ISEB Certificate in ITIL based Application Management Essentials Syllabus. Version 2.0

Transcription

1 ISEB Certificate in ITIL based Application Management Essentials Syllabus Version 2.0 June 2010

2 ISEB Certificate in ITIL based Application Management Essentials Entry Criteria This qualification is targeted at anyone within IT who as 1-2 years experience and wants to gain knowledge in this area. It is also targeted at those who want to understand where their role fits in the wider environment of IT. There are no formal entry requirements for accredited courses, but it is recommended that all candidates attend an approved training course run by an accredited Training Provider. The Examination The examination is a one hour closed book examination (no materials can be taken into the examination room) and will consist of 40 multiple choice questions. The pass mark is 26/40. Candidates who have a disability or whose first language is not English will normally be allowed an additional 15 minutes extra time. For information on eligibility criteria, please refer to the Reasonable Adjustments Policy on the ISEB website Reasonable Adjustments Policy. The examination will be based on the syllabus in this document. Examination questions will be drawn from all topics in the syllabus, and coverage of any given topic can be expected to be in proportion to the amount of time allocated to that topic in the syllabus. Notice to Training Providers Each major subject heading in this syllabus is assigned an allocated time. The purpose of this is two-fold: first, to give both guidance on the relative proportion of time to be allocated to each section of an accredited course and an approximate minimum time for the teaching of each section; second, to guide the proportion of questions in the exam. Training Providers may spend more time than is indicated and candidates may spend more time again in reading and research. The total time specified is 18 hours of lecture and practical work. Courses do not have to follow the same order as the syllabus. Courses may be run as a single module or broken down into two or three smaller modules. This syllabus is structured into sections relating to major subject headings and numbered with a single digit section number. Each section is allocated a minimum contact time for presentation. Page 1 of 8

3 Change History Version 2.0 Re-formatted based on new branding guidelines no change to content. Page 2 of 8

4 ISEB Certificate in ITIL based Application Management Essentials Syllabus Contents 1. Application Management An Overview (10%) (ref: 1, 2, 5.1, 8) Managing the business value (10%) (ref: 3) Aligning the delivery strategy with key business drivers and organisational capabilities (10%) (ref: 4) Requirements Phase (10%) (ref: 5.2) Design Phase (10%) (ref: 5.3) Build Phase (10%) (ref: 5.4) Deploy Phase (10%) (ref: 5.5) Operate Phase (10%) (ref: 5.6) Optimise Phase (5%) (ref: 5.7) Organising roles and functions (5%) (ref: 6) Control Methods and Techniques (10%) _ (ref: 7, appendix D)...6 Glossary of Additional Terms...7 COTS...7 RAD/Agile...7 SAOM...7 Format of the Examination...8 Page 3 of 8

5 Note: the percentages show the relative weightings for each area of the syllabus. These weightings reflect the approximate percentage of examination questions which will be devoted to this topic. Note: the reference against each part of the syllabus denotes the section of the ITIL Application Management manual that covers that part of the syllabus. Note: all of the numbered points below should be considered to be preceded by:- in order to be successful in this qualification, candidates should be able to : 1. Application Management An Overview (10%) (ref: 1, 2, 5.1, 8) 1.1. Understand the issues in Application development, Service Management and Application management 1.2. Describe key interfaces between Application Management, ICT Infrastructure Management, ITIL Service Support and Delivery and other related areas 1.3. Identify the key administrative and planning issues when implementing Application Management 1.4. Describe the major system development lifecycle options 1.5. Describe the implications of approaches such as Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) packages and RAD/Agile for the system lifecycle 2. Managing the business value (10%) (ref: 3) 2.1. Explain the ways in which business and IT can be aligned 2.2. Describe the use of key business drivers 2.3. Comprehend how an application portfolio can be managed 3. Aligning the delivery strategy with key business drivers and organisational capabilities (10%) (ref: 4) 3.1. Understand the readiness assessment process 3.2. Define the delivery strategy 3.3. Recognise the environment into which an application is to be delivered and the importance of considering operability in the early stages of development 4. Requirements Phase (10%) (ref: 5.2) 4.1. Describe how to determine requirements for the application Distinguish between the concepts of functional requirements, non-functional requirements and usability requirements Understand the concepts of and purpose behind modelling techniques 4.4. Describe examples of non-functional requirements 4.5. List the implications of changes to requirements 4.6. Define, within a specific system development lifecycle, the major inputs to and outputs from this phase 4.7. Describe basic validation and verification techniques in this phase and when they are best used List key responsibilities of, and deliverables from, the AM team, IT Service Delivery and Support, ICTIM and other areas, in this phase. Page 4 of 8

6 5. Design Phase (10%) (ref: 5.3) 5.1. Describe the importance of the Design phase 5.2. State the importance of non-functional requirements in this phase 5.3. Describe how a structured design process/manageability checklist will assist completion of this phase 5.4. Define the concepts of risk driven scheduling and approaches to managing trade-offs 5.5. Describe the concepts of Application-independent Design and Application Frameworks 5.6. Define, within a specific system development lifecycle, the major inputs to and outputs from this phase 5.7. Identify basic testing methodologies for functional and non-functional requirements in this phase and when they are best used List key responsibilities of, and deliverables from, the AM team, IT Service Delivery and Support, ICTIM and other areas, in this phase 6. Build Phase (10%) (ref: 5.4) 6.1. Describe the need for the Build phase 6.2. Describe the benefits of using a consistent set of design and coding conventions 6.3. Describe the need for and use of development tools 6.4. Describe why and how embedded application instrumentation, event handling and diagnostic hooks can assist in the Deploy, Operate and Optimise phases 6.5. Describe how a Build phase manageability checklist will assist development teams 6.6. Define, within a specific system development lifecycle, the major inputs to and outputs from this phase 6.7. Identify basic testing methodologies in this phase and when they are best used List key responsibilities of, and deliverables from, the AM team, IT Service Delivery and Support, ICTIM and other areas, in this phase 7. Deploy Phase (10%) (ref: 5.5) 7.1. Describe how an application moves from the Build phase to the Deploy phase 7.2. Explain the use of and reasons for Readiness checklists List typical contents of the deployment toolkit 7.4. Describe a deployment route map 7.5. Describe major Deployment / Distribution strategies, plans, methods, components and issues 7.6. Describe the role of the ITIL ICTIM guidance in this phase 7.7. Define, within a specific system development lifecycle, the major inputs to and outputs from this phase 7.8. Identify basic testing methodologies in this phase and when they are best used List key responsibilities of, and deliverables from, the AM team, IT Service Delivery and Support, ICTIM and other areas, in this phase Page 5 of 8

7 8. Operate Phase (10%) (ref: 5.6) 8.1. List reasons for failure of IT applications to deliver business benefits 8.2. Describe concepts of corrective maintenance and outline typical maintenance activities 8.3. Describe the Service Level Agreement concept and its contribution to operational excellence 8.4. Describe the concept of benefits assessment, reporting and realisation, as it applies to applications 8.5. Describe key tasks in the Operate phase and list typical manageability checks 8.6. List key responsibilities of, and deliverables from, the AM team, IT Service Delivery and Support, ICTIM and other areas in this phase 9. Optimise Phase (5%) (ref: 5.7) 9.1. Describe the concept behind, and the process involved in application reviews 9.2. List typical triggers and questions for the review process and the actions expected 10. Organising roles and functions (5%) (ref: 6) Describe typical goals and metrics for AM and how they can assist in improving processes and products Describe the concept of knowledge management and how it could be used within each phase of the Application Management Lifecycle Describe the main roles and skill sets needed for an effective AM team 11. Control Methods and Techniques (10%) _ (ref: 7, appendix D) Describe typical interrelationships between individual applications and provision of IT services Describe the concepts of Service Level Requirements and Operational Level Agreements and their role, along with SLAs, in achieving quality services Describe typical quality management approaches applicable to Application Management Explain how quality definitions, indicators and measuring techniques will assist AM Page 6 of 8

8 Glossary of Additional Terms Note: This is a glossary of additional terms that are not included in the IT Infrastructure Library manual - Best Practice for Application Management. Please also refer to the whole of Appendix A of this manual for a comprehensive list of acronyms and terms. COTS Commercially off the Shelf (COTS) software packages describe a set of products which are bought by an organisation to meet a particular business need, which is common throughout business as a whole or within a relevant industry sector. The software is subject to no modifications or extensions by the user organisation and as a result may not perfectly fit with current business processes and/or data structures. Normally the business processes and data structures are modified by the user organisation to fit with the package. Issues can arise where several COTS packages are procured independently and then need to intercommunicate. RAD/Agile Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a development approach that enables software to be developed through a series of iterative and incremental activities generally involving the use of prototypes and active user involvement to ensure faster development compared with traditional methodologies. Agile describes a set of formalised approaches to RAD (such as DSDM). SAOM SAOM (Strategic Alignment Objectives Model) depicts the business functions directly supported by one or more IT services, which are made up of one or more IT systems. The business requirements for an IT service are provided by the analysis of the business function and these requirements are in turn reflected as requirements of the IT systems. Since the majority of business functionality is deployed through applications and applications make up IT systems and services this is a critical linkage. Page 7 of 8

9 Format of the Examination This syllabus has an accompanying examination at which the candidate must achieve a pass score to gain the ISEB Certificate Application Management Essentials. Type 40 Question Multiple Choice Duration 1 Hour Pre-requisites Accredited training is strongly recommended but is not a prerequisite Supervised/Invigilated Yes Open Book No Pass Mark 26/40 Distinction Mark None Delivery Paper based examination only Page 8 of 8