Axelos announces a new level of ITIL certification: Practitioner
After my dark forebodings about a potential squeeze on ITIL in 2015, Axelos' first(?) ITIL announcement of the year seems a good idea: yet another level of ITIl certification, the Practitioner.
of course its not a perfect idea, there are issues.
First is the increasing complexity in an already complex ITIL certification scheme . There are now FIVE levels of certification, with a total of THIRTEEN certificates you can do. There are yet another THIRTEEN in the Complementary Qualifications scheme (Note that there are rumours that Axelos is going to kill Complementary Qualifications at the end of this month.)
Shades of the overblown prISM scheme - what is it with ITSM people?
Second, there may be some confusion around the name "Practitioner". That was used in ITIL V2 for what are now the Intermediate certifications.
This initiative will be a new revenue stream for Axelos, which they desperately need with ITIL Foundations numbers falling. I don't mind Axelos making a living if it adds value, if it meets a market need. This looks like it will.
The Foundation has become a commodity, without much value, with a couple of million people having it. On the other hand, Intermediate certificates are a significant investment of time and money (though the price is falling, and even the Expert is almost a worthwhile investment for some). I think there is a place in the market for a certification that beefs up the Foundation.
I might even consider doing it myself (all I have now is Foundation).
Made in New Zealand 
