The problem this course solves

An excerpt from the first module. The course follows the same case through value stream mapping and flow metrics to a closing module on that case. A capstone project on your own initiative is part of the learning path.

Where the course starts

What Is a Service? Core Concepts of ITSM · Module 1: Introduction — ITSM and DevOps

When you apply for a charge point with Elmsworth Utilities, you care about one thing: that your electric car can soon charge at home. Which four departments handle your application is of no interest to you. This shift in perspective — from the internal workflow to the customer's view — is the core of the service concept. It is the foundation for everything that follows.

Learning objectives:

explain what a service is in the ITSM sense,
describe the difference between a service and the processes behind it,
sum up IT service management as a discipline in a single sentence,
name a service from your own environment and phrase it from the customer's point of view.

The exercise this lesson leads to

Not an example — the actual task from the same module. You hand your result to Kai, and he assesses it against the rubric below. He does not hand out blanket praise: he names the part that does not hold up, and the exercise stays open until it holds up.

The task

Exercise: Project or Operations?

Goal: You apply the distinction between project work and operations work to your own environment and identify where both worlds compete for the same people. Time: 25–35 minutes

Two schools of thought meet here: the world of services and stable operations — and the world of projects that build new things. In this exercise you transfer this distinction to your own environment, because the line between project and operations rarely runs where the org chart suggests.

Learning objectives:

name, for your own project or team, which activities are project work and which are operations work,
identify where both worlds compete for the same people,
reframe at least one conflict in your environment — as a structural problem rather than a people problem.

What it is measured against

This exercise has 5 assessment criteria. They are set before you submit, and Kai assesses your work against them, not against an overall impression.

One rubric is published in full.

See a full rubric →

That was one of 58 lessons.

The other 57, with every exercise, the conversation practice and the certificate, cost 129 €, paid once.

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