ITIL V3 FortFantastic

GSG IT is pleased to partner with St. Edwards Professional Education Center and offer a theme-park based interactive simulation that enables IT and business professionals learn about ITIL in a team environment. Originally developed by Prof. Dr. Roland Boettcher at Bochum University of Applied Sciences (Germany) in German, GSG IT has worked with Dr. Boettcher to develop an English-version and bring this exciting game to the US! Dr. Boettcher has a PhD in Management from the University of Dortmund (Germany), has published a book on ITIL V3 and currently teaches courses in Strategic Management and IT Governance. GSG IT offers training and consulting expertise in IT Service Management, IT Infrastructure Management and Governance. St. Edwards Professional Education Center is a leader in providing training solutions to executives and professionals in central Austin.

Background for the Game

The business benefits of IT Service Management (ITSM) and ITIL best practice are well known. ITSM and ITIL help to align IT and business goals, design and deploy IT services that support those goals, and enhance the efficiency of day-to-day operations to deliver high-quality services.
Based on the latest research findings in experiential learning, FortFantastic is a unique approach for creating practical understanding of the current challenges of ITSM. The simulation facilitates real world interaction between IT and the business, both from a strategic and operational perspective. The scenarios offered by FortFantastic cover best practices for IT processes as defined by ITIL v3.

Details of the Game

FortFantastic is modeled as a popular theme park in the heart of the United States. Established in 1994, it attracts more than a million visitors every year. The park is operating in summer months from April to September, 7 days a week, and is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Participants are asked take on the management tasks at the theme park are offered 4 roles:

¢Park Manager: This executive position is responsible for staffing, efficient outputs and quality of service delivered through effective processes and inter-organizational exchanges.

¢Operating Business Management: Separated into three divisions, the operating business management has responsibility for profit and loss. During the course of the game, a number of critical decisions and operational options have to be made with due consideration to their financial impact. Participants adopting this role need to have their financial figures under control and need to be able to answer questions such as:

o Which attractions generate profits?
o Where are we losing money?
o Is the team following the right priorities?
o What are the mission-critical, proactive steps that can affect quality and availability?

¢Command Room: As a member of the command room team, this responsibility focuses on monitoring the availability of the attractions. If an incident or interruption occurs, command room personnel have to decide on appropriate steps. The command room is the Communication Center that receives and disseminates crucial information.

¢Technical Support: The goal of this role is to restore normal service operation as quickly as possible. The participants must possess a great deal of general knowledge to discover the restore code required to resolve the incident.

Depending on the knowledge base of the participants, the simulation structure develops the learning progress and fosters continual improvement over 4 to 5 rounds. The game can be played in either single-team or double-team mode. In the double team mode, two groups compete against each other by playing/acting in parallel under identical conditions. The competitive environment releases dynamic pressures and allows for a comparison of the different methods used by the two teams for overcoming challenges. A detailed review by the instructor demonstrates the value of benchmarking and best practices. Participants gain an understanding of the crucial factors determining quality service management.

Training highlights

¢Simulate the management of a theme park in a team environment
¢ Explore the interaction of business and IT
¢ Assume various business or operational roles that are based on the latest techniques in “experiential learning”
¢ Obtain an introduction to individual ITIL disciplines
¢ Discover the real benefits of an ITIL-compatible process model
¢ Derive greater efficiency and effectiveness from your IT department
Target Group
¢ IT managers, executives as well as all employees in the IT service management area and IT customers.

You can experience FortFantiastic in the next ITIL V3 Foundations course at St. Edwards Professsional Education Center on March 17. Please check the Door 64 Calendar for details.