Project Management is increasing in popularity worldwide. More and more countries and international corporations understand the benefits of project management. And as you can see in the attached story about Telstra, they worked to set up a program to certify their project managers. It was a success and Telstra has benefited from the initiative. Keep in mind the attached case study is from 2016 but times have changed. More organizations are now seeing the benefit of Agile Project Management. Telstra, is considering getting their employees certified in Agile Project Management (see options below).

Based on the reading about Telstra's certification effort in 2016 (See attached Case Study), explain to the senior leadership why agile certification in today's marketplace makes the best sense for an international organization.

API. CASE STUDY September 2016 Project Management Institute Improving Capability with Project Management Certifications: Telstra's Story Many of us live in a world where a nearly limitless amount of information is available. Some 3.2 billion people, almost half the globe's population, use the internet, according to a report TELSTRA from International Telecommunication Union.' As a result, being "connected" has emerged as one of the most critical, and sometimes controversial, aspects of everyday life. Telstra has approximately 33,000 employees in over 20 countries Telstra is a leading telecommunications and technology and offers a wide range of services company, and firmly believes that the more connected the around the globe, with a focus on person, the more opportunities they have for success. That's the Asia-Pacific region. Learn more why its strategic goal is to create a brilliant, connected at telstra.com.au. future for everyone. To help fulfil this mission and be known as an organization that continually delivers successful projects, Telstra utilizes Project Management Institute (PMI) frameworks, standards, and certifications to cultivate talent, standardize qualifications across "Our vision of becoming a its Global Services Practices (GSP) division, and support career world-class technology paths for its project managers. company won't be achieved without world- Focusing on Customer Delivery class project management. It's central to the way we The GSP division, which is overseen by Telstra's Global work, and fundamental Project Management Services business unit, delivers high- end technology consulting, design, and deployment across all to our ability to deliver a of Telstra's technology offerings. Established in 2013, GSP's brilliant, connected future major product portfolios include network services, unified for our customers." communications and collaboration technologies, and security and cloud services. ~ Andrew Penn, CEO, Telstra International Telecommunication Union, ICT Facts & Figures, 2015 2016 Project Management Institute, Inc.Improving Capability with Project Management Certifications: Telstra's Story Senior industry leaders were hired to boost the division's capabilities, and in only two years, the number of employees grew to more than 1,500. Every day, GSP manages an average of 2,000 unique customer engagements, which range from "everyday" projects to multi-million dollar transition and transformation projects. The Need for Strategy In order to continue to deliver world class service, Telstra has developed a clear strategy for its professionals, including project managers with formal career paths and professional development plans. There is evidence that careful development and management of project managers can contribute greatly to an organization's success (see below). High-Performing Organizations Focus on Talent Management PMI's Pulse of the Profession : Capturing the Value of Project Management report indicates that high- performing organizations are significantly more likely to focus on talent management, on establishing ongoing training, and on formal and effective knowledge transfer. In fact, that research shows that 80 percent of high-performing organizations had ongoing training for project managers, 65 percent had a formal process in place to develop project manager competency, and 62 percent had defined career paths for their project managers. 80% 75% 650 62% 51% 36% 35% 33% 32% 6% Ongoing training Formal process Formal knowledge Defined career Highly effective for project managers to develop project transfer process path for project knowledge transfer manager competency managers process High performers Low performers Figure 1: Source: PMI's Pulse of the Profession : Capturing the Value of Project Management, 2015 Although Telstra had significant talent within its project management community, not all project management roles were consistently or clearly defined, especially when it came to skills and credentials needed to support customer demands. 2 2016 Project Management Institute, Inc.PMI research has revealed that more than half of high-performing organizations support project, program. and portfolio management through the use of standardized project management practices throughout the organization.2 Telstra needed a certification model that would provide confidence for its customers and ensure that projects would be delivered in a consistent, reliable, world-class manner. This was the impetus forTelstra to establish a formal certication program for its project management community. Most signicantly, this strategic initiative received support from the highest level of management. \"Our vision of becoming a world-class technology company won't be achieved without world-class project management. It's central to the way we work, and fundamental to our ability to deliver a brilliant, connected future for our customers,\" said Telstra CEO Andrew Penn. A Corporate-Wide Initiative In mid-2015, Telstra launched a program to certify more than 400 of GSP's project managers through PMl's globally recognized certications. Although certain methodologies are preferred in different regions, the PMI certifications would best suit Telstra's Australian customer base, as well as customers who work with \"We are committed to delivering world-class technology solutions Telstra to deliver their offerings worldwide. to our CUStomerS- Our professional project Many of Telstra's practitioners had entered the project management managersl certied by eld with engineering backgrounds or made the transition PMI, help us deliver these from collaboration specialist or technical professional, so the PMI certifications have helped achieve consistency across the practitioner base. solutions to our customers on time and on budget. " - Brendon Riley. Group Execuve, Telstra Global Enterprise and Services The leadership team at Telstra recognized the need to establish core qualifications and a shared understanding of how projects are run. They wanted their project managers to manage customer and team expectations with condence and, most importantly, to align their approaches with the business goals of their customers. Michelle Bendschneider, Executive Director Global Products, Telstra, explains the strategy: \"We have a heritage of strong technical capability, but we are aiming for a consistent understanding of all the other things that make a great project manager. Telstra really wants to affect the culture positively and see the profession take pride in what it can achieve, to recognize the key role project managers play in the value chain with our customers.\" 1 Project Management Institute, Purse of the Profession? Capturing the Value ofProjecf Management, 2015 The Value of Working Together Telstra worked with PMI to support the core project management team as they studied for PMl's Project Management Professional (PM P)\September 2016 About PMI Project Management Institute is the world's leading not-for-profit professional membership association for the project, program, and portfolio management profession. Founded in 1969, PMI delivers value for more than 2.9 million professionals working in nearly every country in the world through global advocacy, collaboration, education, and research. PMI advances careers, improves organizational success, and further matures the profession of project management through its globally recognized standards, certifications, resources, tools, academic research, publications, professional development courses, and networking opportunities. As part of the PMI family, Human Systems International (HSI) provides organizational assessment and benchmarking services to leading businesses and government, while ProjectManagement.com and ProjectsAtWork.com create online global communities that deliver more resources, better tools, larger networks, and broader perspectives. Human Systems Project?217: AT WORK Project Management Institute International Management.com- "P... @2016 Project Management Institute, Inc. 5True Business Agility starts here. PMI Agile Certifications DISCIPLINED AGIL Our Agile certifications span beyond SCRUM MASTER any single approach-it's about tailoring your way of working DASM Understand the basics of to your unique situation. 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