ITIL4-DPI Direct, Plan and Improve Practice Question
Exhibit
Policy ID: POL-2024-09 Directive: All cloud infrastructure must be provisioned via automated CI/CD pipelines. Constraint: Manual configuration is strictly prohibited for production environments. Audit Log: User 'Admin_01' performed manual configuration change on 'Cluster_A' at 14:00.
Refer to the exhibit. As a DPI strategist, what is the most appropriate next step regarding the identified policy violation?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates typically choose immediate disciplinary actions or enforce stricter manual rules, failing to investigate root causes or policy effectiveness first.
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
✓
Review the policy effectiveness and the CI/CD pipeline capability before deciding on further action.
The strategist must ensure that the organization learns from deviations, which involves investigating the root cause of the manual change. Simply punishing the user is insufficient; the organization must determine if the CI/CD pipeline was inadequate or if the policy was unclear. This approach aligns with the DPI principle of continuous improvement, ensuring that future directives are both enforceable and capable of meeting real-world operational demands.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Immediately terminate the employee who performed the manual change to enforce strict policy compliance.
Why it's wrong here
Immediate termination ignores the potential systemic issue that forced the employee to bypass the pipeline. Investigating the root cause is essential in DPI to determine if the automation tool failed or if the policy is impractical. Reactive punishment often hides underlying process failures that require systemic correction.
- ✓
Review the policy effectiveness and the CI/CD pipeline capability before deciding on further action.
Why this is correct
Evaluating whether the policy is fit for purpose is a core DPI activity. If the manual change was necessary to maintain service stability, the policy or the automation tool must be revised. This ensures that governance and management remain aligned with the organization's actual operational capabilities and needs.
- ✗
Update the policy to permit manual changes during peak hours to increase operational flexibility.
Why it's wrong here
Loosening restrictions without understanding why they were bypassed creates security and audit risks. The objective of DPI is to ensure governance is effective and supportive. Permitting manual changes without addressing the root cause of the failure risks further drift from the established control framework and operational standards.
- ✗
Ignore the violation as long as Cluster_A remains stable and fully operational for users.
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring policy violations undermines governance and exposes the organization to unnecessary risk. DPI requires that all deviations from standard procedures be analyzed and addressed to ensure consistent control. Failing to act sends a message that policy compliance is optional, which leads to long-term operational degradation and risk.
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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.