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Certified IT Operator (CITO®)

CITO© Overview

CITO® is the fi­rst level in the EPI IT Training Framework©. CITO® is a 2-day course designed to teach the competencies required of the modern IT professional working at the operations level in IT. Also known as the IT engineer’s course, CITO® candidates will become instantly productive having gained knowledge and understanding of the demands in today’s IT infrastructures. Theirimproved capabilities will deliver immediate results, increasing efficiency and significantly reducing the margin of error.

CITO® is aligned with the latest European e-Competence (e-CF) Framework – addressing proficiency levels 1 and 2 (Associate & Professional). In 2016, the e-CF became a European standard and was published officially as the European Norm EN 16234-1.

System administrators/engineers, service desk operators/agents, network administrators/engineers, software developers/engineers, account managers.

This course is most suited for aspiring and existing IT professionals from entry level up to two years of actual working experience in IT, with basic knowledge of (operating) systems, network and/or applications, and service desk operations. It is also suited for people who are changing careers and entering the IT professional world.

After completion of the course, the participant will be able to:

  • Understand the role and importance of Information Technology in the organisation
  • Describe the function of the IT organisation, roles and responsibilities
  • Provide technical input for vendors RFP (Request for Proposal)
  • Cooperate and coordinate with vendors for delivery, maintenance, support and monitoring activities
  • Execute basic projects using principles of project management
  • Deploy applications and understand application life cycle management
  • Identify the options for virtualisation and storage solutions
  • Create, publish and maintain documentation
  • Operate incident and event management and request fulfilment
  • Identify risk and understand the principles of risk management
  • Design, implement and operate security logging
  • Understand the principles of information security
  • Monitor and report on quality in IT

Service Level Management

  • Service Level Management 
  • Needs analysis 
  • Capability assessment 
  • Service portfolio 
  • Service catalogue 
  • Service Level Agreements (SLAs) 
  • Availability measurement 
  • Data points in SLA
  • Service reporting 
  • Complaint procedure
  • Customer satisfaction measurement 
  • Service Improvement Process (SIP)
  • SLA content

The Data Center Organization

  • Operational issues
  • Organization chart
  • Roles and responsibilities
  • Skills matrix
  • Contingency / backup roles
  • Shift management
  • Performance management 
  • Career development 
  • Training and assessment
  • Job rotation 
  • Succession planning 
  • Disciplinary program

Managing Safety & Statutory Requirements

  • Safety policies and regulations 
  • Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S)
  • Safety awareness training
  • Permit to Work (PTW)
  • Lock-out / Tag-out
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) 
  • Testing and tagging of equipment 
  • Emergency preparedness and response
  • Reporting of safety issues
  • Reviews / internal audit / external audit

Managing Physical Security

  • Security policies and procedures
  • Security standards and guidelines
  • Security staff
  • Security awareness
  • Security incident management 
  • Disciplinary program
  • Reviews, internal and external audits

Facilities Management

  • Maintenance policies and procedures
  • Various maintenance programs
  • Outsourcing of maintenance activities 
  • Maintenance contract options 
  • Warranty 
  • Maintenance schedule 
  • Service situations
  • Spart part management 
  • Contamination control

Data Center Operations

  • Policies and procedures for data center operations
  • Service operations and the daily data center operations

Monitoring / Reporting / Control

  • Monitoring requirements
  • Escalation procedures
  • Reporting
  • Trend analysis
  • Reviews

 Project Management

  • Project management
  • Project organization
  • Project manager
  • Project phases

Environment Sustainability

  • The importance of sustainability
  • Sustainability policies 
  • Environmental management 
  • Power efficiency indicators ‐
  • Waste management ‐
  • Water management
  • ICT utilisation management 
  • Environmental performance measurements
  • Renewable energy factor (REF)

Organizational Resilience

  • Business continuity 
  • Data center facility options 
  • Business Impact Analysis  
  • Type of facility  
  • Human resources 
  • Facility, equipment and consumables

Governance, Risk and Compliance

  • Management commitment 
  • Coordination, collaboration and integration 
  • Compliance 
  • Risk management 
  • Document management 
  • Financial management 
  • Vendor management 
  • Asset management

The CITO® course is lectured by an EPI Certified Instructor.

CITO® course is available in the following delivery methods:

Exam: Certified IT Operator (CITO®)

The CITO® exam is a 60-minute closed book exam, with 40 multiple-choice questions. The candidate requires a minimum of 26 correct answers to pass the exam.  

Attendees passing the exam will be awarded the internationally accredited and recognized ‘Certified IT Operator’ certificate (CITO®). 

CITO® is globally accredited by EXIN, a fully independent exam and certification institute.

The CITO® certificate is valid for 3 years, after which recertification is required.  Please see the EPI Recertification Program for available options.

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