DURATION – 16 Hours

“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

W. Edwards Deming

Overview

This course provides guidance into the process Owner responsibilities so they can describe what they are doing as a process and provides the education needed to oversee the design, re-engineering and improvement of IT Service Management (ITSM) processes; particularly in the context of Agile Service Management. Participants learn how to apply Scrum practices to Process Owner responsibilities and use Agile and Lean principles and practices to put in place ‘just enough’ process and how to continually align process performance with overall business goals.

A process owner is an individual accountable for the performance of a process and for ensuring the process delivers value to its stakeholders. Process owners manage the requirements of process stakeholders, translate those requirements into process performance objectives, and oversee the entire process design and improvement lifecycle.

This certification positions learners to successfully complete the Certified Agile Process Owner exam.

Course Objectives

The learning objectives for CAPO include an understanding of:

  • Basic Agile and Agile Service Management concepts
  • Process owner role and responsibilities
  • Managing and prioritizing a process backlog
  • Creating and utilizing user stories
  • Collaborating with process stakeholders and other process owners
  • Overseeing Agile process design and improvement activities
  • Managing organizational change activities
  • Monitoring and measuring process performance
  • Conducting process reviews and identifying improvements

Audience

The target audience for the CAPO course is:

  • Process owners
  • Process managers
  • Employees and managers responsible for designing, re-engineering or improving processes
  • Consultants guiding their clients through process improvement initiatives
  • Anyone responsible for:
    • Managing process-related requirements
    • Ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of processes
    • Maximizing the value of processes

Learner Materials

  • Sixteen (16) hours of instructor-led training and exercise facilitation
  • The Agile Service Management Guide and Scrum Guide (pre-class resources)
  • Digital Learner Manual (excellent post-class reference)
  • Participation in unique hands-on exercises designed to apply concepts
  • Sample documents, templates, tools and techniques
  • Access to additional sources of information and communities

Prerequisites

  • Completion of pre-class assignment
  • Familiarity with Scrum, IT and IT services

Certification Exam

Successfully passing (65%) the 60-minute exam, consisting of 40 multiple-choice questions, leads to the candidate’s designation as a Certified Agile Process Owner. The certification is governed and maintained by the DevOps Institute.

Course Outline

Course Introduction

  • Importance of processes, Agility and the role of the Process Owner

Process Design Basics

  • The Elements of a Process
  • Process Owner Responsibilities
    • Process sponsorship
    • Process resourcing
    • Process design and improvement
    • Process management
    • Process awareness

Process Owner Knowledge, Skills, and Attributes

Selecting a Process Owner

Related Roles

  • Process Manager
  • Global Process Owner
  • Value Stream Owner
  • Roles of a Service Management Office (SMO)

The Characteristics of an Agile Process

Agile Basics

  • What is Agile?
  • The Agile Manifesto
  • Why Agile Projects are Successful

Scrum Basics

  • Scrum Roles, Artifacts, and Events
  • Scrum Pillars
  • Scrum in a Nutshell
  • Scrum, Kanban, or Both?

Agile Service Management Basics

  • Agile Service Management Value
  • Agile Service Management Roles, Artifacts and Events
  • Characteristics of an Agile Process Two Aspects of Agile Service Management
    • Agile Process Design
    • Agile Process Improvement

Agile Process Design

  • Creating and Populating a Process Backlog
    • Personas
    • User Stories
    • Themes
    • Epics
  • User Story Mapping
  • Ordering and Maintaining the Process Backlog
  • Process Design Sprints
  • The Process Owner and Sprint Events
  • Process Implementation
    • Potentially Releasable Process Increment
    • Definition of ‘Done’
    • Release Planning

Agile Process Improvement

  • Aligning Processes with Strategic Goals
  • CSI Sprints and Plan-Do-Check-Act
  • Sustaining Improvements
  • Assessing Process Maturity
  • Implementing Process Improvements
    • Working with Line Managers
    • Overcoming Resistance to Change

Measuring Value

  • Demonstrating Value
  • Leading and Lagging Performance Indicators
  • Critical Success Factors and Key Performance Indicators
  • Service Level Agreements and Operational Level Agreements
  • Conducting Measurement Reviews
  • Communicating Performance

Process Improvement Tools and Technologies

Getting Started

Challenges and Critical Success Factors

Additional Sources of Information

Exam Preparations

  • Exam Requirements, Question Weighting, and Terminology List
  • Sample Exam Review