BCS Certificate Aims to Raise Business IT Standards

 The Information Systems Examination Board (ISEB) of the British Computer Society (BCS) has launched a new module to its Business Systems Development qualification to help raise standards within the arena of change, configuration and release management.

 For IT professionals involved in managing configurations and changes across a system lifecycle, the Certificate in Change, Configuration and Release Management Essentials will enable practitioners to gain a better understanding of the principles, terminology and processes involved. Development staff in particular will be more able to work with colleagues in IT Service Management, where these principles are already embedded.

 Shirley Lacy, who works for an accredited provider for the BSD certificate explains the importance of such a qualification, “The challenges for many businesses today is to develop, test and deliver changes and releases faster than ever before.  The effective application of change, configuration and release management enables organisations to define, document and manage configurations and their dependencies in a way that is manageable, visible and changeable. 

“When change, configuration and release management principles are applied using effective practices, return on investment is maximised and system life cycle costs are reduced.  The barrier to applying these essential disciplines is a lack of understanding and education about how to manage configurations, particularly when there is rapid business and technology change.  IT professionals need to learn what to expect from these processes and to effectively apply them in practice.” 

Developed by the BCS Configuration Management Specialist Group (www.bcs-cmsg.org.uk) the new certificate is available from the 1 May and consists of a part closed and part open book examination, based on a case study. The new Certificate can be used to contribute a “credit” in the BSD credit accumulation scheme for practitioners wishing to obtain one of three related BSD Diplomas. Details of where to prepare and be examined for the certificate via accredited providers can be found at www.iseb.org.uk or by calling +44 (0)1793 471530 

For further information contact:

Victoria Reinthal
Deputy Press Officer
The British Computer Society
Tel: 01793 417606

Mail: press@hq.bcs.org.uk

Established in 1957, The British Computer Society (BCS) is the Chartered Engineering Institution for Information Systems professionals. With almost 40,000 members, the BCS is the leading professional and learned Society in the field of computers and information technology, setting standards for competence and good practice in the field of IT and accrediting individuals and organisations against those standards.