How to pass the ITIL Foundations Exam V3

Someone once said: "what we think we know but really don´t know hurts us more than that which we don´t know". My experience in the IT field makes me agree with the previous sentence, especially if you take into account the fact the rate at which many software implementation projects fail. This is why I finally decided to bite the bullet and study seriously to take the Information Technology Infraestructure Library (ITIL) Foundations Exam. I had no previous real working knowledge of ITIL when I started. Preparation I attended a three day seminar which was O.K as a general overview but wan´t near as much preparation as really required to take the exam feeling prepared. So after the course I began my own self study and started reading the source. In fact the only book I read was the Official Introduction to the ITIL Service Lifecyle which in my opinion is really dense reading so you should take your time reading it, but if you are serious on the subject you should read all the different books that make up the complete ITIL lifecycle. So you read the material from the source: now what? Well, now it´s time to take some mock exams and see how good you score. Just to save you some of the hussle I´ve bookmarked a couple of ITIL mock exams and tutorials which I highly recommend. And best of all: they´re free! According to my agenda I spent roughly about 80 hours studying (reading and taking mock exams) plus the 3 day seminar in a course of three months. The actual exam In order to sit for the exam you must make a two week in advance reservation, but schedule and availability may vary. As you may already have imagined you have to pay ion advance the USD $150 in advance and there is no refund should you actually fail to pass. You have one hour in which to answer 40 questions in a computer base exam and the passing grade is above 70%. Tips
Take as many mock exams as you possibly can.
Since most of your real learning will come from the things you don´t know, pay special attention to the questions you answer wrong.
They say an image is worth a thousand words. Here is an ITIL theme wallpaper which I think it´s cool and also makes a great quick reference guide. Thanks to the people at Pultorak!
One of the most important process you should pay attention to is the Service Configuration Management, specially the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and the processes that interact with it.
Speaking of which I found a promising Open Source CMDB: OneCMDB. Check it out!Is it worth it? In my personal experience in IT projects there are plenty of things that people readily talk about and really don´t know, let alone studied. You definetely shouldn´t do it for the sake of certification alone, but rather to learn from the experience of others. After all, isn´t that what some people call wisdom? At the time I studied for the exam I was part of a group of consultants in charge of recommending improvements to a large nation wide IT project gone sour, and the knowledge I harnessed (you know, things you thought you knew but really didn´t) gave us a yardstick with which to measure the project and it´s current status. When we explained our findings to the project stakeholders from an ITIL perspective it was like as if they had discovered warm water, because they heard from ITIL, but didn´t really know about it, it was surprising for them to see some aparently obvious things like the importance of CMDB of a Change Committee Board (CCB) missing. Bottom line: If you are a seasoned professional you should know (right?) most of the stuff that makes up the service lifecycle so you are just giving it formal names. If you are a newcomer to the field, it would be a great oportunity to learn the trade of the trenches and learn how the pros do it! That said, good luck with the exam and happy studying!