ITIL® 4 SpecialistAcquiring & Managing CloudServices Candidate Syllabus
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November2021

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ITIL 4 Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services Candidate Syllabus

Contents1Introduction

32

Exam Overview

43Question Types

54Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services Syllabus

6Copyright © AXELOS Limited 2021.
AXELOS®, the AXELOS logo®, the AXELOS swirl logo® and ITIL® are all registered trade marks of AXELOS Limited.
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ITIL 4 Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services Candidate Syllabus

Introduction
The ITIL 4 Acquiring and Managing Cloud Services qualification is intended to provide candidates withbest practice guidance on how to use the capabilities offered by the cloud to identify and pursue
opportunities, manage risks, and achieve their desired business outcomes. It is also intended to provide
the candidate with the practical skills and knowledge necessary to create, align and integrate key
concepts of the ITIL framework to the cloud consumer journey.
The ITIL 4 Acquiring and Managing Cloud Services examination is intended to assess whether thecandidate can demonstrate sufficient understanding and application of the concepts covered in the ITIL
4 Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services publication to align and integrate key elements of the ITIL
framework such as the Guiding Principles and the Service Value Chain with a ‘cloud services userjourney’.

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ITIL 4 Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services Candidate Syllabus

Exam Overview
MaterialNone

allowedThis is a ‘closed book’ exam. The ITIL 4: Acquiring and Managing Cloud
Services publication should be used for study, but is NOT permitted to beused in the exam.

Exam duration

90 minutes

Candidates taking the exam in a language that is not their native or working
language may be awarded 25% extra time, i.e. 113 minutes in total.

Number of40 marks

There are 40 questions, each worth 1 mark. There is no negative marking.

marks
Provisional Pass 26 marksYou will need to get 26 questions correct (65%) to pass the exam.

mark
Level ofBloom’s levels 2“Bloom’s level” describes the type of thinking needed to answer thethinking&3question. For Bloom’s 2 questions, you need to show understanding of theconcepts, methods and principles of the Acquiring and Managing Cloud
Services module. For Bloom’s 3 questions, you need to demonstrateapplication of these concepts, methods and principles of the Acquiring andManaging Cloud Services module.

Question types

Standard classic, The questions are all ‘multiple choice’.
Negative, & ListFor the ‘standard classic’ questions, you have a question and four answeroptions.
‘Negative’ questions are ‘standard’ questions in which the stem isnegatively worded.
For the ‘list’ questions, there is a list of four statements and you have toselect two correct statements from the list.

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AXELOS®, the AXELOS logo®, the AXELOS swirl logo® and ITIL® are all registered trade marks of AXELOS Limited.
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ITIL 4 Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services Candidate Syllabus

Question Types
Example ‘standard’ OTQ:

Example ‘negative standard’ OTQ:

Which is a source of best practice?

Which is NOT a defined area of value?

a) Qb) Pa) Qc) Rb) Pd) Sc) Rd) S
NOTE: Negative questions are only used as an
exception, where part of the learning outcome is toknow that something is not done or should not occur.

Example ‘list’ OTQ:
Which TWO statements about service asset andconfiguration management are CORRECT?

Please see the sample paper for an example of theexam format and content.

1. It does Q
2. It does P
3. It does R
4. It does Sa) 1 and 2b) 2 and 3c) 3 and 4d) 1 and 4
NOTE: Two of the list items are correct. List stylequestions are never negative.

Copyright © AXELOS Limited 2021.
AXELOS®, the AXELOS logo®, the AXELOS swirl logo® and ITIL® are all registered trade marks of AXELOS Limited.
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ITIL 4 Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services Candidate Syllabus

Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services Syllabus
The table below specifies the learning outcomes of the Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services qualification,and the assessment criteria used to assess a candidate’s achievement of these learning outcomes,
subsequent to a course of study.
Note: Principal book references are in parentheses. These refer to the section, but not the subsections
within it. All tables that fall within the references of a particular assessment criterion/sub-criterion
should be considered as within scope. Figures will be explicitly referenced.
The verb for each assessment criterion indicates the Bloom’s level (BL): ‘Describe’/‘Explain’, indicates
Level 2 understanding/comprehension, and ‘Know how to’/‘Apply’/‘Identify’/‘Carry Out’ indicates Level 3
application.

Learning Outcome

Assessment Criteria

Bloom’sMarksLevel
1. Understand the roleof cloud services in anorganization

1.1 Describe the characteristics of the cloud (1.1)

2

1

1.2 Describe the approaches to cloud adoption (2.3.2 2.3.2.3):

2

12

2

2.1 Describe the structure and content of a business casefor cloud (4.7.2)2

1

2.2 Know how to define organization’s requirements forcloud solutions (3.4 – 3.4.2.2, 3.4.4 – 3.4.4.6, 4.3)33

2.3 Carry out an organizational readiness assessment forcloud adoption (3.6 - 3.6.1.5)

32

2.4 Know how to communicate a cloud business case
(4.7.3)32a) One-off piecemeal (2.3.2.1)b) Evolutionary (2.3.2.2)c) Big bang (2.3.2.3)
1.3 Describe the key cloud deployment models and cloudservice models (1.3 - 1.3.4)
a) Public (1.3.4)b) Private (1.3.4)c) Hybrid (1.3.4)d) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) (1.3.2)e) Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) (1.3.2)
f)
2. Know how to define
an organization’s
requirements foradopting, and readinessto adopt, cloud
solutions

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) (1.3.2)

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7ITIL 4 Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services Candidate Syllabus

Learning Outcome

Assessment Criteria

Bloom’sMarksLevel
3. Know how to identify
the types of cloudservices andunderstand theirapplicability to anorganization's context

4. Understand how
cloud services are
selected and procuredin the 'offer' step of thecustomer journey

3.1 Describe the types of cloud service providers (3.2.1):

21

3.2 Describe the key elements of a cloud strategy for aservice consumer (Chapter 2 Table 2.10 Cloud strategy
key elements and descriptions only)21

3.3 Describe how cloud solutions affect theorganization’s services and agreements with customers(3.4.2 - 3.4.2.2)

2

1

3.4 Identify the available services that are relevant to
the organization’s context (3.7.5, 3.2.1)

32

4.1 Describe the costs of using cloud services (2.5.2 2.5.2.5)

21

4.2 Describe the benefits and opportunities created bycloud services (1.4 – 1.4.1)

2

1

4.3 Describe the key risks and disbenefits of using cloudservices (2.5.3 – 2.5.3.8):

2

1

4.4 Describe security and compliance considerations ofusing cloud services (6.3 - 6.3.6)

2

1

4.5 Describe the inputs and outputs of a return on
investment (ROI) for cloud (4.6.1 - 4.6.1.5)

21a) Cloud service aggregatesb) Cloud service model specialista) Shifts in roles and responsibilities (2.5.3.1)b) Unauthorized procurement of cloud services(2.5.3.2)c) Security of cloud services (2.5.3.3)

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AXELOS®, the AXELOS logo®, the AXELOS swirl logo® and ITIL® are all registered trade marks of AXELOS Limited.
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8ITIL 4 Acquiring & Managing Cloud Services Candidate Syllabus
Learning Outcome

Assessment Criteria

Bloom’sMarks

Level
5. Know how toonboard and offboard
cloud services

5.1 Describe the key approaches for migrating to or fromthe cloud (6.2.1 - 6.2.3)

22

5.2 Know how to select an appropriate approach for
migrating to or from the cloud (6.2.1, 6.2.2 – 6.2.2.1)

32

5.3 Carry out the activities of onboarding/offboarding
cloud services (6.1 - 6.1.6):

3

3

5.4 Know how to modify an operating model to support
migration to cloud services (7.2 – 7.2.2)

31

6.1 Describe the shared responsibility model (5.5 - 5.5.3)

2

1

6.2 Explain how to measure quality of consumed cloudservices (7.6, 7.7)

2

1

6.3 Describe the tools, techniques, methods, andcontrols used to manage the use of cloud services (7.5 7.5.2)

2

1

6.4 Apply appropriate tools, techniques, methods, andcontrols to manage the use of cloud services in context(7.5 - 7.5.2)

32

7.1 Explain adjustments for a cloud strategy to respond
to VUCA challenges (8.3 - 8.3.2)

22

7.2 Apply the continual improvement model to anorganization’s cloud strategy (8.4 - 8.4.7)33a) Moving from in-house to cloud solutions (6.2.1)b) Migrating from one cloud service provider toanother (6.2.2 – 6.2.2.1)c) Migrating away from the cloud (6.2.3)

a) Planning for onboarding (6.1.1, 6.1.7)b) Involving users in the onboarding plan (6.1.2)c) Establishing communications channels (6.1.3)d) Preparing users for the new service (6.1.4)e) Elevating mutual capabilities (6.1, 6.1.5)
f)

6. Know how to manage
the use of cloudservices

7. Know how toevaluate and improve acloud strategy

Offboarding customers and users (6.1.6)

Copyright © AXELOS Limited 2021.
AXELOS®, the AXELOS logo®, the AXELOS swirl logo® and ITIL® are all registered trade marks of AXELOS Limited.
Reproduction of this material requires the permission of AXELOS Limited.
All rights reserved.
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