Performance management firm Analytix is making major inroads in COBIT IT governance training, through its distinct approach of bringing it in-house.
Johan Botha, Managing Director of performance management company, Analytix, says his company has trained more than 400 IT professionals in over 70 organisations in COBIT in the past three years - with a clear indication that organisations increasingly favour in-house IT governance workshops.
They include a number of blue-chip companies, among them Eskom, Theba Bank Bank, Unisys, arivia.kom, Liberty Life, Old Mutual, Sasol, Anglo American and others, as well as a growing list of parastatals such as the SABC, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Correctional Services.
Botha explains why providing customised, in-house training in the system, rather than adopting a "one size fits all" approach, works best when it comes to COBIT.
"One of the main impediments to the adoption of a framework like COBIT is that, while the documentation provided is highly thorough and comprehensive, organisations are often at a loss as to where to begin due to the magnitude and scope of the challenge.
"Standard, public COBIT courses tend not to deliver on expectations when it comes to getting COBIT projects off the ground, because they are not practically oriented," he says.
Analytix offers a two-day, in-house course that is typically attended by eight to twelve people including directors, managers and process owners. With the help of software, Analytix then develops a model of the IT governance assessment.
"It is a practical, structured approach that puts all course participants on the same roadmap, so they can quickly implement and start energising their COBIT projects. The outcome of the hands-on workshop enables participants to practically apply the newly learned skills, by following a structured and proven approach to IT maturity assessment and improvement, including the following steps:
"Understanding the CobiT framework, apply the COBIT principles in practice, scoping a COBIT Review, assessing IT process maturity, defining and assessing critical success factors, defining and assessing key IT performance indicators, develop and prioritise a program to achieve target IT process maturity levels, analyse, follow-up and manage your IT assessments and project deliverables.
"This leads to an agreed upon COBIT project plan, with buy-in from IT process owners, with clearly defined project deliverables and timeframes."
According to Botha, the company consistently receives highly positive reviews from its courses. "But the best tribute comes from seeing how COBIT takes off within organisations after the course, and how rapidly they start seeing results."
The company`s success in COBIT training has been recognised, among others, by Unisys, which has entered into a partnership with Analytix to provide training to its customers.
The high level of content and effective learning outcomes has resulted in Analytix COBIT courses being accredited with the Services SETA (Sector Education Training Authority).
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