Introduction
No one enjoys being in the same position in a career for a long time and growth is something that most looks for. One way that employees can gain opportunities to climb the corporate ladder would be to seek professional certifications that ready them with the higher-level skills needed to take on the responsibilities required of higher positions within a company. Not only that, professional certifications almost always merit higher pay.
If you’re working in the technology sector within an organization or company, getting an ITIL certification may be the thing you need to boost your career.
ITIL’s Widespread Adoption & Its Implications On Job Scope
The ITIL, short for Information Technology Infrastructure Library, was first developed by the UK Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), and its latest version, the ITIL V4 was developed by Axelos. If you are wondering what ITIL is, and how it applies to businesses, read on!
As technology continues to advance rapidly, we start to see a stronger relationship between information technologies and business practices. They are no longer a separate entity, but rather, technology and business values are now seamlessly integrated. Good businesses are run with good technological implementations and services. The ITIL is a set of practices that focuses on aligning IT services with the needs and values of a business. Integration of ITIL brings about flexibility in approaching a business holistically, with IT no longer being just back-end support to business but rather, integrates IT within the business itself.
The ITIL provides a globally standardized framework with five stages in which one can approach identification, planning, and even delivering IT support services to core business functions of an organization that is in line with a practice’s values and goals. ITIL aims help to align the IT department’s actions and expenses to the needs of the business and modify them as the business grows.
There are many sectors in which ITIL can be implemented, including the healthcare and education sectors due to the general concepts of service management which are imbued in the ITIL’s practices. Big-time players such as Microsoft, Disney, Sony, and many more have adopted ITIL into their IT Service Management teams, which speaks volumes of how much it can benefit an organization. Not only that, but ITIL’s flexibility also allows small startups to take advantage of integrating aspects of ITIL into their businesses to boost their growth.
Organizational Benefits Of Adopting ITIL
There is a myriad of reasons why an organization should adopt the ITIL framework. The ITIL is a globally recognized and standardized framework, allowing an organization or business to approach IT service delivery in a professional manner that also aligns with the core values of their business practices.
This seamless integration between business and information technology brings about many different types of benefits in many different areas of the business simply due to technology being integral to running a business.
Organizations can see improvements in customer service delivery, resulting in a higher percentage of satisfied customers. IT costs and assets are now more transparent, allowing for better utilization of IT resources for the organization as well as reduced costs. There can even be better management of business risks and service disruption with a well-integrated IT framework within the organization.
Who Can Benefit The Most From An ITIL Certification
The ITIL framework gives business-integrated guidelines of an IT department’s function, giving you a bigger picture of how the IT department fits into business practice. Personnel in the IT department will be the obvious candidates for going through an ITIL certification course, but we recommend that professionals in the mid to senior levels of IT management be ITIL certified. These are the key people that should be able to understand how IT integrates into a certain business, and the ITIL framework can help them do so.
The professional positions that can benefit from an ITIL certification besides management also include individuals that are IT consultants, individuals who have moved from the business sector to the IT sector, and individuals in service operation as well.
What Does Each Level Of Certification Deal With
The ITIL certification comes with different levels of certification, each covering different concepts and will benefit different professionals across multiple levels.
The ITIL foundation provides candidates with a basic understanding of ITIL implementation in the workplace, imbuing general knowledge of ITIL Services Support and Delivery.
The ITIL Intermediate readies candidates with an understanding of the five stages of the ITIL framework. Candidates can also choose additional modules that may be benefiting in their area of expertise.
The ITIL Expert and ITIL Master will be beneficial to professionals in the higher levels of management, planning, and operations.
ITIL As A Lever That Boosts Career Growth
If you’re looking to get your career in the IT sector moving, getting an ITIL certification may be the right move. It is the most sought-after professional certification in the IT industry, and being certified puts you at a massive advantage over your peers. ITIL certified professionals earn more than other certified professionals in the IT industry on average, and the demand for certified ITIL professionals has steadily been increasing over the years.
ITIL not only puts you at an advantage in terms of income but also in terms of opportunities you have to expand your career into a more specialized IT field. You can break down the opportunities you have in the field into four main categories, service strategy and security design, service transition, service operation, and project management. Each of these four categories can be further broken down into more specialized areas of differing pay grades and responsibilities. Even senior executive roles such as Chief Information Officers (CIOs), Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are pathways that an ITIL certification can open you up to. Evidently, people at multiple levels of an organization stand to benefit from an ITIL certification.
Conclusion
ITIL training can certainly help you develop a better understanding of how technology can be seamlessly integrated into a business or organization. No matter your role in the organization, an ITIL certification certainly can be helpful in boosting your career and opening up many pathways into special fields within the IT industry.
