The ITIL Intermediate Qualification Service Operation Certificate Syllabus v5-4

ITIL Intermediate Lifecycle Stream:
CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT (CSI) CERTIFICATE
Sample Paper 1, version 5.1
Gradient Style, Complex Multiple Choice
SCENARIO BOOKLET
This booklet contains the scenarios upon which the 8 examination questions will be based. All
questions are contained within the Question Booklet and each question will clearly state the scenario
to which the question relates. In order to answer each of the 8 questions, you will need to read the
related scenario carefully.
On the basis of the information provided in the scenario, you will be required to select which of the
four answer options provided (A, B, C or D) you believe to be the optimum answer. You may choose
ONE answer only, and the Gradient Scoring system works as follows:
If you select the CORRECT answer, you will be awarded 5 marks for the question
If you select the SECOND BEST answer, you will be awarded 3 marks for the question
If you select the THIRD BEST answer, you will be awarded 1 mark for the question
If you select the DISTRACTER (the incorrect answer), you will receive no marks for the
question
In order to pass this examination, you must achieve a total of 28 marks or more out of a maximum of
40 marks (70%).
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ITIL Intermediate Lifecycle CSISample1 SCENARIO BOOKLET v5.1.docx
This document must not be reproduced without express permission from The APM Group Ltd.
Page 1 of 8
Version 5.1 (Live) Owner APM Group-The Accreditor
Scenario One
A medium-sized company specializing in educational products for children aged two to six was started
seven years ago and has a great reputation. The company has won numerous awards. There is a
growing interest in going international. The company recently showed their products at various trade
shows in Europe and the Americas.
The head office employs about 75 people, seven of them in IT. There is currently only one
manufacturing plant, which employs 200 people and which has experienced difficulty keeping
production in line with demand. The company must now expand both locally and abroad, and so has
recently announced the following business strategies:
Streamline business operations to reduce the bottlenecks impeding the launch of new
products
Concentrate on increasing the market share of key products by eliminating the manufacturing
of products that are not selling well
Improve production capacity and capabilities by moving to new production sites in Europe and
the Americas
The chief information officer (CIO) wishes to increase the awareness and acceptance of a continual
service improvement (CSI) approach amongst IT staff. The CIO believes that the continual service
improvement programme will lead to closer integration between IT and the business. You have
recently been appointed as the CSI manager.
Previously a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis was conducted by a
selection of staff from the IT team. This was intended as input to the IT strategy that is about to be
developed, part of which included a SWOT analysis of continual service improvement within the
company.
The results of the SWOT analysis are shown below.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
IT management demonstrate their The company is predominantly reactive
commitment to CSI in its CSI initiatives
A CSI manager is in place The company has somewhat stagnant
People in the company have the right processes which have not been reviewed
attitude, values and commitment for improvement for some time
IT processes are based on ITIL and at There is a lack of monitoring and
maturity level 3 reporting tools
Existing service management data is
insufficient to provide insight into CSI
opportunities
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
Invest in an integrated IT service Competition is already in existence
management tool to remove IT New regulatory requirements will require
bottlenecks additional effort
Implement a new reporting mechanism New technology as the result of business
and tools for knowledge management to expansion plans is expected to be
streamline IT operations supported
Institute knowledge transfer and Lack of trained staff creates bottlenecks
coaching for staff to make them more in support activities
productive
Lack of use of formal knowledge
management

Page 2 of 8
Scenario Two
You work for a company that has experienced dramatic growth over the past ten years. Unfortunately,
the IT organization has not scaled its growth to meet the needs of the new business circumstances,
resulting in a very reactive service management culture. The business does not appear to understand
or value IT.
In order to show the business the contribution that IT is making to the company, some basic reporting
has been developed, mostly around the service desk and key system availability. There is reporting
capability in the areas of network and server availability but the concept of end-to-end service
reporting is not well-understood.
A new chief information officer (CIO) has been employed who is an advocate of process and
objectives measurement.
As the new continual service improvement (CSI) manager, you are tasked with creating a continual
improvement culture in the company with solid monitoring and measuring practices. You plan to
introduce the ITIL seven-step improvement process to the company. You recognize, however, that
previous efforts have stalled shortly after they began, as the IT team has a tendency to see continual
improvement as a short-term initiative.
The CIO is enthusiastic about implementing a robust process for CSI that will provide ongoing value,
but also requires that some immediate benefits be realized.

Page 3 of 8
Scenario Three
You have just started a new job as a change manager. You are committed to ensuring that the
change management process is aligned to the business needs of your company. Initial investigations
show that the only documentation available in the company is a change management process
flowchart with no reports on process performance produced.
Your initial observation is that there are a high percentage of emergency changes being made within
the company (compared to what you have been used to in other companies).
Changes are logged into a tool that has been designed and implemented in-house. Although the
database structure is sound and the information is useful, you suspect that more changes are made
than are actually recorded.
You extract some data for analysis that confirms your suspicion about emergency changes.
(See Table 1 below)
Table 1 Extract from the change management database
Change Priority: Low Medium High Emergency Total Emergency %
Period_1 11 25 25 21 82 25.69
Period_2 15 34 24 23 96 23.95
Period_3 9 39 28 18 94 19.14
Period_4 12 33 21 17 83 20.48
Period_5 16 27 19 9 71 12.67

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Scenario Four
Your companys IT organization has a service quality programme that has been fairly successful at
achieving quality improvements, although the business seems not to be aware of this. Although
service quality reports are regularly generated and presented to the business, the reports dont seem
to be changing the business behaviours, nor does the business seem to recognize how much of an
effort the IT organization is now making to communicate these real and positive results.
Continual service improvement (CSI) has now been initiated as part of a larger service quality
programme. A strong education and awareness program has been conducted to make sure
stakeholders at all levels in the company are aware of the CSI efforts and their potential value to the
company.
As the CSI manager, you have indicated to the rest of the service quality programme team that there
are three main target audiences that must be reached with seven-step improvement process
information: the business, the IT management team, and the remainder of the IT organization
engaged in the daily work of running the IT departments.
While you feel that good progress has been made in many areas, you are still of the opinion that
interactions with the business need to be improved further.

Page 5 of 8
Scenario Five
You have recently been appointed as continual service improvement (CSI) manager for your
company. You have had many years experience with implementing ITIL best practices across other
companies. Within the IT organization, many of the ITIL processes have already been implemented
and the company has now decided to mature its practices by adopting the ITIL service lifecycle. CSI
has been selected as one of the first stages of their service lifecycle to implement.

Page 6 of 8
Scenario Six
The IT director has recently approved an ITIL implementation programme. Availability management is
currently done at the component level (network, and server monitoring), but there is no end-to-end
service monitoring. This is seen as a key requirement as there is a customer perception gap between
what is published in the monthly availability reports and the end user experiences.
A new service management tool has recently been purchased. An incident management process is in
place and configuration item data is captured at the incident logging stage within the tool. Use is
made of reports from the change management process to identify where there has been an impact on
services. There are some alerts being generated to the technical teams through event management,
both during and outside of business hours.
Even though the budget available is limited, the IT director requires that there be some data analysis
done which is capable of capturing the end-to-end service availability. This will enable IT to act upon
performance deficiencies and to facilitate a real demonstration of IT service improvement.

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Scenario Seven
You are the service manager for your company, and you have led your team throughout the
implementation of many of the ITIL processes. You are generally happy with the adoption throughout
the IT organization, particularly in the areas of change, incident, and service level management, which
have been given positive endorsement from the business. The culture of your team is becoming far
more service-oriented and, as your role expands, it is agreed that you will recruit for a continual
service improvement (CSI) manager. A strong candidate will facilitate continued momentum with the
existing processes, as well as the implementation of new processes.
As part of your recruitment planning you are keen that the CSI manager should have the following
qualities:
Strong relationship management

A good understanding of the IT services and the customers business
Good communication skills

Page 8 of 8
QUESTION BOOKLET
Gradient Style Multiple Choice

90 minute paper
8 questions, Closed Book
Instructions
1. All 8 questions should be attempted.

2. You should refer to the accompanying Scenario Booklet to answer each question.
3. All answers are to be marked on the answer grid provided.
4. You have 90 minutes to complete this paper.
5. You must achieve 28 or more out of a possible 40 marks (70%) to pass this
examination.

ITIL Intermediate Lifecycle CSISample1 QUESTION BOOKLET v5.1.docx
Page 1 of 9
Question One
Refer to Scenario One

Which one of the following statements about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
(SWOT) analysis results BEST reveals the current gaps in the ability of IT to support the corporate
objectives?
A. The SWOT analysis indicates that IT is committed to better integration with the business by
implementing knowledge management and better monitoring and reporting tools. They are also
focused on the training and coaching of staff.
B. The SWOT analysis does not reveal useful information in its current state as it was conducted
before a desired end-state for IT was defined and agreed. Additionally, IT opportunities were
confused with IT strategies. The SWOT analysis should be performed again after the IT strategy
is set.
C. The SWOT analysis indicates that IT does not currently appear to have the appropriate
capabilities or resources required by the business to achieve its corporate strategies. It is far too
reactive, even though the teams are generally committed.
D. The SWOT analysis indicates that with significant investment in an integrated service
management and monitoring toolset, IT could address its weaknesses. They are also focused on
the training and the coaching of staff.

Page 2 of 9
Question Two
Refer to Scenario One

Which one of the following set of critical success factors will BEST demonstrate that the companys
management commitment to continual service improvement (CSI) is genuine?
A. Appointment of a CSI manager

Adoption of the service lifecycle approach throughout the IT department
Visible management participation in CSI launch
B. Appointment of a CSI manager

Approval of the CSI initiatives as projects
Appropriate resource allocation for CSI projects throughout the service lifecycle
C. Adapting service management processes to suit the IT vision

Embedding CSI into everyones job description
Acquiring the appropriate technology to support the CSI activities
D. Ongoing, visible management participation

Sufficient ongoing funding for CSI activities
Adoption of the service lifecycle approach throughout IT

Page 3 of 9
Question Three
Refer to Scenario Two

Which one of the following options is the BEST way to begin introducing the continual service
improvement (CSI) process for maximum benefit?
A. Work with the chief information officer (CIO) and other management leaders to identify and verify
the vision, along with the strategic, tactical, and operational goals. This will give a focus to the
seven-step improvement process, particularly in the area of defining what you should measure.
In parallel, begin an audit of your current measurement capabilities and an awareness campaign
to communicate the value of CSI. In collaboration with each business unit, identify the top five
problematic areas and address any quick wins to gain support. This comprehensive approach
will serve to gain adoption.
B. Work with the CIO to ensure an understanding of the culture of the company so that the concept
of CSI can be fully ingrained into daily work. You then need to design the CSI processes, hire
staff, and start an awareness campaign to communicate the benefits. You will also need to
change the culture within IT to ensure success. The CIO needs to fund full-time staff members to
the project. Without all of these elements, any effort will be short-term and will not allow for
cultural adoption of CSI.
C. Share the seven-step improvement process with IT managers and advise them that they can
apply the process to their respective areas. Work with each manager to analyse the data
currently being collected within their respective area. Prepare a report for each area and, as a
group, identify as many improvements as possible that can be made in the short-term. Meet with
the CIO to ensure commitment to these improvement efforts and to assist in the prioritization.
Ensure that improvements implemented by each manager are publicized to the company to raise
visibility and build support for the ongoing effort.
D. Work with the CIO and key stakeholders to identify one problematic area that needs
improvement and use this as a pilot with a small group which you will educate on the CSI
processes. Identify the appropriate vision, mission and goals, and work through the seven steps
to define what should be measured to meet these goals. Define what can be measured based on
an audit of your current capabilities, and then gather, process, analyse, present and use the data
and resulting information to implement corrective action. Use this pilot to market the value to the
company and gain support going forward.

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Question Four
Refer to Scenario Three

Which one of the following options is the BEST approach for you, as the change manager, to take?
A. As you are new in the job, it is not advisable to rush immediately into improvements. The starting
point is to understand the needs of the business and IT in relation to the change management
process. While gathering this information, you can also gather stakeholder feedback on the
process. You can then carry out an unbiased snapshot of how the process is currently performed
and show any non-conformance. It may be revealed that this company can justify a high rate of
emergency changes. A gap analysis will identify improvement opportunities and these should be
classified and prioritized for implementation.
B. The starting point is to understand the needs of the business and IT in relation to the change
management process. While gathering this information there will be time to gauge the customers
and IT's perception of the process. This can then be compared to the current process
documentation, with any differences found being prioritized. You will need to educate people on
the reasons for compliance with the process and to implement some quick wins. Looking at
Table 1, you suspect that people do not have the same understanding of the change
categorizations so you need to include business impact and urgency to help set priority.
C. You need to apply the continual service improvement model and understand Where are we
now? From Table 1, the current position indicates around 20% of changes are prioritized as
emergency changes. These changes will increase the risk to the organization and the level
needs to be reduced to below 5%. You need to decide how to achieve this. This may include
activities such as defining what constitutes an emergency change and the setting up of an
emergency change advisory board (ECAB). Once these improvements have been made, you
need to measure the level of emergency changes to see if the objectives have been met. Once
they have been met then further improvement can be considered.
D. As you are new in the post, it would not be a good idea to rush immediately into improvements.
The level of emergency changes will settle, as it has been coming down over the last five
periods. However, the tool used to log changes has been built in-house and is probably not
sufficient for a change management process that will be aligned to ITIL best practice. You should
therefore, look for a replacement so that you are working with quality data. Simply changing the
tool will not guarantee its use, so you should talk with everyone to ensure that they will record
every change.

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Question Five
Refer to Scenario Four

Which one of the following options BEST describes how to improve the communication and
engagement with the business?
A. Review the way service quality information is currently being presented, looking specifically for
the relevance of the presentation method to the interests and concerns of the business, and how
well that information is eliciting co-operation and desired behaviours. Talk with business leaders
about what their biggest concerns are, and look for ways of modifying what is presented and how
it is presented in order to align with these concerns. Be sure that the service level manager (SLM)
has everything needed to clearly demonstrate to the business the service performance against
the service level agreement (SLA) targets and improvement activity.
B. Review the way the information is currently being presented to the business, looking for
opportunities to simplify and streamline the information. Look for reports or sections that no one in
the business seems to be interested in and stop providing them; it is unlikely that there will be any
impact. Consider whether or not the messages intended from the reports are clear to the business
and revise them as necessary. This will improve the relationships with the business immediately.
C. In co-operation with the service level manager, review the way information is currently being
presented. Look specifically for the relevance of the presentation method to the interests of the
business, and for how well the information is being used to elicit co-operation and desired
behaviours, and to drive improvements needed. Talk with business leaders about what their
biggest concerns are and look for ways of modifying what is presented and how it is presented in
order to align with these concerns. Be sure that the SLM has appropriate information to
demonstrate the performance against the SLA targets and improvement activity.
D. Set up a meeting with the business leaders and ask them to explain their issues regarding the
reports from IT. Review the detail of the reports with them to be sure they understand the
meaning of each report. Explain how IT captures and processes the information and how the
recommendations will help the business. Then advise the business what action items are
expected from them based on this information. Advise the business that SLA commitments are
being consistently met now, so IT needs the business to work with them on the next improvement
steps.

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Question Six
Refer to Scenario Five

As the CSI manager you first establish a baseline, as this is an important starting point for highlighting
improvement and to determine if a process needs to be improved. It is essential to collect this data
even if the integrity of the initial baseline data is in question.
Which one of the following options is the BEST next step to help identify which processes to improve
first?
A. Work with IT and business management to validate the data for completeness and accuracy so
that informed improvement decisions may be made based on the data. Internal benchmarking
data, if available, can also demonstrate where improvements have taken place within the
organization so far. This will be useful in establishing the relative priorities within each of the
processes before the improvement programme commences.
B. Interview business personnel to validate the data for completeness and accuracy so that informed
improvement decisions may be made based on the data. Getting a business perspective from the
customers and end-users will give you a much better idea when identifying which processes to
improve first, so that the right improvement opportunities are realized.
C. External benchmarking should be used as the management technique to improve performance.

Benchmarking is the only way to open an organization to new methods, ideas and tools in order
to improve its effectiveness. Benchmarking will reduce the resistance to change by demonstrating
other methods of solving problems than the one currently employed, and demonstrating that
these are far better as they are being used successfully by other companies.
D. Interview IT personnel, to validate the data for completeness and accuracy so that informed
improvement decisions may be made based on the data. You will bear this in mind when you
establish the relative priorities within each of the processes before the improvement programme
commences, and after you have established and confirmed a second baseline.

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Question Seven
Refer to Scenario Six

Which one of the following options is the BEST action to take to identify which technology to
implement across your IT organization?
A. There is a desire to produce end-to-end service performance data fairly quickly to demonstrate
responsiveness to the business. However, you are concerned about incurring further expenditure
on unnecessary tools. As the incident management process is reasonably well established, you
feel it is acceptable to instigate a manual calculation based on the high priority incidents logged,
as these are the ones that cause the most problems for the business. You will then be able to use
this information to calculate the downtime of the service, and hence work out service availability.
B. Effort should be applied to the tool already purchased to assess whether its functionality is
capable of providing the required data to calculate end-to-end service availability. This will
minimize the need to apply further additional expenditure on the tool. The tools functionality
should be based on the operational activities of the seven-step improvement process, and provide
monitoring at each level of the service by service, systems and components, as well as support
the reporting requirements for service level agreements, operational level agreements and
underpinning contracts.
C. It is important that the investments currently made in the software tools, such as the alerting tools
and the new service management product, are fully integrated to ensure the organization receives
end-to-end information quickly. To achieve this it is also vitally important that the configuration
data is kept up-to-date. Understanding what can be measured will give a good starting point from
which to progress. Information gained from the event tool and the incident records will allow an
end-to-end availability level to be calculated that should satisfy the business need at minimal cost.
D. Many software vendors in the market provide tools that are compatible with the ITIL process
framework. As the current tools are not providing the required information, further investment is
required to provide a more suitable tool capable of giving the business a true picture of end-to-
end service. As selection of the previous tools does not seem to have worked, it is recommended
that improvements in tool selection process be made, in order to shortlist tools that would be
suitable and therefore reduce the chance of inappropriate purchases in the future.

Page 8 of 9
Question Eight
Refer to Scenario Seven

You are also looking for a candidate with skills in other continual service improvement (CSI) areas for
which they will have primary responsibilities.
Which one of the following options BEST represent these additional CSI manager skills?
A. Good technical understanding and the ability to translate it into easily understood business
concepts and vice versa
Knowledge and experience of contract and/or supplier management roles
Good understanding of and experience in statistical and analytical principles and processes
B. Knowledge and experience of contract and/or supplier management roles

Good presentation, facilitation and meeting skills to ensure effective, efficient and productive
meetings
Knowledge, experience and good skills for vendor management and negotiations to manage
suppliers and vendors
C. Budgeting and resource knowledge of the organization, to be able to drive appropriate

improvements towards service quality
Good technical understanding and ability to translate into easily understood business concepts
and vice versa
Good understanding of statistical and analytical principles and processes
D. Good interpersonal, people management and meeting facilitation skills

A good understanding of IT services and qualifying factors in order to understand how
customer requirements will affect delivery
Good understanding of statistical and analytical principles and processes

Page 9 of 9
ANSWERS AND RATIONALES

ITIL Intermediate Lifecycle CSISample1 ANSWERSandRATIONALES v5.1.docx
Page 1 of 10
Answer Key:
Scenario Question Correct: 2nd Best: 3rd Best: Distracter:

5 Marks 3 Marks 1 Mark 0 Marks
1 B C D A
One
2 D A B C
Two 3 D A C B
Three 4 A B C D
Four 5 C A B D
Five 6 A B D C
Six 7 B C A D
Seven 8 D C A B

Page 2 of 10
QUESTION One Scenario One
Question Rationale SWOT analysis is an important tool used in CSI. It is important for someone involved
in CSI always to ensure that the corporate goals are kept in mind at all times. This is
also a key component of the seven-step improvement process.
See section 5.5.9.4 Common pitfalls of a SWOT analysis
MOST CORRECT (5) B This is the correct answer. ITs opportunities are not taking into consideration
the corporate strategies that would allow IT to improve its processes and
service delivery to be better integrated with the business. The IT strategy
needs to be set first.
SECOND BEST (3) C This answer is partially correct. The weaknesses section supports this claim as
it identifies the most significant gaps in IT capabilities. IT is not equipped to
support the corporate strategies.
THIRD BEST (1) D This is only marginally correct. Investing in IT technology at this time will only
be a temporary solution that may address some weaknesses but will certainly
not support the corporate objectives in the end.
DISTRACTER (0) A This answer is obviously incorrect. With the exception of the CIO, there are no
indications that IT is committed to integrate better with the business. Their
opportunities are all IT wishes and reflect the fact that they have a reactive and
tool-focused mentality.
Syllabus Unit / ITIL SL: CSI04 Continual service improvement methods and techniques
Module supported
Blooms Taxonomy Level 4 Analysis - The ability to use the practices and concepts in a situation or
Testing Level unprompted use of an abstraction. Can apply what is learned in the classroom in
workplace situations. Can separate concepts into component parts to understand
structure and can distinguish between facts and inferences.
Application This question requires the delegate to compare the results of the
SWOT against corporate objectives and come up with a gap analysis.
Subjects covered Analyze the measuring and reporting frameworks such as the balanced
scorecard and the SWOT analysis.
Book Section Refs CSI 5.5.9 Continual service improvement methods and techniques Metrics
SWOT analysis
Difficulty Easy

Page 3 of 10
QUESTION Two Scenario One
Question Rationale Critical success factors need to be selected for the goal at end. They will change
over time. This question tests the understanding of appropriate grouping of CSFs.
MOST CORRECT (5) D This is the most complete list; continual funding, being visible and participating
when required as well as ensuring that the organization embraces the service
lifecycle approach is the best way to demonstrate ongoing commitment.
SECOND BEST (3) A This answer is partially correct but would only demonstrate an initial
commitment to CSI: for sustainability there would need to be an indication of
visible management participation.
THIRD BEST (1) B This answer is barely correct as it treats CSI as a project initiative.
DISTRACTER (0) C This answer is weak as it is too internally-focused and does not show long-
term commitment. Adapting ITSM processes to suit the IT vision is internally-
focused. Making CSI part of everyones job description without associated
education, supervision and measurement is not likely to be successful and is
not really a demonstration of ongoing management support.
Syllabus Unit / ITIL SL: CSI08 Critical success factors and risks
Module supported
Blooms Taxonomy Level 3 Applying Use ideas, principles and theories in new, particular and concrete
Testing Level situations. Behavioural tasks at this level involve both knowing and comprehension
and might include choosing appropriate procedures, applying principles, using an
approach or identifying the selection of options.
Application Although the inspiration for this question is the list of CSFs found in
section 9.2 in the CSI book, the delegate does not have to remember the list from
memory to be able to answer this question. The question can be answered by
looking at the facts presented in the scenario and logically selecting the appropriate
answer.
Subjects covered Critical success factors for continual service improvement
Book Section Refs CSI 9.2 Challenges, risks and critical success factors Critical success factors
Difficulty Easy

Page 4 of 10
QUESTION Three Scenario Two
Question Rationale Question is testing whether or not the delegate can recognize the dependencies in
the seven-step improvement process and apply the recommendations on analysing
the starting point and the effect of organizational change.
Question includes both concepts from section 8.2 regarding implementing CSI and
principles of the seven-step improvement process in 4.1, but is primarily about
analysing the case study situation to apply the implementation advice successfully.
MOST CORRECT (5) D In the provided scenario the culture of the organization is very reactive and it is
clear that IT is understaffed. In this environment a well-focused pilot program
will allow you to start somewhere. In addition, this answer recognizes the
need to understand the mission and goals of the area being improved.
SECOND BEST (3) A This answer recognizes the need for understanding the vision, mission and
goals and the importance of training and communication in organizational
change, but it does not take into consideration the situation at the company in
question. Trying to do the top 5 problematic areas would be too much, too
soon.
THIRD BEST (1) C This answer recognizes the need for working gradually but makes decisions in
a vacuum, without considering the mission or goals. It assumes that the CSI
manager can judge for him/herself what is best for the company. It also
expects the IT managers to implement the improvement process with little or
no guidance and no common approach. A key first step of defining what you
should measure has also been omitted.
DISTRACTER (0) B Since we already know that the new CIO is committed to the process and is
experienced with IT service management, this approach is likely to be seen as
patronizing to the CIO. The CSI manager is likely to be seen as having a
negative attitude and will be unlikely to succeed.
Syllabus Unit / ITIL SL: CSI03 Continual service improvement process
Module supported ITIL SL: CSI07 Implementing continual service improvement
Level 4 Analysis - The ability to use the practices and concepts in a situation or
unprompted use of an abstraction. Can apply what is learned in the classroom in
Application This question requires the delegate to use their knowledge of the
seven-step improvement process and analyse the situation in order to make a
recommendation for action based on the details of the case study.
Subjects covered The seven-step improvement process
Implementing continual service improvement
Book Section Refs CSI 4.1.5 The seven-step improvement process, sections beginning with Step 1
(4.1.5.1) and Step 2 (4.1.5.2)
CSI 8.2.1 Implementing continual service improvement Where do I start The
service approach
CSI 8.2.3 Implementing continual service improvement Where do I start The
functional group approach
CSI 8.3.2 Implementing continual service improvement Governance Process
changes
Difficulty Moderate

Page 5 of 10
QUESTION Four Scenario Three
Question Rationale The question is looking for a logical and sensible approach to using the continual
service improvement (CSI) approach. Candidates will need to know the order of the
model and what each stage is for.
MOST CORRECT (5) A This answer is correct as it follows the principal of the CSI approach. Its
advantage is that it is considering the business need and customer perception
as the basis for a baseline and then assessing the current process for a true
picture of what is happening now.
SECOND BEST (3) B Along the same lines as the answer above but where it falls down is the use of
the current documentation there is evidence that the process is not being
used so it may not be a reflection of what is actually happening.
THIRD BEST (1) C While it follows the CSI approach to some degree it does make assumptions
which are not based on business evidence, and also the improvements are not
correct (setting up an emergency change process and an ECAB does not
really help reduce emergency changes).
DISTRACTER (0) D Implementation of technology/tools before a process is not the recommended
approach.
Syllabus Unit / ITIL SL: CSI01 Introduction to continual service improvement
Module supported
Application This question requires the delegate to use their knowledge of the CSI
approach and analyse the situation in order to make a recommendation for action
based on the details of the case study.
Subjects covered CSI approach
Book Section Refs CSI 3.1.1 Continual service improvement principles CSI approach
Difficulty Moderate

Page 6 of 10
QUESTION Five Scenario Four
Question Rationale This question is testing if the delegate understands the need to consider the target
audience and the uses for the information to drive forward improvement.
MOST CORRECT (5) C This answer is the most comprehensive and collaborative approach, taking
into consideration the needs of the business, and ensuring that key people
inside the service provider organization (the SLM manager) are included in the
work.
SECOND BEST (3) A While this answer is good, it only considers SLM and the SLM manager after
the fact. It also lacks the focus on driving improvements that are important to
the business.
THIRD BEST (1) B The improvements discussed here are all focused around efficiency without
considering whether the method of presentation is meaningful to the business.
It also does not include the involvement of key roles in the service provider
organization.
DISTRACTER (0) D This answer seems to place the emphasis on the business and making them
understand IT. It is not the job of the business to understand IT, but rather for
IT to work to understand the business. While clear expectations are important,
in a situation where the relationship with the business needs to be improved,
IT should seek to improve itself and thereby improve its credibility before
emphasizing what the business needs to contribute.
Syllabus Unit / ITIL SL: CSI03 Continual service improvement process
Module supported
Level 4 Analysis The ability to use the practices and concepts in a situation or
Application This question requires the delegate to use their knowledge of the
seven-step improvement process and analyse the situation in order to make a
recommendation for action based on the details of the case study.
Subjects covered The seven-step improvement process step 6 Present and use the
information
Book Section Refs CSI 4.1.5.6 Continual service improvement process The seven-step improvement
process Step 6 - Present and use the information
Difficulty Moderate

Page 7 of 10
QUESTION Six Scenario Five
Question Rationale Question is testing whether or not the delegate can understand both baselines and
benchmarking within CSI, their use, and their worth for service improvement.
Question confirms the candidate has understood both concepts of baselines and
benchmarking.
MOST CORRECT (5) A In the provided scenario, utilizing both benchmarking data and baseline data
(recognizing that the integrity of the data may be in question) will firmly
establish the right processes to address first. In addition, where there have
been positive changes in performance over time, they may give the opportunity
for weaker processes to be prioritized first. Finally, this answer recognizes the
value of qualitative research from both customer and peer feedback.
SECOND BEST (3) B This answer recognizes the need to understand baseline data and has also
recognized the strength of qualitative research from customer feedback.
However, use of benchmarking data is still important to establish either how far
the company has moved on its improvement journey already, or how the
company compares with other companies in the sector.
THIRD BEST (1) D This answer recognizes the need to understand baseline data and has also
recognized the strength of qualitative research from peer feedback. However,
use of benchmarking data is still important to establish either how far the
company has moved on its improvement journey already, or how the company
compares with other companies in the sector. This answer does not, however,
find out what is important to the business, focusing only on IT personnel.
Additionally waiting for a second baseline will cause undue delays and may
jeopardize the enthusiasm.
DISTRACTER (0) C This answer recognizes the need to understand benchmarking data. However,
it fails to recognize that baseline data is equally important in establishing the
importance of data trends. Additionally, benchmarking is not the only way to
get things done and, contrary to the answer, the staff is not resistant to the
change but rather is enthusiastic about it. Finally, this answer does not attempt
to perform qualitative research with either the customer or peers.
Syllabus Unit / ITIL SL: CSI02 Continual service improvement principles
Module supported ITIL SL: CSI04 Continual service improvement methods and techniques
Application This question requires the delegate to have understood the use of
baselines and benchmarking within CSI and to analyse the situation in order to make
a recommendation for action based on the details of the scenario.
Subjects covered Baselines
Benchmarking
Book Section Refs CSI 3.9.1 Continual service improvement principles Service measurement
Baselines
CSI 5.3 Continual service improvement methods and techniques Benchmarking
Difficulty Moderate

Page 8 of 10
QUESTION Seven Scenario Six
Question Rationale Question is testing whether or not the delegate can understand both the use of
technology within continual service improvement and the investment decisions
appropriate for a business.
MOST CORRECT (5) B There is a specific requirement to add end-to-end service monitoring to the
performance data already produced for the business, so the IT area knows the
strategy on the missing piece of business data required. There is a good
chance that the current tools will give the required information. Through
reporting against SLAs, this answer will ensure business requirements are met
(through reporting against business agreed targets).
SECOND BEST (3) C This answer recognizes the investment that has already been made in
products and, on the surface, it does appear that there could be the required
information available, but it would need validation. It also doesnt take into
consideration the what should be measured, but appears more focused on
that which is internally available now i.e. What can be measured?
THIRD BEST (1) A While the sentiment is good in trying to react to the business requirements for
end-to-end service monitoring and to not incur further spend, the data
produced will be fundamentally inaccurate if the only data that is captured is
related to priority 1 incidents. It will substantially inflate the availability figures
produced. This approach also assumes that the prioritization of incidents is
being done correctly, however there is no information to support this
assumption.
DISTRACTER (0) D The answer gives no consideration to the fact that a software tool has already
been purchased and that there may be capability within it to capture the data
required. It makes too many assumptions and it fails to consider what should
be measured, based on the organizations goals.
Syllabus Unit / ITIL SL: CSI06 Technology for continual service improvement
Module supported
Application This question requires the delegate to have understood the use of
technology within CSI and to analyse the situation in order to make a
recommendation for action based on the details of the case study. Many of the
processes mentioned have been put in as distracters.
Subjects covered Tools supporting CSI activities
Book Section Refs CSI 7.1 Technology considerations Tools to support CSI activities
Difficulty Hard

Page 9 of 10
QUESTION Eight Scenario Seven
Question Rationale Question is testing whether or not the delegate can understand primary and
secondary skills and then relate them back to the new role of continual service
improvement (CSI) manager.
Question confirms the candidate has understood the other applicable roles of
process owner, service level manager, and service owner, and is able to differentiate
their primary skills.
MOST CORRECT (5) D This answer recognizes that the candidate has understood that the primary
skill for the CSI manager will be good understanding of the analytical
processes, which ties in to the requirements of the seven-step improvement
process of capturing the required measurements and then being able to
correctly analyse them. It also recognizes the necessary soft skills of people
management and being able to facilitate meetings, as it is a role that does
need to be influential. The answer also recognizes that the CSI manager must
understand IT services, customer requirements and factors affecting the
service.
SECOND BEST (3) C This answer recognizes some key primary skills such as budgetary and
resource knowledge, and sound understanding of statistical and analytical
principle and processes, However the skill of having the technical ability to
translate business concepts into IT and vice versa is only secondary to this
role, making this answer inferior to answer D.
THIRD BEST (1) A While the skills are appropriate, the only primary responsibility in the answer is
to have sound understanding of statistical and analytical principles and
processes. The other skills are secondary to the role and therefore this answer
is inferior to answer C.
DISTRACTER (0) B The answer gives all the primary skills that would be required for a service
level manager, not a continual service improvement manager.
Syllabus Unit / ITIL SL: CSI05 Organizing for continual service improvement
Module supported
Application This question requires the delegate to have understood the various
roles within CSI and to differentiate primary and secondary skills to assess the most
appropriate skills for recruitment. The primary skills of the service level manager
have been put in as the distracter answer.
Subjects covered Roles within CSI
Book Section Refs CSI 6 Organizing for continual service improvement
CSI table 6.8 Comparison of CSI manager, service level manager, service owner
and business relationship manager roles
Difficulty Moderate

Page 10 of 10

The ITIL Intermediate Qualification Service Operation Certificate Syllabus v5-4

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ITIL Intermediate Lifecycle Stream:

CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT (CSI) CERTIFICATE

Sample Paper 1, version 5.1

Gradient Style, Complex Multiple Choice

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

The results of the SWOT analysis are shown below.

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Table 1 Extract from the change management database

Change Priority: Low Medium High Emergency Total Emergency %

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Strong relationship management

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT (CSI) CERTIFICATE

Sample Paper 1, version 5.1

Gradient Style, Complex Multiple Choice

Gradient Style Multiple Choice

1. All 8 questions should be attempted.

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Refer to Scenario One

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Refer to Scenario One

A. Appointment of a CSI manager

B. Appointment of a CSI manager

C. Adapting service management processes to suit the IT vision

D. Ongoing, visible management participation

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Refer to Scenario Two

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Refer to Scenario Three

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Refer to Scenario Four

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Refer to Scenario Five

C. External benchmarking should be used as the management technique to improve performance.

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Refer to Scenario Six

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Refer to Scenario Seven

B. Knowledge and experience of contract and/or supplier management roles

C. Budgeting and resource knowledge of the organization, to be able to drive appropriate

D. Good interpersonal, people management and meeting facilitation skills

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

CONTINUAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENT (CSI) CERTIFICATE

Sample Paper 1, version 5.1

Gradient Style, Complex Multiple Choice

ANSWERS AND RATIONALES

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

Scenario Question Correct: 2nd Best: 3rd Best: Distracter:

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

OGCs Official Accreditor: - The APM Group Limited 2011

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