All Knowledge Age consultants have at least 10 years of broad hands-on IT Management experience and a degree or higher education in IT and/or project management. They are selected on a basis of their ability to relate to your environment and to transfer complex information in efficient and meaningful ways.

Our professional qualifications include:

	Project Management Professional certification from Project Management Institute.   Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org) is the world’s leading organization for the project management profession. With more than one half million members, credential holders, volunteers and trained project professionals worldwide, PMI advocates project, program and portfolio management that can enhance and accelerate organizational change - driving innovation, improving bottom line performance, and strengthening competitive advantage.   Globally recognized and demanded, the PMP credential demonstrates to employers, clients and colleagues that a project manager possesses project management knowledge, experience and skills to bring projects to successful completion. The PMP recognizes the competence of an individual to perform in the role of a project manager, specifically experience in leading and directing projects.
	Certified Scrum Master by Scrum Alliance.   The Scrum Alliance (www.scrumalliance.org) is a not-for-profit professional membership organization created to share the Scrum framework and transform the world of work. Scrum is an agile, iterative, incremental framework for project management.   The Scrum Master is the one who implements and facilitates the use of scrum by a team during a project. The Scrum Master ensures that the scrum methodology is properly implemented. The CSM certificate is granted to those who have taken a CSM course and assess their progress through Scrum Alliance evaluation.
	PRINCE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environments) Practitioner qualification from APM Group.   PRINCE2 is a project management method developed by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) as a UK Government standard for IT project management. PRINCE2 has become increasingly popular and is now a de facto standard for project management in the UK and number of other countries.   PRINCE2 qualification is a worldwide, industry-recognised credential that signifies a proven level of knowledge and ability in the PRINCE2 methodology.
	Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) Practitioner qualification from APM Group.   Managing Successful Programmes methodology comprises a set of principles and processes for use when managing a programme. It was developed by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) as a UK Government standard for IT programme management. MSP has become increasingly popular and is now a de facto standard for programme management in the UK and number of other countries.   MSP Practitioner qualification is a worldwide, industry-recognised credential that signifies a proven level of knowledge and ability in the MSP methodology.
	Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Expert qualification from APM Group.   The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and practices for Information Technology Services Management (ITSM), Information Technology (IT) development and IT operations.
	Project Management in Development (PMD Pro) qualification from APM Group.   PMD Pro is a Project Management certification scheme designed for NGOs. It was developed with experts from several of the world's best-known and highly regarded non-governmental organizations. It is based on standard project management practices but it also recognises the additional roles which project managers in the international development, relief and conservation sectors are expected to fulfill, and is relevant to the projects they manage.
	Project+ certification from CompTIA.   CompTIA is the non-profit trade association advancing the global interests of information technology (IT) professionals and companies.    The CompTIA Project+ certification is an international, vendor-neutral certification that covers the entire project life cycle from initiation and planning through execution, acceptance, support and closure.
	Certified Outsourcing Professional (COP) qualification from International Association of Outsourcing Professionals.   IAOP® is the global, standard-setting organization and advocate for the outsourcing profession. With a global community of more than 100,000 members and affiliates worldwide, IAOP is the leading professional association for organizations and individuals involved in transforming the world of business through outsourcing, offshoring, and shared services.    The Certified Outsourcing Professional (COP) designation distinguishes individuals as leaders in the field of outsourcing.
	Certified Member (MCCM(Cert.)) of International Association for Contract & Commercial Management.   The International Association for Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM) is a non-profit membership organization that provides a global forum for innovation and collaboration in trading relationships and practices.   Certified Member (MCCM(Cert.)): a certified member is likely to have a minimum 7 years experience and be in a management or senior specialist role. In addition to demonstrating highly developed skills and knowledge, a certified member will also be required to submit a brief written transcript regarding their work experience, plus undertaking a more extensive on-line examination (multiple choice plus case study analysis). The application will be approved by a review board of senior managers / executives. Certified members are invited to volunteer as mentors for more junior members of the profession.
	Foundation Certificate in IT Law from The Chartered Institute for IT .   Mission of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT (formerly known as British Computer Society), is to enable the information society. BCS promotes wider social and economic progress through the advancement of information technology science and practice.   Foundation Certificate in IT Law is a qualification that demonstrates general understanding of the all the areas of Information Technology Law.
	IBM Certified Solution Designer - IBM Rational Unified Process.   IBM Certified Solution Designer - IBM Rational Unified Process is an individual with extensive product knowledge who understands the principles involved and the uses of Rational Unified Process. The individual should be proficient with RUP terminology, iterative development principles and related work products, method elements and their relationships, process elements and their relationships, and the basic intent and content of RUP disciplines.
	Microsoft Solutions Framework Certified Practitioner.   Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) is a set of principles, models, disciplines, concepts, and guidelines for delivering information technology solutions from Microsoft. MSF is not limited to developing applications only, it is also applicable to other IT projects like deployment, networking or infrastructure projects.
	Sun Certified Enterprise Architect (SCEA).   Sun Certified Enterprise Architect (SCEA) is for enterprise architects responsible for architecting and designing Java EE compliant applications with an emphasis on making the best use of Java EE features to create flexible, scalable, secure designs. The SCEA certification “signifies that its holders can handle advanced design responsibilities and lead roles in creating applications.
	IBM Certified Solution Developer -- XML 1.1 and Related Technologies.   IBM Certified Solution Developer -- XML 1.1 and Related Technologies  designates a developer has a strong understanding of XML fundamentals; knowledge of XML concepts and related technologies; understands how data relates to XML, in particular with issues associated to information modeling, XML processing, XML rendering and Web Services; has a thorough knowledge of core XML related W3C recommendations; and is familiar with well-known, best practices.
	Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) from International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)².   The International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc., (ISC)²®, is the global, not-for-profit leader in educating and certifying information security professionals throughout their careers.   Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) is a vendor-neutral is information security certification and designates individuals that have mastered a standardized body of information systems security knowledge.
	Computer Hacking Forensic Investigation qualification from EC-Council.   The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in various e-business and information security skills.   Computer Hacking Forensic Investigation qualification designates individuals that mastered the process of detecting hacking attacks and properly extracting evidence to report the crime and conduct audits to prevent future attacks.
	Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) qualification from EC-Council.   The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in various e-business and information security skills.   The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Program certifies individuals in the specific network security discipline of Ethical Hacking from a vendor-neutral perspective.

Marin Ivezic
Marin Ivezic is a partner in Knowledge Age. Prior to Knowledge Age, Marin established a formidable reputation as one of the leading IT project / program managers in Australasia. He has delivered and turned around programs with budgets of up to $150M for clients in multiple geographies around the world; Marin led one of the largest and most complex software projects in the Financial Services industry globally, delivering on time and under budget; he has implemented software process improvement and Agile implementations in IT organizations of up to 4000 staff; built offshore development centres and managed major outsourcing relationships for some of the worlds leading organisations. As one of the most highly certified project management experts worldwide, Marin is able to deliver projects and programs within a range of frameworks and industries. Marin has also advised governments in Middle East, Africa and Asia on building IT Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing capabilities.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/marinivezic

Bryan Fenech
Bryan is a partner in Knowledge Age. Bryan has a proven track record of successfully managed and delivered IT enabled business change projects and programmes since 1992, and has specialized in project portfolio management (PPM) capability implementation and improvement projects since 2001. His clients have included Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Caltex Australia, Sydney Water, American Express, Coca Cola Amatil, Tourism Australia, Baycorp Advantage (now Veda Advantage), Thomson Legal and Regulatory Group (Asia Pacific), the University of Technology (Sydney) and Macquarie University. Bryan delivers lectures in PPM at the University of Technology, Sydney to business and IT leaders who are enrolled in the IT Management Development Program. He has also written journal papers, and presented at international conferences, on the business impact and benefits of PPM, most recently for Management Learning and at the 6th International Conference on Organisational Learning and Knowing (Trento, Italy), the Project Management Institute Global Congress 2008 – Asia Pacific (Sydney, Australia), and the Project Management Institute Global Congress 2006 – Asia Pacific (Bangkok, Thailand). Bryan is a member of the Project Management Institute (Sydney Chapter), the PPM SIG and the International PPM Forum.

Ken Dovey
Ken is an advisor to Knowledge Age. Ken is the Director of the IT Management Program at the University of Technology, Sydney. He has over 30 years experience in academic roles in South African and Australian universities, leading to professorial appointments in the area of strategic leadership. He has consulted to a wide range of global businesses, governments and non-profit organizations since 1981; work that sees him engaged as a leadership coach to senior executives. He lectures regularly on executive education programs at business schools around the world. Through Knowledge Age, Ken is delivering his popular 2-day workshop - Leadership In The Knowledge Age. 

Grant Wood
Grant is a Senior Director in Knowledge Age. Grant has an extensive experience as an IT delivery manager and consultant and as a successful business manager and entrepreneur. His background includes IT Management roles in Financial Services industry; Delivery Management and General Management roles in Telecommunications industry - such as Hutchison and Optus; Senior Delivery Management role in IBM. Amongst other achievements, he managed the launch of Lime Taxis for Macquarie Bank; within Macquarie Bank he started a payments business to provide mobile payment terminals, corporate account products, clearing and settlement functions; he managed the business as the CEO after the business was sold and he grew the business organically and through acquisition to become the only truly national, full service competitor to the dominant incumbent.

Darryl Clark
Darryl is a Senior Director in Knowledge Age. He has over 30 years of experience as a senior IT executive and IT management consultants. His roles include senior IT management positions at some of the largest US government contractors such as Raytheon and Lockheed Martin and a CIO position at Boston Group. Prior to joining Knowledge Age, Darryl founded and managed successful  IT professional services companies in Europe and USA.

Steve Theiss
Steve is a Senior Director in Knowledge Age. He is a career IT program manager with over 30 years of experience managing some of the most complex IT programs in the world. His latest engagements include management of large parts of the UK National Health Service (NHS) IT programme and management of an online portal for European Commission. Steve managed IT programmes and IT service delivery for number of Global 500 companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Gazprom, Sony, Bombardier, Thales and others.

John Farina
John is a Senior Director in Knowledge Age.

Knowledge Age is constantly on the lookout for the best, highly motivated individuals, who posses skills and experience necessary for success and are interested in creating a new kind of consulting firm.

We offer both contract and permanent positions.

All positions require background in IT Project Management. A minimum of 8 years hands-on IT Project Management experience is essential.

All positions involve interfacing with customers and some travel.

Candidates must have excellent communication skills and learning abilities, along with strong skills.

Candidates who share our corporate values of quality, integrity and accountability are strongly encouraged to apply.

We are looking for suitable candidates to operate in the following sectors:

• IT Project and Program Management
• Software Development Project and Program Management
• Infrastructure Project Management
• ERP Project  Management
• Business Change Project Management
• Organizational Change
• Software Process Improvement
• Agile Methodologies Implementation
• PMO Implementation and PMO Management
• Development Methodologies Definition and Implementation
• Project Management Maturity
• Software Development
• Outsourcing Contract Management
• RFI / RFP Managament
• Outsourcing and Offshore Outsourcing Strategy Definition
• Shared Services Optimization
• Project Assessment
• Project Turnaround
• Risk Management
• Configuration Management
• Requirements Management
• IT Quality Assurance
• with experience in some of these methodologies:
  • Agile
  • PMBoK
  • Prince 2
  • XP
  • FDD
  • DSDM
  • Scrum
  • MSP
  • RUP
  • SPI (CMM, SPICE, BOOTSTRAP, ISO...)

and whose approach to the job is characterized by:

• highly analytical thought-process and judgment
• integrity
• creativity
• commitment
• professionalism
• organization

and with:

• fluent English
• excellent client interaction skills
• presentational skills
• communication skills
• self confidence
• learning abilities
• ability to think out of the box
• desire to work for the small and dynamic company - with all the advantages and disadvantages
  

Knowledge Age Mission

To provide our clients with practical and measurable IT project management improvements.

To improve our industry by sharing our knowledge freely and by actively participating in initiatives and organizations that research and promote best IT delivery and project management practices.

Knowledge Age Values

• Honesty and integrity.
• People come first.
• We share our knowledge freely.
• We strive to be the best in our field.
• We strive to find balance in our professional and personal lives.

Knowledge Age Environment

As an emerging company, Knowledge Age offers a working environment with distinct advantages:

• Strong emphasis on entrepreneurship, including the willingness to take risks, take personal ownership of projects, and function independently as well as with the team.
• Profit sharing income model.
• Fast-track growth opportunities.
• Personal input to company publications.
• Significant individual impact on business success.
• Direct performance feedback from co-founding partners.
• Strong sense of community.
• Ability to pursue new business based on individual interests.
• Professionally supportive and respectful environment.
• Input on business growth decisions.
• Significant support for professional skills development and training

We offer

• We offer an excellent salary and benefits package, along with the opportunity to work in a dynamic, team environment.
• We have a unique incentive based model.
• We depend on each one to bring real-world experience, a firm grasp of solutions-based consulting and a desire to excel. It's our job to build employee knowledge base through certification and training programs.

As a Knowledge Age employee, your training regimen may include:

• An annual budget allocation for training and up to 10 days per year for training in subject areas of your choice.
• Full reimbursement for training materials and fees related to certification examinations.
• On-the-job mentoring from Knowledge Age team members.

If you, or someone you know, possesses the required skills and experience, is interested in leading edge work, enjoys a challenge, is an outstanding team spirited individual and wishes to expand their opportunities, please drop us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

In order to plan the most effective skills strategies, organisations must understand which approaches have been the most effective; therefore, measuring the effectiveness of training programs provides valuable data.

Our approach

Measuring the effectiveness of training has long been recognised as difficult and time-consuming. In fact, because the benefits of training are so tightly ‘embedded’ into a business and there are many things to measure, a point can be quickly reached at which the benefits of having comprehensive data is outweighed by the cost of acquiring it. Our approach is to determine which data will be genuinely valuable to the business and then provide the most sensible way of acquiring that information.

As with any measuring process, it is impossible to measure without a benchmark reference. Therefore, if the effects of training are to be measured, it is necessary to perform measurements before the training taking place – to act as the reference point.

A practical approach is to measure the skills of employees before training and then again afterwards. This provides a reliable way of plotting progress and also of identifying areas in which training has not been as successful as expected, so that remedial action can be taken.

Knowledge Age starts by agreeing, with the client, on just what the measurement criteria are – what needs to be measured. Then, a mechanism for measurement can be proposed, agreed on and implemented. Reports, in an agreed format, provide valuable client data, but, more importantly, Knowledge Age can add commentary to those reports, with recommendations for adjustments to the training, which will deliver better results.

Too often the approach to the overall training and learning strategy is vague leaving last minute or on-the-job training the only option. In some situations this is adequate, but a cohesive strategy will often be more cost effective in the long term and provide your team with an understanding of how their career development fits with the business strategy.

Knowledge Age can work with HR, Training and IT departments, as appropriate, to develop a Training and Learning Strategy that is pragmatic and in-line with the business strategy.

Our approach

No two training and learning strategies are ever the same - the current “as-is” position and the desired goals are normally different amongst organisations due to their organisational size, budgets, culture and geographical spread. Knowledge Age consultants can work with your team to understand the nature of the training and learning requirements, the business background and the general scope of the strategy.

Our approach would be holistic, with the scope extending beyond training to encompass any relevant skills-acquisition and skills-management process, such as: career-planning for key team members; managing and grooming key team members; recruiting; training and new skills required (technical and business skills); training options (including e-learning, self-paced, intranet reference etc); use of contractors. These recommendations would enable a skills strategy to be devised to fully support the business needs.

Training is most effective when focused on a specific need. Knowledge Age can perform training needs analysis at the corporate, departmental and individual level to uncover the skills needed to meet the strategic business objectives as well as those of the department and individual.

Our approach

Knowledge Age can work with your team and your management to understand what the goals of the business are.

The format of the individual training needs analysis depends on the number involved and the training goals, but will range from one-to-one interviews to using computer-based analysis tools. The depth of detail of the training-needs analysis will have been agreed on in advance and will depend on whether the aim is to provide training to meet a specific need or whether it is taking place as part of an overall skills-development process.

We present the results in an agreed format, ranging from an informal presentation/workshop through to more detailed analysis in a database or spreadsheet. Our findings are presented with recommendations for courses of action to address the identified skills gap.

While off-the-shelf training courses are readily available, their "one size fits all" approach can mean that delegates have to learn many topics which are not relevant to their needs. When training larger groups of people, it can be cost-effective to develop a course for that specific audience. Knowledge Age can customise and develop courses on a wide range of software project management and software engineering topics, with content focused specifically on the business need.

Our approach

Knowledge Age will first work to help to define the training requirements and then ascertain whether there is a standard course which would meet the defined need or whether a tailored course should be created from elements of current courses. Where a bespoke course is required, we will work closely with the client to understand what the course must cover, before proposing a course structure – to include key topics, learning points and logistics, such as duration and workshop elements. We would then develop the course, feeding sections of the course back to the client, as appropriate, for input and improvement. Once the developed course is complete, it can be piloted with a test audience, the feedback from which will help to further refine the course. The finalised course is then delivered to the target audience, along agreed timescales.

Because the course is being developed from the ground up, elements of different training media can be combined into one cohesive training program – for example, using CBT, self-paced books or e-learning, to support the classroom training. If required, the entire course can be non-classroom.

Knowledge Age follows a structured approach to deliver this service to ensure that content is:

• relevant to the needs and expectations of users
• accessible to the range of technology available to users
• useable and functional
• pedagogically sound and cohesive

The main principles used in our approach include:

• the active involvement of users, such as trainers and users (User Focus Groups (UFGs))
• obtaining feedback from users at all stages of development, from simple paper mock-ups to online prototypes
• the use of multidisciplinary development teams to ensure both pedagogical and technical quality
• using the most appropriate media for the content, taking into account the context of use, audience skills and access to technologies

The client will receive the exact course required, of an agreed duration. Delegates will also receive any developed courseware, with associated self-paced commercial training books, if appropriate.

• Do you have problems keeping abreast of new developments, trends and their business implications?
• Confused by thousands of acronyms and their relevance to your business?
• Do you need to raise awareness or initiate a discussion about particular methodology?
• Do you want to better understand benefits and risks and current trends?
• Do you need to get some ideas on how your competitors could use trends as a threat?

Knowledge Age can provide a service to keep organizations updated with methodologies, technologies and trends relevant to the business strategy. This can be on a one-off basis or as a regular proactive service. The information is presented in a lively, business-relevant way as part of interactive briefings.

Our approach

Our approach depends on whether you require a one-off briefing or a regular service.

For a one-off briefing, we would quickly ascertain those trends which are of interest to you. Then we would research and prepare a briefing of an agreed duration. This may be a technical briefing or maybe non-technical, focusing on the business impact of new technologies or methodologies: how can trends be exploited; how will competitors use these as a threat; what are the overall benefits and risks? The briefing would then take place, using a format which facilitates discussion, rather than being a one-way process. The goal at the end is to draw some practical conclusions and actions about the technology or the methodology.

Where a more regular service is required, it is important to determine the strategy of the business to assess which technologies the organization should be monitoring and aware of.

Briefings are scheduled as required, perhaps once each quarter, to keep companies updated about all relevant technology issues which affect their business strategy.

Where required, Knowledge Age can make recommendations about how the company can exploit technology and the skills implications of such implementations.

Some Previous Briefings:

• Why all the buzz about Agile?
• Benefits of PMO.
• Methodologies Quagmire.
• CMMI ROI.
• Agile methodologies and capitalization policy.
• Driving innovation through agility.

Training provides a basis for knowledge acquisition and a level of practical experience that can be used immediately on the job. However, even from the very best training there is still a requirement to consolidate the newly learnt skills through practical experience and working alongside experts in the area who can provide advice and guidance. Experienced Knowledge Age consultants can provide guidance, answer questions and resolve problems as projects are started or new methodologies used. The emphasis is on skills transfer to support and coach the person or team rather than the classic consultancy approach.

The benefits of mentoring include reduced risk, additional management support mechanisms, rapid project initiation, on the job knowledge transfer and consolidation of classroom knowledge in a safe environment.

Our approach

The first task will be to understand the requirement and to identify the most appropriate solution that Knowledge Age can provide. A mentoring project definition plan will be produced which will clearly show the business objectives and the associated activities required by Knowledge Age to satisfy them.

The mentor(s) will work directly with the individuals or group, providing guidance, reviewing documents, facilitating workshops and resolving problems.

Depending on the nature of the work, a review of the project is often undertaken at project milestone phases comprising a written report and review sessions.

Mentoring projects are by their very nature flexible and no two engagements are ever the same. A mentoring project may be a short duration consisting of a number of review sessions or it may be for a few days per month for the whole duration of the project. Knowledge Age will work closely with the client to ensure the most appropriate and cost effective service is developed.