
ITIL Foundation
professionals in Cologne in minutes from 15,000 CVs with the power of AI.Find freelancers who understand incident handling, service requests, change control, and the basic language of service management. Ideal for teams that need structured IT support, smoother handovers, and cleaner service operations, matched fast with vetted ITIL Foundation professionals.
Meet FRATCH ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE
Matthias S.
Last position:
Cross-Functional Project Coordinator at Bundeswehr Informatik (BWI GmbH)
- PMO Lead, Security Clearance Level 2 (SÜ2) cleared
- Reported to the GMN sub-program management
- Maintenance of 25+ systems
- Functional management and coordination of the Jira setup
- Preparation of decision papers (e.g., project planning, governance model, communication plans, controlling models, roles and responsibilities matrices)
- Development of program-wide knowledge management using Confluence; creation of a Jira concept
- Development of an access concept for all project tools
- Analysis of existing processes, identification of improvement potential, and design of solutions to increase efficiency and effectiveness
- Development of a concept for introducing automation approaches into existing tools
- Creation of intranet articles for project marketing
- Responsible for project governance through reporting and resource planning within the sub-program
- Agile further development of the project methodology
- Gathering customer requirements (Requirements Engineering)
- Preparation and support of contract negotiations (7-year term, 500+ million budget)
Jens R.
Last position:
Platform Architect & Senior Developer at Direct client, industrial measurement technology, medium-sized company
- Technical leadership across hardware, firmware, and software teams; scope: hardware/firmware team (4 people) and leadership group (5 people)
- Consolidated and documented a product family that had grown over more than 15 years and aligned it with CRA compliance — from the bare-metal I/O module to the cloud interface.
- Provided the most important customer product with the essential requirements and architecture documentation within two months — for a firmware landscape that had grown over more than 15 years. It now supports the customer’s modernization strategy.
- Established a monthly reporting line to the supervisory board and executive board within three months: nine meetings since 12/2025. The report itself is versioned and built from the CI pipeline; it is based on automatically collected activity and release data instead of assessments.
- Built a container-based CI/CD infrastructure from scratch: cross-compilation, host tests, and documentation builds in one continuous pipeline.
- Introduced declarative QA gates for DevOps and development artifacts — from the start using lefthook instead of pre-commit, executed in a dedicated container image.
Technologies used: arc42, req42, tpo42, docToolchain, PlantUML, ArchiMate, C4 model, ADR, C, C++ (GTest), CMake, Bare Metal (ARM Cortex-M3/M7), OCI containers, Jenkins, lefthook, Prometheus, Grafana, SBOM, CRA, OPC, SCADA, PLC integration, IPv6 migration, Zero Trust, Sociocracy 3.0, Cynefin
Rafael D.
Last position:
Project Lead Automation at Textile Industry
Analysis and optimization of end-to-end processes in various business areas such as sales, procurement, order processing, and logistics. Redesign of the ERP system. Identification of optimization potential, especially in areas with media discontinuities and manual activities, as well as creation of a prioritized transformation roadmap with clear business cases and implementation recommendations. Management of automation initiatives. RPA at the production site in China. Evaluation and introduction of relevant AI use cases, as well as building basic AI capabilities within the organization. Training internal project team members and supporting them throughout the transformation process to develop a culture of continuous improvement. Close collaboration with IT and external implementation partners, with reporting to senior management.
Main responsibilities and achievements:
- Analysis of business processes and design of automated processes
- Training and support for employees in China and Germany
- 20% cost savings in logistics
- Regular status reports to senior management
Burhan D.
Last position:
Enterprise Architect & Solution Architect at DB Netz AG
With project PRIZMA, DB will modernize its infrastructure on the one hand, and develop a fail-safe IT landscape on the other hand, which can be restored quickly and securely in case of a disaster.
- Capture current architectures of existing systems as well as methodical consulting and development of target architectures
- Deepen and maintain the building plan / target IT landscape
- Implement technical architecture concepts & architecture descriptions
- Implement migration concepts for updating and further developing the platform and information systems
- Assess submitted improvement suggestions as part of the project
- Capability management: identify capability gaps, develop target visions, and support transformation planning within the enterprise architecture.
- Create a compatibility matrix of the components in use and compare dependencies of specific versions
- Create an IT concept for extending the platform with the following topics: hardware and software requirements, security, licensing, high availability, load balancing, backup & recovery, update strategy, monitoring integration, etc.
- Coordinate with business architects as well as technical architects from the cross-functional architecture area of the PRISMA program for the topics (backup, Active Directory, monitoring, Citrix, and business applications ...)
- Status meetings and alignment of project planning with the Release Train Engineer / Project Manager
- Advise the Release Train Engineer / Project Manager in identifying project risks
- Advise the System Architect Engineers in steering the implementation of the concept
- Implement the IT concept
- Document the infrastructure
Label: MS Project, LINUX, Windows, ORACLE, Java, REST, SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange, UML, Enterprise Architect, BPMN, AZURE, AWS, V-MODEL, Micro Service, VisualStudio, SAP S/4HANA, SCRUM(SAFE), ESB (TIBCO), Python, Innovator, LeanIX (TOGAF), Ansible, Ansible Tower, Ansible Automation, ROBOT, SpringBoot
Markus B.
Last position:
Consultant, Technical Project Manager at Lanxess
- Project: ESU Windows and SQL Server consolidation / Configuration Management in ServiceNow
- Creation of an as-is analysis of all servers worldwide
- Creation of an as-is analysis of all SQL servers worldwide
- Creation of requirements analyses for SQL and server migrations
- Coordination of requirements with partners for migrations to Hyper-V (on-premises) or Azure Cloud
- Moderation of jour fixe meetings
- Creation of roadmaps and solution models for server migrations
- Setup of test scenarios
- Moderation of workshops for the introduction of a Global Admin Team
- Creation of data models (CMDB) in ServiceNow
- Conducting workshops for the CMDB data model
- Creation of solution models for the CMDB
- Creation of seamless configuration and work documentation for the CMDB
- Creation of reports for license management
- Creation of KPIs for data quality in ServiceNow
- Creation of a service catalog
- Moderation of workshops for creating service requests
- Interface between needs analysis and ServiceNow development team
- Systems used: Windows 7, Windows 10, Microsoft Office 365/2010, Windows Server 20xx, SQL Server 20xx, SharePoint, Azure Cloud, Hyper-V, ServiceNow, various tools
Marc R.
Last position:
CTO Coach at zvoove Switzerland
- Coaching the CTO on translating the product strategy into technical strategy and AI transformation of the R&D organization; acting as an independent sparring partner on strategic and technical topics
Manuel S.
Last position:
Project Manager at Univention
Industry: digital sovereignty, public sector
Responsibilities:
- Project coordination (teams: consulting, development, testing, deployment/operations)
Products and standards:
- Jira, Confluence, Asana, Miro, Mural
- Open Source, Keycloak, Open Xchange, ownCloud
Michael M.
Last position:
Team Lead / Service Owner 2nd Level & ITIL at Creditreform
- Service owner of the receivables management platform Ikarus
- Management and coordination of external 1st-level service providers
- Team leadership and building ITIL-compliant support structures
- Managing the handover to 3rd-level support (internal & external, incl. vendor/development)
- Stakeholder management between the business unit, IT, and external partners
- Jira ticket automations and maintenance of Confluence documentation
Thorsten H.
Last position:
Program Manager at Telecommunications sector
- Program Manager for a strategically highly relevant compliance project in the enterprise segment (C4)
- Management of 6 workstreams
- Establishment of the project organization, communication structures, project and budget planning, risk management
- Reporting to CIO
- Moderation of steering committee meetings
- Moderation of critical solution processes
- Responsibility for adapting the operating model of the IT organizations in Germany, the EU and India, including planning and managing the relocation of affected employees
Hüseyin A.
Last position:
Business Analyst at Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Inneres, Sport und Digitalisierung
- Responsibility, also as rollout manager, for the successful transition of a basic OZG platform into the client's standard operations by planning and implementing measures along Service Transition and Service Operation according to ITIL, including workshops in a SAFe environment with more than 40 operational stakeholders
- Building and maintaining cross-organizational stakeholder relationships by organizing and running various information sessions on technical configurations and user guides (platform and EfA services)
- Designing and improving various operational and project documents such as the ITIL operations manual, OLA, SLA, service support concept and rollout instructions
- Modeling project-based processes according to BPMN 2.0, EPK and UML related to OZG services with the goal of integrating them into the operational e-government process landscape (SOA)
- Coordinating operational stakeholders and KPI reporting to the project management team using agile methods according to SAFe
- Tech stack / tools: Microsoft 365 (SharePoint, OneNote, Outlook, Teams), Skype for Business, Cisco Webex, ADONIS, MindManager, Jira, Confluence
Halil O.
Last position:
Senior Cloud Operations & DevSecOps Engineer (Azure / Terraform / CI-CD) at KfW Bankengruppe
Regulated environment within a German banking group (approx. 8,500 employees, hybrid cloud strategy).
Responsible for operating, provisioning, and continuously securing business-critical platforms – including a GenAI chat application, a big data/AI platform, and data science workspaces based on Azure Virtual Desktops and VMs. Ownership of Azure DevOps projects for ShaiHulud and React2Shell, as well as BSI alerts – Security Operations improvements across the SDLC.
Deployment responsibility for the GenAI chat application, big data/AI platform (BDAI), and data science workspaces (AVD/VM-based) in the respective landing zones.
Deployment & release management: end-to-end responsibility for deploying portal and service applications across multiple Azure landing zones, including technical approvals, compliance with development team deployment guidelines, and ensuring ITIL-based change and release processes via ServiceNow.
Azure landing zones & network architecture: design, provisioning, and operation of Azure landing zones for 3-tier web applications with enhanced network segmentation, VNet peering, hub-and-spoke architectures, private endpoints, and firewall integration across separate subscriptions and tenants.
Azure DevOps governance & operations: ownership of the Azure DevOps organization, including projects, repositories, and CI/CD pipelines; implementation of governance requirements such as branch policies, approval gates, permission models, and audit-ready operating structures.
Infrastructure as Code (Terraform): design, implementation, and operation of a modular Terraform architecture for standardized cloud infrastructure deployment, including state management, provider versioning, reusability, and policy-as-code approaches.
CI/CD pipeline engineering: design, operation, and optimization of complex YAML-based CI/CD pipelines with multi-stage deployments, template standardization, self-hosted agents, integrated secret management, and automated quality and security checks.
Git migration & platform consolidation: planning and execution of repository and pipeline migration from Azure DevOps to GitLab CI/CD, including automated scripts, full Git history transfer, pipeline porting, and platform consolidation.
Container & platform operations (AKS): operation and security assessment of containerized workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service, centralization of on-premises container registries for ACR.
OpenShift (OCP) security reviews: security assessment of code baselines, build pipelines, and deployment processes for on-premises OpenShift clusters with critical applications, and derivation of specific hardening recommendations.
Shift-left security & DevSecOps transformation: introduction of a company-wide shift-left approach for early security integration in development and deployment processes, enabling developers to perform self-led security checks and sustainably reduce vulnerabilities before production (IDE integrations, pre-commit hooks, local scanners).
Software supply chain security: analysis and mitigation of supply chain risks in NPM- and Yarn-based applications through dependency audits, CI/CD pipeline hardening, token rotation, and restriction of risky build and lifecycle mechanisms.
Frontend & framework security (React / Next.js): security assessment and coordination of critical vulnerability remediation across platform applications and web frameworks, including coordination and complementary technical mitigations with all teams following BSI alerts.
Software composition analysis (SCA): introduction and operation of automated vulnerability scans for container images, pipelines/artifacts, and third-party dependencies, including SBOM exports within CI/CD pipelines.
SAST/DAST integration: design and piloting of static and dynamic application security tests in close collaboration with security architecture and development teams, for continuous improvement of code and runtime security, and establishing operational acceptance tests.
Artifact & registry consolidation: analysis and consolidation of all package and container repositories for service applications and AKS workloads, aiming for a centralized, secured registry strategy with centralized vulnerability scanning and governance.
Dependency-Track & SBOM strategy: advising the compliance board on introducing a central SBOM and vulnerability management platform to increase enterprise-wide dependency transparency and accelerate CVE response capability.
CI/CD pipeline hardening: security analysis and cleanup of the existing pipeline landscape by removing unused pipelines, improving secrets hygiene, implementing least-privilege principles, and isolating build agent environments.
Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) optimization: analysis and tuning of existing Azure WAF rules (OWASP Top 10 Core Rule Set, DSR/SDC, custom rules) to defend against known vulnerabilities and exploit patterns, including reducing false positives and improving threat detection.
Documentation & stakeholder communication: creating and maintaining technical documentation, runbooks, and architecture overviews in Jira and Confluence, as well as active knowledge transfer between operations, development, security, and compliance stakeholders.
Serdar C.
Last position:
Consultant at Freelance
- ISO 27001 implementation & audit readiness
- NIS2 & DORA compliance support
- Interim / fractional CISO services
- IT risk & controls (ITGC, SOX, COBIT, BAIT)
- M&A and IT due diligence for startups/ventures
- Business continuity management (BCM, ISO 22301)
- Cybersecurity framework development (NIST, ISO, BSI)
- GRC tool advisory (Archer, ServiceNow)
Matthias B.
Last position:
Interim Change Manager at Automotive manufacturer (OEM)
- Agile transformation of the entire executive board division for battery development using SAFe.
- Set up 5 Agile Release Trains and an agile portfolio.
- Prepared the shift from a functional to a process-based organization.
- Managed a scope of 400+ people across Germany, Europe and China.
- Applied tailored SAFe methods.
- Stakeholder management as well as consulting, training and coaching of leadership (product management, release train engineers, system architects).
- Built a portfolio with budgets from around €150 million up to over €1 billion.
- Trained junior colleagues at Big4 consulting firms.
- Introduced PI plannings, quality metrics and team training.
Alexander R.
Last position:
Business Analyst at Financial Services Provider Landesbank
The Helaba ATLAS project aims to modernize core systems and make them future-proof. As part of the subproject, the existing legacy system for international payments is being replaced by a modern web-based application.
- Analysis of functional and technical requirements
- Analysis and optimization of business processes
- Process modeling
- Preparation and facilitation of workshops
- Defining project scope and prioritizing requirements
- Business process management (analysis, modeling, and optimization)
- Specification of user stories
- Designing business and authorization concepts
- Testing and acceptance
- Designing mockups in Figma
- Creating the UI/UX style guide for web applications Approach: Scrum (agile) Technologies: Jira, Confluence, MS Teams, Conceptboard, Java, Vaadin, Figma
Yannick T.
Last position:
Cloud Architect at Anonymous
- Implementation of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Terraform to ensure a scalable, repeatable, and secure Azure infrastructure
- Implementation and optimization of CI/CD pipelines with Azure DevOps
- Management of container and server environments and AKS
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
ITIL Foundation statistics
Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.
Experience
24 years (Germany: 23 years)

Position duration
3.3 years (Germany: 3.1 years)

Positions per freelancer
15 (Germany: 14)

Top business areas
Information Technology, Operations, Project Management

Top industries
Information Technology, Professional Services, Banking and Finance

Certification focus areas
Information Technology, Project Management, Product Development
Bachelor's degree or higher
77% (Germany: 81%)
Master's degree or higher
50% (Germany: 48%)
Doctorate
17% (Germany: 7%)

Certifications per freelancer
10 (Germany: 7)

Most common languages
English, German, Turkish

Speak two or more languages
100% (Germany: 96%)
Based on our profile pool as of 17 Sep 2026.
Daily rate distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of freelancers holding this certification in Cologne, DE are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows how many freelancers charge within that range.
Average rates for ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 17 Sep 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
ITIL Foundation experts industry focus
See which industries our matched freelancers work in most often — every figure is calculated live from the freelancers on FRATCH.
- Information Technology (95%)
- Professional Services (58%)
- Banking and Finance (53%)
- Telecommunication (48%)
- Manufacturing (43%)
- Government and Administration (43%)
- Energy (38%)
- Insurance (38%)
Please note that freelancers can work across multiple industries, so percentages overlap.
About the certification
What it covers
ITIL Foundation is the entry-level certification for IT service management. It shows that a person understands the core ideas behind designing, delivering, and improving IT services in a business setting. For companies, it is a practical signal that the freelancer can work with shared processes instead of ad hoc support.
Core skills
- Incident, problem, and change basics
- Service value, continual improvement, and service quality
- Roles, responsibilities, and common ITSM terms
- Working with tickets, requests, and service teams
- Understanding how IT supports business goals
The certification is often held by service desk staff, support leads, junior process managers, and consultants who need a common ITIL language. It is also a good fit for freelancers who join transformation work or help teams align daily support with clearer service practices.
What it tells you
A freelancer with ITIL Foundation has a shared understanding of how IT services should be managed in a controlled way. That matters when you need someone to slot into an existing support model, improve handoffs between teams, or help document standard ways of working.
In Cologne, this is useful for companies that work with local IT teams, shared service functions, or German-speaking stakeholders while keeping delivery remote or hybrid. The certification does not prove deep technical specialization, but it does show a solid grasp of service management basics that reduce friction in day-to-day work.
Typical use cases
- IT service desk and support operations
- Change and release coordination
- Process improvement and service transition
- Internal IT alignment during growth or restructuring
- Consulting work that needs a common ITSM framework
PeopleCert now issues the certification, and many professionals still know it under the older AXELOS name. Searchers also use the shorthand ITIL Foundation, so companies looking for freelancers should use that term when screening profiles. It is especially relevant in environments where reliability, clear escalation paths, and predictable service delivery matter.
Frequently asked questions
What clients ask us most about ITIL Foundation — answered in short.
ITIL Foundation shows that a freelancer understands the basic principles of IT service management. It points to familiarity with terms and practices such as incident handling, change control, and continual improvement. For companies, that usually means less ramp-up time when the person joins an existing support or service process.
ITIL Foundation is the current entry-level certification in the ITIL scheme. Many people still say ITIL v3 Foundation out of habit, but the modern certificate reflects the current service management framework issued by PeopleCert. If you see either term on a profile, check the version and the holder’s practical experience.
ITIL Foundation is a good fit for service desk analysts, support specialists, process coordinators, and junior consultants. It is also useful for freelancers who work with internal IT teams and need a shared vocabulary for service work. It is not only for managers; hands-on contributors can benefit from it as well.
A freelancer with ITIL Foundation is often useful in incident management, request handling, change coordination, and service improvement work. The certification matters most where teams need structure and clear ownership around IT support. It is common in enterprise IT, managed services, consulting, and internal operations.
ITIL Foundation covers the basics and the overall logic of the framework. Higher levels go deeper into specialist practice, managing professional development, or more advanced service management topics. If you need someone to apply ITIL principles in a practical team setting, Foundation can be enough; if you need framework leadership, look for more advanced experience too.
To earn ITIL Foundation, candidates usually study the framework’s core concepts, key practices, and service lifecycle thinking. Many people prepare with structured training, self-study, or a mix of both, then take a formal exam through PeopleCert. The main challenge is learning the vocabulary and understanding how the practices fit together.
ITIL Foundation is tied to the current PeopleCert certification scheme, so holders should follow the renewal rules that apply to their certification status. In practice, professionals should keep an eye on PeopleCert’s continuing certification requirements and any updates to the qualification path. Companies hiring freelancers should ask whether the certificate is current and whether the person has kept their knowledge fresh.
In Cologne, ITIL Foundation can be especially useful when you need freelancers who can work with German and international teams in a structured way. It helps in environments where support requests, change approvals, and service ownership must be clear across on-site and remote collaboration. The certificate gives a useful baseline when hiring for shared service and IT operations roles.
The average hourly rate for freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE is 114 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 913 € based on an 8-hour working day.
Of the freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE, 77% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 50% hold at least a Master's degree, and 17% hold a doctorate.
On average, freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE have 24 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 3.3 years.
The most common languages among freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE are English (100%), German (98%), and Turkish (23%).
The most common industries among freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE are Information Technology (95%), Professional Services (58%), and Banking and Finance (53%).
The most common business areas among freelancers with ITIL Foundation in Cologne, DE are Information Technology (98%), Operations (88%), and Project Management (88%).
FRATCH ITIL Foundation main locations
Our freelancers and interim experts are at home across the DACH region — available on-site in the major business hubs or fully remote. Choose a location to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.
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