The Value of Learning
By Arjan Woertman
The need to realize strategic value from IT is increasing. IT organizations and departments are constantly challenged to meet performance criteria (business goals) on one hand and conformance criteria (external requirements, such as Sarbanes-Oxley) on the other. COBIT has become a generally accepted framework that helps organizations define and achieve measurable results in line with their performance and conformance goals.

Organizations that are using COBIT benefit from developing COBIT competencies within their organization. Sustainable COBIT competencies help individuals and organizations manage the implementation of COBIT as their IT governance or IT management framework and help realize the strategic value desired by organizations.

ISACA® recognized this need for structured education and developed a comprehensive COBIT training portfolio that allows for the development of COBIT competencies at various levels in an organization. The COBIT training portfolio provides courses that are available as stand-alone courses or as part of a learning track that leads to advanced COBIT competency development.

The COBIT training portfolio includes the following courses for the following audiences:

COBIT Awareness - Two hours, e-learning
COBIT Foundation Course™ - Eight hours, e-learning
COBIT Foundation Exam™ - One hour, online
COBIT for Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Course- Four hours, e-learning
COBIT Implementation for IT Governance and Management   -
Two days workshop, classroom

outlines the courses, their levels and the appropriate learners.

ISACA and ITGI worked with ITpreneurs to develop these courses. ITpreneurs manages the operations.

Feedback From the Learner Community
Every learner taking the COBIT Foundation Course is asked to complete a survey. Some of the results from this survey are reflected here. These results include the responses of 65 learners, those who had completed it at the time this article was written.

For the majority of learners, the course was not their first encounter with COBIT (see figure 2). However, for 42 percent of the learners, this course was their first experience with COBIT. The Foundation Course is designed for both audiences—new users can be introduced to COBIT and existing users can strengthen their knowledge of COBIT.

Reasons for participating in the course include:

Learn the fundamentals of COBIT and apply the knowledge in an organization - 36 percent
Suggested/required by employer - 12 percent
Improve career/consultancy opportunities - 15 percent
To obtain the COBIT Foundation certificate - 12 percent
Other reasons - 25 percent

Enhancing knowledge of COBIT and the application of it seems to be the key driver for learners taking the course. The COBIT Foundation Exam is being established as a milestone for demonstrating mastery of COBIT, and with the knowledge learned, learners seek opportunities for work or advancing their career.

Learners are asked whether they are interested in advanced courses. Nearly 70 percent are genuinely interested in advanced courses and 16 percent will consider advanced courses (see figure 3). ISACA answers this need by offering the advanced courses and workshops identified in figure 1.

The COBIT Foundation Course
The COBIT Foundation Course was launched in July 2005. To date, more than 400 people have taken and completed the course.

The COBIT Foundation Course is designed to help IT, audit, risk and compliance professionals master COBIT and apply this knowledge in a practical manner within their organizations. Case studies and practical examples support an explanation of the tools provided in COBIT. Students are prepared to take the COBIT Foundation Exam after completing the course.

The COBIT Foundation Course was updated in March 2006 to align the content with COBIT 4.0. Only the new version of the course is available for purchase.

COBIT for Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance
Together with ITpreneurs, ISACA developed the COBIT for Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Course. This four-hour e-learning course was launched in the second quarter of 2006. Participants taking this course learn about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the need for control over financial accounting and the implications of compliance for the IT organization. A practical road map is used and complemented with actual industry case studies to outline the steps required to achieve compliance.