The IT Skeptic - training

The Knowledge Academy

skeptic — Tue, 29 May 2018 09:23:20 +0000

Here is the kind of predatory vendor who screws the IT training market. Unfortunately the course publishers still do business with them.

DevOps Training Options

skeptic — Sun, 22 May 2016 21:52:42 +0000

The DevOps training space has become complex which is no surprise given that it is an open community with no central governance, so I thought it was time to canvass the DevOps training options for you in a single place.

ITIL training fun and games at itSMFUK conference - and an end to competition?

skeptic — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:10:40 +0000

The IT Skeptic hears on the grapevine that the ITIL training industry may be having a few meetings of its own at the itSMF UK conference next week. And the topics of conversation may bear on the continued competition between Examination Institutes (EIs).

Real ITIL training

skeptic — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 19:05:37 +0000

The ITIL training industry is geared up to produce standardised certified theoretical courses. We've seen a lot of simulation games added to the mix to try to make the training a bit more practical but it is still nowhere near what I would call real ITIL training.

Castle ITIL further degrade the standards of ITIL V3 certification and training

skeptic — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 19:58:47 +0000

It is confirmed from multiple sources that APMG have raised the number of students per instructor for ITIL V3 Intermediate courses from 12 to 18. [Update: well strictly speaking I shouldn't blame APMG, it is the almost invisible IQB, the murky body that represents all the snouts at the trough of training (and not to be confused with itSMFI's International Qualifications & Certifications ESC - the IQC)]. This is clearly recognition that ITIL V3 certification is not about teaching people anything, and will serve only to reduce the perceived market value of an ITIL Intermediate certification. Add to that the fact that this has not been announced to the public (as far as I can detect) and you can see that ITIL certification is all about the industry not the customer.

Is APMG an accreditor or a competitor for ITIL ATOs?

skeptic — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:00:00 +0000

For all those who have paid lots of money to be accredited ITIL V3 training organisations (ATOs), be aware that APMG-International the Examination institute (EI) - as compared to their parent APMG Group the official OGC accreditor of all EIs - is not directing any business your way if you accredited through another EI. You know who your friends are in the ITIL world.

Pass the ITIL Foundation exam in six easy and (almost) free steps

skeptic — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:42:14 +0000

If you know something about IT operations (not just development) and your IQ is in triple figures then passing the ITIL Foundation exam should be no big deal and no big investment. (If in doubt, read the testimonials in the comments below). Follow these ~~six~~ ~~nine~~ ~~eight~~ seven steps:
[updated 14/4/2015 ]

How to find free ITIL V3 Foundation training

skeptic — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:11:56 +0000

Update: sadly, these videos have gone from YouTube
Personally I find learning from online videos even harder than learning from online webpages ("ooh look an incoming email..."), but for those of you who can stomach death-by-video this might be a good option for you to study free for your ITIL V3 Foundation course. This post has compiled and sorted a bunch of videos created by Marco Cattaneo and alerted me to the set, but you can also access them on Marco's own playlist on YouTube.

Fast track to ITIL V3 Expert

skeptic — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:08:53 +0000

Further to our discussion around the real cost of ITIL certification, readers are reminded that there still exists a fast track to Expert status that is quicker and cheaper. It still isn't that quick or cheap, but it is better than the primary path. And it won't be around for long. The ITIL Qualifications Board's latest survey shows them bunching muscles, gathering themselves for the final spring, to kill off ITIL V2 certification once and for all. (For pity's sake, have your say to try and make that as hard as possible for them). In the meantime there is another way

Are training providers experiencing a drop in certification pass rates since ITIL V3 Foundation syllabus was revised?

skeptic — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:39:11 +0000

The word on the street is that they are! One training provider's blog suggested that since the latest revision of the syllabus perhaps "the exam was quite different from the course materials and the sample exam".

Interesting idea for spreading the expertise - and the risk

skeptic — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:53:44 +0000

In our mobile age it becomes very difficult for employers to build a base of expertise in the organisation. It leaks. You've no sooner paid for someone's ITIL Manager's (now Expert's) certificate and they are moving on. Pink Elephant has been talking about an interesting alternative approach: an expert team.

Why do we waste money training people in ITIL? Just More Crap

skeptic — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:14:25 +0000

It greatly concerns me the huge numbers of people being sent on ITIL Foundation training. Given the cost of ITIL certification, I suggest companies who send staff on theoretical ITIL training - other than the small number actually involved in designing the transformation - are wasting their money. The real target group for that theoretical training are the specialists and consutants. My recommendations are:

Public review of the ITIL V3 Foundation Syllabus: who knew?

skeptic — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 04:58:56 +0000

APMG have just run an anonymous public survey for "your valuable feedback" on the ITIL V3 Foundation Syllabus. Who knew? Oh, come on! You had a whole five days to hear about it and respond.

Give up on ITIL V3 training and certification - it is not going to change

skeptic — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:49:26 +0000

This post has been podcast

Yet another unhappy camper prompted me to hammer on the cold stone walls of Castle ITIL once again, right over the blood-stains of last time I tried. But I won't. I give up. ITIL training and certification isn't going to change. It has been taken over by the money engine and is lost. The real experts are elsewhere.

the world of ITIL V3 certification and training

skeptic — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:14:15 +0000

[updated February 2009]

Most readers of this blog know this stuff but certainly not all so here's the IT Skeptic's shaky understanding of the world of ITIL V3 certification. I welcome corrections and elaborations.

ITIL V3 Intermediate exams - the money engine wins again

skeptic — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:06:56 +0000

With the release of the new format for ITIL V3 Intermediate exams, once again APMG and the ITIL Qualifications Board have opted for maximising profitability and sellability of product for the ITIL Version 3 training industry over maximising the quality of the resulting trainee.

Just how does itSMF involve the members?

skeptic — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:58:13 +0000

Just how does itSMF involve the members? What does itSMF International do for international communications? How did the ITIL Qualifications Board survey the ITIL "community"?

The people who determine the future of ITIL training, qualifications and certification

skeptic — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:14:20 +0000

This post has been podcast
Now that OGC have outsourced ITIL certification and trainer accreditation to APMG, a private for-profit company, let us look at the people who influence the shape of ITIL V3's slowly emerging qualifications system.

The governing body advising APMG, the "senior examiners", is mostly made up of the biggest vendors. Check out the names:

ITIL V3 Certification / qualifications / training

skeptic — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:16:37 +0000

Last updated 2nd December 2009

Waiting for ITIL3 training may not have been the right decision

skeptic — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:16:16 +0000

Nobody has called me out on the disconnect between my past strident criticism of the training industry for flogging ITIL2 training as ITIL3 loomed, and my advice now to go for ITIL2 training and not rush into ITIL3.

You folk aren't dumb (with one or two obvious exceptions who visit occasionally), so either you aren't paying attention or you are being kind or you get that there isn't really an inconsistency.

In case you don't get it, here's my rationalisation so I can appear in public: