Service Desk & Incident Management (SDIM)

ITIL® is recognised internationally as the best practice approach to IT Service Management (ITSM) aligning the provision of IT Services with the needs of the business. It is used globally by thousands of organisations throughout the private and public sectors to improve the way in which they implement and manage IT Services.

The ITIL qualification scheme also recognises other certifications which add value to ITIL best practices and its own certification portfolio. These certifications are recognised under the ITIL Complementary Qualifications Scheme. Such certifications are given a credit value which successful delegates can add to the credits gained from other ITIL certifications and use towards their ITIL Expert Level qualification.

The BCS Specialist certifications focus on a single IT service management job role and provide in-depth information and knowledge on how that job role operates within an organisation. They enable delegates to develop their job specific skills using industry best practices.

The BCS Specialist Certificate in Service Desk and Incident Management (SDIM) provides a comprehensive understanding of the principles required and practical experience of developing, maintaining, operating and improving service desk and incident management processes.

To find when the next course is running in your area, please contact us on 0845 467 7029.

Audience: Who is the course for?

• Those working in a service desk function and/or within an incident management process at either a technical, operational, supervisory or managerial level
• Project managers, business managers and business process owners
• Those who require a working knowledge of the industry best practice used in SDIM and how it can be used to improve the quality of ITSM within an organisation
• Those who are working within an organisation which has adopted these practices and are required to deliver or improve SDIM within an on-going Service Improvement Programme (SIP)

Course duration:

This is a three day course. The exam is taken on the third day.

Benefits to the individual:

• Recognised professional qualification
• Understand the application of BCS SDIM principles that contribute to industry best practice
• Understand the BCS SDIM processes and how they may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organisation.
• Gain credits towards the ITIL Expert certification in IT Service Management

Benefits to the business:

• The adoption and application of proven best practice processes results in improved IT services and increased productivity throughout the business
• Practical analysis of incident records and reports allows steps to be taken to reduce the number of potential future incidents which in turn leads to greater productivity
• Improved customer satisfaction and less down time through quicker fixes
• Better process management leads to increased efficiency and reduced costs
• The framework is flexible, scalable, and systematic and can be used within different organisations irrespective of size or industry

Prerequisites:

Delegates must hold the Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management and will need to present their certificate as documentary evidence to gain admission. It is also recommended that delegates have:

• A minimum of one year's experience in an IT Service Management environment either as a practitioner, supervisor or manager
• Several years' experience in a specialist service management area aiming to take on a supervisory or managerial role
• Responsibility for the delivery and maintenance of a specific service management process

Course outline:

• The objectives of this course are:
• To enable delegates to apply industry best practices in their working environment
• Develop and improve the customer and business focus of SDIM
• Understand the interdependencies between SDIM and other IT areas and processes
• Assist with the planning and implementation of SDIM

The course is conducted through interactive group study using practical examples and activities. Delegates will sit a mock exam in order to help them prepare for and successfully pass the real exam. After completing the mock exam, delegates and the tutor will review the mock exam paper as a group. Over the three day course, the following topics are covered:

Introduction

• Overview of course structure, objectives, exam format and agenda
• History of ITSM, introduction to ITSM in general, including standards, good practice and frameworks such as ISO/IEC 20000, ITIL and COBIT® and the differences in approach
• The goal and objectives of the Service Desk function and the Incident Management process, and an outline of the related functions, roles and processes

Service Desk function and Incident Management process. SDIM concepts and principles:

• The responsibilities and objectives in support of generic SDIM
• Definition and use of incidents, problems, requests, changes and events
• The types of Service Desk structures, advantages and disadvantages
• Implications of an outsourced SDIM
• The resourcing considerations, staffing levels, rotas, shifts, skill and knowledge levels
• Options for self-help

The how - ITIL and its application to SDIM:

• The structure intent and use of ITIL
• The key SDIM guidelines within ITIL
• Interfaces with and dependencies on other areas of ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000 especially, Request Fulfilment, Problem, Event, Access, Security, Change and Service Asset and Configuration Management

A generic Incident Management process, including:

• Incidents and their management
• The incident lifecycle (i.e. identify, log, assess, categorise, prioritise, analyse, diagnose, escalate, resolve, recover, repair, restore, close, review)
• Special cases – Major incidents and security incidents
• Technical support and escalation
• Other associated areas and processes e.g. management of events, requests, changes, projects, problems and known errors

The what – the requirements of the ISO/IEC 20000 standard:

• The structure, intent and use of ISO/IEC 20000
• The key SDIM requirements of Part 1 of the standard
• Supporting material from Parts 2 and 3 of the standard
• The overall Service Management System
• Interfaces with and dependencies on other areas of the standard

Tools, methods and techniques

• Awareness, knowledge and use of SDIM support tools and techniques
• Typical SDIM toolsets, including Service Desk, Incident Management, Telephony, Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) and Computer Telephony Integration (CTI)
• Generic requirements for SDIM toolsets
• Integration with other areas, processes and functions
• The benefits of automation

SDIM roles and responsibilities – SFIA and ITIL. Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) and its use with defining SDIM roles:

• Overview of the structure and content of the SFIA framework
• SDIM roles, levels of responsibility and work activities

ITIL and its use in defining SDIM roles:

• SDIM roles and responsibilities

Control, measurement and reporting activities. COBIT® and its application to SDIM:

• The structure intent and use of COBIT®
• The key SDIM requirements of COBIT® DS 8/9/10
• Interfaces with and dependencies on other areas of COBIT®

The preparation of SDIM reports for dissemination:

• The purpose of service reports, management reports and reporting. What to report on and what not to?
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Critical Success Factors (CSFs)
• How statistics can be used and abused
• Common categories of classification and analysis

Analysis of incidents, statistics and trends. The analysis of incidents, statistics and reports, identifying trends:

• Identification of areas of weakness and proposing resolutions for the proactive prevention of possible incidents

Interfaces and dependencies

• The appreciation and understanding of the interfaces and dependencies SDIM has with other areas, functions and processes, including.
  • Service Level Management
  • Request Fulfilment
  • Problem Management
  • Change and Release Management
  • Service Asset and Configuration Management
  • IT Security Management
  • Capacity, Availability, Finance and Continuity principles
  • Projects and major changes
  • Supplier Management
  • Technical, Operations and Applications Management teams

Planning, improvement and implementation

• The planning, implementation and continual improvement (Plan/Do/Check/Act ) of SDIM

Exam details:

The 90 minute exam consists of 25 multiple choice questions. The questions are based on a number of scenarios and the pass mark is 16/25 or 64%. This is a closed book exam i.e. entrants may not refer to any course materials or their own notes.