First of all, I would love the readers of my critique of The Art Of Service (TAOS) ITIL® V3 training to understand that my relationship started well before my training with them. I work as a contractor in a team of 11 subject matter experts providing Lifecycle support including technical support, service desk, configuration management, change management, and requirements management with the other ITIL® areas as lesser emphasized areas of support.
I first began contact with TAOS because I wanted to advise my team of the ITL training options available. Our team has members from two separate corporations with different training reimbursement policies. I had to find OGC approved training that would work for our diverse requirements. I researched every single approved trainer listed on the ITIL® Official Site. I found one or two which provided relationships with American Accredited Educational Institutions for my teammates who still were pursuing undergraduate degrees. They would be able to use tuition assistance.
Next, I had to find a solution for ITIL® training needs for myself and my team mates who already had undergraduate and graduate degrees and who needed to self-sponsor (read self-pay and train in their personal time). In late 2009 and early 2010, of all of the listed trainers, only TAOS and one other trainer provided OGC approved on-line training which was self-lead. Many offered instructor-lead web-accessed training, but only two provided self-paced, instructor-assisted, web-based training. I contacted both. TAOS won me over due to the absolutely amazing presales contact! Ivanka answered dozens of emails from me and actually telephoned me in the US from her location in Brisbane, Australia. She contacted me during times convenient for me which were absolutely not office-hours in Australia!
By June of 2009, Ivanka had provided me all of the information to know that TAOS was my ITIL® V3 training provider of choice. I purchased the ITIL® V3 Expert Pathway with the Intermediate Capabilities courses. I had already owned the ITIL® V3 Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation, and Continual Service Improvement publications and had read most of them before my search for approved ITIL® training providers. I quickly progressed through the training and certifications. From June 16th through September 1st, I successfully took all of the courses and certification exams for SO&A, RC&V, PP&O, and OS&A. Managing Across the Lifecycle was a bit trickier, content-wise and approach-wise, so I needed an entire month to complete it.
TAOS definitely provides the most complete training, reading guidance, practice exams, quizzes, and supporting materials. If you follow their instructions, you will succeed and become an ITIL® V3 Expert. I highly recommend TAOS ITIL® training.
Thank you!
Joanne
Joanne Boucher, PMP, CISSP