ITIL4-DPI Direct, Plan and Improve Practice Question
A global logistics company is mid-way through a major digital transformation. The CIO wants to accelerate delivery but is concerned about unmanaged risk. The governance board has approved a policy that allows product teams to release changes to internal-facing services daily without a change advisory board review, provided the teams maintain automated test coverage above 85% and can roll back within 10 minutes. Which DPI concept does this policy most directly illustrate?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that any policy involving risk automatically means a change advisory board is required, when in fact DPI encourages delegating authority with guardrails to balance speed and control.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Balancing the competing demands of speed and control by delegating decision authority with defined guardrails
The policy delegates release authority to product teams while setting explicit, measurable guardrails, which is a governance decision that balances speed and control. It reflects the DPI approach of moving decision-making closer to the work while maintaining oversight through automated checks and rollback capabilities, rather than through centralized approvals.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Establishing a continual improvement register to track deviations from the release policy
Why it's wrong here
A continual improvement register is used to log and manage improvement opportunities, but the scenario does not mention tracking deviations or improvement initiatives. The policy is about enabling faster delivery with guardrails, not about recording exceptions or improvement actions.
- ✗
Applying the 'focus on value' principle by prioritizing the customer experience above all operational constraints
Why it's wrong here
Focus on value is about understanding what the customer truly values, but this policy is primarily about governance and risk management, not about identifying or prioritizing customer value. The policy does not describe how value is defined or measured for customers; it describes how control is exercised over releases.
- ✗
Using a change advisory board to review all changes before deployment to ensure compliance
Why it's wrong here
The policy explicitly removes the change advisory board review for internal-facing services under certain conditions. A change advisory board is a traditional control mechanism, and the scenario describes moving away from that model for these services, so this option contradicts the policy described.
- ✓
Balancing the competing demands of speed and control by delegating decision authority with defined guardrails
Why this is correct
The policy grants teams autonomy to release frequently while imposing measurable guardrails (test coverage and rollback capability). This is a deliberate trade-off between the need for speed and the need for control, and it delegates decision authority to the teams closest to the work, which is a core DPI governance approach.
About these practice questions
One of 102 original ITIL4-DPI practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official PeopleCert/AXELOS exam blueprint
This ITIL4-DPI practice question is part of Courseiva's free PeopleCert/AXELOS certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ITIL4-DPI exam.