A couple of months ago, we started something new and innovative – the Do IT Wise Academy focusing on ServiceNow and ITOM.

13 young talents embarked upon a journey of 458 hours of intensive tailor-made training, hands-on labs, and exercises led by our top experts in the IT Consultancy field.

Ivaylo Chenchev, Ph.D., ITOM Consulting Manager at Do IT Wise and the main driver behind the Academy, shares how it all started – “The idea for the Academy arose during one of our regular management meetings, where our focus was on increasing productivity, efficiency, and growth. Although we have a very well-defined and written onboarding process, we wanted to go a step further – to improve it. We had and still have a large pipeline of upcoming projects. So, it is the right time to realize the idea. We first reviewed the existing process and decided what to reuse and how to reorder the training sessions. Then we identified what else, in terms of technical skills, soft skills, and experience, made sense as technical consultants, and we worked on the contents. “

The Academy included a lot of hands-on exercises and interactive sessions, and it also gave the opportunity to all attendances to be certified in two mainline official ServiceNow certifications: 

✔ServiceNow CIS – Discovery 

✔ServiceNow CSA 

In addition, the participants had exams for two micro certifications: 

✔ServiceNow CMDB Configuration 

✔ServiceNow CMDB Health 

The main goal of the Academy was to develop the minimum needed skills and experience for a quick and successful start in the ITOM profession. We will be delighted if we manage to ignite the spark of further development and growth in the ServiceNow ITOM consultancy area for each of the participants.” 

The Do IT Wise Academy was separated into three different parts covering:

Part 1

1. ServiceNow Foundations 

2. ServiceNow Configuration Management Database (CMDB) Fundamentals 

3. ServiceNow Common Service Data Model (CSDM) Fundamentals 

4. Scripting in ServiceNow 

5. Technology Part I – Networking 

6. Technology Part I – Monitoring Concepts 

7. Technology Part I – Linux Operating Systems 

8. Technology Part II – Cloud Infrastructures 

9. Technology Part II – MySQL Databases 

10. IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Fundamentals 

11. Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) 

Part 2

1. ServiceNow Discovery 

2. Technology Course in Virtualization 

3. Technology Course in Containers 

4. Soft skills course – Presentation skills 

5. Soft skills course – Lead Workshop skills 

Part 3

1. Practical Hands-on with ServiceNow 

Some of our most experienced colleagues helped to realize the Academy by sharing their invaluable knowledge and practical experience with the students. All consulting managers were involved in the education process.  

Vesela Hristova, our consulting manager of the BPC team, led a soft skills training on improving presentation skills. A few people from her team led the ITIL training, the ServiceNow CSDM workshop, and training on how to lead workshops with customers.  

The Consulting Manager of our ITSM team, Omar Ait Rahho, directed the ServiceNow architecture session. Also, his team helped with the practical exercises around ServiceNow platform administration, development, and scripting.  

The SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) session was led by our PMO team lead, Gergana Trifonova.  

Ivaylo Chenchev, Ph.D., ITOM Consulting Manager, was responsible for all technology introduction sessions and deep-dive training. The main technology focus was operating systems, cloud infrastructures, databases, virtualization, and containers.  

On top of the sessions, we had some very intensive and deeply technical practical exercises. Some of our senior technical consultants took care of the learners’ questions, issues, and support – Yani Dimitrov, Aleksander Pilarski, Aleksander Mitov, Dobroslav Dragoshinov, and Adrian Bezev. 

“The ITOM Academy summarizes our desire and opportunities for quickly preparing and onboarding junior IT consultants. The energy we spend in its realization pays off in the end. It is a big success for our new joiners, who have already started participating in actual engagements. The excellent results from the Academy are making us think that this is the way to go, not only in the ITOM stream but for ITSM. We are going to do it again.”, Ivaylo Chenchev continues. 

But maybe the most valuable feedback we can receive is from the students who continue their journey and are now working as IT Consultants.  

One of our participants, Hristomir Hristov, shares his thoughts after the end of the program – “The Academy is a great opportunity for a promising career path and lots of things to learn and place to grow, regardless of your background. It’s not a walk in the park, so don’t underestimate it, and most of all, enjoy it.” 

Alexandra Koleva also has a message for everyone that wonders if they should try and join the next Academy – “I can give this advice with all my heart to future participants – first of all – believe in yourself, be passionate about it, or leave it! Believe in the amazing people that are teaching you – they really put their hearts and souls into it! And last but not least – trust the process! No way you cannot do it if you really want it! And one more thing – I started with something completely new and as you know, the IT world – so vast, almost infinite, at 27! It’s never too late to improve yourself! Go for IT!” 

To honor the efforts of the participants and all the people who created the Academy, we held a graduation ceremony and celebration in the office. We are extremely proud of all of them and will continue to invest in young talents and discover and guide the new generation of IT leaders.