Chapter 4 of 7 · PeopleCert ITIL 5 Foundation
The ITIL Value System
Guiding principles, governance, value chain terms, practices and continual improvement.
- 5topics
- 16 minfast track
- 3diagrams and exhibits
- 40%of the exam
Topics in this chapter
Take them in order, or jump to the one you need.
- 1The ITIL Value System and GovernanceThe five components of the ITIL Value System, its purpose of turning opportunity and demand into value, and governance with…Diagram3 min
- 2The Seven ITIL Guiding PrinciplesThe seven ITIL guiding principles, from focus on value to optimize and automate, how each is used, and how the principles…3 min
- 3Value Chain Terms and DefinitionsITIL 5 value chain terms: incident, event, service request, problem, known error, release, CI/CD, reliability, SRE, observability…Diagram4 min
- 4Management Practices, Practice Guides and MetricsITIL management practices, the general and product and service management practice groups, the ITIL Practice Guides, metrics…3 min
- 5The ITIL Continual Improvement ModelThe seven steps of the ITIL Continual Improvement Model, from the vision to keeping the momentum going, and its role in the ITIL…Diagram3 min
About this chapter
What this chapter covers
The ITIL Value System is the largest category of the ITIL Foundation (Version 5) exam: 40 percent, about 16 of the 40 questions. The value system shows how all the parts of ITIL work together to turn opportunity and demand into value.
It has five components: the guiding principles, governance, the value chain, management practices and continual improvement. The syllabus also asks you to define many value chain terms, such as incident, event, problem, known error, release, continuous integration and observability, and to know the steps of the continual improvement model.
How the topics fit together
The guiding principles and governance direct how work is done. The value chain is the set of linked activities that does the work, drawing on management practices for resources. Continual improvement runs across everything, so the system keeps getting better.
This chapter carries 16 marks. The seven guiding principles and the value chain terms alone account for much of it, so learn each principle's key idea and each definition closely.
How to use these pages
Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.
- What it is: the idea in plain words.
- How it works: the mechanism, with tables and examples.
- What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorise and how questions are phrased.
- Common mistakes: the classic traps.
- Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.
Ready for more practice?
The full PeopleCert ITIL 5 Foundation question bank has 527 questions, with timed practice exams and an explanation for every answer.
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