The ITIL 3 Lifecycle is an intermediate level as the ITIL Capability for ITIL V3 so if you are coursing the ITIL 4, this path is not the good one. It is made up of 5 modules:

• ITIL Service Strategy - ITILSS
• ITIL Service Design - ITILSD
• ITIL Service Transition - ITILST
• ITIL Service Operation – ITILSO
• ITIL Continual Service Improvement - ITILCSI

Each one of them gives you 3 points when you get certified. In total, if you complete the full set, you get 15 points + 2 points from ITIL Foundation Certification = 17 points, enough to let you do the ITIL 4 Managing Professional Transition Module to get the ITIL 4 Managing Professional Certification, it is the equivalent of the ITIL V3 Expert.

To be eligible, you need to have first your ITIL Foundation Certification and to be accredited to a certified training center meaning that you can’t study by yourself. Of course, you don’t have to pass all the modules to get your 15 missing points, you can mix ITIL Lifecycle modules with ITIL Capability modules.

For instance, you can take the ITIL Service Operation (3 points) + ITIL Release, Control and Validation (4 points) + ITIL Service Offerings and Agreements (4 points) + ITIL Operational Support and Analysis (4 points) = 15 points.

So what is the difference between ITIL Lifecycle and ITIL Capability ? In one word, I will say that Lifecycle is “theorical” and Capability is “practical”:

• Lifecycle is more focused on strategy about stage and process relationships, roles, responsibilities and implementation. It is more for people who want to know and to understand ITIL in his organization.
• Capability is more focused on executing and improving existing related processes, particularly in inputs, metrics, concepts, activities and outputs. It is more for people who want to improve ITIL in his daily work.

The certification price for each module is around 274 euros + the cost of a certified training center. Normally, most of centers include in their price the certification so you only pay a full package (course + certification).

In my case, ITIL is my daily function so I decided to do the ITIL Capability. Conditions and price are the same except:

• Each module of ITIL Capability gives 4 points (there are only 4 so 16 points in total)
• The exam is different. Lifecycle is based only in 1 stage/process and Capability is based on different stages/processes.

If you opt for the ITIL Lifecycle, you can download some free exam samples at the Axelos website. If you opt like me for the other one, read my topic ITIL Service Capability Certification.

The ITIL Service Lifecycle is only available for the ITIL V3 so if you are coursing for the ITIL 4, this certification path doesn’t exist, so why get certified ? For that, check my other topic ITIL 4, the new ITIL for 2019.