The next meeting of the Certification and Training Working Group will be a conference call at 10:00 BST on 10 September 2008. A separate invite will be sent for this. If you have not received an invite and would like to attend, please e-mail peter.stevenson@shhassociates.com. .

Previous Meetings

The minutes from the last working group meeting on 3 July 2008 are available here.

The minutes for the meeting on Wednesday 2nd April at IBM Bedfont Lakes can be found here.
Session Handouts are also available:

• BCS MTP 2008
• System z University Program for Europe April 2008
• System Z Foundation Training

The minutes from the working group meeting on 26 April 2007 are available here.

Description

The Need

• To help address the mainframe skills shortage by creating a skills development programme which gives the opportunity for continuous professional development of IT professionals working with mainframe related technologies.

Our Vision

• The establishment of an independent, widely adopted framework for Series z hardware and software professional development and certification along with the associated training, supported by the whole Series z community; IBM, its customers and business partners and other ISV/OEM vendors which make up the mainframe vendor community.

Our Objectives

• To facilitate the establishment of a certification framework within the UK along with the independent governance structure to manage and administer it.
• To encourage IBM, it’s business partners and other ISVs and OEMs that make up the mainframe vendor community to contribute to the structure and to contribute the certification tests which comprise it.
• To broaden this certification framework to Europe, the USA and the rest of the mainframe world.

Our Goals

• To gain commitment from IBM and other vendors to support this idea and help develop it.
• To work with IBM and RSM to create an agreed initial scope and structure.
• To work with IBM, RSM and the BCS to create the governance structure and test administration structure.
• To work with IBM, RSM and others to develop the certification tests.

Information