Silicon Beach Training Blog » MSP

MSP – Managing Successful Programmes Update 2011

Heather Buckley — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:09:20 +0000

MSP 2011 Updates Launched Today!

Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) the best practice guidance for programme management has been updated and officially released today on 30 August 2011.

There are many valuable additions to the manual that will make things clearer not only for MSP Practitioners , but also for people who are new to programme management. Our trainers are updating our MSP training courses to reflect these changes and these will be ready for our MSP Foundation and MSP Practitioner courses starting on 10 October

We’ve written previously about the MSP 2011 Updates – but below you’ll find a useful summary of the updates to the MSP Manual.

Incidentally – delegates attending our MSP Training courses will receive a copy of the MSP Manual included in their course fees.

If you are an existing MSP Practitioner and would like to buy the new manual – follow the Amazon link below:

Buy on Amazon: Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) 4th Edition Manual

Three chapters have been renamed and revised:

Benefits Management

The Benefits Management chapter now fits better with the others and includes practical advice on techniques and categorisation.

Risk & Issue Management

The revised Risk & Issue chapter relates more directly to the programme environment, and change control has been added to a new supporting cycle.

Quality & Assurance Management

The Quality & Assurance Management chapter now includes a significant new section on Assurance, with an emphasis on people development.

The Transformational Flow processes is now related to the Governance Theme and there is guidance and advise on practical ways to apply the guidance. They have included greater clarification of the roles and responsibilities of the Business Change Management team.

You can find out even more about the update from the official MSP update overview brochure.

What is Agile Project Management?

Alistair Wylie — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:16:50 +0000

Silicon Beach Training now offers the increasingly popular range of Agile Project Management training courses – but what is Agile Project Management, and why is it such a big deal all of a sudden?

In March 2011 the government unveiled it’s new ICT Strategy which identified a number of problems (or challenges using their words!) with the method in which IT projects and programmes were managed and delivered, causing them to fail. The first of these challenges being:

“projects tend to be too big, leading to greater risk and complexity, and limiting the range of suppliers who can compete”

Silicon Beach Training now offer accredited Agile Project Management training, including the Agile Project Management Foundation course and Agile Project Management Practitioner course.

For example, if a project to implement a large IT system is deemed to take 5 years to complete, it is very likely that, in those five years circumstances (e.g. technology, customer and business requirements, even governments!) will have changed, rendering the final solution based on the original specification unfit for purpose.

A number of strategies were identified to address these challenges, one of which is “by the application of lean and agile methodologies that will reduce waste, be more responsive to changing requirements and reduce the risk of project failure”.

Agile methodologies have been used in software development for some years, but are now being applied in project management as they offer a flexible process that can change according to customer or organisational needs.

How does Agile Project Management differ from traditional project management methodologies?

Traditionally a project manager may direct the project team using a ‘command and control’ style, actively directing their team towards the work that must be completed. Agile project management uses a different technique. At the beginning of an Agile project a high level plan will be created by the project manager, which is based around basic requirements and a high level vision of the solution. From there on the final project is created iteratively and incrementally, with each increment building on the previous increments. Agile Project management also differs in the way that team members create the plans for each increment, rather than the project manager themselves.

Close collaboration between the business or customer and the project team allows the team to understand the details of potentially changing requirements and create and validate an evolving solution accordingly.

Which agile method is Agile Project Management based on?

Agile Project Management is based on the longest-established Agile method, DSDM Atern (Dynamic Systems Development Method), which is the only Agile methodology to focus on the management of Agile projects. The Agile Project Management qualifications take the project management elements of DSDM Atern and make them available as Agile Project Management – a certified approach in its own right.

What benefits will I get by using Agile Project Management?

Using Agile Project Management allows projects to respond to changing requirements and ensure that the solutions meet business or customer requirements
Agile Project Management can be used in conjunction with other corporate processes such as PRINCE2 and ITIL. The DSDM Atern agile method was developed to work alongside PRINCE2
Agile Project Management certification offers a recognised qualification that will benefit both the individual in career development and organisations in recognising staff development

What Agile Project Management certifications are available?

Silicon Beach Training offers both the Foundation and Practitioner Agile Project Management training courses and certification.

The Foundation Exam is a one hour multiple-choice paper composed of 60 questions which assesses a delegate’s knowledge of Agile Project Management. The pass mark is 50%, or 30 correct answers. This is taken at the end of the Agile Project Management Foundation course.

The Practitioner Exam is a two hour Objective Test – a complex multiple-choice exam that tests a delegate’s ability to apply the concepts of Agile Project Management to the running and managing of projects. 15 marks are available from each of the four questions. Delegates must achieve 50% to pass (30 marks). This is taken at the end of the Agile Project Management Practitioner training course.

The Agile Project Management training and certifications are accredited by APMG.

To discuss your requirements for Agile Project Management training and certification please call us on 01273 622272.

Why Project Managers are so Valuable

Andy Trainer — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:06:06 +0000

There’s no avoiding the fact that Project Managers are everywhere these days! Project Management is one of the most in-demand skills, and this applies across all types of organisations and across both public and private sectors.

Here at Silicon Beach we run regular Management Training and Project Management training courses, as well as accredited PRINCE2 Training and MSP Training courses here at our training centre in Brighton, Sussex and demand is still strong, even through the recession.

But why are project managers so highly valued?

Any manager requires knowledge of their subject matter. A finance manager needs to know their numbers, an HR manager needs to know Human Resources, and so on.

The difference with Project Managers is that they have to be an expert general manager who is highly focused to achieve results across a range of disciplines with a defined scope and accepted quality level.

A really good Project Manager needs to be a jack-of-all-trades who knows enough about every stage of the process to get their project to completion. They are responsible for delivering on-time, to budget. They therefore have to have great people skills, and also excellent personal organisation and Time Management skills. They have to be contactable by any member of their project team – and with modern telecommunications technology that can be at any time, in any place – day or night (I know project managers who work internationally who frequently get calls throughout their evenings from overseas as well as all day in their own time-zone).

To illustrate the pressures that bear down on a Project Manager at all times – there are three key conflict areas a Project Manager must be constantly mindful of:

Cost v Time – without compromising on Quality
Time v Scope - making sure the project delivers what it promised
Scope v Cost – bearing in mind the cost of overrunning

Only by ensuring that these conflicting requirements are balanced effectively will a good Project Manager keep all stakeholders happy and ensure that their project meets the business’ overall requirements.

In a competitive market-place, projects must be completed on-time and to budget – however Quality is equally important. It’s no good getting the job done fast and cheaply if the end project is low on quality, as the competitors superior product will win through. Experienced PMs are all to aware of the Cost of Quality, and PRINCE2 has a whole theme dedicated to Quality.

Additionally – the more complex the project, the more risks there will likely to be along the way, so good Project Managers also need to know Risk Management methodologies. Again, PRINCE2 has a Risk Theme which covers this.

Taking all of the above in to account (and really we’re only scratching the surface), it’s no wonder that good Project Managers, and Project Management Training to provide the skills they require are in constant demand.

Silicon Beach Training offer a range training courses – all of which are beneficial for Project Managers:

Introduction to Project Management Training - 1-day: £270 + vat

This 1-day course provides a comprehensive introduction to Project Management principles, tools and themes

Microsoft Project Training - 2-days: £445 + vat

MS Project is the industry standard software for Project Managers – this 2-day course provides a comprehensive coverage of this indispensable tool

You can book the two courses above together for £645 + vat with our Project Management & MS Project Training package.

PRINCE2 Foundation Training – 3-days: £845 + vat
PRINCE2 Practitioner Training – 5-days: £995 + vat

PRINCE2 is the most widely used Project Management Methodology (and is the de facto standard for Project Managers in the UK). Read more about PRINCE2 in our Free Resources section.

MSP Foundation Training - 3-days: £995 + vat
MSP Practitioner Training – 5-days: £995 + vat

Often, multiple projects combine to make up Programmes. MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) provides a methodology for effective Programme Management. Read more about MSP in our Free Resources section.

If you would like to discuss Project Management in more detail, or are interested in any of the courses Silicon Beach Training offer, please call us on 01273 622272 and one of our training managers will be happy to help you.

Free MSP Training Resources

Aaron Charlie — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 12:14:43 +0000

We have just updated our Free Resources with some fantastic FREE MSP Training Resources, this includes an overview of MSP, MSP Themes, our MSP Quiz and much more…

If you would like to learn more about MSP Training in Brighton, Sussex, then come along to our MSP Foundation Training, if you already know the basics then perhaps our MSP Practitioner Training would be more appropriate.

MSP stands for Managing Successful Programmes and it represents proven programme management and good practice in successfully delivering transformational change.

MSP defines a programme as a temporary, flexible organisation created to co-ordinate, direct and oversee the implementation of a set of related projects and activities in order to deliver outcomes and benefits related to the organisations strategic objectives.

Next MSP Foundation Training courses in Brighton are running on -

4 – 6 April 2011
13 – 15 June 2011

And the next MSP Practitioner Training courses in Brighton are running on -

4 – 8 April 2011
13 – 17 June 2011

VIDEO – MSP Training Q & A Session

Andy Trainer — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:30:34 +0000

Our new MSP Courses in Brighton, Sussex, are available from July this year. MSP stands for Managing Successful Programmes, and provides a flexible methodology for Programme Managers. The MSP Training courses available are MSP Foundation Training and MSP Practitioner Training.

To answer some of the common questions we get asked about MSP, we put our Lead MSP Trainer on the spot in this 3 minute MSP Q & A video…

For those of you who can’t access this MSP video or have no sound on your computer – a full transcript will be avaialble shortly in our MSP Resources section.

The questions MSP Claudine answered are:

What is MSP?
What are the benefits of using MSP?
How is MSP different to PRINCE2?
How are the MSP Foundation Training and MSP Practitioner Training courses structured?
What exams are there for MSP?
Do I need PRINCE2 to take MSP?

MSP Training Coming in Summer 2010

Alistair Wylie — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:02:34 +0000

We’re pleased to announce that we are now offering MSP Training, with MSP Foundation and MSP Practitioner in Brighton, Sussex, starting in Summer 2010.

We’ve been offering accredited PRINCE2 Courses for many years and achieve great pass rates for both PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioner – the industry standard qualifications for Project Managers.

PRINCE2 is great for Project Managers running single projects – but Programme Managers who look after portfolios of multiple projects require a different methodology, and that’s where MSP comes in.

MSP stands for Managing Successful Programmes and provides a flexible and proven toolkit of Programme Management principles that can be adapted for any businesses’ requirements.

The courses we are offering (and our first available dates) are:

MSP Foundation Training: 3-days – £995 + vat
5-7 July 2010

MSP Practitioner Training: 5-days - £1,395 + vat (includes Foundation certification)
5-9 July 2010

Please call Silicon Beach Training on 01273 622272 or e-mail colin@siliconbeachtraining.co.uk for further information and bookings

MSP™ is a Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce

http://www.siliconbeachtraining.co.uk/prince2-project-management-training/