Value of ITIL Certification for Project Manager

ITIL or
Information Technology Infrastructure Library is a framework or a set of practices that were developed for an IT service management. The cohesive set describes various processes, tasks, checklists and procedures which are not specific to any industry and can be used to establish a seamless integration with any company’s strategy while maintaining compliance and delivering value. There are numerous
benefits of implementing ITIL as it can considerably improve the service levels of IT industries, but what value does it hold for a Project Manager per se? Let us see.

ITIL Certification for Project Managers:

A
project manager is responsible for handling the project and the team working on it efficiently, direct it successfully and deliver the desired results. A leader is expected to lead from all fronts rather than just one. If the manager can only handle the business aspect with aplomb but fails at the technical knowledge, cracks will start developing the project sooner than expected. They should have the capability to combine the
project management as well as the technical skills before reaching a conclusion or making any decision related to the project.

Keeping up with the Change:

In the present times, some of the methodologies have given the power to the clients to make changes to the project or make some sort of modification at any stage of the project. In fact, some of the terminologies have been redefined through the years. ‘Project’ usually meant making a new service or product from the scratch. However, these days project may refer to any change or modification required for the product. The change itself is treated as an individual entity and focused on till it is finished. With the help of an
ITIL certification, a project manager will be able to change the sudden change with confidence without stressing out. ITIL will help the manager make strategies, formulate the plans to incorporate the change, work on the design and overlook the technical details, without relying on someone else. It will save the company time and effort.

Communication with Vendors:

Every project has hardware requirements along with software, for which there will be internal and/or external vendors. While there will be a competent team member to deal and communicate with the vendors, it is not advisable for the project manager to be unaware of the communication between the vendor and the concerned person from the team. The vendor is just responsible for the deliveries; the organization’s official will just make sure that the requirements as mentioned by the project and its team is being fulfilled on time; however it is the project manager who knows the exact requirements for the project at every stage. If there is a change in the design or a recent technical development calls for a different requirement, it is the project manager who can communicate well with the vendors directly. If a project manager has an ITIL certification in different fields such as
Service Transition,
Service Strategy, Continual Service Improvement, Service Design and
Service Operation, they can get important insights when some challenge crops up and this knowledge will enable the manager to take lead, take appropriate steps and deliver a better outcome.

There are other pluses for project managers through ITIL certification as it will help them with the following:

The ‘Value’ Factor:

This shows that the value of
ITIL certification is high for any project manager. It will complement well a
project management certification and add value for project managers. Probably not, in some cases. Is it valuable? Definitely yes, in all the cases.