SAM Credentials Need To Evolve To Reflect Competency, Not Instant Certifications

It never fails to astound me that asset management practitioners can be transformed from "I just got this job" into proficient(?) software asset management professionals in as few as one or two days of training. I'm further blown away that a majority of our industry training programs include an "instant" short-term memory exam as part of their certification schedule.

Do me a favor & check my math. It looks like the typical training session can be completed in an average of two business days. These sessions probably include multiple breaks for coffee, tea, lunch, & (I hope) at least a 2.5 hour exam. If I'm correct in my calculations, the actual time-on-task for today's certified SAM practitioners churned out by the typical 2-day program is less than 7 hours. I hate to even consider the time-on-task for a single day program.

Based on all this, it would seem to me that we're actually killing our credentials by popping out people who know just enough to get themselves & their enterprises into what an ancient Chinese knowledge expert dubbed as "interesting" SAM operational times. (Yes, I know they didn't phrase it quite that way.)

Here's how we approach the typical SAM certification problems with the training & credential programs from The Institute for Technology Asset Management:

• Our SAM credential has been broken down into Software and copyright compliance Assurance (SCCA) and Software Asset Management (SAM). Between these two, the candidate receives more than 29 hours of actual time-on-task training broken into approximately 39 individual focused self-paced sessions.
• We are not proprietary in our programming. We focus on openly available competencies that practitioners can easily apply specifically to their SAM (and IT) environments. Nothing is hidden.
• We have broken out the classic SAM training program into brief self-paced on demand sessions that can be taken singly or as a bundle.
• Via this individual session delivery, we can deliver significantly more time-on-task than ANY alternative program in the industry.
• When the basics of the certification are delivered online, we can eliminate the costly & disruptive travel aspect.of typical SAM programs.
• The Institute also provides an "open source" style knowledge base (in the form of our easily acquired Guide to the Technology Asset Management Body of Knowledge (TAMBOK). Through this simple TAMBOK practitioners and enterprises alike can gain a comprehensive view of the actual needs of asset management infrastructure.
• What's more, The Institute provides third party tracking of your training portfolio via a SCORM Compliant industry standard Learning Management system.
• Also, the SAM-related exams are free-standing and can be completed at any time after fully completing the coursework. This provides candidates with plenty of time to study and translate their knowledge from short-term memory into their more stable long-term memory. Result? Candidates learn and remember more than ever before.

I'll cover additional differentiators for Institute credentials in follow-on posts. For now, recognize that The Institute is moving SAM & ITAM credentialing into the next generation of credibility - for practitioners, as well as for those who hire credentialed SAMs / ITAMs. 

To look over the range of Institute Software & Copyright Compliance Assurance (SCCA) and Software Asset Management (SAM) credential programs, click HERE

sign in to the LMS (Learning Management System) [ It's Free] and review the course content.  Each session has a brief printed introduction and the live sessions last from 30 to 90 minutes.

Any questions, please let me know.

The Institute for Technology Asset Management

The Institute for Technology Asset Management provides professional development and public training programs in the fields of Software & Copyright Compliance Assurance (SCCA), Software Asset Management (SAM), Information Technology Asset Management (ITAM / TAM), and Technology Portfolio Management (TPM).

The Institute's information technology asset management professional development programs are anchored in the front line common sense experiences of working IT asset managers - representing our global membership. These practitioners also have deep expertise in such areas as project management, contract management, business process improvement, internal auditing, negotiations, ITIL, ISO standards, and other complimentary fields. In addition, our programming is unique in the industry, having been organized and delivered at the collegiate level to optimize both depth of coverage and alignment of competencies with both academic principles and real world IT asset management operations. 

Our primary goals? To develop and deliver the IT asset management industry's most cost-effective and comprehensive professional development knowledge and credentialing programs.

Our supportive goals? To deliver our programming to a global audience, enabling businesses of all sizes, operating in any industry or cultural environment, to gain maximum ROI value for their business technology investments while minimizing technology related risks.

The Institute for Technology Asset Management training is the first programming to be based on globally recognized professional competencies as documented in the standardized Guide to the Technology Asset Management Body of Knowledge – TAMBOK™. The uniquely affordable TAMBOK documents the competencies necessary for practitioners – or enterprises – to establish and support a wide range of information technology asset management initiatives. 

The Institute's training programs re-enforce and enhance the process behind the proven TAMBOK competencies. While the Institute programs integrate a wide range of standards and best practices, our members believe that there is a significantly higher percentage of ROI results to be generated from a renewed focus on basic business processes and practitioner competencies. As a direct consequence, IT asset management training from The Institute delivers significant value at minimal expense – with no need to purchase costly standards, consulting, or support products.

The Institute is the only non profit [501(c)(3)] practitioner-driven association of IT asset management professionals in the world, having been established to fill the void of providing cost-effective training and open knowledge transfer to information technology asset managers as well as to the general public. The Institute also leads the IT asset management field in providing the only non-proprietary professional development and credentialing programs designed around a functional interdisciplinary knowledge framework.

The Institute's TAMBOK-focused professional development programs have been available online since 2006 with custom-built instructor-led IT asset management programming currently available on a scheduled basis. Institute programming is also being delivered at the university level via workforce development programming. The Institute will resume scheduling open-to-the-public – instructor led - programming via its new web site in 2^nd quarter 2011.