ITIL General Practice 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An ITIL practitioner is reviewing a process that has grown increasingly complex over time with many exception paths. Which guiding principle should they apply first?
- Keep it simple and practical (Correct answer)
- Optimize and automate
- Progress iteratively with feedback
- Start where you are
Correct answer: Keep it simple and practical
'Keep it simple and practical' directs practitioners to eliminate unnecessary complexity and focus on what adds value.
Question 2: Which ITIL practice is accountable for ensuring that changes are assessed for risk and authorized before implementation?
- Change enablement (Correct answer)
- Release management
- Deployment management
- Service configuration management
Correct answer: Change enablement
Change enablement manages the risk of changes by ensuring they are properly assessed and authorized before deployment.
Question 3: A service desk team notices that the same types of incidents keep recurring. They escalate to problem management. What is problem management's PRIMARY goal in this scenario?
- Identify and eliminate root causes to prevent recurrence (Correct answer)
- Restore service as quickly as possible
- Authorize an emergency change to fix the issue
- Update the service catalogue with the affected service
Correct answer: Identify and eliminate root causes to prevent recurrence
Problem management focuses on identifying root causes and implementing permanent fixes to prevent recurring incidents.
Question 4: Which component of the ITIL service value system provides direction on how the organization should function?
- Governance (Correct answer)
- Guiding principles
- Practices
- Value chain activities
Correct answer: Governance
Governance directs and controls the organization, ensuring all activities align with strategy and stakeholder expectations.
Question 5: What is the role of 'continual improvement' in ITIL 4?
- To align practices and services with changing business needs through ongoing improvement (Correct answer)
- To resolve major incidents more efficiently
- To automate all manual service processes over time
- To negotiate better terms with external suppliers
Correct answer: To align practices and services with changing business needs through ongoing improvement
Continual improvement is a recurring activity embedded throughout the SVS to keep services and practices aligned with evolving needs.
Question 6: A technician fixes an incident quickly but does not record the resolution steps. Which principle is being violated?
- Collaborate and promote visibility (Correct answer)
- Start where you are
- Think and work holistically
- Focus on value
Correct answer: Collaborate and promote visibility
'Collaborate and promote visibility' requires that information be shared transparently so others can benefit from it.
Question 7: Which of the following is an example of an 'outcome' rather than an 'output' in ITIL 4?
- Customers can close deals faster because the CRM service is always available (Correct answer)
- 100 incident tickets resolved in a week
- A new software patch deployed to all endpoints
- An SLA document signed by both parties
Correct answer: Customers can close deals faster because the CRM service is always available
An outcome is the result that matters to the stakeholder — in this case, faster deal closure — not just the deliverable or metric.
ITIL General Practice 5
An ITIL practitioner is reviewing a process that has grown increasingly complex over time with many exception paths.
Which guiding principle should they apply first?