ITIL · Question #438
What is the BEST description of an external customer?
The correct answer is C. Customers who are not part of the same organization as the service provider. An external customer is any customer who belongs to a different organization than the service provider, as opposed to an internal customer who is part of the same organization.
Question
What is the BEST description of an external customer?
Options
- ASomeone who works in the same organization but in a different business unit to the service
- BAnyone who gets charged for the delivered services
- CCustomers who are not part of the same organization as the service provider
- DCustomers for whom the cost of the service is the primary driver
How the community answered
(27 responses)- A4% (1)
- C93% (25)
- D4% (1)
Why each option
An external customer is any customer who belongs to a different organization than the service provider, as opposed to an internal customer who is part of the same organization.
A person in the same organization but a different business unit is the definition of an internal customer, not an external one.
Being charged for services does not determine whether a customer is external - internal customers can also be subject to internal charge-back models.
In ITIL, the distinction between internal and external customers is based on organizational boundary: external customers are those who receive services from a service provider but are not employed by or part of that same organization. This distinction matters because external customers typically interact under formal contracts (SLAs) and have different commercial relationships with the service provider.
The primary driver for choosing a service (such as cost) is not a defining characteristic of external customer status.
Concept tested: ITIL definition of external versus internal customer
Source: https://www.axelos.com/certifications/itil-service-management/itil-4-foundation
Topics
Community Discussion
No community discussion yet for this question.