ITIL CDS Sample Questions & Practice Test

ITIL Create, Deliver and Support (CDS) is an advanced PeopleCert ITIL route for candidates who need to connect service design, delivery, support, and operations.

This page includes 12 original CDS sample questions for initial review. Full IT Mastery practice for CDS is not live yet; use the Notify me form if this ITIL module is the route you want prioritized.

ITIL CDS exam snapshot

• Provider: PeopleCert
• Official route: ITIL Create, Deliver and Support
• Common short form: CDS
• Family: ITIL advanced route
• Best fit: service managers, operations leads, support managers, DevOps practitioners, and ITSM candidates moving beyond Foundation

What CDS questions usually test

• designing and improving service value streams
• connecting development, operations, support, suppliers, and users
• choosing measures that improve flow, quality, and value
• using incidents, requests, knowledge, change, and deployment practices as connected service work
• balancing speed, control, accountability, and customer experience

Common CDS traps

Sample Exam Questions

Try these 12 original sample questions for ITIL Create, Deliver and Support. They are written for self-assessment and are not official exam questions.

Question 1

Topic: value stream design

A team wants to redesign a service value stream because handoffs between development, operations, and the service desk cause repeated delays. What should the team do first?

• A. Map the current flow, identify delay points, and agree what outcome the stream should improve
• B. Buy a new workflow tool and migrate every ticket immediately
• C. Remove all approvals so work can move faster
• D. Ask each team to optimize its own queue separately

Best answer: A

Explanation: CDS reasoning starts with value-stream clarity. Mapping the real work and the desired outcome prevents local optimization and tool-first changes that may make the flow worse.

Question 2

Topic: incident and problem work

Users report a recurring payment-system outage. The service desk restores access each time, but the same failure returns every week. What is the best CDS interpretation?

• A. Incident management is complete, so no further action is needed
• B. The recurring pattern should trigger problem investigation while incidents continue to restore service
• C. The service desk should close future tickets automatically
• D. The issue is only a supplier problem and cannot be managed internally

Best answer: B

Explanation: Incident work restores service; problem work investigates causes and reduces future recurrence. CDS questions often test whether candidates connect operational practices instead of treating each ticket as isolated.

Question 3

Topic: knowledge management

A support team repeatedly escalates the same passwordless sign-in issue to engineering. Which improvement is most useful?

• A. Tell users to stop reporting the issue
• B. Remove the sign-in service from the catalog
• C. Create and maintain a knowledge article that helps first-line support diagnose and resolve the known scenario
• D. Escalate all identity issues immediately without triage

Best answer: C

Explanation: Knowledge management helps work move closer to the point of need. A useful article can reduce escalations, improve user experience, and make support more consistent.

Question 4

Topic: shift-left support

Which action best reflects a shift-left support approach?

• A. Keeping all technical knowledge inside senior engineering teams
• B. Removing the service desk from the value stream
• C. Requiring every user issue to wait for a weekly review board
• D. Moving suitable diagnostic steps, scripts, or knowledge to earlier support tiers and self-service channels

Best answer: D

Explanation: Shift-left moves appropriate work closer to users or first-line support. It improves speed and consistency when backed by knowledge, training, and controls.

Question 5

Topic: change and deployment

A release is ready, but support teams have not received known-error notes, rollback instructions, or user-impact details. What is the strongest CDS concern?

• A. Support readiness is incomplete, so service quality and restoration capability are at risk
• B. Deployment can proceed because development has finished coding
• C. Only the project manager needs release information
• D. Communication is optional if the release is small

Best answer: A

Explanation: CDS connects delivery and support. A release is not only a code event; support teams need enough information to handle incidents, user questions, and recovery.

Question 6

Topic: service desk metrics

Which metric set is most useful for improving support value?

• A. Ticket count only
• B. Resolution quality, user experience, escalation patterns, and time to restore service
• C. Analyst keyboard activity only
• D. Number of reports produced each month

Best answer: B

Explanation: CDS uses measures to improve service outcomes, not just activity. Volume alone can hide poor quality, repeated escalations, or weak user experience.

Question 7

Topic: supplier handoffs

A supplier handles a critical component, but incidents bounce between the supplier and internal teams with no clear owner. What should be clarified first?

• A. The supplier’s logo in the service catalog
• B. The number of internal email lists
• C. Ownership, escalation points, service expectations, and handoff responsibilities
• D. Whether users can be told not to contact support

Best answer: C

Explanation: CDS requires coordinated service work across teams and suppliers. Clear ownership and escalation reduce delay, confusion, and poor customer experience.

Question 8

Topic: automation judgment

The team wants to automate request fulfilment for access approvals, but approval rules are inconsistent across departments. What should happen before automation?

• A. Automate the inconsistent rules exactly as they are
• B. Remove all approval requirements
• C. Build automation without involving service owners
• D. Clarify and standardize the policy and workflow that automation will support

Best answer: D

Explanation: Automation should support a clear practice. Automating unclear rules can make mistakes faster and harder to see.

Question 9

Topic: user communication

During a major service disruption, which support behavior best protects stakeholder trust?

• A. Provide timely, accurate status updates, expected next updates, and known workarounds where available
• B. Wait until root cause is fully known before communicating anything
• C. Send technical logs to every user
• D. Promise a permanent fix before investigation begins

Best answer: A

Explanation: Good support communication is timely, honest, and useful. Users need reliable status and practical next steps, not silence or unsupported promises.

Question 10

Topic: workforce and capability

A support practice depends on one senior analyst who understands a key diagnostic tool. What is the best improvement?

• A. Accept the dependency because the analyst is skilled
• B. Document the procedure, train backups, and monitor whether the practice has enough capability
• C. Remove the diagnostic tool
• D. Route all incidents to the senior analyst indefinitely

Best answer: B

Explanation: CDS includes people, capability, and sustainable service operation. Single-person dependency creates risk even when the current analyst performs well.

Question 11

Topic: continual improvement

A monthly review finds that request fulfilment is slow because the same approvals are manually checked several times. What is the best next step?

• A. Ignore the finding because requests are eventually completed
• B. Tell users to submit fewer requests
• C. Add the finding to an improvement register and evaluate simplification or automation options
• D. Remove all records of approval

Best answer: C

Explanation: Improvement work should be captured, prioritized, and assessed. The right answer preserves control while looking for better flow.

Question 12

Topic: end-to-end service thinking

Which statement best reflects CDS?

• A. Service delivery ends when development completes a feature
• B. Support teams are separate from value delivery
• C. ITIL practices should be selected only by tool vendors
• D. Creating, delivering, and supporting services should be managed as connected work that preserves value for users

Best answer: D

Explanation: CDS emphasizes connected service work. The best answer links creation, delivery, support, and improvement to customer and user value.

What to open next

• Need ITIL basics first? Open ITIL Foundation V5 .
• Need ITSM platform practice? Open ServiceNow CIS-ITSM .
• Need cloud operations practice? Open AWS SOA-C03 .