Which of the following is the first step in assessing the maturity of Deployment Management practices using the ITIL Maturity Model?

The ITIL Maturity Model, like the continual improvement model it is based on, begins with understanding the current situation. The first step is always to assess the "as-is" state by identifying the current capabilities, processes, performance, and value streams of the Deployment Management practice. This baseline understanding is fundamental for all subsequent steps, such as defining improvement goals, developing a plan, and measuring progress. Without first knowing the starting point, it is impossible to plan a meaningful improvement journey or measure its success.

A. Defining the outcomes of the assessment is part of the "Where do we want to be?" step, which follows the initial "Where are we now?" assessment.
C. Developing a maturity assessment framework is a prerequisite for the assessment itself, but the first step in the assessment is gathering data on the current state.
D. Benchmarking against industry standards is a method used during the assessment or to set targets, not the initial step of understanding the internal current state.

- AXELOS. (2022). ITIL® 4 Practitioner: Deployment Management. PeopleCert. Section 4.4, "Assessing and improving the practice capability," states, "The first step in an improvement journey is to understand the starting point." This corresponds to identifying current capabilities.

- AXELOS. (2020). ITIL® 4: Drive Stakeholder Value. TSO (The Stationery Office). Section 5.1.1, "Step 1: Understand and agree the context," reinforces that the first step in any improvement is understanding the current situation.