc. Change Managementd. Release Management

An incident has occured that has a high impact, or potentially high impact, which will require a response that is above and beyond that given to normal incidents. This incident will require cross-company coordination, management escalation, the mobilization of additional resources, and increased communications. The ITIL term for this is a

a. severe incidentb. high incidentc. critical incidentd. major incident

A permanent fix is an identified means of resolving an incident or problem that provides a resolution of the underlying cause. This is also known as a

a. Release Unitb. change implementationc. solutiond. Delta Release

=============================================================================================


Incident workaround data for rapid incident closure is created by

a. Incident Managementb. Problem Managementc. Change Managementd. Release Management

The answer is "b. Problem Management". The Service Desk, a function of the Incident Management process, communicates workaround data to the user and customer. Normally it is Problem Management that determines the workaround data and, if needed, creates an RFC for Change Management. It is possible

that the workaround data could come from Change Management, Release Management, and Incident Management. One expects that, in most cases, workaround data will come from Problem Management for a situation involving rapid incident closure.

An incident has occured that has a high impact, or potentially high impact, which will require a response that is above and beyond that given to normal incidents. This incident will require cross-company coordination, management escalation, the mobilization of additional resources, and increased communications. The ITIL term for this is a

a. severe incidentb. high incidentc. critical incidentd. major incident

The correct answer is "d. major incident". This is one of those terms that makes sense by itself but can be similar to other terms that are not ITIL terms. When you see this situation described in an incident description then think "major incident".

A permanent fix is an identified means of resolving an incident or problem that provides a resolution of the underlying cause. This is also known as a

a. Release Unitb. change implementationc. solutiond. Delta Release

The answer is "c. solution". A solution may be part of a Release Unit which, in turn, may be part of a "Delta Release". I made up the term "change implementation".

Today's questions:

Match the following roles and responsibilities:

1. Process Owner a. responsible for conducting defined activities in the process2. Process Manager b. responsible for the goals and results of the process3. Proces Operatives c. responsible for the design and structure of the process

a. 1a,2b,3cb. 1b,2c,3ac. 1c,2a,3bd. 1b,2c,3a

The "Forward Schedule of Changes" is the

a. schedule of changes for hierarchical escalationb. schedule of RFCs to be written for changesc. schedule of changes awaiting approvald. schedule of approved changes

The Management Board

a. approves major SLAs and related UCs and OLAs.b. approves major changes.

c. coordinates Security Management and IT Service Continuity Management.d. coordinates Financial Management, Change Management, and Release Management.

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Match the following roles and responsibilities:

1. Process Owner a. responsible for conducting defined activities in the process2. Process Manager b. responsible for the goals and results of the process3. Proces Operatives c. responsible for the design and structure of the process

a. 1a,2b,3cb. 1b,2c,3ac. 1c,2a,3bd. 1b,2c,3a

The answer is "d. 1b,2c,3a". Process Owner is the "What", Process Manager is the "How", and Process Operatives (team members) are the "Who".

The "Forward Schedule of Changes" is the

a. schedule of changes for hierarchical escalationb. schedule of RFCs to be written for changesc. schedule of changes awaiting approvald. schedule of approved changes

The answer is "d. schedule of approved changes". This is a term that is not often encountered but may be on the examination.

The Management Board

a. approves major SLAs and related UCs and OLAs.b. approves major changes.c. coordinates Security Management and IT Service Continuity Management.d. coordinates Financial Management, Change Management, and Release Management.

The answer is "b. approves major changes.". This is an example of a term that you may only see once (or a few times) in the ITIL literature and it may appear on the examination. Do not get discouraged during the examination when you encounter a term that you cannot recall or may not have seen. The key term that differentiates this from the CAB is "major changes". When a proposed infrastructure change will have a wide impact upon other parts of the organization then the CAB needs to interface with other areas of the business such as application development and business operations.

Today's questions:

A Delta Release was applied to an application. The application immediately failed. In order to remove the Delta Release we need to use the

a. rollback planb. backout planc. recovery pland. fallback plan

Match the following best practices with the related function or process

1. standardized documentation of caller data 2. qualified processing of requests instead of simple transfer 3. focus on minimizing or avoidance of incidents 4. enforce the compliance of change management processes 5. concurrent integration with configuration and release mananagement

a. Service Deskb. Incident Managementc. Problem Managementd. Change Managemente. Configuration Management

a. 1a,2b,3c,4e,5db. 1a,2b,3c,4d,5ec. 1b,2a,3d,4c,5ed. 1a,2a,3c,4d,5d


1. Integration of Release Management, Change Management, and Configuration Management2. Usage in connection with capacity management, financial management, and IT service continuity management3. Accurate business forecasts4. Customer-specific charging5. Charging on SLA basis and not globally

a. Capacity Managementb. Financial Managementc. Service Level Managementd. Release Managemente. Availability Management

a. 1a,2e,3a,4c,5bb. 1c,2e,3a,4d,5bc. 1e,2c,3b,4a,5dd. 1d,2e,3a,4b,5c

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A Delta Release was applied to an application. The application immediately failed. In order to remove the Delta Release we need to use the

a. rollback planb. backout plan

c. recovery pland. fallback plan

The answer is "b. backout plan". This is the ITIL term related to backing out all releases (emergency fix, delta release, full release, package release).


1. standardized documentation of caller data 2. qualified processing of requests instead of simple transfer 3. focus on minimizing or avoidance of incidents 4. enforce the compliance of change management processes 5. concurrent integration with configuration and release mananagement

a. Service Deskb. Incident Managementc. Problem Managementd. Change Managemente. Configuration Managementf. Release Management

a. 1a,2b,3c,4e,5db. 1a,2b,3c,4d,5ec. 1b,2a,3d,4c,5ed. 1a,2a,3c,4d,5f

The answer is "a. 1a,2b,3c,4e,5d". It is difficult to memorize all of the best practices for all of the functions and processes. One needs to find the pieces in the answer that are known and then eliminate or focus on others.

Example of an analysis for this question: "1" is for the Service Desk because of the term "caller data".

The possible answers at this point are "a", "b", and "d".

"5" is not likely to go with "Release Management" since this is dealing with "concurrent integration" which implies a process that works with both "configuration management" and "release management" at the same time.

The possible answers at this point are "a" and "b".

"4" deals with enforcing change management processes. It is unlikely that a process will enforce its own processes. "4" appears to match "e". "5" is not likely to go with "Configuration Management" since this is dealing with "concurrent integration" which implies a process that works with both "configuration management" and "release management". "5" does not go with "e".

The answer is "a. 1a,2b,3c,4e,5d".


1. Integration of Release Management, Change Management, and Configuration Management2. Usage in connection with capacity management, financial management, and IT service continuity management

3. Accurate business forecasts4. Customer-specific charging5. Charging on SLA basis and not globally

a. Capacity Managementb. Financial Managementc. Service Level Managementd. Release Managemente. Availability Management

a. 1a,2e,3a,4c,5bb. 1c,2e,3a,4d,5bc. 1e,2c,3b,4a,5dd. 1d,2e,3a,4b,5c

The answer is "d. 1d,2e,3a,4b,5c". It is difficult to memorize all of the best practices for all of the functions and processes. One needs to find the pieces in the answer that are known and then eliminate or focus on others.

Example of an analysis for this question:

"4" and "5" both deal with charges. "5" uses the term "SLA" which is usually associated with "Service Level Management". "4" uses the term "customer-specific" which implies detailed accounting. "4" appears to go with "b" and "5" appears to go with "c".

The term "forecast" usually goes with "Capacity Management". "3" appears to go with "a".

Answer "d. 1d,2e,3a,4b,5c" is the only answer that matches.

Answer "a. 1a,2e,3a,4c,5b" has "4" and "5" reversed from our analysis. If answer "a. 1a,2e,3a,4c,5b" is correct then "1" would need to match "a. Capacity Management". Even though "1" uses the term "release management" the match for "1" is "d. Release Management". This may seem contrary to logic that says one does not use a term in the definition of the term but this is not the case here. These types of wordings can be frustrating. This is why one needs to find the pieces that one believes to be true and then eliminate or confirm the other pieces.

Today's questions:

ITIL

1. guarantees uninterrupted service2. allows for significant cost reduction3. aligns IT service with Business Goals and Objectives4. is a framework that provides guidance

a. all of the aboveb. 1,3,4c. 3,4d. 2,3,4

Configuration Management

a. is one of the Service Delivery processes b. records CI relationships in the CDBc. provides a logical model of the IT infrastructure

d. provides copies of the software and spares for the hardware in use

The baseline is

a. never updatedb. the ideal software and hardware configuration for a servicec. a snapshot that allows for a rebuild or backout procedured. a test environment for emergency fixes

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ITIL

1. guarantees uninterrupted service2. allows for significant cost reduction3. aligns IT service with Business Goals and Objectives4. is a framework that provides guidance

a. all of the aboveb. 1,3,4c. 3,4d. 2,3,4

The answer is "d. 2,3,4". Look for "a gurantee of uninterrupted service" on the examination in various guises. ITIL does not provide any best practices for guaranteeing uninterrupted service. The best one can provide is continuos service of the most critical service components.

Configuration Management

a. is one of the Service Delivery processes b. records CI relationships in the CDBc. provides a logical model of the IT infrastructured. provides copies of the software and spares for the hardware in use

The answer is "c. provides a logical model of the IT infrastructure". Note that modeling is usually associated with Capacity Management. That type of modeling is used to determine capacity needs.

"a" is wrong because Configuration Management is one of the Service Support processes.

"b" is wrong because the relationships are recorded in the CMDB (Configuration Management Database) and not in the CDB (Capacity Database).

"d" is wrong because Release Management is responsible for the DSL (Definitive Software Library) and DHS (Definitive Hardware Store).

The baseline is

a. never updatedb. the ideal software and hardware configuration for a service

c. a snapshot that allows for a rebuild or backout procedured. a test environment for emergency fixes

The answer is "c. a snapshot that allows for a rebuild or backout procedure".

"a" is incorrect because the baseline can be updated after changes are made to the system.

"b" is wrong because a baseline is the stable point in the past, not the goal for the future.

"d" is wrong because tests need to be performed with the current software and hardware. Some tests may use the baseline as a regression test, but the baseline is not intended to be a test environment. "c" is a better answer than "d".

Today's questions:

Several components of an application have been updated. A release is desired that will put customers at the same level for all of the components in the application. This type of a release is called a:

a. Delta Releaseb. Package Releassec. Full Released. Point Release

The live environment activity of distribution and installation of a release is part of

a. Change Managementb. Release Managementc. Configuratin Managementd. Service Level Management

Maintaining the balance between customer demands and service costs is part of the mission of

a. Financial Management b. Capacity Managementc. Availability Managementd. Service Level Management

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Several components of an application have been updated. A release is desired that will put customers at the same level for all of the components in the application. This type of a release is called a:

a. Delta Releaseb. Package Releassec. Full Released. Point Release

The answer is "c. Full Release". A DeltaRelease is the change for a single component. A package release is a collection of changes for two or more applications. The term "Point Release" is not an ITIL term.

The live environment activity of distribution and installation of a release is part of

a. Change Managementb. Release Managementc. Configuration Managementd. Service Level Management

The answer is "b. Release Management". Sometimes this type of question is "disguised" and may "point to" change management for control, Configuration Management for updating the CVIs in the CMDB, or Service Level Mangement since the SLA may need to change with a new release. Remeber that Release Management handles distribution and installation to ensure that the proper levels of a release are installed.

Maintaining the balance between customer demands and service costs is part of the mission of

a. Financial Management b. Capacity Managementc. Availability Managementd. Service Level Management

The answer is "d. Service Level Management". The term "customer demands" is the key to this question. Customer demands are found in SLAs.

Today's questions:

Which of the following are SLA structures?

1. Customer based - one customer, multiple services2. Service based - multiple customers, one service3. Local based - Service Desk in one location handles all calls only for that location 4. Central based - Service Desk in one location handles all calls for all locations5. Virtual based - Service Desk is not in a physical location

a. all of the aboveb. 1,2c. 3,4,5d. none of the above

Which of the following is not a level in the multi-level SLA?

1. User Level - All issues that relate to a specific user group2. Corporate Level – Generic issues that apply to every customer within the organization3. Customer Level – All issues that relate to a specific customer group4. Service Level – All issues that relate to a specific service being used by a customer

a. 1b. 2c. 3d. 4

The agreed service time is 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, except for a planned downtime of 10 hours every Sunday. In a two week period the system was down for 12 hours on the first Sunday and 8 hours on the second Sunday. The availability for this two week period was

a. 100%

b. 96.8%c. 94.2%d. 99.4%

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Which of the following are SLA structures?

1. Customer based - one customer, multiple services

2. Service based - multiple customers, one service

3. Local based - Service Desk in one location handles all calls only for that location

4. Central based - Service Desk in one location handles all calls for all locations

5. Virtual based - Service Desk is not in a physical location

a. all of the aboveb. 1,2c. 3,4,5d. none of the above

The answer is "b. 1,2". "c. 3,4,5" are the Service Desk types and are not SLA structures.

Which of the following is not a level in the multi-level SLA?

1. User Level - All issues that relate to a specific user group2. Corporate Level – Generic issues that apply to every customer within the organization3. Customer Level – All issues that relate to a specific customer group4. Service Level – All issues that relate to a specific service being used by a customer

a. 1b. 2c. 3d. 4

The answer is "a. 1" - "User Level - All issues that relate to a specific user group". SLAs are agreements with customers and not users. In some situations the user and the customer may be the same. Since "customer" is the better term, "1" is the answer as to what within the choices is not a level in the multi-level SLA.

The agreed service time is 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, except for a planned downtime of 10 hours every Sunday. In a two week period the system was down for 12 hours on the first Sunday and 8 hours on the second Sunday. The availability for this two week period was

a. 100%b. 96.8%

c. 94.2%d. 99.4%

The answer is " d. 99.4%". Availability is only calculated against unplanned outages. The simple availability calculation is:(agreed service time - downtime)/(agreed service time)

This type of problem may appear on the examination. One does not apply "hours saved" when down time is less than anticipated to "hours over" when downtime exceeds the agreement.

The downtime in this problem is 2 hours from the first Sunday when the downtime exceeded the agreement by 2 hours. The downtime for the second Sunday did not exceed 10 hours.

The agreed service time for a week: (24 hours)*(7) - (10 hours) = 158 hours

The agreed service time for 2 weeks: (158 hours)*(2) = 316 hours

Availability = (316 - 2)/(316) = (314)/(316) = 99.37% (rounded to 99.4%)

Today's question:

Match the following cost terms with a cost example

1. Direct Costs2. Indirect Costs3. Fixed Costs4. Variable Costs5. Capital Costs6. Operational Costs

a. weekly exterminator charges b. new neon sign for the top of the office buildingc. server charges for the ACME Company customerd. reproduction charges for copies of the Service Catalog to be distributed to customerse. travel expenses between sitesf. monthly lease payment for the office building

a. 1a,2e,3d,4c,5b,6fb. 1e,2d,3a,4c,5b,6fc. 1c,2d,3f,4e,5b,6ad. 1c,2d,3a,4b,5f,6e

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Match the following cost terms with a cost example

1. Direct Costs2. Indirect Costs3. Fixed Costs4. Variable Costs

5. Capital Costs6. Operational Costs

a. weekly exterminator charges b. new neon sign for the top of the office buildingc. server charges for the ACME Company customerd. reproduction charges for copies of the Service Catalog to be distributed to customerse. travel expenses between sitesf. monthly lease payment for the office building

a. 1a,2e,3d,4c,5b,6fb. 1e,2d,3a,4c,5b,6fc. 1c,2d,3f,4e,5b,6ad. 1c,2d,3a,4b,5f,6e

The answer is "c. 1c,2d,3f,4e,5b,6a". These types of questions can be difficult if one is not familiar with accounting. The following are definitions for the terms:

Direct Costs – Costs related to a specific group or customerIndirect Cost – Costs related to several customers (One water meter for several buildings)Fixed Costs – Costs that don’t changeVariable Costs – Costs that do change depending on situation / useCapital Costs – Equipment, servers, routersOperational Costs – Day to day operations ( electricity, utilities)

An analysis may be done for each answer to eliminate the obvious wrong answers.

"a. 1a,2e,3d,4c,5b,6f" is wrong because "3d". The reproduction charges are for customers and as such will be direct or indirect costs. Since a single customer or group of customers cannot be identified this must be an indirect cost. "3" does not match "d".

"b. 1e,2d,3a,4c,5b,6f" is wrong because "3a". The weekly exterminator is an operational cost. There is some flexibility in obtaining another exterminator or adding other exterminators. A fixed cost is something that always needs to be paid. This answer is also wrong because of "4c". A charge that can be associated with a specific group or customer is a direct cost and not a variable cost.

"c. 1c,2d,3f,4e,5b,6a" is the correct answer. There may be some fine distinctions between capital costs and operational costs. Usually capital costs are physical things that can be depreciated over time and operational costs are services to keep the business running.

"d. 1c,2d,3a,4b,5f,6e" is wrong because "3a" as discussed for answer"b". "4b" is wrong becauase the new neon sign should not be a variable cost. "5f" is wrong because a capital cost should not be a lease payment. A capital cost could be payments for an asset that is going to depreciate.A lease payment is not exactly a service but it is an operational cost since ownership of an asset is not the end result. "6e" may look correct. However, travel between buildings is variable because it is based upon organizational structure and project needs. It is not operational because it is not something that everyone uses such as electricity, water, utilities, etc.

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