I85PREP
⌘ K
Module 15 study materials
Module 15 study resources

Module 15 practice questions

One question at a time. Build your Module 15 understanding.

First 50 of 200 questions. Each one lists the choices, the correct answer, and an explanation. The checker at the top of this page saves progress in this browser when it is available.

Continue in the practice tool above to load more questions, 50 at a time.

Question 1Fundamentals and Core Concepts

In IT service management, which term describes the function that owns the day-to-day operation of infrastructure components and works to restore normal service as quickly as possible after an incident?

  1. IT operations management
  2. Technical management Correct answer.
  3. Service desk
  4. Application management

Explanation

Technical management is the function responsible for the specialist expertise that manages the infrastructure and technical components supporting services, including diagnosing and resolving technical incidents. It is distinguished from the service desk, which is the single user contact point, and from application management, which covers application-specific lifecycle work.

Question 2Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A service provider wants a structured way to describe how value is co-created rather than delivered one-way. Which core concept best reflects this view?

  1. Service value system Correct answer.
  2. Value stream
  3. Service value chain
  4. Utility and warranty

Explanation

The service value system describes how the components and activities of an organization work together to enable value creation in the form of services, and it emphasizes co-creation with consumers. The value chain is a set of activities inside that system, while a value stream is a sequence of steps for a specific scenario.

Question 3Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which statement correctly distinguishes an incident from a problem?

  1. An incident is the unknown cause of one or more problems.
  2. An incident is an unplanned interruption or reduction in quality of a service; a problem is the underlying cause of one or more incidents. Correct answer.
  3. A problem is an unplanned interruption to a service.
  4. An incident and a problem are the same thing viewed from different teams.

Explanation

An incident is an unplanned interruption to, or a reduction in the quality of, a service, and it is managed primarily by restoring service. A problem is the cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents, and problem management investigates root causes.

Question 4Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A service offers high availability but its support team cannot be reached and documentation is unusable. Which assessment is most accurate?

  1. The service has both utility and warranty.
  2. The service has warranty but lacks utility. Correct answer.
  3. The service has utility but lacks warranty.
  4. The service has neither utility nor warranty.

Explanation

Warranty is the assurance that a service meets agreed requirements for availability, capacity, continuity, and security, and the service does provide availability. Utility is the functionality offered by a service to meet a particular need, and unusable support and documentation indicate the service is not fit for purpose in that respect.

Question 5Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which activity in the service value chain is primarily concerned with ensuring that products and services continually meet stakeholder expectations?

  1. Design and transition
  2. Improve Correct answer.
  3. Obtain/build
  4. Engage

Explanation

The improve activity is used to ensure that products, services, and practices continually meet stakeholder expectations and to identify and implement improvements. Engage focuses on stakeholder interaction, while design and transition and obtain/build create and move components into live use.

Question 6Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A team is defining a value stream for handling a password reset request. Which element is the most appropriate starting point for mapping it?

  1. The set of practices the organization has adopted
  2. The organizational structure of the IT department
  3. The demand or trigger that initiates the request Correct answer.
  4. The number of staff assigned to the service desk

Explanation

Value streams are mapped from the trigger or demand that starts the sequence of activities and continue through to the value delivered to the consumer. Organizational structure, staffing levels, and adopted practices are context, not the entry point of a value stream.

Question 7Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which pair of dimensions is used to classify stakeholders in the stakeholder mapping approach common to service management?

  1. Cost and risk
  2. Utility and warranty
  3. Capacity and availability
  4. Power and interest Correct answer.

Explanation

Stakeholder mapping commonly positions stakeholders on axes of power and interest so that engagement effort can be tailored appropriately. Cost and risk, utility and warranty, and capacity and availability are service concepts unrelated to stakeholder classification.

Question 8Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which statement best captures the meaning of a configuration item?

  1. Any supplier contract held by the organization
  2. Any component that must be managed in order to deliver an IT service Correct answer.
  3. Any service level target agreed with a customer
  4. Any incident that affects more than one user

Explanation

A configuration item is any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT service, and it is recorded in the configuration management system with its attributes and relationships. Contracts and service level targets may be treated as configuration items, but that is not what the term generally defines.

Question 9Fundamentals and Core Concepts

An organization wants to ensure that changes are assessed for risk and authorized before deployment while standard, low-risk changes proceed quickly. Which practice primarily provides this?

  1. Problem management
  2. Service request management
  3. Release management
  4. Change enablement Correct answer.

Explanation

Change enablement maximizes the number of successful service and product changes by ensuring risks are properly assessed, authorizing changes to proceed, and managing the change schedule. It also supports predefined authorization for standard changes so low-risk work is not unnecessarily delayed.

Question 10Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which practice is responsible for ensuring that accurate and reliable information about the configuration of services and the configuration items that support them is available when and where it is needed?

  1. Asset management
  2. Monitoring and event management
  3. Deployment management
  4. Service configuration management Correct answer.

Explanation

Service configuration management ensures that accurate and reliable information about the configuration of services and the configuration items that support them is available when and where it is needed. Asset management is concerned with the financial and ownership view of assets rather than the relationships between configuration items.

Question 11Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A user reports that a printer is producing faded output. The service desk has a documented, pre-approved procedure that resolves this within minutes. How should this be handled?

  1. As a change, because the printer configuration must be altered
  2. As a normal change requiring change advisory board approval
  3. As a problem, because the cause must be investigated
  4. As a service request, because it follows a predefined procedure Correct answer.

Explanation

Service requests are user-initiated requests for something that is handled through a predefined, often standardized procedure, and routine fixes with documented steps fit that description. A change is required only when the work alters the configuration in a way that needs authorization, and problem management applies when the cause is unknown and recurring.

Question 12Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which practice seeks to reduce the likelihood and impact of incidents by identifying actual and potential causes of incidents?

  1. Continual improvement
  2. Problem management Correct answer.
  3. Incident management
  4. Service level management

Explanation

Problem management reduces the likelihood and impact of incidents by identifying actual and potential causes and by managing workarounds and known errors. Incident management restores service quickly but does not primarily pursue root causes.

Question 13Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A service level agreement states that a service will be available 99.9 percent of the time, while the internal team works to a target of 99.95 percent. Which statement is correct?

  1. Neither figure is a service level agreement because availability is a technical metric.
  2. Both figures are service level agreements because they concern the same service.
  3. The 99.95 percent figure is the service level agreement and the 99.9 percent figure is the operational level agreement.
  4. The 99.9 percent figure is the service level agreement and the 99.95 percent figure is an internal operational target. Correct answer.

Explanation

A service level agreement is the documented agreement between a service provider and a customer, so the customer-facing 99.9 percent commitment is the SLA. The stricter internal target supports achievement of the SLA and functions as an operational-level commitment among internal teams.

Question 14Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which concept describes the practice of designing services so that failures in one component do not cause the whole service to fail?

  1. Demand management
  2. Resilience Correct answer.
  3. Service validation
  4. Capacity planning

Explanation

Resilience is the ability of a service or component to withstand or recover from failures and continue to provide service, often achieved through redundancy and fault isolation. Capacity planning and demand management address performance and workload, while service validation confirms that a service meets requirements.

Question 15Fundamentals and Core Concepts

An organization measures the percentage of incidents resolved at first contact. Which type of measure is this?

  1. A capacity measure of resource utilization
  2. A warranty measure of service availability
  3. A lagging outcome measure of incident management performance Correct answer.
  4. A leading indicator of customer satisfaction

Explanation

First-contact resolution is an outcome measure that reflects how incident management has performed, and outcomes are lagging indicators because they are observed after the work is done. Leading indicators would predict future performance, while availability and utilization measure different attributes.

Question 16Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which statement best describes the purpose of the engage activity in the service value chain?

  1. To acquire and build service components to specification
  2. To ensure that services are designed to meet agreed requirements
  3. To provide a good understanding of stakeholder needs and continual engagement Correct answer.
  4. To move new and changed services into the live environment

Explanation

The engage activity provides a good understanding of stakeholder needs, transparency, and continual engagement and good relationships with all stakeholders. Designing to requirements, building components, and transitioning into live use belong to other value chain activities.

Question 17Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A service desk classifies a recurring network outage as a known error. What does this classification imply?

  1. The incident has been closed with no further action required
  2. The root cause has been identified and a workaround is documented Correct answer.
  3. The outage has been escalated to the change advisory board
  4. The service has breached its availability target

Explanation

A known error is a problem that has been analyzed and has a documented root cause and workaround, even if a permanent resolution has not yet been implemented. It does not by itself mean the incident is closed without action, nor does it imply a change board escalation or a target breach.

Question 18Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which practice ensures that services and service components are delivered to the agreed specification and that they meet defined requirements before release?

  1. Deployment management
  2. Service validation and testing Correct answer.
  3. Release management
  4. Service design

Explanation

Service validation and testing ensures that new or changed products and services meet defined requirements, including confirming that they are fit for purpose and fit for use before release. Release management schedules and controls the release, while deployment management moves components into the live environment.

Question 19Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A manager asks why the organization should adopt a continual improvement model rather than ad hoc fixes. Which justification is most consistent with service management principles?

  1. It guarantees that no incidents will occur after the first improvement cycle.
  2. It provides a structured, iterative approach that embeds improvement into normal work and measures outcomes. Correct answer.
  3. It replaces the need for service level agreements with internal targets.
  4. It removes the need for stakeholder engagement during improvement.

Explanation

A continual improvement model provides a structured and iterative way of working that embeds improvement into everyday activities and uses measurement to confirm outcomes. It does not eliminate incidents, replace agreements, or remove the need to engage stakeholders.

Question 20Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which of the following best describes the relationship between a product and a service?

  1. A service is a one-time transaction, while a product is ongoing.
  2. A product is a subset of a service that customers never see.
  3. A product is always tangible and a service is always intangible, with no overlap.
  4. A service is a means of enabling value co-creation, and products are configurations of resources designed to offer value to consumers. Correct answer.

Explanation

A service is a means of enabling value co-creation by facilitating outcomes that customers want to achieve without the customer managing specific costs and risks. Products are configurations of resources, including tangible and intangible elements, designed to offer value to consumers, and services are often built from products.

Question 21Fundamentals and Core Concepts

An organization records all laptops, servers, and network devices with their owners, locations, and relationships. Which practice is being performed?

  1. Continual improvement
  2. Supplier management
  3. Service configuration management Correct answer.
  4. Incident management

Explanation

Service configuration management maintains accurate information about configuration items and the relationships between them, which is exactly what recording devices with owners, locations, and relationships accomplishes. The other practices address suppliers, incident restoration, and improvement respectively.

Question 22Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A provider offers a service with excellent functionality but frequent outages that exceed agreed availability targets. Which conclusion follows from the utility and warranty model?

  1. The service is fit for use but not fit for purpose.
  2. The service is fit for purpose but not fit for use. Correct answer.
  3. The service is both fit for purpose and fit for use.
  4. The service is neither fit for purpose nor fit for use.

Explanation

Utility makes a service fit for purpose by providing the functionality needed, while warranty makes it fit for use by assuring availability, capacity, continuity, and security. Excellent functionality satisfies utility, but outages beyond agreed targets mean warranty is not met.

Question 23Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A change is assessed as high risk and affects multiple services. Which authorization approach is most appropriate under change enablement?

  1. Emergency change authorized after implementation
  2. Change deferred indefinitely until the next annual review
  3. Pre-authorized standard change handled by the requester
  4. Normal change reviewed and authorized by the appropriate change authority before deployment Correct answer.

Explanation

Change enablement assigns changes to types, and a high-risk change affecting multiple services should be handled as a normal change that is assessed and authorized by the appropriate change authority before deployment. Standard changes are pre-authorized low-risk work, and emergency changes are authorized as quickly as possible to resolve an incident, not after the fact by default.

Question 24Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A service provider measures customer satisfaction, incident resolution time, and cost per ticket. Which statement best evaluates these measures?

  1. Cost per ticket is leading while satisfaction and resolution time are lagging.
  2. All three are leading indicators because they are collected before incidents occur.
  3. All three are lagging indicators because they report results after the fact. Correct answer.
  4. Customer satisfaction is leading while resolution time and cost are lagging.

Explanation

Leading indicators predict future outcomes, whereas lagging indicators report what has already happened. Customer satisfaction, resolution time, and cost per ticket are all recorded after service delivery, so they are lagging indicators even though they inform future decisions.

Question 25Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which statement correctly describes how the four dimensions of service management interact?

  1. The dimensions are interdependent, and a constraint in one can affect the others. Correct answer.
  2. Value streams and processes replace the need to consider partners and suppliers.
  3. Organizations and people is the only dimension that matters once technology is in place.
  4. The dimensions are independent and can be optimized separately without trade-offs.

Explanation

The four dimensions are organizations and people, information and technology, partners and suppliers, and value streams and processes, and they are interdependent and must be considered together. A limitation in one dimension, such as a supplier constraint, can affect the others, so they cannot be optimized in isolation.

Question 26Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which statement best describes the purpose of the 'deliver and support' activity within the service value chain?

  1. It gathers stakeholder requirements and turns them into a service design.
  2. It ensures that services are delivered and supported according to agreed specifications and stakeholder expectations. Correct answer.
  3. It defines the target state of the organization and the steps needed to reach it.
  4. It converts demand into value by creating and modifying service components.

Explanation

The deliver and support activity focuses on the day-to-day running of services, ensuring they are provided and maintained to agreed specifications and meet stakeholder expectations. Activities such as incident handling, service requests, and ongoing operations sit here. Designing, planning, and improving are handled by other value chain activities.

Question 27Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which term describes the ability of a service or component to continue operating correctly after a failure, often through redundancy?

  1. Resilience Correct answer.
  2. Continuity
  3. Availability
  4. Capacity

Explanation

Resilience is the ability of a service or component to withstand or recover from failures, frequently achieved through redundancy and fault-tolerant design. Availability measures the proportion of time a service is usable, not its ability to absorb failure. Continuity concerns maintaining essential services during major disruption rather than component-level fault tolerance.

Question 28Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A service provider offers a single integrated payroll and HR platform where customers consume the combined outcome rather than managing individual servers or applications. Which statement best describes this offering?

  1. It is a workaround because it combines several separate functions.
  2. It is a product because it is packaged and sold as a single item.
  3. It is a configuration item because it can be recorded in the configuration management database.
  4. It is a service because it delivers an outcome the customer consumes without owning the underlying components. Correct answer.

Explanation

A service is a means of enabling value co-creation by facilitating outcomes the customer wants, without the customer having to own and manage specific costs and risks. The integrated platform delivers an outcome while the provider retains responsibility for the underlying components. A product is typically a configuration of resources offered to a customer, but the defining feature here is the delivered outcome.

Question 29Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which concept describes deliberately designing a service so that a failure in one component does not cause the entire service to fail?

  1. Service continuity
  2. Fault tolerance Correct answer.
  3. Capacity management
  4. Incident prioritization

Explanation

Fault tolerance is the design property that allows a service to continue functioning when a component fails, typically through redundancy or graceful degradation. It isolates failure so the whole service does not collapse. Service continuity addresses major disruption to essential services, and capacity management handles resource demand.

Question 30Fundamentals and Core Concepts

An organization wants to move from reactive firefighting to a structured, repeating cycle of assessing where it is, setting a target, and measuring progress. Which concept does this describe?

  1. The continual improvement model Correct answer.
  2. The four dimensions of service management
  3. The RACI responsibility model
  4. The service value chain

Explanation

The continual improvement model provides a structured, iterative approach: what is the vision, where are we now, where do we want to be, how do we get there, take action, and did we get there. It replaces ad hoc fixes with a repeatable cycle of assessment and measurement. The value chain and four dimensions describe how services are produced and the factors affecting them, not the improvement cycle itself.

Question 31Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A service desk handles a request for a standard software installation that follows a documented, pre-approved procedure with known cost and risk. Under change enablement, how should this be handled?

  1. It should be raised as an emergency change and approved by the change advisory board.
  2. It should be rejected because software installation is outside the scope of change enablement.
  3. It should be handled as a standard change using a predefined procedure without individual authorization. Correct answer.
  4. It should be treated as a normal change requiring full assessment and authorization each time.

Explanation

Standard changes are pre-authorized, low-risk, well-understood changes with a documented procedure, so they do not need individual assessment and authorization each time. The change model defines the triggers and steps for them. Treating them as normal or emergency changes adds unnecessary overhead and delay.

Question 32Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Which practice is responsible for planning and managing the resources needed to meet current and future demand for services in a cost-effective way?

  1. Availability management
  2. Service level management
  3. Capacity and performance management Correct answer.
  4. Supplier management

Explanation

Capacity and performance management ensures that services and components meet agreed performance and capacity requirements in a timely and cost-effective manner. It forecasts demand and adjusts resources accordingly. Service level management negotiates and monitors agreements, availability management focuses on uptime, and supplier management handles third parties.

Question 33Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A service provider records a customer satisfaction score, the average time to resolve incidents, and the cost per resolved ticket. Which statement best describes these measures?

  1. Only customer satisfaction is a valid measure because the others are internal.
  2. All three are lagging indicators because they are reported after the fact.
  3. They are all leading indicators because they predict future performance.
  4. They combine outcome, operational performance, and cost perspectives, which together give a balanced view of value. Correct answer.

Explanation

Effective measurement combines different perspectives: customer outcomes, operational performance, and cost. Using only one type gives a distorted picture of value. Customer satisfaction reflects perceived outcome, resolution time reflects operational performance, and cost per ticket reflects efficiency.

Question 34Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A service level agreement promises 99.9 percent availability, while the internal support team works to a target of 99.95 percent. What does the internal figure represent?

  1. A service level objective that provides a margin above the agreed commitment Correct answer.
  2. An operational level agreement with the customer
  3. A key performance indicator unrelated to the agreement
  4. A contractual penalty clause

Explanation

A service level objective is an internal target that supports achievement of the agreed service level. Setting it slightly above the customer commitment creates a buffer so the agreement is not breached by minor variation. It is not the customer-facing agreement itself, which is the service level agreement.

Question 35Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A network outage recurs and the root cause is identified, but a permanent fix has not yet been implemented. Which classification applies and what does it imply?

  1. It is a problem, and a known error with a documented workaround should be recorded until a permanent fix is applied. Correct answer.
  2. It is a change, and it should be authorized by the change advisory board before any work continues.
  3. It is an incident, and no further action is required once service is restored.
  4. It is a service request, and it should be fulfilled through the request catalogue.

Explanation

A problem is the underlying cause of one or more incidents. When the cause is identified but not permanently resolved, it becomes a known error, and a workaround is documented so incidents can be handled faster until a permanent fix is delivered. Incident management restores service but does not by itself eliminate the root cause.

Question 36Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A provider offers strong functionality but suffers frequent outages that breach agreed availability targets. Which statement best reflects the value judgement?

  1. The service delivers no value because availability is below target.
  2. The service delivers high value because functionality is the only factor that matters.
  3. The service delivers reduced value because the utility is undermined by inadequate warranty. Correct answer.
  4. The service delivers high value because outages are covered by the agreement.

Explanation

Value depends on both utility (what the service does, its functionality) and warranty (how well it performs, including availability and reliability). Strong functionality with frequent outages means the warranty is weak, so the overall value is diminished. It is not zero, because the functionality still provides some benefit.

Question 37Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A team is mapping stakeholders for a new service using a power and interest grid. A regulator has high power over the service but relatively low day-to-day interest. How should the team engage this stakeholder?

  1. Keep them satisfied with regular, concise updates and ensure their requirements are met. Correct answer.
  2. Manage them closely with frequent, detailed collaboration.
  3. Monitor them with minimal communication.
  4. Inform them only through public announcements.

Explanation

In a power and interest grid, high-power, low-interest stakeholders should be kept satisfied: they need enough information to remain supportive without being overwhelmed. Their power means their requirements must be respected. Close management suits high-power, high-interest stakeholders, and monitoring suits low-power, low-interest ones.

Question 38Fundamentals and Core Concepts

An organization must decide whether to build an internal tool or buy a commercial one. The build option offers exact fit but requires ongoing maintenance and scarce skills. Which consideration is most consistent with the four dimensions of service management?

  1. Only the value stream dimension matters, because it determines how work flows.
  2. The dimensions apply only after the service is live, so they are irrelevant to this decision.
  3. The decision should weigh organizations and people, information and technology, partners and suppliers, and value streams and processes together. Correct answer.
  4. Only the partners and suppliers dimension matters, because a vendor is involved in the buy option.

Explanation

The four dimensions are organizations and people, information and technology, partners and suppliers, and value streams and processes. A build-versus-buy decision affects all of them: skills and culture, technology fit, vendor dependence, and workflow. Considering them together produces a more balanced decision than optimizing one dimension.

Question 39Fundamentals and Core Concepts

A high-risk change affects multiple critical services and has no precedent. Under change enablement, which authorization approach is most appropriate?

  1. Delegate authorization to the service desk because they handle user requests.
  2. Skip assessment and authorize it verbally to save time.
  3. Treat it as a standard change and deploy it without authorization.
  4. Route it through the normal change model with assessment by relevant stakeholders and authorization by the appropriate authority. Correct answer.

Explanation

Normal changes are assessed and authorized through the change model, with the level of assessment and the authorizing body matched to risk and impact. A high-risk, multi-service, unprecedented change needs broad assessment and senior authorization. Standard changes are pre-authorized only for well-understood, low-risk work.

Question 40Fundamentals and Core Concepts

An organization wants to improve a service and is unsure whether the improvement should focus on the technology, the process, or the people involved. How does the continual improvement model help resolve this?

  1. It limits improvement to measurable key performance indicators only.
  2. It prescribes technology upgrades as the first step in every improvement.
  3. It requires that all improvements be approved by the change advisory board before any analysis.
  4. It provides a structured sequence that starts with a vision and current-state assessment, so the appropriate focus emerges from evidence rather than assumption. Correct answer.

Explanation

The continual improvement model guides teams through vision, current state, target state, plan, action, and evaluation. Because it starts by clarifying the vision and assessing where the organization is now, the true focus-technology, process, or people-is identified from evidence. It is a flexible framework, not a fixed prescription.

Question 41Planning and Design

In IT service planning, which document defines the agreed scope, quality, and responsibilities for a service between a provider and a customer?

  1. The service level agreement Correct answer.
  2. The configuration baseline
  3. The release policy
  4. The capacity plan

Explanation

A service level agreement records the negotiated commitments on scope, quality targets, and the responsibilities of each party. It is the reference point against which delivered service is measured. Other planning artefacts describe configuration state, capacity, or release control rather than the customer commitment.

Question 42Planning and Design

During design, a team maps each business process to the IT services that support it. Which planning output does this activity primarily produce?

  1. A backup rotation schedule
  2. An incident priority matrix
  3. A service portfolio and its dependency mapping Correct answer.
  4. A root cause analysis report

Explanation

Mapping business processes to supporting services builds the service portfolio view and exposes dependencies between services and business activities. This is a core planning and design activity that guides investment and risk decisions. The other options are operational artefacts produced later in the lifecycle.

Question 43Planning and Design

What is the main purpose of defining a target service availability of 99.9 percent per month in a service design?

  1. To fix the number of staff required per shift
  2. To guarantee that no component will ever fail
  3. To set a measurable reliability commitment that shapes design and monitoring Correct answer.
  4. To remove the need for continuity planning

Explanation

An availability target is a measurable commitment that drives architectural choices, redundancy, and monitoring thresholds. It gives both parties an objective basis for reporting and review. It does not eliminate failure or replace continuity and resourcing plans.

Question 44Planning and Design

Which planning activity determines whether an organisation should build, buy, or reuse a capability before committing design effort?

  1. Configuration audit
  2. Post-implementation review
  3. Options analysis within service strategy Correct answer.
  4. Problem management trend analysis

Explanation

Options analysis compares build, buy, and reuse alternatives against cost, risk, and strategic fit before design work is committed. It sits in service strategy and informs the service portfolio. The other activities occur after implementation or focus on operational control.

Question 45Planning and Design

A design team must ensure that a new payment service can be restored within four hours after a site loss. Which design artefact captures this requirement?

  1. A mean time to repair figure for hardware
  2. A recovery time objective in the continuity design Correct answer.
  3. A change advisory board charter
  4. A service catalogue entry

Explanation

A recovery time objective states the maximum acceptable time to restore a service after disruption and belongs in the continuity design. It translates business continuity needs into a design constraint. Mean time to repair is a measured reliability statistic, not a target requirement.

Question 46Planning and Design

Which statement best describes the role of a service design package?

  1. It lists only the hardware assets purchased for a service
  2. It is the contract signed by the customer
  3. It records incidents raised during the first week of operation
  4. It records the end-to-end design of a service and its transition requirements Correct answer.

Explanation

A service design package captures the complete design across people, process, technology, and supplier aspects, plus what transition needs to build and test it. It is the handover reference for the transition stage. It is broader than an asset list and distinct from the customer contract.

Question 47Planning and Design

A planner is choosing between two data centre designs with equal cost. Design A depends on a single supplier for cooling; Design B uses two suppliers. Which design principle favours Design B?

  1. Maximising economies of scale
  2. Standardising on one vendor
  3. Minimising documentation overhead
  4. Avoiding single points of failure Correct answer.

Explanation

Using two cooling suppliers reduces the risk that one supplier's failure halts the service, which is the principle of avoiding single points of failure. The choice is about resilience rather than cost scale or documentation. Standardising on one vendor would actually increase concentration risk.

Question 48Planning and Design

Which metric set is most appropriate for measuring whether a service design meets user needs after launch?

  1. Number of staff trained and number of documents produced
  2. Total hardware spend and number of suppliers
  3. User satisfaction, first-contact resolution, and service availability Correct answer.
  4. Count of change requests and count of configuration items

Explanation

Outcome measures such as user satisfaction, first-contact resolution, and availability show whether the design actually serves users. Output counts like documents or changes measure activity, not service quality. Choosing outcome metrics is a design decision that shapes reporting.

Question 49Planning and Design

A service must handle a tenfold traffic increase during seasonal peaks without redesign. Which design characteristic is being specified?

  1. Portability
  2. Scalability Correct answer.
  3. Maintainability
  4. Interoperability

Explanation

Scalability is the ability to handle growth in load without redesigning the service. The requirement describes absorbing a large demand increase, which is the definition of scalability. Portability, maintainability, and interoperability address different qualities.

Question 50Planning and Design

When planning service hours, a team must decide whether to offer 24x7 support. Which factor most directly drives this decision?

  1. The preferred programming language of the team
  2. The business impact of downtime during each period of the day Correct answer.
  3. The age of the monitoring tools
  4. The number of configuration items in the estate

Explanation

Service hours should follow when the business actually needs the service, so the impact of downtime in each period is the driving factor. Extending hours raises cost, so it must be justified by business need. Estate size, language choice, and tool age are not direct determinants.