Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Guaranteed to run ITIL training

Next week BabSim is again going international! We are engaged for multiple deliveries of the ITIL Foundation course for a client of ours headquartered in Haifa, Israel. It should be a fun couple of weeks. ITIL training has been pretty popular here so far this year, so I thought it would be a good idea to give a refresher on what exactly ITIL training is as well as showing you our guaranteed to run ITIL classes.

IT Service Management (ITSM) is a discipline for managing information technology (IT) systems, philosophically centered on the customer’s perspective of IT’s contribution to the business. ITSM stands in deliberate contrast to technology-centered approaches to IT management and business interaction. IT Service Management certification helps distinguish those who have a deep understanding of best practice for ITSM and are capable of implementing these concepts to some degree immediately. Certification is also the foundation for developing a career path in IT Service Management.

Here’s what we have coming up! Remember, they’re all guaranteed to run!

ITIL Foundation Certification

The ITIL 2011 Edition course is the entry level certification course for IT Service Management Best Practices training in ITIL. This course covers the latest version of core ITIL best practices presented from a lifecycle perspective. The course introduces the principles and core elements of IT service management (ITSM) based on ITIL 2011 Edition. ITIL 2011 Edition is comprised of five core publications: Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operations and Continual Service Improvement, promoting alignment with the business as well as improving operational efficiency.

3/11/13-3/13/13

ITIL Operational Support and Analysis

The ITIL Intermediate Qualification: Operational Support and Analysis (OSA) Certificate is part of the ITIL Intermediate Capability stream, and one of the modules that leads to the ITIL Expert in IT Service Management Certificate. This 5 day course immerses students in the practical aspects of the ITIL v3 Service Lifecycle and processes associated with the Operational Support and Analysis of services and service delivery.

4/15/13-4/19/13

ITIL Planning, Protection and Optimization

This ITIL Intermediate Qualification: Planning, Protection and Optimization (PPO) Certificate is part of the ITIL Intermediate Capability stream, and one of the modules that leads to the ITIL Expert in IT Service Management Certificate. This 5 day course immerses students in the practical aspects of the ITIL v3 Service Lifecycle and processes associated with Planning, Protection and Optimization of services and service delivery. You will focus on the operational-level process activities and supporting methods and approaches to executing these processes. The course is designed using an engaging scenario-based approach to learning the core disciplines of the ITIL best practices, and it helps you prepare for the associated exam offered on the last day of the course.

3/4/13-3/8/13

ITIL Service Offerings and Agreements

The ITIL Intermediate Qualification: Service Offerings and Agreements (SOA) Certificate is part of the ITIL Intermediate Capability stream, and one of the modules that leads to the ITIL Expert in IT Service Management Certificate. By implementing ITIL Service Offerings and Agreement best practices, IT departments can ensure high levels of customer satisfaction by integrating demand and supplier management with the service portfolio and service catalog. Students will learn how to plan, implement and optimize the Service Offerings and Agreement processes and gain the knowledge required to prepare for the certification exam.

2/18/13-2/22/13

ITIL Service Design

This 3-day will teach students how to plan, implement and optimize the Service Design processes. ITIL Service Design best practices enables IT departments to design services and govern practices, policies and procedures that facilitate the introduction of services into a live environment, thereby ensuring quality service delivery, customer satisfaction and cost-effective service provision. Students will gain the skills required to take the ITIL Intermediate Qualification: Service Design Certification Exam.

3/4/13-3/6/13

If you’re still confused on which ITIL classes to take, have a look at our ITIL training tracks!

-Matt

Thursday, January 17, 2013

CEO IT Forecast for 2013


CEO’s are expecting a lot out of technology in 2013, and Babbage Simmel is here to exceed their expectations.

In the business context, sustainability is about taking a holistic approach to the long-term viability of an enterprise in the midst of social, environmental and economic forces. At a practical level, it involves the ability to increase revenue, improve profit margins and protect the business' future competitive advantage.

Technology will play a vital role in helping companies achieve this goal -- thanks in part to the evolving role of the IT organization, which has shifted dramatically in recent years. Where IT once focused solely on technology and "the business" focused on profitability, today business and IT functions have converged. In a sense, IT has "become the business" since virtually all business processes reside there now. And while CEOs are not concerned with the bits and bytes of technology (nor should they be), they are better informed about technology than ever before and have high expectations for how it can help improve the bottom line in 2013.

Let’s take a look at what CEO’s will focus on specifically in 2013 and what we offer to prepare IT professionals for these conditions.

Growing revenue

To achieve long-term revenue growth, however, enterprises must develop new products and services that enable them to extend their reach into adjacent and emerging markets. The mobile market is one such example, where growth is relentless and tremendous untapped potential still exists for businesses of all kinds.



With continuing technological innovation and the capacity to store unfathomable amounts of data (especially in the cloud), many enterprises are sitting on a gold mine of customer and market intelligence. Surprisingly, however, many have not even begun to realize the latent value of these IT artifacts, nor have they discovered how to use this data to their advantage. Here again is where technology -- specifically, sophisticated analytic tools -- can have a decided business impact in 2013. Companies that are able to aggregate that data and mine it for legitimate business purposes will establish a substantial lead over their competitors. This is where the most potential for business value can be realized in the coming year.



Security

Security is still a concern as well, but significant advances in this area are being made as vendors rush to fill security needs as quickly as they arise.

Security+ Certification

Implementing Cisco IOS Network Security 2.0 (IINS)

To go back to the original premise then, sustainability is as much about protecting the business as it is about growing revenue and profit margins. While "protection" is often equated with security -- mitigating obvious threats to systems, resources and IP -- in a broader sense, it's about ensuring that the company can maintain the integrity of its brand and ensure its competitive advantage. This is essentially what is meant by sustainability -- and it will be the focus of CEOs in 2013.  This is wonderful news for our industry as we move forward into the new year.

You can view the entire article over at It News.

-Matt

 

 

 

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Looking for more training dollars?


Just in time for the start of 2013 our government has decided to make more training funds available for Ohio employees. 

The Ohio Incumbent Workforce Training Voucher Program will fill a gap in current workforce development programs by providing needed training dollars to Ohio's incumbent workforce through a unique public-private partnership. The ultimate goal of this program is twofold: allow employers to retain and grow their existing Ohio workforce and create a statewide workforce that can meet the present and future demands in an ever changing economy.

Eligible employers must demonstrate that by receiving funding assistance through the Ohio Incumbent Workforce Training Voucher Program their business will not only obtain a skilled workforce but will improve their company processes and competitiveness.

The Program provides a reimbursement up to $4,000 per employee per fiscal year (July 1-June 30).  The employer will be reimbursed for up to 50% of the cost of the training after the training is complete.  The $4,000 can be utilized in a single training or amassed over several trainings in the fiscal year.

 
Employer Eligibility

An eligible employer must operate as a for-profit entity in a state designated target industry with a facility located in Ohio.

·         Advanced manufacturing            

·         Aerospace and aviation

·         Automotive

·         BioHealth

·         Corporate Headquarters

·         Energy

·         Financial Services

·         Food processing

·         Information Technology

 

Eligible Training Costs

·         Tuition

·         Instructor or trainer fees

·         Instructional materials

 

If you qualify for these additional training dollars or know someone who does, sign up via the online application and get the process started.  More information on this great program can be found here.

-Matt