First, please note once again that I am not on AIIM's board, I have some but
limited financial stake in the success of their courses, I am not speaking
as a representative of ARMA or the ARMA BOD, and that I AM speaking as
someone with experience, expertise, professional interest, and personal
interest in professional development generally and in the information
management field/profession/discipline specifically. I think my bona fides
in this area will hold up to anyone on the list and to anyone anywhere who
is not a certification development consultant and/or psychometrician.
1. PMP is certified under ISO 17024, as are the security certifications from
ISACA, ISC2, and GIAC. So no, training is not required and in fact the
standard prohibits certifying bodies from also being the sole training
provider. Training can be required, but the certifying body cannot be the
sole provider. This is a big stumbling block for AIIM's efforts to gain ISO
17024 accreditation.
2. Not asking whether the CRM is a certification - I believe it is. I was
addressing the point that "some certifications are more equal than others."
If that is the case, I think the gold standard should be whether the program
is accredited by ANSI under ISO 17024. CA, CRM, CDIA+, CIPP, all are
certifications but don't meet that most rigorous level (and as noted above,
there are personal information management-related certs that do). Others
have noted in the past that the ICRM believes it could pass the ISO 17024
accreditation. I don't have enough exposure to the CRM to know for sure (and
hoping to rectify that over the next 18 or so months) but I'd also note that
the ICRM has not submitted the CRM to ANSI, so we just don't know.
3. AIIM does not have a certification at present and will need to make
significant structural changes in order to achieve any accreditation, much
less ISO 17024. And as a private individual who is a member of both AIIM and
ARMA, I believe competition is ALWAYS a good thing. Unequivocally. Without
reservation. Competition forces all programs to become better and more
responsive to the needs of their customers.
4. As an aside, my status as a member of the ARMA BOD has absolutely nothing
to do with my perception of the CRM program. I am not involved with the EDC,
have disclosed my status as an AIIM trainer and certificate program
developer to the rest of the BOD, and will recuse myself from any decisions
that would be considered to be in conflict with my ARMA BOD duties. But
AIIM's decision to pursue accreditation of their program, and thus
certification, has nothing to do with me as a trainer.
5. I addressed the initials when I included Esq. and FAI, neither of which
are degrees (though Esq. has a JD as a prerequisite, my understanding as a
non-lawyer is that it represents a lawyer, i.e. admitted to the bar)
6. If organizations look for AIIM certificates in addition to, or instead
of, the CRM, that raises a whole host of issues that have little to do with
AIIM's program and much to do with the number of CRMs, the marketing of the
program, the perception of its currency, etc. It says to me that the market
wants trained people who know electronic records and that the market
perceives value in the AIIM courses.
If the CRM is to remain the premier designation (cert or cert irrelevant for
this purpose), it has to do a better job of marketing its value. 900 or so
CRMs vs. 6,000+ AIIM graduates is a compelling argument for many
organizations, and no amount of heated discussion on this list will change
the perception for folks whose staff have completed the AIIM courses and
either don't know about or cannot qualify to sit for the CRM. It's a tough
spot to be in for the ICRM, for CRM holders, and to some extent for ARMA -
but I've raised this point before (see links from previous post).
7. I agree that the cost for the AIIM courses is substantial. In a
certification mode, however, the cost would be broken into the exam cost and
the training cost - AND you could reasonably expect other training providers
to pop up to offer better training, lower cost, or both. I'd also expect to
see some self-study materials appear along the lines of the CDIA+ and
Microsoft programs. I have no idea what an exam for a putative AIIM ERM
Certification would cost compared to the training cost, but I'd imagine it
would be in line with common exams today, which range from $100 or so per
exam (CRM is 6 exams) to, well, more. PMP is $405 for PMI members and $555
for non-members; for their new PgMP it's $1,500 and $1,800 respectively.
8. Finally, regarding AIIM's status as a trade association: TAWPI (arguably
more a trade association than professional) offers the ICP; hasn't really
gotten much traction but it hasn't been questioned in that fashion. I am
agnostic about such a concern until I see the materials. I think there are
questions that can be asked about the AIIM materials, speaking as a trainer
and a developer. But I can also say without reservation that they are NOT
being driven by AIIM's trade members nor exclusively by the members of the
Education Advisory Groups, who themselves are not exclusively vendors either
- this link has the list of EAG members when the ERM certificate was
developed: http://www.aiim.org/education/erm-content2.asp?id=30621. I think
enough people have gone through the AIIM courses, including at least one
member of the ICRM Board of Regents, several current and past ARMA BOD
members, and any number of ARMA members that folks would have complained
loudly here were the courses merely expensive sales pitches.
Regards,
Jesse Wilkins
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