Course: ITIL Expert - Service Offerings & Agreements

Candidates completing the course can expect to gain an understanding of Service Offerings & Agreements (SOA) and its importance to the provision of service and the achievement of operational excellence.

This includes:
- competency in the principles, objectives, processes, activities, methods & functions employed within SOA and how they interact with the rest of the Lifecycle
- an appreciation of the technology considerations for SOA
- an awareness of the implementation considerations for SOA
- insight into the operational challenges, risks and critical success factors associated with SOA
- recognition of how to measure SOA.

Candidates wishing to be trained and examined for this qualification must already hold the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management (the V3 Foundation or v2 Foundation plus Bridge Certificate).

Please note that documentary evidence of this qualification and photographic ID will be required prior to sitting the examination.

It is also strongly recommended that candidates be able to demonstrate a familiarity with IT terminology and understand the context of Service Offerings & Agreements management in their own business environment

In addition it is suggested that candidates have some experience of working in a service management capacity within a service provider environment, with responsibility relating to at least one of the ITIL processes of Service Portfolio Management, Service Catalogue Management, Service Level Management, Demand Management, Supplier Management or Financial Management.

• Introduction to Service Offerings & Agreements (SOA)
- service as a concept (the role of utilities, warranties, capabilities & resources)
- service as a value proposition & value composition
- the ITIL processes, functions and roles
- the SOA processes and how they interact across Lifecycle
- the value to the business

• Service Portfolio Management (SPM)
- SPM methods
- SPM and the Service Catalogue & Service Pipeline
- describing a service in the context of business service

• Service Catalogue Management (SCM)
- the purpose, goal, objectives and scope of the process
- the business value of the process and the Service Catalogue
- process policies, principles and basic concepts
- the interface with SPM
- the Service Catalogue (business & technical) in the Lifecycle
- challenges, key metrics, critical success factors & risks

• Service Level Management
- the purpose, goal, objectives and scope of the process
- the business value of the process
- process policies and basic concepts
- the interface with the other processes & functions
- the deliverables of the process
- SLAs, OLAs & Review Meetings
- monitoring service performance
- challenges, key metrics, critical success factors & risks

• Demand Management
- the process concepts
- the interface with SPM
- activity based demand
- managing demand
- patterns of business activity

• Supplier Management
- the purpose, goal, objectives and scope of the process
- the business value of the process
- process policies, principles and basic concepts
- the process activities, methods & techniques
- evaluating new suppliers
- supplier categorisation & the Supplier Database
- process inputs & outputs
- implementation planning
- challenges, risks and critical success factors for the process

• Financial Management
- the purpose, goal, objectives and scope of the process
- the business value of the process
- Service Valuation
- funding, accounting & charge back
- the Business Case & Return on Investment (ROI)
- the process activities, methods & techniques
- designing & implementing the process

• Roles & Responsibilities
- the key roles & responsibilities of the Business Relationship Manager , the Service Catalogue Manager, the Supplier Manager & the Service Level Manager

• Technology & Implementation Considerations
- generic requirements
- evaluation criteria for technology and tools
- how to implement Service Management technologies
- practices for process implementation
- challenges, critical success factors & risks of implementation