Prince 2?

[beeswax]

I've just passed my degree (Learning, Technology & Research) and was hoping to combine it with something like Prince 2 to give me a wider scope for moving on. Has anyone taken this course (Prince 2), where did you take it, what did you think of it, and have you used what you learned?

[CyberNerd]

For IT I think ITILv3 would be more appropriate.

[FN-GM]

Congrats on passing mate. I know you have worked hard on it you deserve it.

[beeswax]

Thanks Zak. I'm suffering physically for it now though; I've had more days off sick this month than in my previous 10 years.

[srochford]

What sort of IT do you want to do? I've passed ITIL foundation and I've done an introduction to Prince 2. Neither is really about the Technology bit of ICT - they're a lot more focussed on the IC bit.

Prince is particularly relevant if you want to work in a big organisation and get involved in big projects. I work in a University; we have full time project managers in ICT who make sure every one knows what's going on in their projects, that it's all properly documented etc but they don't actually do the technical stuff. As an example, we're moving to a VoIP system with about 10,000 extensions. Making sure that all the steps happen in the right order and at the right time is quite a task for the project manager!

ITIL would be useful if you want to be involved in managing IT services - it's very much geared towards the delivery of IT as a service like any other service a big organisation uses (facilities, estates etc)

I'm afraid the courses I did were internal (external trainer but only open to staff) so I can't really recommend a place to do it.

[beeswax]

Thanks for that. In a way, I'm casting about for something to complement the degree and whatever IT expertise I possess and build up a portfolio of skills for the coming new world order. (I also feel a little lost in the evenings not having a goal to work at).

[mossj]

I did prince2 internally at the university I work at.

The course was defently worth while, and I do actually use it in the day to day work. It's not IT specific and focuses more on the lifecycle of any project from weighing it up > closing it down. Comes into play alot when you have the weekly meetings with the ITS project managers, I also hear it's used by ITS in goverment organisations.

Also learnt a new fav word "disbenefit" (something bad that will happen).

[beeswax]

Thanks for that. Heard a new word in the States some years ago as we were waiting to get off a plane the air hostess announced that we would be able to deplane once the plane had come to a halt and the cabin doors were open.

[vikpaw]

I would say do Prince and ITIL, it's always useful to have those sorts of qualifications under your belt. If you want to stick to Educational IT look at FITS over ITIL initially.

Also, look up and possibly contact KWagner, he's well qualified and pretty clued up on courses etc.

[witch]

I would agree that any ITIL and Prince is worth having - if you want to go into organisations which do big government projects Prince would be particularly useful