September 19, 2006,

With the creation of ITIL V3 underway and the OGC awarding the contract for accreditation and certification to APMG, the ITIL community is changing fast and how!

Click on the links below for the complete picture, including The ITpreneurs’ Perspective and our role in the changes that could impact you! You can also download the complete article in Adobe PDF format by clicking here.

What has Changed?
Some Background Information
Does it Matter?
What is ITpreneurs’ Perspective?
Potential dangers ahead
The ITpreneurs position
What can you expect from ITpreneurs?

What has Changed?
The responsibility for the accreditation and certification schemes for all best practices owned by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has been awarded to the APM Group (APMG) and responsibility for all publishing services has been awarded to The Stationary Office (TSO).

The contracts were formally signed on July 20, 2006 and are valid for a period of 5 years with a possible extension of another 5 years.

These contracts form a renewal for TSO, but replace the existing contracts with ITIL Certification Management Board (ICMB) which covers Examination Institute for Information Science (EXIN) and Information Systems Exam Board (ISEB).

Some Background Information
The UK Government as part of its industry best practices unit officially owns ITIL. The OGC and its predecessor, CCTA, have always been the guardians/executors of ownership on behalf of the UK Government.

In addition to ITIL, OGC's portfolio contains other best practices, such as Projects In a Controlled Environment (PRINCE2), Management of Risk (M_O_R), and Managing Successful Projects (MSP).

The CCTA Risk Analysis Management Method (CRAMM) was transferred in 2006 to the UK Government's Security Services but is strongly managed and run by Insight Consulting, a subsidiary of Siemens.

On July 25, 2006 , OGC announced that after a competitive bid, run under European Union rules, two new contracts have been awarded to manage portions of best practices management on behalf of the OGC.

First, all accreditation for examination institutes, training institutes, and all professional examinations around best practices will be managed by APMG. Second, TSO has been awarded the contract to publish OGC's Best Practices portfolio for the next 5 years.

Does it Matter?
Depending on who you are, the changes may be minimal.

• For APMG, it means increased responsibility and an extension of their portfolio; APMG currently manages accreditation for examination institutes, training institutes, and all professional examinations around the PRINCE2 domain.

• For EXIN and ISEB, it means the loss of their dominant position in the marketplace. In fact, EXIN's and ISEB's contracts with OGC to deliver the ITIL exams run till June 2007. After this period, they can continue delivering exams only if they can sign an agreement with APMG.

• For itSMF, it means a new stakeholder to deal with and some polishing of its somewhat tarnished image. The itSMF decision-making around the scope of a proposal and bid-no-bid decisions seemed confusing to us and the rapport between the itSMF and the OGC was not as strong as we would like to have seen.

• For students, it probably will mean very little for the next 6-9 months of transition. Old certificates remain legitimate and new schemes might come into play. For the students, bigger changes are possible on account of ITIL version 3.0, rather than the changes resulting from the grant of ITIL education management rights to APMG.

• For training providers, it will entail some change. Depending on the abilities of ISEB/EXIN and APMG to accommodate each other, training providers may have to switch schemes and enter into new accreditation procedures.

What is ITpreneurs’ Perspective?
As one of the major stakeholders in the ITIL market as well as other best practices markets, such as ISO 20000 and COBIT, we have been in continual contact with all the parties.
Our primary position has always been:

• Market growth continues to be strong in most major markets, particularly the USA and Asia, and still remains strong in many parts of Europe .

• Because of this growth, there is enough room for new entrants. These new entrants can help increase quality and service levels, and develop certifications relevant internationally as well as locally.

• The past years have seen tremendous growth in the number of examinations processed and it is fair to point out that as a result there have been lapses of quality in the accreditation and content of examination schemes that need to be addressed.

• The ITIL market is still predominantly a market guided by customers but dependent on a delicate coalition of interests (OGC, itSMF, APMG, ISO, TSO , EXIN, ISEB, education companies, consulting companies, and tool suppliers). For the market to work effectively, the players need to collaborate.

Potential Dangers Ahead:
• ITIL has achieved successful growth and, arguably, pre-eminence as a best practice over the past few years because of a healthy balance between competitors delivering services and unity within the coalition of interests guiding customers. Even in the heat of competitive battle, in the past, ITpreneurs , Pink Elephant, Quint, Fox-IT, ISEB, and EXIN have always followed the Latin saying Manus manum lavat (when one hand washes the other, they both get clean) to maintain unity within the coalitions of interests. Depending on reactions to the new order, some turbulence might occur in this delicate balance.

• While not seriously wounded, the itSMF does not come away from this award process unscathed. ITpreneurs remains committed to the itSMF and wishes to see it grow and flourish. We consider this is a good opportunity for them to recalibrate their position and lead the delicate coalition as leaders in the industry segment.

• You will be aware that while ITpreneurs continues to show exponential, profitable growth, some of our competitors are not doing as well as they have done in the past. A loss of prestigious thought-leaders in their leadership is resulting in a lack of long-term vision. This has lead to these companies either closing down offices to consolidate the existing market, moving to new activities, or putting themselves up for sale. In this climate, short-term financial gain might outweigh the longer-term commitment to a healthy ecosystem.

• Organizations such as the ITIM (IT Infrastructure Management) Association in the US are trying to fill the current perceived gap, and look to provide for a more effective forum for members and practitioners. After all, it is difficult to read the statement that “The ITIM Association is in the process of establishing the only membership association for IT infrastructure professionals,” as anything other than a competitor to the itSMF. Even though ITIM's credentials might be as yet unestablished, the current instability in our industry is clearly causing even large players to gather around different flags.

• EXIN and ISEB will obviously reassess their market position. From our conversations, we believe APMG fully appreciates the value that EXIN and ISEB bring to the market. APMG has offer them a significant role post transition. Of course, the new status quo means a transition for both organizations into a best practices world where APMG will be the dominant accreditation body. That is the irreversible result of ISEB and EXIN losing the tender process. In effect, "post proelium, praemium" – after the battle, the reward.

• Should EXIN and ISEB fail to reach an agreement with APMG, there is clear danger that a competitive situation could emerge, possibly confusing customers. For example, EXIN/ISEB promotes SMQF (Service Management Quality Foundation) against ITIL. No stakeholders in the industry would really want this; and a move to create a new standard will only prove to be confusing and disruptive to the market.

• We continue to support the development of ITIL-3, and we believe our views are understood and represented through the advisory and review groups. We feel that introducing the concept of lifecycle into the guidance is an excellent idea. Having said that, we should all realize that the launch of ITIL-3 introduces another potential destabilizing factor into the equation, and getting the timing of a release right would be crucial to the further growth and success of ITIL.

• Given the potential for disruption, we would not be surprised if ITIL-3 might even be delayed by the OGC to ensure it is introduced into a stable marketplace.

The ITpreneurs position:

• We continue to call on all stakeholders to maintain the historic, delicate coalition necessary to ensure ITILs' success. To this end, we have actively organized meetings with and between parties.

• We welcome APMGs' entrance to the marketplace. The fact that they have accreditation with UKCAS and are strong on the Prince2, MOR and MSP markets brings added value to the marketplace.

• We also feel that the new rigor that APMG brings to the accreditation of training companies and trainers is very positive and maps closely to our own thoughts on improved professionalism in our market segment.

• In addition to a new relationship with APMG, we would like to continue our relationship with ISEB and EXIN. We envisage a situation where ITpreneurs would maintain relationships with all three bodies to meet the local and global needs of our customers.

• We see the new developments as an opportunity to upgrade further the quality of examinations, both in content and in localization.

• We continue to support the development of ITIL-3. However, given the significance of the changes envisioned, we would not object to a short delay in the introduction of this standard until the transition of the accreditation schemes is complete.

What can you expect from ITpreneurs?
• None of this should affect our core business in 2006-2007 significantly. Our year-on-year revenues doubled last month, and we are on track for another great year.

• We still believe that we lead the market in content and capability; and throughout this process; we have found the quality of our own relationships with EXIN, ISEB, APMG, itSMF, and others to be extremely strong.

• We continue to be the leading supplier of ITIL examinations worldwide and continue to dominate the rapidly growing COBIT marketplace.

• As the only dedicated developer of content for best practices education and implementation, we have recently strengthened our product management team with renowned experts in various best practices.

• We have an ITIL-3 team in place, so that our clients will be ready to go to market when the new guidance hits the streets. Moreover, we are committed to our own, ongoing revamp of our current range of ITIL courses.

• We have launched our ISO 20000 and COBIT courses, and we are ready to launch the SMQF courses.

• Our new range of governance and regulatory compliance courses has been launched in Asia recently, and we will be launching new COBIT courses in Q3 in the US .

• As of Q4, we are instigating some new collaborative mechanisms with our key clients/partners to replace the Partner Days concept. A new series of Design Boards will be set up to allow our clients/partners to participate more effectively in the design process of new offerings.

• We are also working on crossover teaming with our lesser-known but very successful Business Unit: CSI (Cultural and Social Integration solutions) to introduce exciting new concepts and technologies to our catalog.

Click here to read the official press release from OGC

Click here to download the complete article in Adobe PDF format