ITIL®4 Strategist: Direct, Plan & Improve

Terms and basic concepts

• Keywords: direction, planning, improvement, operating model, methods, risks, scope of control
• Key concepts: Vision and mission; strategy, tactics and operations; governance, compliance and management; policies, controls and guidelines
• Concepts: Value, Outcomes, Costs & Risks and their interaction with management, planning and improvement

Control and planning

• Principles and methods of control and planning
• Converting goals into requirements
• Definition of effective policies, controls and guidelines
• Assigning decision-making powers to the right level

Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC)

• Role of GRC in management, planning and improvement
• Integration of GRC into the service value system
• Impact of governance on management, planning and improvement
• Ensuring that control mechanisms are sufficient but not excessive

Continuous Improvement

• Principles and methods of continuous improvement
• Use of the ITIL Continuous Improvement Model for the continuous improvement of the Service Value System or a part of it
• Identification of evaluation objectives, results, requirements and criteria
• Selection of a suitable evaluation method for a specific situation
• Definition and prioritization of the desired results of an improvement
• Building, justifying and representing a business case
• Carrying out improvement reviews and analyzing "lessons learned"
• Integration of continuous improvements at all levels of the Service Value System

Organizational Change Management 

• Nature, scope and potential benefits of organizational change management
• Use of organizational change management in control, planning and improvement
• Identification and management of different stakeholders
• Effective communication and influencing other people
• Establishing effective feedback channels
• Establishment of interfaces along the entire value chain

Measurements and reporting 

• Use of measurements and reporting in control, planning and improvement
• Definition of indicators and metrics to support targets

Value streams and practices 

• Differences between value streams and practices and how they influence management, planning and improvement
• Methods and techniques for managing, planning and improving value streams and practices

• You can efficiently plan, control and continuously improve your IT service organization.
• You know how to initiate, manage and support changes in your IT service organization.
• You know how to establish a culture of continuous improvement.
• You know approaches to facilitate decision-making processes.
• You know how to implement innovations while ensuring compliance at the same time.
• You understand how to measure and report on the effectiveness of planning, control and optimization processes.

• (prospective) ITSM managers
• Managers at all levels involved in shaping direction and strategy or developing a continuously improving team
• Existing ITIL qualification holders who wish to expand their knowledge.

• Immediately after the training, you will have the opportunity to prove your acquired knowledge in a 90-minute online exam in German or English at the PEOPLECERT examination institute.
• The exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions. No aids are permitted.
• To pass the exam and receive the official ITIL 4 Strategist: Direct Plan and Improve certificate, 28 points (70%) must be achieved.
• The ITIL 4 Strategist: Direct Plan and Improve certificate confirms your knowledge and lays the foundation for your further ITIL 4 training.
• The ITIL®4 Foundation certificate is a basic prerequisite for taking the Direct, Plan & Improve module.

ITIL® is a registered trademark of the PeopleCert group.
Used under license from PeopleCert. All rights reserved.

ITIL 4 Strategist: Direct, Plan & Improve is one of the four advanced modules on the way to becoming an ITIL 4 Managing Professional. It offers you the opportunity to deepen your knowledge from the ITIL 4 Foundation and, if applicable, from the previous Managing Professional modules.

The Axelos video succinctly summarizes the benefits of ITIL 4 Strategist: Direct, Plan & Improve.

Interested in completing further ITIL training courses? Take a look at our ITIL training page!