Sample 1 Q and A

The ITIL® 4 Digital and IT Strategy Examination
Sample Paper 1
Question Booklet
Multiple Choice
Examination Duration: 1 hour
Instructions
1. You should attempt all 30 questions. Each question is worth one mark.
2. There is only one correct answer per question.
3. You need to answer 21 questions correctly to pass the exam.
4. Mark your answers on the answer sheet provided. Use a pencil (NOT pen).
5. You have 1 hour to complete this exam.
6. This is a ‘closed book’ exam. No material other than the exam paper is
allowed.
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Reproduction of this material requires the permission of AXELOS Limited.
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EN_ITIL4_SL_DITS_2020_SamplePaper1_QuestionBk_v1.0
1) An organization is investigating locations for a new office.
What type of external factors should be analysed to ensure that potential future employees can
integrate easily into the overall organization?
A. Political
B. Economic
C. Social
D. Legal
2) A cloud storage provider wants to develop a culture of innovation based on a high tolerance for
disruption.
Which is the BEST approach for them to adopt?
A. Implement new communication technology that will sufficiently increase income to achieve a
target set by the financial department
B. Implement many regular changes to the storage app and accept that some will fail but others
will help to maintain their high market share
C. Invest in a new version of the storage app in order to avoid losing their position in the cloud
storage market
D. Invest in new data centre infrastructure to maintain their goal of providing highly available and
reliable cloud storage services
3) An organization has a number of legacy services that they need to maintain because of regulatory
requirements. There are no plans to invest in improvements to these services. They plan to invest
in some new services to support growing areas of the business.
What is the BEST reason for them to create and maintain a service portfolio?
A. To compare the business cases for the various new services, so that investment will be
focused on these services, as required by the strategy
B. To compare the cost and value of each service in order to direct investment to where it is
needed, even if this means investing in legacy services
C. To justify improvements to the legacy services in order to protect the key revenue streams of
the organization
D. To provide information about customer and user experience to help plan improvements

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4) Which BEST describes an organization’s vision?
A. It describes an organization’s reason to exist

B. It describes the value an organization aims to create
C. It describes specific strategic objectives and initiatives
D. It describes what an organization would like to become in the future
5) An IT service provider has defined value streams to create products and services. A senior
manager wants to extend this work to create an operating model, and is writing a business case
to support this.
Which is the MOST important benefit that the senior manager should include in the business
case?
A. An operating model will ensure that suppliers meet their contracts, so that the service provider
can create products and services
B. An operating model will help with understanding what organization structure and people are
needed to create products and services
C. An operating model will help with understanding the sets of activities needed to create each
product and service
D. An operating model will ensure that the service provider can describe the features of the
products and services that provide value to customers
6) An organization that sells apps to consumers is planning a strategy to disrupt a market by

focusing on customer relevance.
Which is the BEST approach to adopt?
A. Implement a new workflow management tool to support the sales department

B. Respond to trends by offering deals that provide more frequent app upgrades
C. Utilize digital technology to optimize the app development and deployment processes
D. Reorganize the service desk to increase support hours and expand user access channels

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7) An organization wants to improve its operational excellence by encouraging innovation in how

services are managed. The research and development team are very innovative, but they usually
focus on new products and services. The operations team are highly skilled, but do not have the
money or people needed to focus on innovation.
How should the organization ensure that resources are available for operational innovations?
A. Provide the research and development team with an additional budget so that they can
develop operational innovations
B. Provide the operations team with additional budget so that they can develop operational
innovations
C. Move some of the existing operations team into the research and development team so that
they will have time to develop innovations
D. Create an additional team and provide the time and staff so that they can develop operational
innovations
8) Which approach to innovation involves a service provider utilizing existing assets and low
investment to increase their market share?
A. Leverage
B. Ability to tolerate disruption
C. Incentive to innovate
D. Overall driver
9) A service provider has documented their purpose and how they will achieve it.
Which term is used to described this?
A. Digital organization
B. Business strategy
C. Product and service portfolio
D. Digital transformation

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10) An organization hired a team of external consultants to produce a digital readiness assessment.
The consultants spent several weeks conducting interviews and collecting information.
The scope of the assessment included:

• Governance, management, and culture
• Technology, people, processes, and partnerships
The report included detailed numerical data of hundreds of different aspects of digital readiness,
and was used to create a strategy. When the organization tried to implement this strategy, it was
clear that the consultants had not understood the organization, and the markets where they
operate.
Which is the MOST LIKELY cause of this issue?
A. The assessment failed to consider strategy and leadership

B. The assessment was too simple
C. The assessment was too focused on technology
D. The assessment was overcomplicated
11) Which practice is PRIMARILY responsible for the collection of data to assess the success of
digital or IT strategies?
A. The ‘measurement and reporting’ practice

B. The ‘strategy management’ practice
C. The ‘portfolio management’ practice
D. The ‘financial management’ practice
12) Which term describes how an organization defines and communicates how it will achieve its
vision through the use of digital technology?
A. Digital organization
B. Digital transformation
C. Digital strategy
D. Digital business

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13) An organization wants to grow their business. They completed an assessment and implemented
an improvement programme which has helped them deliver services very efficiently, while
managing risks and containing costs.
What else do they need to consider to have a balanced approach to their strategy?
A. How to monitor and manage their operations

B. How to improve their operations
C. How to address new markets or customers
D. How to work differently to increase efficiency
14) Which should be included in the 'risk management' practice for a digital organization?
1. Developing a target architecture based on risk.

2. Ensuring actions are taken to reduce all risks.
3. Encouraging a risk management culture.
4. Ensuring governance is in place for risk management.
A. 1 and 2
B. 2 and 3
C. 3 and 4
D. 1 and 4
15) An organization works in a volatile business environment, and frequently faces significant
changes and disruptions. The leaders of the organization are defining an approach to improve the
organization’s ability to operate and evolve despite these adverse events in the environment.
Which aspect of the organization should the leaders focus on?
A. Organizational agility
B. Organizational resilience
C. Elimination of waste
D. Improvement of workflows

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16) A service provider has launched a new video communication service that is secure and easy to
use. The service has become widely adopted by consumers in many markets and multiple
industries. Also, the service is gradually replacing specialized competitors' services, such as
webinar platforms.
Which term BEST describes what the service provider is doing from the perspective of their
competitors?
A. Industry disruption
B. Market disruption
C. Ecosystem disruption
D. Organizational disruption
17) An organization has developed a digital transformation strategy that requires significant
investment. There is a high degree of uncertainty surrounding the strategy and failure will result in
a high financial loss.
Which organization is MOST LIKELY to benefit from following this strategy?
A. An organization with low risk capacity, and low risk appetite

B. An organization with low risk capacity, and high risk appetite
C. An organization with high risk capacity, and low risk appetite
D. An organization with high risk capacity, and high risk appetite
18) Which is a key feature of a digital mindset?
A. Using every available opportunity to make a technology-based change

B. Understanding how technology changes the way people live and work
C. Automating commonly performed actions or decisions in a changing context
D. Distinguishing changes in society from changes affecting the organization

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19) Which would MOST help an organization to identify a new strategic risk?
A. Due diligence checks at an early step of the customer journey

B. Due diligence checks at a late step of the customer journey
C. A qualitative risk assessment using a risk matrix
D. A quantitative risk assessment based on monetary calculations
20) A small IT service provider was created one year ago and has grown very fast, offering innovative
products and services to the healthcare industry. Its strategy is to constantly offer new services
while containing costs and maintaining quality.
Which approach to operational excellence is MOST LIKELY to be relevant for this organization?
A. Continual improvement
B. Technology replacement modernization
C. Simple automation
D. Customer analytics
21) An organization has produced a business strategy document. A section of this document
describes how the organization will monitor and evaluate its performance over time.
Which concept of the service value system does this section of the document include?
A. Governance
B. Strategy management
C. Value
D. Practices

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22) A service provider differentiates itself from competitors by providing products and services that
include digital components.
What is this an example of?
A. Digital technology
B. Digital organization
C. Digitization
23) Which describes the erosion parallel operating model?
A. A new digital business model that complements an existing business model and offers choice
to the consumer
B. A new digital business model that utilizes existing assets and swiftly replaces the current
business model
C. A new digital business model that is funded by revenue obtained from an existing business
model
D. A new digital business model that is introduced to reach new consumers and increase market
share
24) An organization that develops video conferencing tools for software developers has identified that
doctors and patients are interested in their products and services. The organization believes that
it can create a version of its core products and services that meet the needs of this sector.
Which concept BEST describes this situation?
A. Opportunity
B. Continual improvement
C. Value
D. Practices

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25) Which describes a concept where the introduction of robots to automate work has significantly
improved an organization's ability to achieve its goals?
A. Digital technology
B. Digital organization
C. Digitization
26) An organization's strategy involves the continual maintenance of customer relevance.
What is the BEST way to ensure this is achieved?
A. Evaluating feedback on products and services

B. Improving operational excellence
C. Improving organizational resilience
D. Using a variety of unique resources
27) A retail company has a strategy that supports their vision to reposition the company in the market,
and will be supported by a major marketing campaign. A new mobile app for placing orders is an
integral part of the strategy. A business case for the app has been created and has not yet been
approved. The business case was developed with the help of technical and legal experts. The
executive team are accountable for strategic decisions.
Who should the business case be presented to before it is approved?
1. The executive team

2. Service consumers as part of the marketing campaign
3. All those involved in developing the strategy
4. The experts that helped develop the business case
A. 1 and 2
B. 2 and 3
C. 3 and 4
D. 1 and 4

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28) A small service provider has recently started to operate in a crowded market. They have a unique
technology model that will enable them to achieve operational excellence, and therefore a
competitive advantage.
Which strategic approach does this situation describe?
A. Scale advantage
B. Incumbency advantage
C. Resource-based advantage
D. Customer relevance
29) An organization is defining a strategy that relies on its ability to engage with customers across
several interfaces, including phone, website, app, and social media.
Which concept BEST describes the foundation of the organization's strategy?
A. Omnichannel delivery and support

B. Customer journeys
C. Customer analytics
D. Context-sensitive delivery and support
30) Which is a CORRECT description of a step in a digital transformation programme?
A. 'Implement with feedback': design the components that are not yet digitized
B. 'Define roadmap': group the changes into initiatives and sequence them
C. 'Develop vision and goals': initiate the programme and ensure resources are available
D. 'Architect changes': define the purpose of the programme and its objectives
END OF EXAMINATION

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Sample Paper 1
Answers and Rationales

Page 1 of 17
EN_ITIL4_SL_DITS_2020_SamplePaper1_Rationales_v1.0
For exam paper: EN_ITIL4_SL_DITS_2020_SamplePaper1_QuestionBk_v1.0

Q A Syllabus Ref Rationale
1 C 3.1.a A. Incorrect. "Political: The influence of governments through policies (tax, fiscal,
trade, labor, state ownership etc.), stability, level of corruption, openness to
influence, available subsidies, etc." Ref 4.1.1, tab 4.1
B. Incorrect. "Economic: Factors determining the performance of an economy, such
as inflation, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, demand/supply models, foreign
investment, unemployment rates, and consumer purchasing power." Ref 4.1.1, tab
4.1
C. Correct. "Social: A population’s culture, attitudes, norms, values, demographics
(such as age, income, location and language), buying trends, mobility, etc." Analysis
of the social factors will help to identify whether the local culture and values are a
good organizational fit. Ref 4.1.1, tab 4.1
D. Incorrect. "Legal: Linked to political, but specifically legislation rather than policy,
including laws related to discrimination, competition, employment, consumer
protection, copyright and patents, and health and safety." Ref 4.1.1, tab 4.1
2 B 6.5 A. Incorrect. This approach is based on a high requirement for 'return on investment',
not on the service provider's desire to develop a culture of innovation based on a
high ability to tolerate disruption. "Organizations define a minimum expected return
on the amount of money spent on an innovation." Ref 10.5
B. Correct. Making many changes to the storage app is an example of accepting
uncertainty and therefore matches with the service provider's desire to develop a
culture of innovation based on a high ability to tolerate disruption. "This variable
defines how tolerant the organization is to operating with uncertainty." Ref 10.5
C. Incorrect. This approach is based on a high requirement to focus on 'overall
drivers', not on the service provider's desire to develop a culture of innovation based
on a high ability to tolerate disruption. "An organization that needs to innovate or go
out of business will have a very different approach to innovation than the
organization that is looking for ways to grow." Ref 10.5
D. Incorrect. This approach is based on a high requirement for 'strategic alignment',
not on the service provider's desire to develop a culture of innovation based on a
high ability to tolerate disruption. "This variable defines the extent to which innovation
will be allowed to challenge the existing strategy." Ref 10.5

Page 2 of 17

3 B 5.3.b A. Incorrect. The portfolio does not include full details of every possible business
case; it simply shows the costs and value of each product and service. The portfolio
should include information about the legacy services, as well as the new services,
and should be used to evaluate all investments, including existing operations.
"Portfolio management identifies and tracks investment in every service and product
at every stage of its lifecycle, and links that investment to the anticipated and
achieved value." Ref 5.3.1
B. Correct. "Portfolio management identifies and tracks investment in every service
and product at every stage of its lifecycle, and links that investment to the anticipated
and achieved value. The portfolio management practice is a valuable strategic tool
that informs decisions on how to balance investment between new initiatives and
existing operations." This organization needs to balance the cost of supporting the
legacy services with the cost of investing in new services, a portfolio is the ideal tool
to support this. Ref 5.3.1
C. Incorrect. The portfolio can help to identify when investments are likely to lead to
a good return, but this should not be restricted just to investments in the legacy
services. The portfolio should be used to manage investments at all stages of the
product or service lifecycle, not just for the legacy services. "Portfolio management
identifies and tracks investment in every service and product at every stage of its
lifecycle, and links that investment to the anticipated and achieved value." Ref 5.3.1
D. Incorrect. The portfolio is concerned with costs and value. Customer and user
experience may contribute to value, but planning improvements to these is not the
primary purpose of a portfolio. "The portfolio management practice is a valuable
strategic tool that informs decisions on how to balance investment between new
initiatives and existing operations." Ref 5.3.1
4 D 7.2 A. Incorrect. This is an organization’s purpose. “The purpose of an organization is
the reason why it exists, or its core business.” Ref 3.4.1
B. Incorrect. This is an organization’s unique value proposition (UVP): “a short
statement that explains the unique value the organization provides.” Ref 2.10.2
C. Incorrect. This is an organization’s strategy. “Strategy encompasses its purpose
and vision, and also outlines the specific initiatives required to achieve these results.”
Ref 3.4.1
D. Correct. “A vision is a defined aspiration of what [an organization[ would like to
become in the future.” Ref 3.4.1

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5 B 8.1 A. Incorrect. An operating model will help the organization understand "how partners
and suppliers will be involved in the value streams and the creation of value", but it
will not ensure that suppliers meet their contracts. Ref 2.9
B. Correct. An operating model will help the organization understand "the
organization structure, skill sets, decision structures, and process and practice
ownership required to do the work in the value streams." Ref 2.9
C. Incorrect. 'Sets of activities needed to create each product and service' refers to
the value streams that the organization has already defined, so this would not be an
additional benefit. "At the centre of an operating model are the organization’s value
streams, which illustrate the main work an organization needs to do to deliver its
value propositions to its identified consumers." Ref 2.9
D. Incorrect. This answer confuses operating model with business model. It is the
business model that describes features and the value proposition, and answers the
question of "how does the organization create value for the stakeholders." "If
business models are used to describe how a business captures value, then
operating models are used to describe how the organization will be run." Operating
models answer the question of "how does the organization ensure effective and
efficient operations?" Ref 2.9, tab 2.2
6 B 4.4.a A. Incorrect. Improving the tools used by the sales department is an example of
focusing on operational excellence, not market relevance. "Organizations focusing
on operational excellence as a basis for disruption will use technology in innovative
ways to obtain higher levels of performance and quality with lower cost, improved
productivity, and reduced waste." Ref 3.2.2
B. Correct. This answer focuses on improving the customer experience and
attempting to increase their engagement. "Organizations focusing on customer or
market relevance as a basis for disruption will try to change the basic customer
experience, customer journey, and behaviour of customers, influencing their demand
for new products or how they engage with the organization." Ref 3.2.1
C. Incorrect. Improving the app development process is an example of focusing on
operational excellence, not market relevance. "Organizations focusing on operational
excellence as a basis for disruption will use technology in innovative ways to obtain
higher levels of performance and quality with lower cost, improved productivity, and
reduced waste." Ref 3.2.2
D. Incorrect. Reorganizing service desk support and access channels is an example
of focusing on operational excellence, not market relevance. "Organizations focusing
on operational excellence as a basis for disruption will use technology in innovative
ways to obtain higher levels of performance and quality with lower cost, improved
productivity, and reduced waste." Ref 3.2.2

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7 B 5.3.d A. Incorrect. Funding the research and development team to do this work will not
enable the highly skilled operations team to contribute, and may distract the research
and development team from their core role. "Innovation is limited to research and
development units and is only funded as part of identified strategic initiatives" and
"every operational budget and every employee’s objectives should include some
level of innovative activity." Ref 5.1.3.2
B. Correct. "Every operational budget and every employee’s objectives should
include some level of innovative activity." The operations team are highly skilled, so
additional budget would enable them to add more staff so that some of them can
focus on innovation. Ref 5.1.3.2
C. Incorrect. The operations team are already short of money and people, so moving
some people out of this team will create even more pressure on them, and may
make it harder for them to think about innovations. "Every operational budget and
every employee’s objectives should include some level of innovative activity." Ref
5.1.3.2
D. Incorrect. Creating an additional team to do this work would fail to utilize the
highly skilled operations team. Increasing the number of teams could also lead to silo
thinking and a lack of knowledge sharing. It would be much simpler, cheaper, and
more effective, to simply fund the operations team so that they can focus on
innovations. "Every operational budget and every employee’s objectives should
include some level of innovative activity." Ref 5.1.3.2
8 A 6.4 A. Correct. Leverage is the balanced approach to innovation that provides a large
amount of benefit from a relatively small investment. "This is the ratio between the
size of the innovation (measured in cost, effort, or organizational impact) and the
outcome achieved." Ref 10.5
B. Incorrect. Ability to tolerate disruption is the balanced approach to innovation that
"defines how tolerant the organization is to operating with uncertainty." Ref 10.5
C. Incorrect. Incentive to innovate is the balanced approach to innovation that
"relates to whether stakeholders are motivated to innovate." Ref 10.5
D. Incorrect. Overall driver is the balanced approach to innovation that relates to the
major driver behind the innovation. "An organization that needs to innovate or go out
of business will have a very different approach to innovation than the organization
that is looking for ways to grow." Ref 10.5

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9 B 2.2.a A. Incorrect. "A digital organization is an organization that is enabled by digital
technology to do business significantly differently, or to do a significantly different
business." There is no indication in the question that this is a digital organization. Ref
2.2
B. Correct. "Business strategy is how an organization defines and achieves its
purpose." Ref 2.7.1
C. Incorrect. The product and service portfolio is "the products and services
managed by the organization, which represent its commitments and investments
across its customers and market spaces." Ref 5.3.1
D. Incorrect. "Digital transformation is achieved by digitizing, robotizing, and other
forms of automation that enable organizations to do things differently, or to do
different things." This situation did not describe a transformation, as nothing is being
changed. Ref 2.5
10 D 7.1 A. Incorrect. The question states that the scope of the assessment included
governance, management, and culture. This contradicts the statement that the
assessment failed to consider strategy and leadership. "Organizations that are ready
for digital transformation have leaders who establish a compelling vision for the
future business model. Unfortunately, most digital assessment models do not
evaluate the leadership’s understanding of the digital landscape, or the extent to
which it sets a clear direction for the organization." Ref 4.3.4
B. Incorrect. The question states that the assessment took a number of weeks and a
detailed report was produced. This is evidence that the assessment was not too
simple. "The direct opposite of the overly complex model is the overly simplistic one.
This type of assessment usually asks one or a handful of participants a few basic
questions." Ref 4.3.4
C. Incorrect. The question states that the scope not only included technology but
also people, processes, and partnerships. "Many digital maturity assessments focus
heavily on infrastructure, such as cloud versus on-premise, or on specific tools
employed by the organization." Ref 4.3.4
D. Correct. The question states that the assessment took a number of weeks and a
detailed report was produced providing evidence that the assessment was
overcomplicated. It is often the case that a detailed assessment considering multiple
aspects and too much rigor can produce a false result of maturity. "Overly complex
maturity models attempt to convince the organization of the validity of the findings
and recommendations, by applying false rigour to subjective criteria." Ref 4.3.4

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11 A 8.5 A. Correct. "The purpose of the measurement and reporting practice is to support
good decision-making and continual improvement by decreasing the levels of
uncertainty. This is achieved through the collection of relevant data on various
managed objects." Ref Measurement and Reporting Practice 2.1
B. Incorrect. The strategy management practice is concerned with formulating "the
goals of the organization and adopting the courses of action and allocation of
resources necessary for achieving those goals." Ref Strategy Management Practice
2.1
C. Incorrect. The portfolio management practice is concerned with ensuring "that the
organization has the right mix of programmes, projects, products, and services to
execute the organization’s strategy within its funding and resource constraints." Ref
Portfolio Management Practice 2.1
D. Incorrect. The financial management practice is concerned with supporting "the
organization's strategies and plans for service management by ensuring that the
organization's financial resources and investments are being used effectively." Ref
Service Financial Management Practice 2.1
12 C 2.2.b A. Incorrect. A digital organization uses digital technology. This does not describe
how the technology is used to achieve an organization's goals. "A digital organization
is an organization that is enabled by digital technology to do business significantly
differently, or to do a significantly different business." Ref 2.2
B. Incorrect. Digital transformation refers to how an organization may make
significant improvements using digital technology, it does not describe how it will
achieve its goals. Digital transformation is defined as the "use of digital technology to
enable a significant improvement in the realization of the organization’s objectives
that could not feasibly have been achieved by non-digital means." Ref 2.5
C. Correct. A digital strategy is defined as "A business strategy that is based all or in
part on using digital technology to achieve its goals and purpose." "Regardless of the
rigour of a strategy management practice, a business strategy will encompass: a
way of defining, refining and communicating the vision of the organization." Ref
2.7.2, 2.7.1
D. Incorrect. Digital business describes an organization that uses digital technology,
it does not describe how it will achieve its goals. Digital business is synonymous with
digital organization which is defined as "an organization that is using digital
technology as a basis for conducting the activities necessary to achieve its purpose."
Ref 2.3

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13 C 4.4.c A. Incorrect. This organization already has a strong inward focus, and they need to
balance this with an external focus. "Other organizations strategize by looking
inwards and asking: How do we monitor and control our journey?" Ref 3.2.3
B. Incorrect. This organization already has a strong inward focus, and they need to
inwards and asking: How can we improve operational efficiencies?" Ref 3.2.3
C. Correct. This organization already has a strong inward focus, and they need to
balance this with an external focus. "Some organizations... look outwards and ask
questions such as: What markets do we serve? ...What opportunities are there for
growth or disruption? ...What capabilities do we have that open new avenues for us
in existing or new markets?" Ref 3.2.3
D. Incorrect. This organization already has a strong inward focus, and they need to
inwards and asking: How can we improve operational efficiencies?" Ref 3.2.3
14 C 6.1 C. Correct.
(3) This is a 'risk management' practice success factor. "The risk management
practice includes the following PSFs: ... establishing governance of risk
management." Ref Risk Management Practice 2.4
(4) This is a 'risk management' practice success factor. "The risk management
practice includes the following PSFs: ... nurturing a risk management culture and
identifying risks." Ref Risk Management Practice 2.4
A. B. D. Incorrect.
(1) Developing a target architecture is a practice success factor for the 'architecture
management' practice. Ref Architecture Management Practice 2.4.1
(2) This answer suggests taking actions to reduce all risks, however risk reduction is
only one possible risk treatment. Risks may be retained, avoided, shared or reduced
depending on their assessment. "Risk treatment generally falls into the following
categories: Risk retention or acceptance... Risk avoidance... Risk-sharing or
transfer... Risk modification or reduction." Ref 11.11

Page 8 of 17

15 B 4.1 A. Incorrect. “Organizational agility is an organization’s ability to move and adapt
quickly, flexibly, and decisively in response to events in the internal or external
environment.” It may support organizational resilience, but it is not directly focused
on it. Ref 8.1.2.2
B. Correct. “Organizational resilience is the organization’s ability to anticipate,
prepare for, respond to, and overcome adverse events in the internal or external
environment.” Ref 8.1.2.2
C. Incorrect. This refers to Lean. “Lean organizations are focused on continual
improvement of their value streams’ workflows and the elimination of waste.” Lean
does not directly address resilience to adverse changes. Ref 8.1.2.2
D. Incorrect. This refers to Lean. “Lean organizations are focused on continual
improvement of their value streams’ workflows and the elimination of waste.” Lean
does not directly address resilience to adverse changes. Ref 8.1.2.2
16 C 4.3.a A. Incorrect. The question describes an example of ecosystem disruption, not
industry disruption, because changes are caused by the service across many
markets and industries. "Industry disruption occurs when digital technology
introduces a change that impacts a specific industry... or a group of related
industries." "Ecosystem disruption occurs when digital technology introduces a
change that impacts organizations across multiple industries and markets. It also
changes the way multiple ecosystem factors work." Ref 3.1.2, 3.1.1
B. Incorrect. The question describes an example of ecosystem disruption, not market
disruption, because changes are caused by the service across many markets and
industries. "Market disruption occurs when digital technology introduces a change
that impacts a particular market or market segment" and "ecosystem disruption
occurs when digital technology introduces a change that impacts organizations
across multiple industries and markets. It also changes the way multiple ecosystem
factors work." Ref 3.1.3, 3.1.1
C. Correct. Because the question describes changes caused by the service across
many markets and industries, this is an example of ecosystem disruption.
"Ecosystem disruption occurs when digital technology introduces a change that
impacts organizations across multiple industries and markets. It also changes the
way multiple ecosystem factors work." Ref 3.1.1
D. Incorrect. Organizational disruption affects organizations when "disruptions to
their markets or industry require them to recover or preserve their position in the
market." There may have been some organizational disruption within the service
provider, but from the perspective of their competitors this is 'Ecosystem disruption.'
Ref 3.1.4

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17 D 6.3 A. Incorrect. Low risk capacity means that this risky strategy is more likely to fail, low
risk appetite means that the organization is less likely to follow this strategy. "Risk
capacity: The total amount of risk that an organization can tolerate." "Risk appetite:
The degree to which an organization will embrace negative risk in pursuit of its
objectives." Ref 11.10.1, tab 11.1
B. Incorrect. Low risk capacity means that this risky strategy is more likely to fail.
"Risk capacity: The total amount of risk that an organization can tolerate." "Risk
appetite: The degree to which an organization will embrace negative risk in pursuit of
its objectives." Ref 11.10.1, tab 11.1
C. Incorrect. Low risk appetite means that the organization is less likely to follow this
strategy. "Risk capacity: The total amount of risk that an organization can tolerate."
"Risk appetite: The degree to which an organization will embrace negative risk in
pursuit of its objectives." Ref 11.10.1, tab 11.1
D. Correct. High risk capacity means that this risky strategy is less likely to fail, high
risk appetite means that the organization is more likely to follow this strategy. "Risk
capacity: The total amount of risk that an organization can tolerate." "Risk appetite:
The degree to which an organization will embrace negative risk in pursuit of its
objectives." Ref 11.10.1, tab 11.1
18 B 8.2 A. Incorrect. Digital mindset “does not mean making changes for the sake of keeping
up with technology trends. Rather it means understanding how technology is
changing the way people live and work, and collaborating with others to ensure that
the organization stays relevant in the context of those changes.” Ref 9.1
B. Correct. Digital mindset “means understanding how technology is changing the
way people live and work, and collaborating with others to ensure that the
organization stays relevant in the context of those changes.” Ref 9.1
C. Incorrect. This is intelligent automation: “the ability to automate commonly
performed actions or decisions differently depends on shifting contexts or
objectives.” Ref 5.2.2.2, tab 5.8
D. Incorrect. “A digital or 'growth' mindset recognizes that the changes happening in
society and industry are not just happening to others, and they are not only visible to
leaders. Employees, partners, and customers are going through these changes
personally, in their homes, schools, communities, and social activities. Far from
trying to enforce new and foreign work practices onto an unwitting workforce, the
digital mindset seeks to expand and accelerate possibilities that are already on their
horizons.” Ref 9.1

Page 10 of 17

19 A 6.2.a A. Correct. Due diligence checks early in the customer journey are a good way to
identify engagement risks. “Engagement risks can be identified by due diligence
checks at the early steps of the relationships (‘Engage’ step of the customer or
employee journey…” Ref 11.5.1
B. Incorrect. Due diligence checks should be carried out early in the customer
journey, not at a late step. “Engagement risks can be identified by due diligence
checks at the early steps of the relationships (‘Engage’ step of the customer or
employee journey…” Ref 11.5.1
C. Incorrect. Qualitative risk assessment is carried out to identify the impact and
likelihood of a risk after it has been identified. “Qualitative risk analysis is used to
determine the likelihood that a risk will occur and the impact that it will have if it
does.” Ref 11.7
D. Incorrect. Quantitative assessment is carried out to identify the monetary value of
a risk after it has been identified. “Quantitative risk analysis techniques attempt to
place a monetary value on risks. These approaches are complex and require
significant research and analysis. They are generally only used when a risk exceeds
a pre-defined threshold.” Ref 11.8
20 A 5.2 A. Correct. "Continual improvement should form part of every strategy. Even
organizations reliant on innovative disruption must be able to deliver consistent, stable,
and improved services and products over the long term." Ref 5.2.2.1
B. Incorrect. "These strategies are aimed at improving performance and efficiency, by
replacing ageing technology that has become too expensive to maintain, or
inappropriate architectures that are unable to support the functionality or performance
required by changing business needs." This is not likely to be relevant to a small IT
service provider that has only existed for one year. Ref 5.2.2.4
C. Incorrect. "These strategies are aimed at reducing cost and increasing speed, but
do not change the fundamental operation of the organization." This small, innovative,
service provider is more likely to benefit from complex automation or intelligent
automation. Continual improvement will enable them to identify the best approach to
automation, as well as providing focus on the other dimensions of service
management. Ref 5.2.2.2, tab 5.8
D. Incorrect. Customer analytics is used as a strategic approach for customer/market
relevance, not for operational excellence. "Information about how and why customers
have engaged with the organization in the past, and their demand for new and future
products and services, can point to gaps in the organization’s portfolio and
performance." Ref 5.2.1.4

Page 11 of 17

21 A 2.3 A. Correct. "The major activities of governance are... Evaluate... Direct...[and]
Monitor." Ref 2.10.3
B. Incorrect. The purpose of the strategy management practice is to "formulate the
goals of the organization and adopt the courses of action achieving those goals."
Monitoring performance (via governance) will form a key input into the adoption of
strategic goals and deciding on the best courses of action. Ref Strategy
Management Practice 2.1
C. Incorrect. Value is defined as "the perceived benefits, usefulness, and importance
of something." Value leads to organizational performance, which is monitored by
organizational governance. Ref 2.10.2
D. Incorrect. "Practices utilize the processes, resources, partners, and technologies
and how they will contribute to the strategy", which is based on the direction set by
organizational governance. Ref 2.10.6
22 B 2.1.c A. Incorrect. "Digital technology is any technology that digitizes something or
processes digital data." The components may be digital technology, but their
inclusion into products and services is typical of a digital organization. Ref 2.1
B. Correct. “What differentiates a digital organization [from other organizations] is the
extent to which it uses digital technology as a basis to differentiate itself... Their
products and services often have a digital component (such as a mobile app to order
services), or may be entirely digital (such as an online stock trading service)." Ref
2.2
C. Incorrect. "Digitization is the process of transforming something (e.g. text, sound,
or images) from analogue to digital form by expressing the information in binary
digits." Ref 2.4
D. Incorrect. "Digital transformation is achieved by digitizing, robotizing, and other
forms of automation that enable organizations to do things differently, or to do
different things." This situation did not describe a transformation, as nothing is being
changed. Ref 2.5

Page 12 of 17

23 C 8.4 A. Incorrect. This describes the synergism parallel operating model. "Synergism
tends to work best in situations where adjacent or complementary sales channels
exist, there is no competition among channels, and customers prefer omnichannel
delivery." Ref 8.2.1.4
B. Incorrect. This describes the cannibalism parallel operating model. "Cannibalism
focuses on the rapid destruction of an existing business model and its subsequent
replacement with a new digital business model." Ref 8.2.1.1
C. Correct. "Erosion can be considered a kinder, gentler form of cannibalism where
the organization uses the revenues of an existing and still profitable business model
to fund a new digital business model." Ref 8.2.1.2
D. Incorrect. This describes the concurrence parallel operating model. "Concurrence
is an approach where the new digital business model neither helps nor harms the
existing business model. Concurrence tends to work best when the organization is
attempting to gain or increase market share." Ref 8.2.1.3
24 A 2.3 A. Correct. "An opportunity is a situation that allows an organization to expand its
existing operation, either by introducing new products and services or by moving into
a new market." Ref 2.10.1.1
B. Incorrect. Continual improvement is the approach to changing products, services,
technologies or organizations in response to internal or external triggers. “The
improvement of the organization itself might be the basis for its strategy” to capitalize
on an opportunity. Ref 2.10.5
C. Incorrect. "Value is the perceived benefits, usefulness, and importance of
something. Value is also co-created by the organization and other stakeholders, as it
seeks to meet demand and fulfil opportunities." The scenario only mentions the
identification of an opportunity, not the fulfilment of the opportunity. Ref 2.10.2
D. Incorrect. “Practices utilize the processes, resources, partners, and technologies
and how they will contribute to the strategy", or fulfilling an opportunity. The scenario
only mentions the identification of an opportunity, not the fulfilment of the opportunity.
Ref 2.10.6

Page 13 of 17

25 D 2.1.e A. Incorrect. "Digital technology is any technology that digitizes something or
processes digital data." This situation uses digital technology, but introduction of the
technology to automate work is an example of digital transformation. Ref 2.1
B. Incorrect. "A digital organization is an organization that is enabled by digital
technology to do business significantly differently, or to do a significantly different
business." This may be a digital organization, but the situation describes the use of
robots to facilitate a transformation. This is an example of digital transformation. Ref
2.2
C. Incorrect. "Digitization is the process of transforming something (e.g. text, sound,
or images) from analogue to digital form by expressing the information in binary
digits." Ref 2.4
D. Correct. "Digital transformation is defined as the use of digital technology to
enable a significant improvement in the realization of the organization’s objectives
that could not feasibly have been achieved by non-digital means. Digital
transformation is achieved by digitizing, robotizing, and other forms of automation
that enable organizations to do things differently, or to do different things." Ref 2.5
26 A 5.1.e A. Correct. “The ability to obtain close to real-time feedback and evaluation is critical
to maintaining customer relevance.” Ref 5.2.1.6
B. Incorrect. Operational excellence is a different strategic focus which should be
balanced with customer relevance; it is not a way to achieve customer relevance.
"Regardless of the starting point, strategies will touch on both customer/market
relevance and operational excellence." Ref 3.2.4
C. Incorrect. “Organizational resilience is an organization’s ability to anticipate,
prepare for, respond to, and overcome adverse events in the internal or external
environment.” It may support customer relevance in unexpected circumstances but
does not ensure it directly. Ref 5.2.3.2
D. Incorrect. A resource-based advantage helps to ensure operational excellence:
“organizations rely on the fact that they have access to resources that other
organizations do not.” It does not directly ensure customer relevance and even less
likely to continually maintain it. Ref 5.2.2

Page 14 of 17

27 D 7.3 D. Correct
(1) The question states that the executive are accountable for strategic decisions
and therefore should receive the business case. "Business cases, including those
components of the strategy that contain cost and return calculations, are only shared
with stakeholders who will approve and fund the strategy." Ref 5.3.4
(4) "The audience of a business case should include: advisers to those stakeholders,
such as enterprise architects, finance experts, legal experts, and technology
experts." Ref 5.3.4.1
A. B. C. Incorrect.
(2) The strategy could be shared with service consumers but the financial
information in the business case should not be shared outside of the company.
"Business cases, including those components of the strategy that contain cost and
return calculations, are only shared with stakeholders who will approve and fund the
strategy." Ref 5.3.4
(3) The business case should not be communicated as widely as the strategy. Many
parties may have been involved in creating the strategy, but the business case
should only be shared with those making the decisions. "Business cases, including
those components of the strategy that contain cost and return calculations, are only
shared with stakeholders who will approve and fund the strategy." Ref 5.3.4

Page 15 of 17

28 C 5.2 A. Incorrect. This is a small organization in a crowded market. It is likely that other
organizations have the scale advantage. Scale advantages "are organizational
models based on building a competitive advantage by growing the organization or its
customer base." Ref 5.2.2
B. Incorrect. This is a crowded market that the organization has only just entered. It
is likely that other organizations will have the incumbency advantage. Incumbency
advantages are "the first organization to enter the market often becomes the
preferred provider. New entrants must overcome a lack of credibility." Ref 5.2.2
C. Correct. The unique technology model is an example of a resource that is hard to
replicate. Resource-based advantages are "organizations [that] rely on the fact that
they have access to resources that other organizations do not. To enable a
resource-based competitive advantage, the resources are valuable, rare,
nonreplicable, durable and organization-specific. These include company secrets,
patents, culture, etc." Ref 5.2.2
D. Incorrect. The question refers to operational excellence not customer relevance.
"Organizations focusing on customer or market relevance as a basis for disruption
will try to change the basic customer experience, customer journey, and behaviour of
customers, influencing their demand for new products or how they engage with the
organization." "Organizations focusing on operational excellence as a basis for
disruption will use technology in innovative ways to obtain higher levels of
performance and quality with lower cost, improved productivity, and reduced waste."
Ref 3.2.1, 3.2.2

Page 16 of 17

29 A 5.1.b A. Correct. The objective of omnichannel strategy is to "ensure continual customer
engagement across multiple communication and delivery channels, both online and
offline, to deliver consistent and positive customer experiences." Ref 5.2.1.2
B. Incorrect. A customer journey “represents the perceived experience by a
customer or user through a defined end-to-end process.” The customer journey in
turn may be made up of several touchpoints that require omnichannel capabilities.
Ref 5.2.1.1
C. Incorrect. Customer analytics is focused on “information about how and why
customers have engaged with the organization in the past, and their demand for new
and future products and services... it can be correlated with environmental factors."
Customer analytics may rely on data gathered from multiple sources and channels
made possible by an omnichannel strategy. Ref 5.2.1.4
D. Incorrect. Context-sensitive delivery and support is focused on understanding “the
pattern of these interactions and the context by which they occur” with customers,
which allows the provider to be more responsive and “tailor the support provided.”
Context-sensitive delivery and support may rely on omnichannel capabilities to
gather data that allows the organization to better understand the context of the
interaction. Ref 5.2.1.3
30 B 8.6 A. Incorrect. The 'implement with feedback' step is where the plan is implemented
and involves chartering the programme and ensuring funding and resource is
available. "The digital task force charters projects or programmes for each group of
activities, assigns an owner for each group, and ensures that plans and budgets are
defined for each group. It also ensures that resources and funding are made
available as needed." Ref 6.3.4.1
B. Correct. This is the step where the plan is formed. "The digital task force will
group the changes into initiatives or projects and sequence them." Ref 6.3.4.1
C. Incorrect. The 'develop vision and goals' step is the first step in a digital
transformation programme and involves aligning the programme with the
organization's strategic objectives. "The digital transformation programme will build
the capabilities the organization needs to achieve those strategic objectives." Ref
6.3.4.1
D. Incorrect. The 'architect changes' step is where the necessary changes are
identified and involves designing the components that are not yet digitized. "A review
of the organization’s strategy and its artefacts, especially enterprise architecture
information, will help the team to identify which components of the current state are
already digitized, which are partially digitized, and which are not digitized... the team
will then architect all areas that need to be changed." Ref 6.3.4.1

Page 17 of 17

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The ITIL® 4 Digital and IT Strategy Examination

Examination Duration: 1 hour

2. There is only one correct answer per question.

3. You need to answer 21 questions correctly to pass the exam.

5. You have 1 hour to complete this exam.

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

1) An organization is investigating locations for a new office.

Which is the BEST approach for them to adopt?

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4) Which BEST describes an organization’s vision?

A. It describes an organization’s reason to exist

6) An organization that sells apps to consumers is planning a strategy to disrupt a market by

Which is the BEST approach to adopt?

A. Implement a new workflow management tool to support the sales department

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

7) An organization wants to improve its operational excellence by encouraging innovation in how

Which term is used to described this?

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

The scope of the assessment included:

Which is the MOST LIKELY cause of this issue?

A. The assessment failed to consider strategy and leadership

A. The ‘measurement and reporting’ practice

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A. How to monitor and manage their operations

1. Developing a target architecture based on risk.

Which aspect of the organization should the leaders focus on?

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

Which organization is MOST LIKELY to benefit from following this strategy?

A. An organization with low risk capacity, and low risk appetite

18) Which is a key feature of a digital mindset?

A. Using every available opportunity to make a technology-based change

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

A. Due diligence checks at an early step of the customer journey

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

What is this an example of?

23) Which describes the erosion parallel operating model?

Which concept BEST describes this situation?

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26) An organization's strategy involves the continual maintenance of customer relevance.

What is the BEST way to ensure this is achieved?

A. Evaluating feedback on products and services

Who should the business case be presented to before it is approved?

1. The executive team

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

Which strategic approach does this situation describe?

Which concept BEST describes the foundation of the organization's strategy?

A. Omnichannel delivery and support

30) Which is a CORRECT description of a step in a digital transformation programme?

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Answers and Rationales

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For exam paper: EN_ITIL4_SL_DITS_2020_SamplePaper1_QuestionBk_v1.0

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

Q A Syllabus Ref Rationale

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

Q A Syllabus Ref Rationale

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

Q A Syllabus Ref Rationale

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

Q A Syllabus Ref Rationale

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

Q A Syllabus Ref Rationale

©AXELOS Limited 2020.

Q A Syllabus Ref Rationale