From March 2007 the third cluster, Practitioner in IT Service Management (ITSM), based on ITIL®: Agree and Define (IPAD) will be available in English, with a Dutch version coming out after July 2007. Shortly after this, the fourth and final cluster will be released, Plan and Improve (working title). EXIN's clustered Practitioner in ITSM program ties in with the soon to be released ITIL® version 3 books and matches international best practices.
With the release of the fourth cluster, EXIN's efforts to cluster single process exams in Practitioner (White Paper, pdf) will be completed. EXIN published the first cluster, Release and Control (IPRC), late 2004. The second cluster, Support and Restore (IPSR), was released this year. All indications are that this was a successful move: in 2006 more exams have been written worldwide for clustered Practitioner certificates than for single process Practitioner certificates to date.
Clustering Practitioners in a nutshell The IT Service Management Practitioner clusters combine the following ITIL®-processes:
Discontinue dates ITIL® Practitioner Service Level Management (ITSLM) will be replaced by IPAD from 1 January 2008. From 1 January 2007, the following single process exams will be replaced by clustered exams:
Clustered processes: an approved standard The international ITIL® Certification Management Board (ICMB) has officially endorsed the new Practitioner Certificates as part of the international IT Service Management, based on ITIL® certification program. The ICMB approved a joint proposal of EXIN and ISEB for the examination specifications and the accreditation requirements. The content of the new products has been acknowledged to be a major step forward by representatives of OGC, ISEB, and itSMF.
Value of old certificates The introduction of clustered exams does not have an impact on the value of the old certificates based on single process exams. EXIN certificates always keep their value. If in the future certain rights can be obtained from the Practitioner certificates IPRC, IPSR or IPAD, similar rights will be granted to those that obtained the individual certificates for Change and Configuration Management or to those that have obtained the certificates for Incident Management/Service Desk, Problem Management, Financial Management or Service Level Management.
Would you like to know more? Please contact our International Servicedesk: +31 30 234 48 25.
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