itSMF sponsored training

There is an interesting thread on LinkedIn about itSMFUSA's offering of free Foundation training for new members. Readers are invited to comment on whether this is a good or bad thing. The IT Skeptic is not sure - certainly it stands up to scrutiny better than past arrangements at ISACA as I understand them.

The itSMFUSA membership page says

Every 2010 New and Renewing itSMF USA Member Gets Free Access to Thought Rock:
- On Demand Continuous Learning to help you with IT Service Management
- Thought Rock Global Events about topics most important to you and your team
- ITIL v3 Foundation eLearning Support including study notes and live prep sessions

The originator of the LinkedIn thread says "That's not right!". I'm not so sure. As someone who has railed against the itSMF being an industry body instead of a member body, I welcome any additional value provided to members. Crudely, why should we care if other training providers get their nose put out of joint? If itSMFUSA were offering free HP training then there would be an issue of alignment with one major vendor. But there is less discomfort with a small "new wave" organisation. Even if it were HP what's so bad about a freebie for new members?

Given that anyone can pass Foundation certification for free anyway one wonders what the big deal is, but I am assured by several posters on that thread that Foundation training is still the main earner for trainers. If so the industry is built on sand, but that's a post for another day.

On the other hand, it raises the persistent issues associated with itSMF of transparency and governance. How did this provider get selected? Is this in the best interests of itSMF or will it alienate sponsors?

I don't see any dirty deeds here, just naivety. itSMF is finally starting to operate for the members not the vendors and I'm all for it. But clearly some folk are not happy with the arrangement which suggests it could have been better communicated and thought out. An exclusive deal with a single provider was not the best option. I'm sure plenty of vendors would have offered free training to new members for the promotional opportunity - itSMFUSA could have offered a choice of providers.

If you think this deal is a bit questionable, ask someone about the incestuous and monopolistic arrangements that were in place at ISACA in the past (until I unravel all the details I prefer not to go into it here ... yet). In fact I'm not clear that things are much better these days at ISACA and I welcome contact in confidence from anyone with information about ISACA's relationship with training providers.

Getting back to itSMFUSA, let's have some feedback from you on whether this is a great deal for new members or a cosy arrangement for one training provider.