The Skeptical Informer 2013 number 5: Community building and expectation management

The IT Skeptic's Skeptical Informer newsletter for 15th March 2013.
The Skeptical Informer

If you have been around the ITIL world for a while - and especially if you have been reading this blog - you will recall the delays and debacles associated with the release of training for ITIL V3 and then ITIL 2011. if you weren't then in a nutshell
- a certain major vendor got their ITIL V3 training out the door remarkably quickly, almost as if they had seen the content ahead of other ATOs (Accredited Training Organisations)
- every phase of the training - Foundations, Intermediate, Expert - came later than expected
- the transitions were not smooth: ITIL V3 books came out well ahead of any training but nobody knew if ATOs could or should still be selling V2 training. OGC (as it was then) and APMG told the world with a straight face that V2 training would count the same as V3, so people should go ahead and buy V2 courses in the interim until the V3 ones came out.
- the same sort of thing happened all over again with Prince2 2009 and ITIL 2011.

ImageThe dust has settled on that kerfuffle, the scars of healed. You would think that ISACA would be watching across the fence and learn from it all, especially as they have hired the same organisation, APMG, to manage the new COBIT 5 training programme for them. That's the same APMG who accredit Prince2 training - i.e. the project management experts.

I'm sad to say they haven't. Back in August I reported from an ISACA press release that the COBIT 5 training - all levels - would be out by January (2013). I heard on twitter yesterday that it won't be until May. Presumably May 2013.

The communication sucks. An expectation was set that wasn't even remotely met, then I had to whinge on twitter in order to find out an update. I may have missed it but I'm pretty sure there has been nothing in the ISACA newsletter and I can't find any update on the ISACA website. Meantime COBIT 5 sits bobbing in the water waiting for a certification wind to move it.

This is not how you build a community.

ImageIt could be worse. At least ISACA don't have their legal department firing scatter-gun trademark and IP threats at their existing loyal supporters like TSO are doing right now over ITIL and Prince2. TSO had a go at me until I told them to **** off. I've heard from a few more. None of these people are dodgy marginal exploiters of ITIL or Prince2 - they are long-time members of the community. Sure we all make a buck from it and I can't comment on whether the others were within the law or not (I was). But there's a way to go about these things and legal threats as an opening gambit isn't it.

I guess the only thing worse would be for TSO to be threatening at least one of APMG's long-standing ATOs. Yup.


Some related posts from the blog, in reverse chronological order (don't forget to check out the comments! Always good):

Where's the COBIT 5 training? Rattle your dags, ISACA and APMG! ("Rattle your dags"? Here)

The TSO bull is back in the ITIL china-shop: TSO issues take-down notices

the rising anger at OGC and APMG over ITIL and Prince2 2010

Prince2 2009 plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose Sadly PRINCE2:2009 seems to be a scripted repeat of ITIL V3. Wholesale change is passed off as a minor revision. The public are assured that older certifications will still be of value and that the new certification is no big deal. Your Highness, don't alarm the peasants.

ITIL V3 Foundations effectively put on hold until May 2009?


Lots more here and here for the persistent readers.



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