Getting Employed with ITIL: the IT Service Management Qualification
Approximately 60% of IT Service Management jobs advertised in the UK require the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) qualification. This corresponds closely to a 2008 global survey by Axios Systems, which found that almost 90% of organisations follow ITIL guidelines.
The ITIL qualification is based on a series of books issued by the Office of Government Commerce, each dealing with an aspect of IT Service Management or a stage in the Service Lifecycle. There are four tiers of ITIL certification: Foundation and Intermediate level certificates are awarded for passing certain ITIL course modules, ITIL Expert is automatically attained when a student has accumulated a certain number of modular credits; ITIL Master is assessed through peer-review and written/oral examinations, and is based on practical expertise as well as understanding of the ITIL method.
IT Service Managers
Over half of all IT Service Management jobs advertised in the UK in 2008 specifically required ITIL certification. The average UK salary for an IT Service Manager was