Both the ITIL certification and PRINCE2 certification are extremely popular, and each has some serious benefits. There are also key differences between them, however, which can shape your career path, the industries you work in, and your potential earnings. In this article we’ll cover all those areas, to ultimately help you decide which qualification best meets your career needs.
ITIL vs PRINCE2 – A Quick Overview
ITIL and PRINCE2 are two of the most popular certifications for IT professionals. Both provide frameworks for getting difficult tasks done, and – because of that – both qualifications have plenty of value.
The main difference is in their applications.
ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is focused specifically on day-to-day IT service management operations.
While it can normally prove a complex topic, using instructors with decades of experience certainly eases the learning curve.
PRINCE2 (Projects In Controlled Environments 2) is a more general qualification, related to project management. With ALC, that entire qualification – for both Foundation and Practitioner levels – can be completed in only five days.
Overall, ITIL is more service-oriented, while the priority for PRINCE2 is project delivery.
Your Working Day
When deciding between ITIL and PRINCE2, one of the key considerations is the specialism you wish to focus on.
With ITIL, your focus will be on keeping IT operations running smoothly, which can involve solving unexpected problems, co-ordinating any changes which are being rolled out, improving customer support processes, and so on.
PRINCE2 will tend more towards planning and delivering projects. That might involve setting deadlines, managing budgets, and liaising with both your colleagues and stakeholders.
In general, ITIL work might target near term, business need outcomes, while PRINCE2 leans more heavily on longer-term goals.
Your Potential Career Trajectories
While there are certainly plenty of possibilities in both cases, your choice between ITIL and PRINCE2 can still largely determine your career trajectory.
An ITIL qualification will take you down an IT Service Management centred path. There are lots of roles within that sphere, however, from more service-focused jobs, to leadership positions. Overall though, your priorities will still be ensuring systems run efficiently and stably and keeping the people who use them happy.
A PRINCE2 qualification offers a broader range of opportunities. While IT remains an extremely popular pick, there are plenty of alternative fields you might work in, which also involve project coordination and management.
What Industries Could You Work In?
As noted, ITIL will lead you towards an IT role. That said, there are plenty of industries where you will find this role. These include markets which are both sizable and lucrative, such as banking and telecommunications. Generally speaking, any sizable organisation with complex systems will be interested in someone holding an ITIL qualification.
While IT is also a common route for PRINCE2 professionals, they have a similarly broad range of possible industries to pick from. Many end up in the public sector, but consulting firms and utilities companies are other popular destinations.
ITIL vs PRINCE2 – Typical Salaries
Holders of both ITIL and PRINCE2 qualifications can look forward to highly competitive salaries.
Entry and support-level roles for ITIL holders often average around AUD $70,000-85,000/year. Mid-level jobs regularly hit around $90,000-130,000. Senior, highly-specialised, or more management focused top-end salaries can exceed $150,000-160,000.
PRINCE2 holders often get higher starting salaries, at around $115,000-120,000 even for more junior roles. Mid-level project managers can average $135,000. Senior, experienced project managers, meanwhile, can pull in anywhere from $150,000-190,000 or more, particularly in bigger organisations or for more complex projects.
Overall, ITIL incomes might start a little lower, but both paths can see you hitting stable, long-term growth in your salary.
Persona-Based Recommendations
Instead of just looking at the frameworks themselves, a useful way to decide which qualification is better for you is to consider the sort of role you’re aiming for.
If you’d prefer a ‘Service Desk Manager’-style job, ITIL is definitely better suited. Your daily work here will revolve around keeping IT services running smoothly, improving those processes too, and delivering high quality support to users. There’s also clear potential towards moving into a Service Delivery Manager role in the future, in which you take on more responsibility.
If you favour a ‘Project Coordinator’ type of job instead, prioritise PRINCE2. This will see you planning and delivering those projects, and liaising with stakeholders throughout. As you build experience and success stories, you can also progress into higher-level Projector Manager jobs.
Can You Do Both?
So far, we’ve been discussing ITIL and PRINCE2 as if they’re mutually exclusive. The truth, however, is that it’s not only possible to hold both qualifications. Since launching in 1994 we’ve seen many people do just that, and gain a significant advantage in their career progression.
In fact, these two qualifications work extremely well together.
PRINCE2 gives you the top-down view. It lets you plan out the budget, timeline, and necessary steps for delivering a project.
An ITIL qualification helps you actually keep that project running over the long-term. It ensures the services are both stable and efficient, providing continuing value for stakeholders.
We already outlined distinct jobs for holders of these qualifications. If you have both, however, you can create specific roles which other people would be unable to fulfill. You can work as an IT Project Manager in the public sector, for example, or an IT Service Delivery Manager.
In short, proven knowledge of both frameworks can unlock career opportunities for you that simply wouldn’t be open to most professionals.
ITIL vs PRINCE2 – Final Thoughts
Choosing between an ITIL qualification and a PRINCE2 qualification comes down to how you’d like to shape your future career.
An ITIL might be better-suited if you’re looking to work in IT operations and want to manage and improve services within that sphere. PRINCE2, meanwhile, is a more flexible qualification which sees you planning, delivering, and ultimately leading projects.
Both paths have a clear career progression. Both can also provide excellent and steady earnings. Ultimately, therefore, it’s absolutely worth taking the time to study and receive either qualification. That’s particularly true when Foundation courses in ITIL and Prince 2 take only two days or three days respectively with ALC.
Finally, pursuing both qualifications is not only possible, but can provide the perfect blend of shorter and longer-term thinking. In an increasingly competitive job market, holding both an ITIL and PRINCE2 qualification can truly make you stand out, and carve out a career which few other people could aim for.