Free ITIL ITIL-4-Foundation Practice Exam with Questions & Answers

It is important to understand the difference in these terms not just for clarity, but because outputs are much easier to measure than outcomes.

Outputs are nearly always quantitative, with data available to show whether these have been delivered. Outputs are easy to report on and to validate. There is no grey area.

Outcomes are more challenging to verify because they are both qualitative and quantitative. Whether your outcomes have been achieved will rely, to a great extent, on the perception of the people who receive the service. Perceptions are not easy to measure or report on, but it is essential you find a way to do so.

https://www.bmc.com/blogs/outcomes-vs-outputs/

The incident management practice aims to minimize the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible1. A major incident is an incident that has a significant impact or urgency for the business and requires a high level of coordination and resources to resolve2. The most likely way of resolving major incidents is by forming a temporary team working together to identify a resolution, such as a major incident team or a swarming team3. The other statements are not true because:

Users establishing a resolution using self-help: Self-help is an option for users to resolve their own incidents with minimal or no assistance from the service provider, but it is not suitable for major incidents that require urgent and expert attention3.

The service desk identifying the cause and a resolution: The service desk is responsible for logging, categorizing, prioritizing, and escalating incidents, but it may not have the skills or authority to identify the cause and a resolution for major incidents that involve multiple teams or suppliers3.

A support team following detailed procedures for investigating the incident: A support team may follow detailed procedures for investigating the incident, but it may not be able to resolve major incidents that require cross-functional collaboration or escalation3. References: ITIL Foundation - ITIL 4 Edition, page 14; ITIL® 4 – A Pocket Guide, page 32; ITIL® 4 Practice Guide: Incident Management, page 8.

A service request is a formal request from a user for something to be provided. Service requests are typically less complex and are either approved or denied based on the budget, need, or urgency.

An emergency change to apply a security patch (A) is not a service request because it is an urgent change that needs to be made to address a security vulnerability. The implementation of a workaround (B) is not a service request because it is a temporary solution to a problem. Managing an interruption to a service (D) is not a service request because it is an incident that needs to be resolved.

Providing a virtual server for a development team (C) is a service request because it is a request for a new service that can be fulfilled by the IT department.

In ITIL 4, the ‘improve’ value chain activity is part of the service value chain within the service value system. Its official purpose is to ensure continual improvement of products, services, and practices across all value chain activities and the four dimensions of service management.

Option A matches the core wording of this purpose:

“Ensure the continual improvement of practices across all value chain activities.”

Even though the full ITIL statement also mentions products, services, and the four dimensions of service management, this option is the only one that directly reflects the continual improvement focus of the improve activity across the value chain.

Why the other options are not correct:

B. Ensure services continually meet expectations for quality, costs, and time to marketThis is more aligned with design and transition, obtain/build, and deliver and support, which focus on planning, building, and delivering services that meet agreed requirements, costs, and time constraints.

C. Ensure a shared understanding of the improvement direction for services across the organizationThis sounds closer to guiding principles or governance, and to some aspects of service level management and continual improvement planning, but it is not the formal purpose statement of the improve value chain activity.

D. Ensure continual engagement and good relationships with all stakeholdersThis aligns strongly with the engage value chain activity, whose purpose is about understanding stakeholder needs, ensuring transparency, and maintaining relationships.

Therefore, A is the correct option because it directly reflects the official purpose of the ‘improve’ value chain activity in ITIL 4.

References (ITIL 4 Foundation):

ITIL® Foundation: ITIL 4 Edition – Service Value System, Service Value Chain – Improve activity (purpose)

ITIL® Foundation: ITIL 4 Edition – Overview of service value chain activities

In ITIL 4, the service level management practice is responsible for setting clear, agreed targets for service performance and ensuring that services are delivered in line with these targets.

A key tool used in this practice is the service level agreement (SLA). An SLA is an agreement between a service provider and a customer that:

Defines the expected level of service

Documents specific, measurable service targets (such as availability, response time, resolution time)

Provides a basis to monitor and measure performance against those targets

Because SLAs describe measurable service targets and are used to assess whether the service provider is meeting those targets, they are explicitly used as a tool to help define and measure performance. This aligns directly with the wording in the question.

A. A continual improvement register (CIR)The CIR is used in the continual improvement practice to record, track, and manage improvement opportunities and activities. It supports managing improvements, not defining and measuring service performance targets.

B. An incident recordThis belongs to the incident management practice. Incident records are used to log, manage, and track incidents (unplanned interruptions or reductions in service). They are not designed as tools to define or measure ongoing service performance.

C. A change schedulePart of the change enablement practice, the change schedule is used to plan and communicate the timing of changes. It coordinates when changes will occur but does not define or measure service performance levels.

Therefore, the correct answer is D. A service level agreement, as it is the formal tool used to define and measure service performance in ITIL 4.

ITIL 4 Foundation: Service level management practice – purpose and key terms (including service level agreements)

ITIL 4 Foundation: Concept of SLAs as documents that define and measure service performance targets

ITIL 4 Foundation: Overviews of Continual Improvement, Incident Management, and Change Enablement practices and their key records (CIR, incident records, change schedules)

The incident management practice aims to minimize the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible1. This practice involves logging, categorizing, prioritizing, investigating, resolving, and closing incidents2. The service desk practice provides a single point of contact for users and customers to report issues, make requests, or seek guidance1. This practice involves providing communication with users, capturing feedback, managing user satisfaction, and facilitating continual improvement3. References: ITIL Foundation - ITIL 4 Edition, page 14; ITIL® 4 – A Pocket Guide, page 32; ITIL® 4 Practice Guide: Incident Management, page 7.

CIs are simply any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT service. A server, a virtual server, or even the configuration of an application could be considered a CI, for example

https://www.bmc.com/blogs/itil-asset-configuration-management/#:~:text=among%20your%20CIs-,Configuration%20items%20(CIs),considered%20a%20CI%2C%20for%20example.

Each activity contributes to the value chain by transforming specific inputs into outputs. The inputs could be demand from outside the value chain, or outputs of other activities, while the transformation is facilitated by ITIL practices, undertaken using internal or third-party resources, processes, skills, and competencies.

https://www.bmc.com/blogs/itil-service-value-chain/

The purpose of the service configuration management practice is to ensure that accurate and reliable information about the configuration of services, and the CIs that support them, is available when and where it is needed. This includes information on how CIs are configured and the relationships between them.

https://wiki.process-symphony.com.au/framework/lifecycle/process/service-configuration-management-itil-4/