Service Desk is the point of contact between the service providers and users. Effective development and application of the practice can significantly influence user experience, customer experience, and the overall success of service relationships.

The ITIL 4 Practitioner: Service Desk Practice course is for IT professionals who want to prove and validate their skills in this specific practice area. The individuals can demonstrate their understanding and application of the concepts covered in the ITIL 4 Service Desk practice at both strategic and operational levels maximizing value from this practice area.

ITIL 4 Practitioner: Service Desk enables professionals to:

• Define the key concepts, principles, value and challenges of Service Desk
• Capture demand for incident resolution and service requests
• Establish and maintain communication channels and interfaces between the service provider and users
• Enable effective, efficient, and convenient communications between the service provider and its users
• Apply Service Desk metrics to improve performance
• Measure, assess and develop the Service Desk practice capability in their organization by using the ITIL Maturity Model

Module Titles and learning outcomes:

Module 0: Welcome to ITIL 4 Service Desk Practice

Duration: 55m

Module zero introduces you to the course main features, learning plan, aims and objectives, and structure.

It also offers a syllabus, a diagram and tables pack, a further reading and links document and links to download essential copies of the framework publications. It also contains some of the most frequently asked questions about ITIL 4 Service Desk Practice.

Module 1: Key concepts

Duration: 1h

Module 1 explains the purpose and some key terms and concepts of the service desk practice. It then describes the practice success factors (PSFs) and the key metrics of the service desk practice.

Module 2: Value streams and processes

Duration: 1h

Module 2 looks at the core service desk processes: User query handling, communicating to users, and service desk optimization. It details the inputs and activities required by each process and presents the outputs.

The module also explores how the service desk practice can contribute to and be integrated in the organization’s value streams.

Module 3: Enabling the practice

Duration: 1h

Module 3 begins by describing the organizations and people involved in the practice. It describes the responsibilities of the key roles and how to position the service desk practice in the organizational structure, outlining common ways of organizing a dedicated user communication team.

Next, there’s an explanation of automation and tooling, with recommendations for the automation of the service desk practice.

The module then discusses partners and suppliers, explaining the dependencies of the practice on third parties and how partners and suppliers can support the practice.

Capability is the next topic to be covered, with an explanation of how capability criteria support the practice capability development.

Module 3 ends with recommendations for the success of the service desk practice and how the recommendations are supported by the ITIL guiding principles.

Module 4: The practice exams

Duration: 1h 5m

Module 4 contains two practice tests provided by PeopleCert.

Module 5: ITIL 4 Service Desk Practice wrap-up

Duration: 5m

Module 5 provides information on booking the exam and other courses of interest.

ITIL® 4 Practitioner: Service Desk Practice

Exam:

• This is a multiple-choice ‘Objective Test Question’ (OTQ) exam consisting of 20 questions
• There is a time limit of 30 minutes to complete the exam
• The exam is closed book, with only the provided materials being permitted for use
• The pass mark for the exam is 65%
• In countries where English is a second language, the time allocated for the exam is extended to 75 minutes

FAQ

What is ITIL® 4 Practitioner: Service Desk Practice?

The ITIL 4 Practitioner: Problem Management practice module is for IT professionals who want to ensure that errors in the live environment are identified, analysed, and, where required and possible, removed or fixed.

What are the prerequisites for ITIL® 4 Practitioner: Service Desk Practice?

ITIL® Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management OR
ITIL® 4 Managing Professional Transition Certificate

What is ITSM?

ITSM stands for ‘IT Service Management’. It involves using policies, procedures, and best practices to optimize IT services for clients and employees.

What is ITIL 4?

ITIL 4′ is the latest iteration of ITIL, the world’s leading framework for ITSM. It offers a series of best practices to help IT-powered organizations design, develop, and continually improve their IT services.

What does ITIL stand for?

Previously, ITIL stood for the ‘Information Technology Infrastructure Library’. The framework has evolved to the point where it is updated so often that it cannot be considered a static ‘library’. Because of this, the name no longer stands for anything.

What does the ITIL certification path look like?

Students must initially pass ‘ITIL Foundation’. Once a student has obtained ‘ITIL Foundation,’ they can go on to pass the ‘Practice Manager,’ ‘Managing Professional’ or ‘Strategic Leader’ streams. Obtaining all of the Practice Manager,’ ‘Managing Professional’ and ‘Strategic Leader’ certifications allows students to become an ‘ITIL Master.’

Students interested in a specific area of ITSM can take one of the four ITIL extension modules. These do not contribute to the ITIL Pathway.

How much is ITIL certification worth?

According to Payscale, certified ITIL practitioners can earn between $51,000 and over $259,000 (or £18,000 and over £118,000), depending on their experience, role, and certification level. Even sitting a Foundation course can have significant benefits for ITSM professionals.

How does ITIL work?

ITIL provides users with a set of best practices for creating optimized IT services. It establishes cultures of continuous improvement, ensuring that users can enjoy long-term benefits with IT services continually aligned with business goals and strategies. It also offers proven practices for resource optimization and continuous improvement.

How can ITIL benefit businesses?

ITIL 4 is a modern framework that fully equips users to optimize their IT practices. It creates cultures of continuous improvement, enabling organizations to deliver top-quality IT products and services whilst also continually reviewing their own processes.
The framework is also highly adaptable and can work alongside other popular approaches, such as DevOps. Finally, the framework is set to continue evolving to accommodate developments in technology and best practices. This makes ITIL future-proof for practitioner organizations.

What is AXELOS?

AXELOS is a trademark of PeopleCert, the organization behind a variety of highly popular best practice frameworks, including ITIL 4, PRINCE2, MSP, and AgileSHIFT.

What other frameworks can complement ITIL?

ITIL 4 can be integrated with several other frameworks, including Agile, DevOps, and Lean. Some practitioners even use it alongside PRINCE2.