BU’s Information Services delivery is based on an international framework called ITIL. ITIL helps us deliver our IT services optimally by providing us with knowledge regarding best practices in the discipline. Below is some information on the most up-to-date ITIL version, ITIL 4.

For a 22-minute overview of IT Service Management, specifically at Boston University, view this material on Terrier eDevelopment (available for BU staff only).

Boston University provided ITIL training currently open for registration

Recommended Training Sequence

Welcome to the comprehensive guide for individuals seeking ITIL training at Boston University. This guide provides a recommended training sequence to help you establish a solid ITSM, ITIL, and ServiceNow foundation.  

The ITSM and ITIL 4 Awareness course and the ServiceNow Platform and Incident Module training will enhance your ITSM and ITIL knowledge and skills, enabling you to effectively manage IT services using ServiceNow, BU’s primary IT Service Management tool.  

Even if you’ve worked with ServiceNow or another service management system before, attending the training will ensure you understand how we manage our work here at Boston University, help you leverage our tooling to have the best work experience for yourself and the best service experience for our clients.  

Register for these courses to stay informed about our system and practices.

  • Section 1:Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) at BU, including ITIL 4 Awareness
    ITSM supports organizations providing IT services that deliver client value while facilitating the IT service provider work experience. ITIL is a framework that articulates guidance and best practices for IT Service Management (ITSM). Our course offers a high-level overview of ITSM and its relationship to ITIL- meaning students will gain a basic knowledge of terms and concepts. This course does not prepare students for the formal ITIL 4 Foundation certification.     
  • Section 2: ServiceNow Platform and Incident Module Training
    ServiceNow is the primary IT Service Management tool at Boston University. This course provides an overview of its capabilities, including the differences between “incidents” and “service requests” and a detailed look at the ServiceNow Incident application. Though required for new ServiceNow users, we recommend taking this course after completing ITSM and ITIL 4 Awareness to maximize both courses’ benefits.

Additional ServiceNow Training

ServiceNow training is currently open for registration. Enroll now for our ServiceNow training program, which offers courses tailored to individual roles and responsibilities within the IS&T team.

  • Resource Management Training
    Describes the goals, roles, responsibilities, and tooling that comprise IS&T’s Resource Management practice. Attendees will come away with an overview of the practice as well as a sound understanding of how to do what they need to do within the ServiceNow Resource application, including updating staff planned out of office time, managing resource groups, managing staff resource roles, creating, and viewing, editing resource plans.
  • ServiceNow Service Request Training
    An in-depth exploration of the Service Request practice at IS&T including a detailed explanation of ServiceNow tooling related functionality for structured Catalog Request Items which are different than Incidents. Attendees will come away with a clear understanding of how to complete work required to fulfil service requests using request items, what the difference is between Request Items, Tasks, Incidents, as well as an understanding of how to approach the related service request design sessions. Anyone working on a team to fulfill requests, Service Owners and Component Managers should attend this training.
  • Release Training, Part 1: SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle)
    An in depth exploration of the ServiceNow SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle) functionality, including enhancements, defects, releases, products, release items and release tasks. The target audience is anyone who supervises or works with Enhancements and Defects or deploys new functionality based on project work.
  • Release Training, Part 2: Release Engineer Role
    Describes the role and responsibilities of the Release Engineer with respect to ServiceNow and overall responsibilities for a Release. Best practice instruction on products, releases, release items, and release tasks from a Release Engineer prospective and meeting cadence for deployment work. Prerequisite: Release Training, Part 1: SLDC The target audience is anyone who supervises or acts in the role of Release Engineer for deployments to production.

Global groups

  • Educause has a constituent group for ITIL in Higher Education. Googling Educause ITIL produces many other results.
  • LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) has several groups related to ITIL, including
    • IT Service Management Forum
    • ITIL Tools (Software, Systems, Templates, Documents, Reviews)
    • ITIL Training (Courses, Exams, Tips, Material)
    • ITSM (ITIL) Professionals
  • The IT Service Management Forum (itSMF, http://itsmfusa.org/) is a well-known group offering many resources and holding a big convention each year.

Other Resources