Welcome To A Wealth Of FREE ITIL Information!

A special welcome message...

Hi, my name's Robin Yearsley and I've been involved in IT and IT Service Management for over 15 years now, specializing in ITIL for the last ten years.

How times have changed!

I originally started Dr. ITiL in February 2005 with the sole intention of hunting down quality ITIL information and posting it for the benefit of 'newbies' and experts alike.

It's difficult to believe looking back now, but there used to be a distinct lack of valuable free content - in fact - Dr. ITiL was the first and only Blog running that was dedicated to ITIL!

As you know, all that's changed now and there are a wide variety of excellent Blogs, sites, articles and RSS news channels appearing almost every week.

I have also changed my approach to Blogging about ITIL and developed a more focussed new Blog which covers more advanced ITIL and ISO / IEC 20000 articles.

So in January 2006, I decided to 'cease' any new posts.

So, is this the end for the Dr. ?

Interestingly, Dr. ITiL still receives over 10,000 page views each month from all corners of the globe and is very well ranked within Google.

I guess it must still be proving useful to many ITIL people wishing to learn more about specific topics - so I've decided to give 'him' a gentle spring clean and leave all the articles in tact.

Please accept my apologies for any broken links - obviously things change on a daily basis across the Web - but I'll do my best to keep things useful!

However, using a clever mixture of searching through the Google Bar and clicking on Links in the Categories Side Bar, you can find wonderful examples of ITIL process guides, ITIL templates, ITIL PDF's and sample reports on just about every ITIL topic you can imagine.

Everything's FREE! I've always maintained that policy for this Blog.

I hope you find what you need... if you don't chances are you can find it below...


ITIL RESOURCES

NEW! If you're interested in learning more about ITIL, CoBIT, ISO/IEC 20000 and want free access to materials on ITIL Version Three Refresh - please visit my new Blog here.

New! If you would like to learn more about ITIL Implementation Strategies, including step-by-step proven techniques that work in real-life, then visit here.

Just Updated! If you need access to free ITIL Foundation Exam Questions, Exam Tips and Strategies - plus several free guides, presentation packs and white papers, visit here.



Wishing You Great Service!


Robin Yearsley.

Top Tips For Passing The ITIL Managers (Masters) Exams

Achieving the ITIL Service Managers Certificate is a big challenge that should not be under estimated.

Let me tell you why...

1. It's usually delivered in two parts by training providers; week one for service support, then a few gaps weeks (varies by training provider) and then week two for service delivery. By week, I mean five solid days education and sample questions.

2. There is also a lot of content delivered during the two weeks and to commit to memory.

3. The actual exams consist of two written papers, each three hours long. Therefore exam technique and actually being able to write coherently for six hours is essential!


Therefore my tips for success if you are taking the certification soon are these:-

* Review and re-learn the ITIL essentials BEFORE you even start the course. Go there fully revised and prepared! This head start is critical!!

* Use the actual two course weeks to learn about the "interfaces" between the different processes and to soak up the more advanced material – not the basics. You should know these ‘going in’.

* Practice learning and writing from memory the core essentials of all processes:- definition, benefits, challenges, core process steps, metrics, reporting, people roles, interfaces with other processes.

* Also try to get hold of some sample questions from your training provider in advance of the course (or from EXIN). Get a feel for the types of questions asked.

* In advance of your exams - practice writing each day. It sounds a bit daft - but when was the last time you actually wrote anything for more than a few minutes!? I know I type nearly everything these days! Get your writing hand used to working, and use muscle relaxation techniques to warm-up and warm-down. I promise you - this will make the difference when you actually do the exams.

* Think through how best to use the time in between the two weeks of education. Should you revise what you've learnt - or - focus more on what's coming up?

* When you're actually doing the course - set yourself some basic disciplines like getting up in time for breakfast and doing some light revision of the previous days activities. Set aside some reading time before you go to sleep to maximize the time that information is flowing around your brain overnight.

* Some of your marks are based on an in course assessment these days. It's wise to maximize the points you get on this to give you the very best chance of success.

* Exam technique is also worth remembering. Know the difference between exam questions like: "Contrast", "Explain", "Compare", "Highlight" and so on. Each has slightly different and subtle meaning.

To close, what do the people who mark our papers think?

Did you know - examiners most commented statements when marking papers are:-

- The Hand writing is impossible to read
- The student did not answer the question asked (but answered what they 'thought' was asked)
- The student re-gurgitated a lot of information - but it was not asked for!


I hope these tips provide some advance ‘food for thought’ and if you are sitting your papers soon – I wish you the very best of success!

Great Service!!

Robin.


PS - Looking for ITIL Guides and Revision Materials? Visit the IT Service Blog Now!