ITIL Certification Renewal: A Complete Guide

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a professional certification that teaches best practices for delivering IT services. It employs a systematic approach to IT service management (ITSM) to offer these ITIL Services Lifecycle. Today, ITIL is a must-have accreditation among professionals worldwide emphasise the significance of comprehensive ITSM practices, including ITIL Capacity Management.

ITIL has recently been a hot topic among professionals, as there have been changes to the lifetime validity of the ITIL certification provided by Axelos. PeopleCert’s have introduced latest updates to the ITIL certification, where individuals have to renew their certification every three years starting from 2023. Keep reading to know how you can renew your ITIL Certification promptly as and when needed.

Table of Contents

1) ITIL certification renewal process 

2) Understanding ITIL in detail 

3) What are the levels of ITIL 4 courses?  

4) How do I get certified?  

5) List a few job roles related to ITIL 4

6) How will the certification help you?

7) Conclusion
 

ITIL Certification Renewal Process 

As of 1st January 2023, all the ITIL certificate holders are supposed to renew their certification every three years mandatorily. This news might shock many ITIL certificate holders and aspirants, as ITIL was earlier to be a lifetime certificate. 

However, the decision to renew the ITIL certification every three years was recently made public in PeopleCert’s new Continuing Professional Development initiative. The renewal processes for ITSM vs ITIL differ drastically from each other.
 

Renewal process

Based on when you originally got your certification, you will be expected to renew your certification according to the following guidelines:

a) If you are certified before 30 June 2020 - you must renew your certificate before 1 July 2023, regardless of when you first obtained the certificate.

b) If you are certified after June 2020 – You have to renew your certificate within three years of when you were awarded the certificate.  

For ITIL renewal, you must complete any of the qualifications mentioned below. This will include all the modules, including the ITIL foundation certification renewal:
 

a) You can retake the ITIL exam before the expiration date.

b) You can take further courses on ITIL and certification within the same product suite before the expiration date.

c) Lastly, this option will be available only after March 2023. This option will allow the certificate renewal by collecting and logging Continued Professional Development (CPD).  

What if I don’t renew my ITIL certificate? 

Even if you can't complete the ITIL renewal process before expiration, you will be included on the Successful Candidates Register (SCR) and the Candidate Verification Service. But you must remember that a note will be added to your records that show that your certification requires renewal. 

Understanding ITIL in detail 

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a framework designed for service selection, planning, provisioning, operation and overall support of IT within a business. The intention is to ensure the smooth and predictable provision of services. 

The ITIL framework allows for IT administrators to be the business service partners instead of just being the IT back-end support. Through ITIL, IT department actions and investments are organised and adapted to changes as the business expands or focuses on another direction.

ITIL has roots in the 1980s because data centres moved to being more decentralised and geographically diverse. This process drawn disparity in deployment and brought out the situation of inconsistent or inadequate IT services in organisations.

The CCTA had a vision of the UK's Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency that IT should be served as a service and approach all lifecycle processes under the Government Information Technology Infrastructure Management method. In year 1989, ITIL v1 was released by CCTA. By 2000, CCTA united with the Office of Government Commerce and introduced ITIL v2 in 2001.

ITIL v3 appeared in 2007, updated in 2011; inputs from user community and training center being taken into account, mistakes rectified, and inconsistencies fixed. Axelos was formed in 2013 by the UK Cabinet Office and Capita PLC. 

The mission of this organisation is to "help people become more successful, whether they are individual or corporate entities, by offering practical tools, content and certification courses based on real life experience and on developing such practices".

Axelos plays the key role in the development of ITIL. It has made the latest ITIL guidelines available for public consumption in 2017 and has released ITIL v4 and other modules in 2019 and 2020. Axelos remains in charge of the development and administration of best practice certifications and techniques such as ITIL and PRINCE2.

What are the levels of ITIL 4 courses? 

The levels of ITIL 4 courses have been further divided into the following streams and modules: 

ITIL 4 Foundation Certification 

The ITIL 4 Foundation introduces an end-to-end operating system for creating, delivering, and continuously improving products and services enabled with the latest technology with the latest technology, leading professionals to explore "what next after ITIL 4 Foundation" for further advancement in this domain.. 

Following are the ITIL 4 Streams and their Modules: 

ITIL 4 Managing Professional 

The four modules of ITIL MP (Managing Professional) are:

1) ITIL 4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support 

2) ITIL 4 Specialist: Drive Stakeholder Value

3) ITIL 4 Specialist: High-velocity IT

4) ITIL 4 Strategist: Direct, Plan and Improve 

ITIL 4 Strategic Leader Certifications 

The two modules of ITIL SL (Strategic Leader) are:

1) ITIL 4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve

2) ITIL 4 Leader Digital and IT Strategy 

ITIL 4 Extension Modules Certifications 

The two modules of ITIL Extension Modules are:

1) ITIL 4 Specialist: Sustainability in Digital & IT

2) ITIL 4 Specialist: Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services 

Those who wish to be involved in learning the diagnosis problems, you can master the Root Cause Analysis training now! 

How do I get certified? 

There are two ways to gain an ITIL certificate:

Apply with an accredited training organisation for a course which includes the exam as a part of the training course.  

Another option would be to do a self-study - by using the core manual of ITIL. Once you start preparing for the exam, you can book the ITIL exam directly with the People Cert. (Note that this option might not be available for all ITIL modules – It is advisable for you to kindly go through the modules for individual requirements). 

List a few job roles related to ITIL 4 

Following is the list of a few ITIL 4-related job roles:

1) Information Technology (IT) Manager

2) Service Delivery Manager

3) Information Technology (IT) Operations Manager 

4) Service Desk Manager

5) Incident Manager

6) Information Technology (IT) Director 

How will the certification help you?

As you explore the benefits of ITIL certification, it's important to understand how ITIL Release Management contributes to the overall efficiency of IT service delivery. Let us discuss a few key points as to how the ITIL 4 Certifications can help you:

1) You will be able to understand how IT can impact strategy and how professionals utilise the four dimensions of service management for business in a broader context. 

2) Streamline work and establish flexible and collaborative working practices by using the ITIL Guiding Principles.

3) Encourages a holistic approach to value collaboration and co-creation.

4) Develop effective and timely communications to build trustworthy relationships with stakeholders.

5) Assists you to get used to different complex working environments, making you adaptive and flexible to adjust according to various situations and processes.

6) Provides an opportunity to learn the common language about IT-enabled services aiding you to set par your standards from your peers and boost your digital career. 

Learn how you can successfully engage clients and stakeholders using ITIL – Register in ITIL 4 Specialist: Drive Stakeholder Value! 

Conclusion

In this blog, we have given an in-depth understanding of ITIL and how it can help you grow your career. This blog also includes the latest updates on ITIL certification and recertification.  If you're aiming to stay ahead of your competition, exploring ITIL Interview Questions can be a valuable part of your preparation and continuous learning. Follow the ITIL renewal process given above to stay ahead of your competition.   

The IT professionals can benefit from ITIL 4 Specialist: Create Deliver And Support CDS Training course, now!