ITIL4F ITIL Guiding Principles Practice Question
The IT department is implementing a new cloud service. They involve representatives from finance, legal, and operations in the planning meetings. Which guiding principle is being applied?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse 'Collaborate and promote visibility' with 'Focus on value' because involving multiple stakeholders seems value-driven, but the key distinction is that collaboration and visibility are about the process of working together transparently, not about the outcome of delivering value.
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
✓
Collaborate and promote visibility
Involving representatives from finance, legal, and operations in planning meetings directly applies the 'Collaborate and promote visibility' guiding principle. This principle emphasizes that cross-functional collaboration and transparent communication are essential for successful service management, especially when implementing a new cloud service that impacts multiple stakeholders. By including these diverse teams early, the IT department ensures that requirements, risks, and constraints are visible to all parties, reducing silos and enabling informed decision-making.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Focus on value
Why it's wrong here
The "Focus on value" principle emphasizes ensuring all activities contribute to the creation of value for stakeholders. While involving multiple departments in a new cloud service implementation ultimately aims to deliver better value, the *specific action* of engaging various teams directly aligns with how work is performed and shared, rather than the ultimate outcome of value realization. The question describes an action of *how* the work is done, not *what* value is being created.
- ✗
Progress iteratively with feedback
Why it's wrong here
The "Progress iteratively with feedback" principle advocates for breaking down work into smaller, manageable iterations, with feedback incorporated at each stage to ensure continuous improvement and adaptation. The scenario, however, describes the initial involvement of multiple departments to break down silos, which is a foundational step for effective teamwork and shared understanding, not directly about the phased delivery or feedback cycles of the service itself.
- ✗
Keep it simple and practical
Why it's wrong here
The "Keep it simple and practical" principle encourages identifying and eliminating anything that does not produce value, streamlining processes, and using the minimum necessary steps to achieve an outcome. While efficiency is always desirable, the act of involving multiple departments, even if it initially seems to add coordination overhead, is a strategic decision to ensure comprehensive input and shared understanding, rather than a direct application of simplifying the service or its implementation steps.
- ✓
Collaborate and promote visibility
Why this is correct
The "Collaborate and promote visibility" principle directly advocates for working together across organizational boundaries and ensuring that information is shared openly and transparently. By involving multiple departments in the implementation of a new cloud service, the IT department is actively breaking down silos, fostering shared ownership, and ensuring that all relevant stakeholders have insight into the project's progress and potential impacts, thereby promoting both collaboration and visibility. This ensures a more holistic and successful outcome.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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