A team has been asked to replace an ageing service desk tool. Before designing anything, the team inventories the existing tool's integrations, workflows and data, and finds that several components work well and can be carried forward. Which guiding principle is the team applying?
ITIL 4 Foundation, objective 2. The ITIL guiding principles medium
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The options
Not correct Keep it simple and practical
This principle is about using the minimum number of steps and eliminating anything that produces no value. Reusing existing components may happen to be simpler, but the behaviour described is an assessment of the current state, which is the signature of 'start where you are'.
Correct Start where you are
Correct. The principle says not to discard what already exists; assess the current state honestly and reuse whatever can already contribute to the desired outcome.
Not correct Optimize and automate
This principle is about making something as effective as possible before applying technology to it. Nothing here is being streamlined or automated; the team is surveying what already exists.
Not correct Think and work holistically
This principle is about recognizing that no element works in isolation and coordinating across the four dimensions. The team is looking backwards at current assets, not outwards at the whole system.
Why
'Start where you are' warns against tearing everything down and starting again. The recommended behaviour is to assess what is already in place, measure it directly, and reuse the parts that can help reach the target state. The team's inventory-and-reuse approach is exactly that.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- ITIL 4 syllabus clause 2
- What it says
- Start where you are: assess the current state and reuse what already exists rather than starting from scratch.
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a set from objective 2 and space the ones you get wrong.