Blog posted by: Cesar Monteiro - CEO, IT Partners, Brazil, 11 January 2024.
Based in São Paulo, Brazil, Cesar Monteiro is CEO of IT Partners, a specialist consultancy and training partner to the IT industry.
Cesar's experience of working in the IT industry spans 30 years and it was during his early days of consulting with EY, that ITIL became such a fundamental part of his career - ultimately becoming an ITIL Master this year
Charged with helping to set up a Brazilian telecom provider from scratch, Cesar worked closely with HP, advocates of ITIL. He was surprised to learn that there was a collection of books dedicated to IT service management and keeping projects on track. It sparked his curiosity for learning and when he branched out to become a consultant, things took a new direction.
“In 2006, I introduced the principles of ITIL to a client and every week a colleague and I would teach a chapter to the team. It transformed their approach, as people had visibility and clarity and were in a better position to deliver the right outcomes,” Cesar explained.
“We realized, when we reached the end of the weekly training, that we had a complete course on our hands. So, we created a training proposition and have gone from strength to strength, recently running our 75th ITIL 4 Foundation class.”
Though sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm for service management is the day job, it hasn't stopped Cesar from continuing his own learning journey. Recently he became one of the first people in the world to deliver the ITIL 4 Practice Manager courses, a new set of courses that enhances some of the most practical resources of the framework. It's based on the practice guides and is enriched with guidance on the capability model based on the ITIL 4 maturity model.
Cesar has become such a passionate advocate for ITIL 4 that he now trains the trainers and approached PeopleCert with an idea to deliver free monthly webinars. His intention was to help people understand that while Foundation courses are excellent grounding, they might not be enough for career development.
In the seminars, Cesar talks to ITIL authors about the challenges companies are facing and how ITIL would apply. Most of all it lifts the lid on what it takes to be a professional who has value at the heart of their approach.
“What I especially like about ITIL is that you are always thinking about value. That's powerful in times of innovation and change when outcomes are important, and the value delivered matters.
“Though the seminars might look at how things can go wrong, and how to avoid it, the sessions provide practitioners with positivity and hope. They know that the way projects are organized and governed leads to quality outcomes and with ITIL 4 they can learn a depth of understanding that ensures value is always delivered.”
Underlining his point Cesar adds: “There are so many methods that can be applied today but you must select the right one. Agile is great for pace, but there are many times when it's not enough. That's because you need to look beyond the present and consider how things will change in the future.”
“ITIL 4 gives you that broader perspective on operational impact in the short- and long-term, and the collection of ideas that can help you overcome, plan and manage the challenges ahead.”
Proudly wearing a specially-designed ITIL 4 Master pin badge, Cesar makes no excuses for his enthusiasm for ITIL 4 mastery: “I created the pin badge (to be distributed free of charge to anyone in Brazil who has an ITIL Certificate) to bring people together and show that expertise and experience in ITIL matters and that it's always worth moving to the next level. It's a visible way of showing how a community can thrive and progress.
“In my opinion, too many people are ready to stop at the Foundation level in their learning. They acquire the basics and head off into the workplace ready to deliver value. It's a brilliant place to start but, when everything is changing so quickly, they need more.
“I think the ITIL 4 Master certification adds a new dimension to learning and expertise. Best of all it delivers new perspective and depth to service management. It really can change your career; after all, it changed mine and it's why I would encourage all ITIL professionals to go for it. You never know where it could lead.”