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  • Blog
  • Career progression
  • Service management
  • Skills
  • ITIL

Author  Gregorio Figuereo – IT Operations Stability Program Manager, financial sector

December 3, 2020 |

 3 min read

  • Blog
  • Career progression
  • Service management
  • Skills
  • ITIL

Service management has been supporting organizations for more than 30 years; but how is it going to continue delivering value for the next 30 years? I think the answer lies in training graduate entrants to the profession, even before they start work.

ITIL® 4 has introduced new concepts and practices designed to help organizations take a broader approach and manage digital transformation across all functions.

The skills and knowledge contained in the guidance and certifications should, I believe, form part of organizations’ recruitment criteria from entry level; and that means universities equipping incoming graduates to make a valuable contribution from the start of their careers.

Hiring an ITIL-certified graduate

This has a range of benefits:

  • It helps accelerate the onboarding process of new IT and digital business hires into the organization because ITIL brings clarity to all processes impacting the service value chain.
  • Systematic learning and certification trains graduates to understand the different practices and processes within an IT organization
  • Graduates can share the same service management language that the organization speaks and connect the dots between the different processes and their impact on the delivery of end-to-end service value
  • ITIL certification validates an individual’s ability to understand the foundational concepts behind service management.

Combining a degree with professional certification

Someone entering the workplace without professional skills, knowledge or certifications will struggle to know how different IT processes work and, especially in IT, how things fit together for digital transformation and releasing new products in an agile way, while managing incidents and problems. Without doubt, they would be wise to bring a solid foundation of service management training to their first role.

This also shows an employer their interest, focus and commitment to professionalism. In other words, their employability.

Building ITIL 4 benefits into the organization

Hundreds of organizations around the world adopt ITIL practices every day, gaining value from one of the world’s most respected service management frameworks.

Today, in particular, these practices help organizations adapt to a rapidly-changing world; filled with constant change, innovation and a demand to get products to market more quickly. As there is always pressure for organizations to make incremental improvements, ITIL principles help create a continual service improvement culture.

With knowledge of ITIL being so important, organizations will be much more selective about who they hire. So, I encourage technology students to take an interest in ITIL certifications for service management. Equally, universities operating in an increasingly competitive market for students – and striving to offer better prospects for post-graduation employment – should consider the value of blending academia with professional certification. Their institution will be both more competitive for new student intake and be better placed to prepare their graduates for the world of work.