I have personally attended an ITIL Version 3 training course and I feel about the EXAM...

Will the goalposts ever stop moving????

Further to Ian's comments above - here is the latest from APMG as regards the V3 Foundation
ITIL v3 Foundation Syllabus

"At the Qualification Board meeting on 8th October 2007 the Board considered a concern raised by
several Accredited Training Organisations (ATOs) that, in their opinion, there is too much
emphasis on Service Strategy and Continual Service Improvement (CSI) in the Foundation
Syllabus.
A full review of the Foundation Syllabus is scheduled for the first quarter of 2008. However in light of the issues that have been raised the Chief Examiner has been asked to review these two
areas of the syllabus and provide more detailed advice on specific topics that should be covered
in Service Strategy and CSI at Foundation level. This advice is intended to enable ATOs to
reduce the amount of coverage and time they spend dealing with these issues on the course and,
clearly, examination papers will be adjusted accordingly.
This work is being given priority, but due to other commitments it is unlikely to be completed
within the next two weeks. As soon as advice is available, ATOs will be notified together with a
date from when the Foundation Exams will reflect the proposed change."

And about the Manager's Bridge

"At the ITIL Qualifications Board meeting on Monday 8th October 2007 the Board considered a
report from the Chief Examiner regarding the first two papers to be used by Accredited Training
Organisations (ATOs) for their trainers to take.
The papers had been piloted by two members of the Examination Panel and they believe that the
papers were not balanced across the whole syllabus. Consequently the Board took the decision
to delay the issue of these papers.
The Managers’ Bridge Examination papers are being reworked and will be available for ATOs to
use on their internal course to bring trainers up to speed from 1st November 2007.
This will also delay the availability of papers to the wider community as it is important that ATOs have the opportunity to review material and ensure that trainers delivering the Managers’ Bridge course are fully conversant with the syllabus and have taken and passed the exam. Bearing in mind the proximity of Christmas, the Board consider it will be prudent to delay the date when the Managers’ Bridge is available to the wider community until January 2008.
The Board regret the delay but feel it is the right decision as it will provide time for both the Training Companies to fine tune their material and fully prepare their trainers and the Examination Panel to receive feedback from ATOs on the exam and if necessary make revisions prior to the wider launch."

So - we have spent time developing materials, which will now need to be amended. Meanwhile, the un-"adjusted" papers are still being used. As for the Managers bridge - myself and another trainer looked at the mock exam (we are experienced trainers, consultants, V2 Distinction-level) we did not feel that we had much of a chance at getting the 80% required, mostly because the questions were so unclear. Yet we have to have it in order to teach it. Now we cannot study for the exam, as it is about to change again! As for the delay - it has caused training companies to scrap scheduled courses. Perhaps APMG they should have tried using their own Project Management methods!
Every time I think I understand what I need to do as regards exams, course materials etc. it all changes!

Liz Gallacher
Freelance Trainer and Consultant

V2 as Foundations, V3 as Management

Maybe, if possible, and only when everyone agrees, as a suggestion, why don't we keep V2 as the foundation layer since it talks about all the good stuff that V3 expands on, and use V3 as the management layer? I normally used to provide V2 foundation training based on V3 concepts, for that's how I saw V2 making sense... But of course, I might be wrong and in that case, do whatever is best for your customers and your revenue margins.