When previously studying for certifications, I would grab a book from the All-in-One series and read it cover-to-cover. That has worked well in the past, so I hoped to do the same in my preparation for the ITIL Foundation certificiation. I pre-ordered the All-in-One ITIL Foundation Exam Guide last August from Amazon but it is still not available and the release date keeps getting pushed back. That left me looking for other resources to prepare for this entry-level certification into the Information Technology Infrastructure Library.
ITIL was developed in the 1980s by the UK government and has since been updated multiple times. The 2011 edition is the latest version of the life cycle and corresponding material, it serves as an update to the v3 2007 edition. This is important to understand when looking for study resources to ensure you are learning the latest information. In 2013, ITIL came under the ownership of AXELOS, and as a result many previous URLs and resources are no longer available. The official site for ITIL is now on www.axelos.com. The exam can be taken following a training session, proctored online, or administered by the big Prometric/Pearson Vue computer-based testing companies.
My primary resource for studying ended up being a 4-hour video series on ITIL Foundations through a trial of Pluralsight. As the video moved quickly and covered lots of terms, the first thing I did was to find a glossary online. AXELOS provides a glossary in a variety of languages as a PDF from their site: www.axelos.com/glossaries-of-terms.aspx Another important resource to understand the scope of the ITIL material is the ITIL Foundation Syllabus, which provides an overview and organization to the material, along with other official publications.
There are many resources and visual representations of the ITIL process model that can make the information much easier to understand.
ISACA has a presentation that covers the changes in the ITIL 2011 edition.
IT Service has created mindmaps of the ITIL lifecycle phases. It is v3 but still helpful as long as you account for that.
A2A Institute of Management Training and Consulting Services, an Indian ITIL training provider, has a few visual representations of the ITIL material and syllabus, which I think provides a useful context to understand the relationship between phases.
Nissen ITSM has high quality posters of the ITIL v3-2011 Service Lifecycle Model and the ITIL Implementation scheme.
If you like the poster representation, a 11×17 poster of the ITIL architecture and process relationships map is available on Amazon.
This ITIL V3 Study Guide from BlueprintAudits.com serves as an excellent glossary and summary of the course materials.
ITSM.Zone has a clean visual of ITIL at a Glance and and ITIL Mind Maps available in exchange for a like, tweet, or +1.
Reviewing this material was enough to help me pass the ITIL Foundation exam. I took the exam online through PeopleCert and the online proctoring experience was pleasant and simple enough with a webcam and microphone.