The ITIL® 4 Leader: Digital and IT Strategy (DITS) course is designed to equip leaders and aspiring leaders with the strategic capabilities required to build and sustain successful digital organizations. This module focuses on the critical role of strategy in navigating digital disruption, fostering innovation, and ensuring that IT and digital strategies remain aligned with rapidly evolving business environments.
Through this course, participants gain a deep understanding of how digital transformation impacts business models and operating strategies, and how to position IT as a strategic partner in value creation. The module explores key elements of digital strategy, such as competitive analysis, disruptive innovation, risk appetite, and the alignment of digital capabilities with customer expectations.
Learners will develop practical skills in strategic planning, vision setting, and stakeholder alignment, as well as tools for implementing and sustaining digital strategies in complex, dynamic environments. Special attention is given to the importance of culture, leadership, and change management in enabling digital success, as well as the ethical and governance considerations that come with digital decision-making.
The course also introduces methods for evaluating strategic readiness, managing risk in a digital context, and fostering an environment that supports agility, resilience, and ongoing learning. Participants learn how to drive innovation while maintaining control, and how to translate strategic vision into actionable steps that produce tangible business outcomes.
By the end of the course, participants will be prepared to lead digital strategy formulation and execution within their organizations, confidently influence executive decisions, and contribute to long-term success through integrated digital and IT leadership.
Join us on this strategic journey to become a certified ITIL® 4 Digital and IT Strategy Leader and help shape the future of your organization in the digital era.
Purpose of the Training
The ITIL® 4 Leader: Digital and IT Strategy (DITS) course is designed to develop a practical understanding of how to define and implement digital strategies that drive organizational success in an age of disruption. This module focuses on the skills and knowledge required to align digital business strategies with IT capabilities, foster innovation, and lead sustainable digital transformation. Participants will:
- Explore how digital disruption impacts business models and how to define strategic responses that position IT as a business enabler.
- Learn how to shape and communicate a compelling digital vision that aligns stakeholders and drives strategic momentum.
- Develop the ability to assess digital readiness, manage strategic risks, and adapt strategy based on internal and external factors.
- Understand how to balance innovation, risk appetite, and governance to ensure responsible digital decision-making.
- Gain insight into organizational leadership, culture, and change management as enablers of digital strategy execution.
- Build capabilities to lead transformation efforts, guide investment decisions, and ensure alignment between strategy, operations, and value delivery.
- Apply ITIL® principles to formulate and sustain digital strategies that drive agility, resilience, and competitive advantage.
- Be prepared to take the ITIL® 4 Leader: Digital and IT Strategy certification exam.
Target Group
- ITIL® 4 Foundation certificate holders progressing toward the Strategic Leader designation,
- Senior professionals responsible for defining and driving digital and IT strategies,
- CIOs, CTOs, heads of digital transformation, and strategic IT leaders,
- Service management and enterprise architects supporting business model evolution,
- Consultants and advisors guiding organizations through digital disruption and innovation,
- Change leaders working to align technology strategy with organizational vision and outcomes,
- Professionals seeking to integrate digital capabilities and governance within the ITIL® 4 framework.
Benefits
- A strategic understanding of how to develop and implement digital and IT strategies aligned with business objectives,
- Practical skills to assess digital readiness and lead organizations through successful digital transformation,
- The ability to integrate ITIL® 4 principles with emerging technologies and disruptive business models,
- Enhanced leadership capabilities to navigate digital disruption and drive innovation at scale,
- Insight into aligning digital investments, risk management, and governance with long-term value creation,
- Tools and techniques to support strategic decision-making, stakeholder engagement, and organizational change,
- Greater confidence to influence and advise executive leadership on strategic use of digital and IT services.
Exam and Certification
Note! This qualification includes four practical assignments based on a case study involving three fictional companies; any resemblance to real companies is unintentional. Participants are expected to complete the assignments in small groups during the course.
- prerequisites: ITIL® 4 Foundation certification and attendance at an accredited ITIL® 4 Leader: Digital and IT Strategy training course,
- mandatory exam,
- multiple-choice, single-response questions test,
- number of questions: 30,
- pass threshold: 70% (21 out of 30 possible points),
- language of the exam: English, Polish, among others – selected on the Accreditor’s website during exam registration,
- current list of available exam languages can be found on the Accreditor’s website,
- duration: 60 minutes (75 minutes for non-native speakers),
- mode: online (after online training) or in-person (after in-person training),
- date: post training, selected by participants at the Accreditor’s availability,
- closed book – no use of materials,
- validity of the certificate: 3 years,
- the participant who scores the necessary number of points in the exam is awarded the international certificate in electronic form.
Note! According to the Accreditor’s guidelines, the training must be purchased together with the exam package, which includes the online exam, access to the e-book, and Official Training Materials (OTM).
E-book
- E-book language: selected by the candidate on the Accreditor’s website during exam registration (language cannot be changed afterward),
- Available e-book languages: available in many languages including English and Polish
- Access: valid for 5 years exclusively on the Accreditor’s platform
OTM – Official Training Materials
- Official training materials developed by PeopleCert, available upon e-book activation
- OTM language: english
In addition, you can purchase exam retake Take2 Re-sit Exam Option. In case of a negative result, this option allows you to retake the exam in an online format within 6 months of the original date, without paying the full cost of the exam.
The Take2 Re-sit Exam Option can only be purchased when placing an order for the first exam date.
Training Programme
MODULE 1 – Key concepts of digital and IT strategy
- Digital, information, operational, and communication technology
- Digital organization, digital business, digitization, and digital transformation
- Services, products, and competitive advantage
- Tiers of strategy
- Business models
- Operating models
- Knowledge check
MODULE 2 – Strategy and the service value system
- Opportunity and demand
- Value
- Governance
- ITIL guiding principles
- Continual improvement
- ITIL practices
- Knowledge check
MODULE 3 – What is the vision?
- Digital disruptions
- Balanced strategic focus
- Positioning tools for digital organizations
- Assignment 1: digital disruption and digital positioning
- Knowledge check
MODULE 4 – Where are we now?
- Environmental analysis
- Opportunity analysis
- Digital readiness assessment
- Knowledge check
MODULE 5 – Where do we want to be and how do we get there? (Strategic planning)
- Strategy planning
- Business models for strategy planning
- Financial aspects of digital and IT strategy
- Portfolio optimization
- Knowledge check
MODULE 6 – Where do we want to be and how do we get there? (Strategic approaches)
- Strategic approaches for customer/market relevance
- Strategic approaches for operational excellence
- Strategic approaches to evolution
- Strategic approaches to social responsibility and sustainability
- Assignment 2: strategic approaches for digital organizations
- Knowledge check
MODULE 7 – Take action (managing strategic initiatives)
- How strategies are implemented
- Coordinating strategy and strategic initiatives
- Leading digital transformation
- Digital leadership
- Assignment 3: strategy planning and communication
- Knowledge check
MODULE 8 – Did we get there? (Measuring strategy)
- Key facts about measurement
- Measuring a strategy
- Instrumenting strategy
- Knowledge check
MODULE 9 – How do we keep the momentum going?
- Long-term momentum: ensuring organizational viability
- Short-term momentum: parallel operation
- Assignment 4: digital strategy in VUCA environment
- Knowledge check
MODULE 10 – Managing innovation and emerging technologies
- Managing innovation
- Formal approach to innovation management
- Culture that supports innovation
- Approaches to innovation
- Evaluating and adopting emerging technology
- Knowledge check
MODULE 11 – Managing strategic risk
- Risk management
- Risk identification
- Risk posture
- Risk treatment
- Knowledge check
