ITIL QUESTIONS cpt6-7

14. List two ways that service desks provide analysts with the ability to simulate their customers' actions.

(1) By providing access to the software packages or applications their customers are using. (2) By providing a lab area where analysts can access systems that have the same hardware and software configurations that customers are using.

9. List two types of data you must gather before you can begin diagnosing an incident.

(1) Customer data. (2) Incident data.

6. List the four most common data categories captured by service desks.

(1) Customer. (2) Incident. (3) Status. (4) Resolution.

15. Describe two situations in which you may not be able to use diagnostic tools.

(1) If the network is down. (2) If a hardware failure has occurred.

10. What are two ways that a short incident description is used?

(1) In reports or online queries to provide an "at a glance" overview. (2) To search a knowledge base for solutions.

What are three benefits of having a clearly stated objective when designing and making presentations?.

(1) It helps you determine whether a presentation is needed. (2) It helps you focus your thoughts and the thoughts of your audience. (3) It provides you and your audience a way to measure the success of your presentation.

3. Describe three ways that people can learn business skills.

(1) On-the-job. (2) Through self-study. (3) In the classroom.

1. List two reasons that business skills are useful and increasingly required.

(1) The business world is increasingly competitive. (2) Trends such as automation and outsourcing mean that companies have fewer job positions and are being increasingly selective about who they hire.

2. What are two factors that influence the business skills and knowledge required for a service desk job?

(1) The company's market niche. (2) The job category.

13. List three benefits that are derived by asking questions.

(1) You continue gathering the data needed to identify a solution. (2) You gain insight as to why the incident is occurring. (3) You gain insight about the customer.

8. Describe two ways that customer data is used.

(Knapp 230) To quickly identify a customer contacting the service desk and to research a customer's history of incidents.

26. What is a business case?

A business case is a report that describes the business reasons that a change is being considered, along with its associated costs, benefits, and risks. (Knapp 296)

27. List five elements that all projects share regardless of their size.

A clearly defined scope Well-defined deliverables Clearly defined acceptance criteria An established start date An established end point (Knapp 297)

14. Why is it important to eliminate the root cause of problems?

Because if the root cause is not eliminated or corrected, it is likely that the incidents will recur.

18. Why is having a balanced set of goals important?

Because performance goals influence each other and placing too great an emphasis on any one goal can produce unintended results.

7. How are customer records linked to incident records?

By a unique key field such as customer name or customer number.

23. What are the goals of customer notification?

Customer notification keeps the customer informed about the progress of the incident resolution. This lets the customer know the incident is being addressed and responded to in an appropriate time and way. Goals: The customer knows the current status of the incident. Customer comments or concerns are recorded in the incident record and addressed. P 249 Like management notification, customer notification is appropriate in specific situations, such as when: The analyst told the customer that he or she will provide a status at a given time, even if there has been no change in the incident's status. The target resolution time will not be met. Customer resources are required to implement a solution. The incident has a high priority and justifies frequent status updates. The customer was dissatisfied with earlier solutions. Customer notification keeps the customer informed about the progress of the incident resolution. This lets the customer know the incident is being addressed and responded to in an appropriate time and way. The goals of customer notification are to ensure the following: The customer knows the current status of the incident. Customer comments or concerns are recorded in the incident record and addressed. (Knapp 248)

26. What three questions must be answered with yes before an incident can be closed?

Did the solution resolve the incident? Is the customer satisfied? Has all pertinent data been recorded? Pg.254

19. How do you calculate an hourly rate from an annual salary?

Divide the annual salary by 2080, the number of work hours in a year (2080 = 52 weeks X 40 hours).

30. What are two ways that service desk analysts benefit when problems are prevented?

Eliminate the root cause ; Problem-solving skills—also known as troubleshooting skills The problem management process focuses on minimizing the impact of incidents and preventing incidents by identifying and eliminating their root cause Trend and root cause analysis can be used to prevent incidents, but only if you capture accurate and complete data. When incidents are prevented, you will have the opportunity to work on more complex incidents and pursue new skills. Pg 259

23. Rehearsing a presentation involves memorizing every word you want to say. True or False? Explain your answer.

False Keep in mind that rehearsing is different than memorizing. Although you may want to memorize your introduction and your closing because they are critical to setting audience expectations, it is better to memorize only the key points you want to make during the body of your presentation. (Knapp 292)

16. Quality is a tangible characteristic. True or False? Explain your answer.

False. Quality is an intangible characteristics because it is difficult to measure precisely.

1. Solving an incident involves determining its root cause. True or False? Explain your answer.

False. Resolving an incident involves restoring service to the customer. Resolving a problem involves determining the root cause.

4. Individuals who want to advance in the support industry must move from knowing how to _________fix______ technology to how to ______use_________ technology to achieve business goals.

Fix, use

22. What are the goals of management notification?

For example, management notification is appropriate when: The incident is extremely severe. The target resolution time or a predefined threshold has been or is about to be reached. Required resources are not available to determine or implement a solution. The customer expresses dissatisfaction. (Knapp 248) Management knows the current status of incidents that are in an exception state, meaning that the incidents have exceeded a predefined threshold Management has the information needed to oversee incidents that involve multiple support groups. Management has sufficient information to make decisions (such as add more resources or reassign responsibilities), follow up with the customer, or call in other management. Management actions are recorded in the incident record so everyone affected by or involved in solving the incident knows what decisions management has made or what steps it took to follow up with the customer or involve other management. These goals make sure the customer's incident is being addressed and responded to in an appropriate time and way. Pg. 248

6. List and briefly describe the basic activities that the incident and problem management processes have in common.

Identification - detecting and identifying; logging - logging relevant information in a tool; investigation and diagnosis - using resources and problem-solving techniques; resolution - performing corrective action; closure - verifying the corrective action was successful and all details are recorded.

16. Why is it important to determine the correct probable incident source?

If an incorrect probable incident source is identified, it is likely that an incorrect course of action will be taken.

19. The incident owner is the person who develops and implements the solution to an incident. True or False? Explain your answer. False. The incident owner may develop and implement the solution, however, his or her primary responsibility is to serve as customer advocate and ensure the incident is solved to the customer's satisfaction. 20. What can happen if no one takes ownership of an incident?

Incidents can be lost or forgotten and customer dissatisfaction can occur

22. What do you need to know about your audience when designing and making presentations?

Knowing your audience also involves understanding the background of your audience. (Knapp 290)

13. Trends can be positive or _______________.

Negative

21. When can incident notification occur?

Notification can occur when an incident is reported or escalated, when an incident has exceeded a predefined threshold such as its target resolution time, or when an incident is resolved. (Knapp 247)

24. What are two ways to handle questions when making a presentation?

One reason is that answering questions in the course of a presentation can throw off your timing. If this is a concern, and time is a considerable constraint, politely ask your audience members at the start of the presentation to hold their questions until the end, as in the following example. (Knapp 293) If you run out of time for questions at the end, let the audience know that you will be happy to respond to their questions offline. (Knapp 293)

3. Explain the relationship that exists between processes and procedures. processes define what tasks to do, and procedures describe how to do the tasks.

Processes define what tasks to do, while procedures describe how to do the tasks.

4. Draw the symbol that represents a task in a flowchart.

Rectangle

25. What two things can level two support groups do to build a strong relationship with the service desk?

Review Incident Management System Information Give Praise Pg 253

5. Draw the symbol that represents a decision point in a flowchart.

Romb

28. What is scope creep?

Scope creep describes unplanned changes to a project's scope. (Knapp 297)

7. A(n) __________ is a sign or an indication that an incident has occurred.

Symptom

6. What is a cost-benefit analysis?

The end result of a cost-benefit analysis is the identification of the best solution to a business problem, given two or more proposed solutions. (Knapp 303)

17. What typically dictates the target resolution time of an incident?

The incident priority.

2. Define the term root cause.

The most basic reason for an undesirable condition or problem, which, if eliminated or corrected, would prevent the problem from existing or occurring.

12. What are you trying to determine when diagnosing an incident?

The probable source and a corrective action that can be used to restore service.

18. Why is incident management referred to as a "closed loop process"?

The process changes its output based on feedback from the customer.

5. What is business and IT alignment?

The process of ensuring that information technologies support corporate goals and objectives.

11. Briefly describe the items that should be included in a detailed incident description.

The result the customer expects. The actual result the customer is experiencing. Steps the customer took to get the results. The history or pattern of the incident. Whether the incident is part of a larger incident.

20. Define the term cost per contact.

The total cost of operating a service desk for a given time period (including salaries, benefits, facilities, and equipment) divided by the total number of contacts (such as calls, emails, faxes, chats, and web requests) received during that period.

15. What is a budget?

The total sum of money allocated for a particular purpose (such as a project) or period of time (such as a year).

18. Why are intangible characteristics difficult to measure?

They reflect perception and are therefore more subjective.

8. Why do most companies distinguish between incidents, questions, and inquiries?

They represent varying degrees of impact and speak differently to product and company performance.

24. What two things can service desk analysts do to build a strong relationship with their level two support groups?

This includes ensuring all available information has been gathered and logged, and all checklists have been completed and the results logged before an incident is escalated to level two. (Knapp 249) Review and Understand Your Company's SLAs, OLAs, and Contracts Provide Mutual Feedback Job Shadowing Review Incident Management System Information Communicate

10. Describe two ways that status data is used.

To report on the status of outstanding incidents and to monitor SLA attainment

9. Describe two ways that incident data is used.

To research and track trends or to search the knowledge base for solutions.

11. Describe two ways that resolution data is used.

To track SLA compliance and to perform root cause analysis

12. Define the term trend analysis.

Trend analysis is a methodical way of determining and, when possible, forecasting service trends (Knapp 278)

25. Understanding how to do something is the same as actually doing it. True or False? Explain your answer.

True technical professionals require a blend of formal training and experience. In other words, simple observation is not enough. Some study, even if only self-study, is needed along with experience. This is particularly true in the case of a skill such as project management. (Knapp 296)

27. List three ways you can help eliminate incidents when you work in a service desk.

Very often the front-line staff can identify trends simply by considering the contacts it is receiving. The service desk might notice it is receiving many contacts about a certain system or product and bring that fact to management's attention. A trend report can then be created to validate statistically the service desk's hunch. The trend can also trigger the problem management process, which is responsible for investigating and, where possible, eliminating the root cause. (Knapp 254)

34. ROI answers what two questions?

What do I get back (in return) for the money I am being asked to spend (invest)? Is the return worth the investment? (Knapp 306)

7. A cost-benefit analysis answers what two questions?

Which of the proposed solutions is the best solution? Is the proposed solution worth the cost? (Knapp 303)

21. What are three benefits of having a clearly stated objective when designing and making presentations?

a clearly stated objective will help you focus your thoughts and the thoughts of your audience. A clearly stated objective also enables you and your audience to measure the success of your presentation. In other words, a clearly stated objective enables you to set and manage your audience's expectations. (Knapp 289)

29. What does an Ishikawa diagram display?

cause and effect diagram may be called a fishbone diagram because it often resembles a fishbone. Pg.256

33. Define the term ROI.

costs and benefits of two or more potential solutions to determine an optimum solution. Return on investment (ROI) is a business calculation that measures the total financial benefit derived from an investment—such as a new technology project—and then compares it with the total cost of the project. (Knapp 270)

28. Brainstorming involves identifying only the best ideas. True or False? Explain your answer.

false is a technique performed by a group of people that is designed to generate a large number of ideas for solving a problem.

8. The key to whether a solution is worth the cost lies in _______________.

in the goals of the organization. (Knapp 303)

29. What are two of the project manager's most important responsibilities?

is the person who leads the project team and is assigned the authority and responsibility for overseeing the project and meeting the project's objectives. (Knapp 298) One of the project manager's most important responsibilities is developing and maintaining a project plan (Knapp 299)