ITIL-FOUNDATION · Question #274
Staff in an IT department are experts in managing specific technology, but none of them know what services are offered to the business. What imbalance does this represent?
The correct answer is D. Extreme internal focus. When IT staff are skilled in managing technology but unaware of what services the IT department offers to the business, this reflects an extreme internal focus - a key ITIL anti-pattern where technical silos form at the expense of business alignment.
Question
Staff in an IT department are experts in managing specific technology, but none of them know what services are offered to the business. What imbalance does this represent?
Options
- AExtreme focus on cost
- BExtreme focus on responsiveness
- CVendor focused
- DExtreme internal focus
How the community answered
(21 responses)- A5% (1)
- B5% (1)
- D90% (19)
Why each option
When IT staff are skilled in managing technology but unaware of what services the IT department offers to the business, this reflects an extreme internal focus - a key ITIL anti-pattern where technical silos form at the expense of business alignment.
Extreme focus on cost describes prioritizing budget reduction over service quality or responsiveness, not a disconnect between technical expertise and business service awareness.
Extreme focus on responsiveness describes prioritizing rapid reaction to demands over planned, strategic service delivery, which is unrelated to staff not knowing what services are offered.
Vendor focused describes a situation where IT decisions are driven primarily by vendor relationships or product offerings rather than business requirements, not an internal knowledge gap.
Extreme internal focus occurs when IT staff are so absorbed in their own technical domains that they lose sight of the business services they are supposed to support. This imbalance means the department operates as a technology silo rather than a service provider, failing to connect technical expertise with business outcomes. ITIL identifies this inward orientation as a root cause of misalignment between IT and the business.
Concept tested: ITIL balance between internal focus and business alignment
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