Foster-Melliar launches ICT infrastructure management course in SA

Foster-Melliar today announced the launch of the ITIL ICT Infrastructure Management course designed to equip IT professionals with the appropriate skills and competencies to undertake infrastructure management in today`s complex IT environment.

"Despite the fact that infrastructure quality has a direct influence on the success of a business, the planning, deployment and management of infrastructure are too often only given cursory attention. The complexity of distributed ICT infrastructures and the increasing demands from business to provide new platforms at short notice often result in unplanned and uncoordinated infrastructure islands that are extremely difficult to manage in a transparent and seamless way," says David Anderson, CEO of Foster-Melliar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Xantium Technology Holdings Limited and leading local provider and pioneer of ITIL best practice in SA.

"High-quality infrastructure platforms that underpin the collection, analysis and dissemination of information throughout an organisation are critical when it comes to managing the two most important strategic resources of a business - knowledge and information.

"Today`s highly distributed and increasingly complex ICT infrastructures present significant challenges to ICT infrastructure managers that are both diverse and extensive. Foster-Melliar`s ITIL ICT Infrastructure Management course provides a solid base from which to manage the infrastructure and fully exploit the infrastructures capabilities for maximum ROI and benefits," adds Anderson.

There are a number of key drivers and motivators behind the development of the ITIL ICT Infrastructure Management course. "Organisations are increasingly dependent on ICT for their very existence and it is a significant channel for the delivery of an organisation`s products and services. In addition, the complexity of ICT infrastructures makes for larger, more distributed and complex systems.

"Today`s rapidly evolving business environment also calls for tremendous flexibility as users frequently demand new services that often have to be provided using existing infrastructure. But at the same time the status quo in terms of service has to be maintained as customers are far less tolerant of poor service - service failures can and do have severe repercussions on mainstream business functions," he adds.

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Without doubt ICT forms a substantial portion of the budget and worldwide there is growing demand for ICT to demonstrate and deliver long-term value from an investment perspective. The movement towards global competition and shorter lifecycles of technologies that has created competitive advantage has also increased the necessity to deliver products and services to market in shorter time-frames.

"Addressing these challenges requires vision and leadership. An appreciation and understanding of the business strategy, the role of IT service management and ICT strategies in line with business objectives, as well as an open exchange of information, are essential in achieving effective and proactive management of the ICT infrastructure," says Anderson.

The scope of ITIL ICT Infrastructure Management (ICTIM) best practice covers all the main processes, inter-relationships and dependencies on other service management processes and the key roles and responsibilities that should be present. The course covers the design and planning, deployment, operations and technical support.

ITIL ICT Infrastructure Management is a five-day course aimed at IT professionals who are partly or wholly responsible for the management of ICT infrastructure. The ITIL Infrastructure Management certificate complements the ISEB Manager`s and Foundation certificates in IT service management and is a suitable and important next step for those with industry recognised qualifications such as CCNA, MCSP and MOF. Candidates should ideally have two to three years` experience in managing aspects of ICT infrastructure.