Customer Reviews

IT Service Management Foundations: ITIL Study Guide

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is intended to provide you with the information and knowledge to pass the ITIL Foundations exam. It definitely achieves its objective, albeit not too gracefully. The content is there and it is obvious that the author has command of the content. In my opinion, however, the delivery and execution leave something to be desired.

The true value of the book is that it does a good job of encapsulating the processes from the 8 volumes from which it is derived and turning them into a thoughtful treatment of the "foundations" of ITIL. The author is also enthusiastic about the structure and inter-relationships of the processes and how they work together to provide a model for the IT department to be successful, responsive to the business and show its value. I also found the cover attractive!

That having been said, it is also a good example of lackluster writing that significantly made it more difficult to assimilate. For a volume that is intended to focus on a system that delivers quality and value, it is full of mistakes that could have easily been avoided with a good editing. Had this happened, I'm sure my rating of the volume would have been higher by at least one more star!

There are at least two areas where the format created confusion about the point being made. There are at least two tables with the same figure number, which caused some confusion. There was an instance of a wrong word being used altogether in a point being made. There is an ommission in the table of Figures. The book contains a sample test and answer key in the back of the book, and I found some mistakes on the Answer key. There were also references in some of the tables as to what colors refered to what, but the tables are not in color - just shades of gray! Some of the tables were poor representations of the point being made, creating more mental work than was necessary to get the point across.

Bottom line is that readability - and the resulting efficiency of the knowledge transfer process - could have been improved through better editing of the book.

On a continued note about the editing, the book is sprinkled with insights from the "Contributing Author", one Laura Andis. These insights were dispersed among the pages, sometimes offering some golden nuggets, but more often just interupting the flow of the topic being discussed and I found them distracting. The points that were plunked in would have provided better value had they been made by weaving them into the "story" of the book.

All in all, this is a good reference and shouldn't be excluded from your own IT library, but another that definitely belongs there too is:
Foundations of IT Service Management: Based on ITIL by Van Haren Publishing

Some years ago across the pond, the British Government launched an initiative to guide organizations in provided better, consistent information technology services. Known as the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), this now de facto global standard is growing in use and adoption in the United States. This is relatively new for a great many people, and there has not been a good comprehensive resource to provide people with a solid understanding of the foundations of ITIL. Until now. In IT Service Management Foundations: ITIL Study Guide (Gulf Stream Press, 2006, 271 pages, ISBN 0977146901), ITIL instructor and consultant Ron Palmer gives readers a succinct, comprehensive guide to the underpinnings of ITIL, providing the grounding necessary to sit for the ITIL Foundations certification examination

The book is broken down into four parts. The first is called, appropriately. "First Steps". In this section, Palmer begins by introducing the reader to IT service management concepts, with an emphasis on the key concept that IT must rethink processes to successfully align with business goals and objectives. In doing this, communication is effective and managed. This allows for IT to deliver quality, as well manage customer and end-user perceptions. After this introduction to these concepts, Palmer gives an overview of ITIL, the philosophy underpinning the framework, organizations that support ITIL, and information on the ITIL certification path.

Part II of the book covers "Service Support", Palmer goes into greater detail of the "service" (NOT "help") desk. This includes making the important distinction between customers and end-users, and defining the functions of the service desk. This part also provides explanations (and distinctions) for incident management, problem management, change management, release management, and configuration.

Part III moves into the realm of "Service Delivery". This topic includes important discussions of service level management (including service level agreements and the importance of establishing and managing these correctly), financial management issues, capacity management, availability management, and IT Service Continuity Management. In Part IV, the author wraps up the book with coverage of "Security Management".

Why I Like This Book

Palmer has done an excellent job of not only telling you what ITIL is and how it works at a fundamental level, he weaves in his own extensive experience and perspectives to challenge the reader's thinking. He has also brought in the knowledge and expertise of an organizational communications consultant, bringing a non-IT style perspective to the content. In addition, the author provides detailed study guide questions at the end of each chapter, with a cross-referenced answer key at the end of the book.

Who Should Read This Book?

First and foremost, this book should be read by anybody who wishes to sit for the ITIL Foundations certification exam. As this is the only exam in the ITIL certification track that allows for preparation by self-study, it is a very wise investment. It should also be read by IT Governance professionals and IT auditors who need a fundamental understanding of ITIL, and would like to see how it can complement COBIT implementations.

The Scorecard

Eagle on a Long Par 5, Playing Into the Wind

This book was all I needed to pass the Foundation exam. Also, with a VERY good score. It is an exceptional reference for anyone starting out in ITIL, and a "one stop" exam preparation tool.

This is one of the best books on the market for those interested learning more about IT Service Management (ITSM) and ITIL. We have used this book as part of our curriculum for our new MBA and Masters program in ITSM at the University of Dallas. I am an associate professor at the University of Dallas, and strongly recommend using this book as part of any ITSM curriculum. My students also loved the way it was written and the excellent examples and the great job the book does in bringing simplicity to learning the foundations of ITIL.

Best Regards,

Alex Hernandez - Senior Partner and Consultant at Plexent

The book has good content. I would like it more if it had a case study or some real life examples. One thing I didn't like was the answer key. It did not give you the answers, but it gave you the page where to find it. For the price they charge, I would expect all the above to be in the book. I did get a 36/40 in the exam, so it was helpful.

This book was an excellent tool that helped me prepare for the ITIL Foundations Examination, which I passed. I am a college student with no previous IT experience whatsoever. Through the use of down to earth examples and chapter review questions this book was the study guide and reference tool I needed.

I used this book as a study guide for the Foundation certification for ITIL. It is brief enough to be useful for experienced managers without going into excruciating detail. Good study guide for me!

I found this to be an excellent guide for preparing for the ITIL Foundation Certification exam. If you complete the questions at the end of each chapter, you should be well prepared to pass the exam on the first try.

My approach to test preparation is not to take a gang of mock exams but to learn the process. Ron Palmer's text taught me the process. He has no mock exams, but questions at the end of each chapter that force you to go back into the text and do a little searching (there is a guide to where to find items, but you still have to do some hunting). In the course of doing this, important factors that I did not highlight when I read the text the first time were driven home. This book is not so much about passing the test (which it helped me do) as it is about understanding ITIL in ways that the official ITSmf text does not provide. I passed the test handily.