Service Offerings and Agreements (SOA) - ITIL v3 Intermediate Service Capability Module

The ITIL Intermediate Qualification: Service Offerings and Agreements (SOA) Certificate is a free- standing qualification, but is also part of the ITIL Intermediate Capability stream, and one of the modules that leads to the ITIL-SOA Questions Expert Certificate in IT Service Management. The purpose of this training module and the associated exam and certificate is, respectively, to impart, test, and validate the knowledge on industry practices in service management as documented in the ITIL Service Lifecycle core publications.

The ITIL-SOA Study guide Certificate in Service Offerings and Agreements is intended to enable the holders of the certificate to apply SOA practices service management lifecycle and specifically in the following key ITIL process, role and function areas:

Please follow these Practice Test topics:

• Service portfolio management

• Service catalogue management

• Service level management

• Demand management

• Supplier management

• Financial management for IT services

• Business relationship management

This course also introduces and explores the implementation of SOA practices, as well as technology considerations.

Target Candidate

The target group of the ITIL Intermediate Qualification: Service Offerings and Agreements Certificate includes, but is not restricted to:

• IT Professionals

• Business managers

• Business process owners

• Individuals who require a deep understanding of the Service Offerings and Agreements processes and of how it may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organization

• IT professionals who are working within an organization that has adopted and adapted ITIL and who need to be informed about, and thereafter contribute to, an ongoing service improvement programme

• Operational staff involved in service portfolio management; service level management; service catalogue management; demand management; supplier management; financial management for IT services and business relationship management who wish to enhance their role-based capabilities

• Individuals who have attained the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management and wish to advance to higher level ITIL certifications

• Individuals seeking the ITIL Expert Certificate in IT Service Management for which this qualification can be one of the prerequisite modules

• Individuals seeking progress toward the ITIL Master Certificate in IT Service Management for which the ITIL Expert is a prerequisite.

Prerequisite Entry Criteria

Candidates wishing to be trained and examined for this qualification must already hold the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management which must be presented as documentary evidence to gain admission

Candidates who hold the following ITIL qualifications are also eligible, and similar evidence will be required:

• Earlier ITIL (V2) Foundation plus Foundation Bridge

• ITIL Expert Certificate in IT Service Management (achieved via Service Manager or Practitioner bridging routes).

It is recommended that candidates:

• Can demonstrate familiarity with IT terminology and understand that the context of service offerings and agreements management within their own business environment is strongly recommended

• Have experience of working in the service management capacity within a service provider environment, with responsibility for at least one of the following management processes and activities:

• Service portfolio management

• Service catalogue management

• Service level management

• Demand management

• Supplier management

• Financial management for IT services

• Business relationship management

Before attending training for the certification it is also strongly recommended that candidates read the ITIL Service Lifecycle core publications and, in particular, the ITIL Service Strategy and ITIL Service Design publications.

Eligibility for Examination

To be eligible for the examination leading to the ITIL Service Offerings and Agreements Certificate, the candidate must fulfil the following requirements:

• Have undertaken at least 30 contact hours (hours of instruction, excluding breaks, with an Accredited Training Organisation (ATO) or an accredited e-learning solution) for this syllabus, as part of a formal, approved training course/scheme

• 2 to 4 years’ professional experience working in IT service management is highly desirable

• Hold the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management (or other appropriate earlier ITIL and bridge qualifications– see Pre-requisite Entry Criteria on p5)

• It is also recommended that candidates should complete at a minimum 12 hours of personal study by reviewing the syllabus and the pertinent areas within the ITIL Service Strategy and ITIL Service Design core guidance in preparation for the examination, specifically Chapter 2: Service management as a practice.

Syllabus at a Glance

Learning Unit SOA01: Introduction to service offerings and agreements (SOA)

Bloom’s Level 2 Objectives – Full understanding of SOA terms and core concepts

• The value to the business of SOA activities

• The lifecycle within the SOA context

• How services deliver value to customers and the business and the relevance to the SOA processes

• How requirements are identified through the SOA processes

• Understanding return on investment (ROI) and the business case

Learning Unit SOA02: Service portfolio management

Bloom’s Level 4 Objectives – The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of service portfolio management principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of service offerings and agreements

• Service portfolio management, including concepts, methods, activities, roles and operation as well as its organizational structure and the interfaces with other processes

• Service portfolio management in relationship to the service catalogue and service pipeline and how these support SOA

• Metrics and critical success factors (CSFs) associated with service portfolio management in support of SOA

Learning Unit SOA03: Service catalogue management

Bloom’s Level 4 Objectives – The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of service catalogue management principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of service offerings and agreements

• Service catalogue management, including its concepts, activities, roles and operation as well as its organizational structure and the interfaces with other processes

• Service catalogue in relationship to the service portfolio, the business catalogue, the technical service catalogue and how these components are used to ensure service quality within SOA

• Metrics and CSFs associated with service catalogue management in support of SOA

Learning Unit SOA04: Service level management

Bloom’s Level 4 Objectives – The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of service level management principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of service offerings and agreements

• Service level management (SLM), including its concepts, activities, roles and operation as well as its organizational structure and any interfaces with other processes

• SLM components and activities, including service level agreements (SLAs) structures, service level requirements (SLRs), operational level agreements (OLAs), CSFs, underpinning contracts (UCs), their metrics, performance and monitoring

• How these components are used to ensure service quality within SOA

Learning Unit SOA05: Demand management

Bloom’s Level 4 Objectives – The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of demand management principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of service offerings and agreements

• Demand management process, including its concepts, activities, roles and operation as well as its organizational structure and any interfaces with other processes

• Demand for services especially in relation to patterns of business activity and how it is used within SOA

• Service portfolio interaction with demand management and how demand can be managed for service in relation to providing business benefits and in support of SOA

• Metrics and CSFs associated with demand management in support of SOA

Learning Unit SOA06: Supplier management

Bloom’s Level 4 Objectives – The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of supplier management principles, techniques and relationships and the application of them for the effective management of service offerings and agreements

• Supplier management process inclusive of its concepts, activities, roles and operation including its organizational structure as well as any interfaces with other processes

• Supplier management components and activities (for example supplier categorization, supplier evaluation, supplier and contract database, metrics and CSFs) and how these are used to ensure service quality within SOA Learning Unit SOA07: Financial Management for IT services

Bloom’s Level 4 Objectives – The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of financial management for IT services principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of service offerings and agreements

• Financial management for IT services, including its concepts, activities, roles and operation as well as its organizational structure and any interfaces with other processes

• Financial management for IT services components and activities, including budgeting, accounting and charging and how these are used to ensure service quality within SOA

• Metrics and CSFs associated with financial management for IT services in support of SOA

Learning Unit SOA08: Business relationship management

Bloom’s Level 4 Objectives – The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of business relationship management principles, techniques and relationships and their application for the effective management of service offerings and agreements

• Business relationship management, including its concepts, activities, roles and operation as well as its organizational structure and any interfaces with other processes

• Metrics and CSFs associated with business relationship management in support of SOA

Learning Unit SOA09: SOA roles and responsibilities

Bloom’s Level 4 Objectives – The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of SOA roles and their application for the effective management of service offerings and agreements

• The roles and responsibilities related to all of the SOA processes

Learning Unit SOA10: Technology and implementation considerations

Bloom’s Level 4 Objectives – The knowledge, interpretation and analysis of technology and implementation and their application for the effective management of service offerings and agreements

• Service management tools and where/how they would be used within SOA for process implementation

• The tools that support SOA

• What best practices should be used in order to alleviate challenges and risks when implementing Service Management technologies and designing technology architectures