1246 Courses delivered Live Online

Introduction to Agile for Executives: Virtual In-House Training This session provides executives with an overview of Agile values and principles, the key benefits of an Agile approach, and its differences with the traditional Waterfall method. During the session, we compare and contrast the major Agile methods, with an emphasis on Scrum, as the most popular in the market. And most importantly, we present some criteria for Agile Transformation, possible certifications to pursue, and what is needed at the senior leadership level to achieve the best business results. What you will Learn At the end of this program, you will be able to: Explain the basics and benefits of using an Agile approach Describe the Scrum framework, its events, artifacts, and roles and responsibilities Illustrate an Agile approach outside of Software Development Define Scaled Agile Determine how to support an Agile transformation for your organization Getting Started Introduction Course structure Course goals and objectives Agile Introduction What is Agile? Agile benefits Agile myths and realities Overview of Agile Methods Overview of Agile methods Scrum method Lean and Kanban methods Criteria and certifications What Executives Need to Know About Agile Agile is not just for IT Agile can be scaled Agile transformation needs your support Summary and Next Steps Review Personal Action Plan

Project Leadership Skills: Virtual In-House Training To be effective within an organization, project managers need to have a wide variety of skills and abilities. Included among these are: creating and executing on a vision; motivating others; influencing without authority; networking; communicating up, down and laterally; negotiating; managing stakeholders; and managing conflict. This highly interactive workshop focuses on building the soft skills that are critical to leading a team and creating sustainable business change. Participants will gain insight into the social science as well as the brain science behind motivating and empowering others. They will learn and experiment with a variety of influencing strategies and tactics. Working in pairs as well as small groups, they will collaborate with others to brainstorm, share experiences, and apply concepts to everyday challenges. Participants will also discover their personal communication preferences, strengths, and blind spots and will gain insight into how best to communicate with others they find 'difficult.' They will gain insight into managing the people side of change, learning strategies for dealing with each step in the process. Hands-on negotiation and conflict management activities enhance the theoretical learning, grounding it in real life and making it actionable. Interweaving role play with experiential learning and group activities, this course will help participants refine a skill set that is invaluable to their organization, and one that transfers easily across their professional and personal lives. What You Will Learn At the end of this course, you will be able to: Explain the importance of vision in driving motivation and engagement Apply science-based research to better motivate those around you Strategically leverage both personal and positional power to achieve positive project results Determine influencing and networking strategies needed for personal growth Identify ways to problem solve communication challenges when others have different personality styles Connect stakeholder expectations to project success criteria Assess key stakeholders across various dimensions of complexity Apply the four rules of principled negotiation to a real-life conflict situation Recognize key aspects of a physiological response to conflict Utilize selected tools and techniques to 'defuse' an emotional situation Leverage various strategies and tactics to successfully deal with ambiguity at work Getting Started / Foundation Concepts Introductions Course structure, goals, and objectives Beginning a personal action plan Managing Vision and Purpose / Motivating Others Communicating and aligning around vision Tying the present to the future The importance of purpose The art and science of motivation Networking and Influencing Positive politics and project success Types of power within organizations Power and influence Networking best practices Communication The medium and the message Personality and communication styles Communication challenges Stakeholder Management and Negotiation Identifying stakeholders Analyzing stakeholders Negotiation basics Principled negotiation Conflict Management Dynamics of conflict The anatomy of conflict Conflict management approaches and tools Dealing with ambiguity Summary and Next Steps Key concepts review Creating your personal action plan

Estimating for Business Analysts: Virtual In-House Training A business analyst does not have authority to estimate the project and will not be held responsible for the project staying within the proposed budget; however, the business analyst does participate in various planning exercises with the project team. Many times the business analyst is on his or her own, required to provide estimates of how long it will take to perform their tasks. This course acquaints you with the basics of estimating from the point of view of the business analyst, emphasizing time estimates for the work. It also covers some of the product cost estimates that a business analyst may have to provide when the business is performing a cost/benefit analysis for the project. What you will Learn You'll learn how to: Translate business needs and requirements into estimates Estimate durations using a variety of techniques Negotiate differences in estimates Getting Started Introductions Course structure Course goals and objectives Foundation Concepts The importance of estimating to a business analyst The good and bad of estimating The project context The meaning of good estimating Focuses of estimating Characteristics of a good estimate Estimating the Time Requirements Applicable BABOK® Knowledge Areas Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring Elicitation and Collaboration Estimating the elicitation Information Gathering Plan Relative times for elicitation activities Planning and estimating the business analysis approach and activities Planning the business analysis activities Impact of process Estimating the Product Estimating the value of the product Business analyst's role Defining and determining value Function and use case points Agile estimating Planning Poker Other agile estimating techniques Negotiating estimates Negotiation techniques Negotiation approaches Summary What did we learn, and how can we implement this in our work environment?

Assuring Quality Through Acceptance Testing: Virtual In-House Training It is also the business analyst's responsibility to confirm that the resulting solution developed by IT does, in fact, solve the defined problem. This is done first through testing, especially acceptance testing, and then through monitoring of the installed solution in the user community. It is the business analyst's job to define the business problem to be solved by IT. It is also the business analyst's responsibility to confirm that the resulting solution developed by IT does, in fact, solve the defined problem. This is done first through testing, especially acceptance testing, and then through monitoring of the installed solution in the user community. The business analyst is not only concerned with the testing itself, but also with the management and monitoring of the users doing the acceptance testing, and recording, analyzing, and evaluating the results. What you will Learn Upon completion, participants will be able to: Create a set of acceptance test cases Manage and monitor an acceptance test stage where users perform the testing Work with the development team in the systems testing stage Assess the solution once it is in the business environment Foundation Concepts The role of the business analyst An introduction to the BABOK® Guide BA roles and relationships through the project life cycle Introduction to assuring software quality through acceptance testing The Scope of IT Testing Overview of testing stages The testing process Testing documentation Pre-Acceptance Testing The BA's role in testing Early development testing stages (unit and integration) Late development testing stage (system) The Acceptance Test Stage - Part I (Planning, Design, and Development) Overview of user acceptance testing Acceptance test planning Designing user acceptance tests Developing individual user acceptance test cases Building effective user acceptance test scenarios The Acceptance Test Stage - Part II (Execution and Reporting) Operating guidelines Execution Reporting Post-Acceptance Testing Overview Project implementation Project transition (project closure) Production through retirement Testing Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Software Overview Selecting the software Implementing the software Summary What did we learn and how can we implement this in our work environments?

Certified Business Relationship Manager (CBRM®): Virtual In-House Training The CBRM® Practitioner Qualification is intended for the intermediate-to-advanced Business Relationship Manager, as it focuses on advancing to the role of Strategic Business Relationship Manager. As such, the primary focus is on strategic business relationship management, leveraged to optimize business value to the enterprise. The purpose of the Practitioner qualification is to confirm whether the candidate has achieved sufficient understanding and competence to perform the role of Strategic Business Relationship Manager. To pursue the CBRM® certification, a candidate must be a certified Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP®). What You Will Learn The successful candidate will demonstrate deep understanding and ability to perform the Strategic BRM role. Specifically, the candidate will: Effectively communicate the purpose and objectives of the Strategic BRM role and how to optimally position that role for maximum effectiveness within the enterprise Understand how to use their personal power and influence to build business relationships and foster a culture that excels at business value results Apply the Strategic Relationship Management processes and techniques to build and sustain trust relationships spanning Business Partner and Provider networks Be able to assess Business Demand Maturity and Business Relationship Maturity and how these might evolve over time Be able to assess Provider Capability Maturity and BRM Competencies and identify key areas needing improvement Be able to apply cross-organization communication techniques to clearly articulate real Provider / business value delivered to the organization Be able to influence executive leaders in their use of Provider Capabilities and Assets based upon potential business value and convergence with business strategy Promote and catalyze business innovation in the Provider's sphere of influence Be able to use the Business Value Management process, techniques, and metrics to define, realize, and optimize the value of Provider capabilities and assets Apply Business Partner Experience Management so as to foster a positive Business Partner perception of Provider capabilities as an essential element of building and sustaining trust relationships Shape strategic agendas for optimum business value, with due consideration of external compliance requirements and potential risks to the business Understand the implications of Lean / Agile methods for the BRM role and capability Influence the development and deployment of available Provider capabilities based upon business need and potential to enable or create business value. Apply Business Capability Management to determine and acquire enabling capabilities pursuant to strategic outcomes Apply Business Capability Management to determine and acquire enabling capabilities pursuant to strategic outcomes Contribute to Business Transition Management in order to foster organizational understanding, support, adoption, and business value results of investments in new business capabilities Course Introduction Explain the House of BRM, recalling the BRM Core Disciplines, competencies required for the BRM role, and necessary conditions for protecting the integrity of the role Recall the key BRM concepts, processes, and techniques Understand the Business Relationship Maturity Model and the Five Relationship Maturity Levels Understanding Business Relationship Maturity and Value The Strategic BRM Role and Capability BRM Impact on Business Value Introduction to the ACME Leisurewear Case Scenario that is used through the course Assessing BRM Context Clarifying Issues Conducting a Business Demand Maturity Assessment Conducting a Business Relationship Maturity Assessment Conducting a Provider Capability Maturity Assessment Shaping the Business Partner's experience with the Provider The BRM role in Service Management Developing Strategic Relationships How to assess Strategic Relationships and plan for their improvement How to achieve business impact through influence and persuasion How to plan and execute BRM formal communications Organizational considerations for BRM deployment How to determine appropriate BRM performance measurement Optimizing Business Value Formulating and Clarifying Business Strategy Catalyzing Business Innovation Business Capability Management Value Management Planning Portfolio Management Business Transition Planning Business Value Optimization Summary and CBRM Exam Preparation Course Summary CBRM Syllabus Review Format and structure of the CBRM® Practitioner Exam Exam hints and tips Sample Exam

This programme helps communicators to prepare for and deliver an effective speech. Learn to motivate people by speaking to them in terms of the benefits they will receive by taking action. Each instructional segment is followed by participant speeches that put the newly-learned skills into action. We cover public speaking fear and how to move forward despite it, as well as increasing enthusiasm. This builds speaker confidence. By organising information clearly for the audience, participants grow in their conviction and are perceived more as experts. Delegates will be able to: Work through fear of public speaking; Build confidence and enthusiasm by creating meaningful, memorable speeches; Develop greater abilities for thinking and speaking with less preparation; Minimise self-defeating speech and behavior; and Present ideas to, and inspire the audience. Online Format—Introduction to Public Speaking is a 4-hour interactive virtual class. Register for this class and you will be sent ONLINE login instructions prior to the class date. Working with Dr. Atkins of Improving Communications has been a very positive experience. Everything about the program is exemplary! Managers have made it a point to tell me how pleased they are with the improvements made in the communications skills of the participants. The Professional Development Workshop is an extremely effective program. The participants are looking forward to follow-up sessions with Dr. Atkins and we recommend his programs. Heather Ragone, Training Manager | Network General

Scrum Product Owner Exam Prep: Virtual In-House Training This workshop prepares you for the Scrum.org PSPO™ I certification. A voucher for the exam and the access information you will need to take the exam will be provided to you via email after you have completed the course. NOTE: If you have participated in any of IIL's other Scrum workshops, you can bypass this program and focus on reading/studying the Scrum Guide and taking practice exams from Scrum.org The Product Owner is responsible for maximizing the value of the product and the work of the Development Team. The Product Owner must be knowledgeable, available, and empowered to make decisions quickly in order for an Agile project to be successful. The Product Owner's key accountability is the Product Backlog. Managing, maintaining, and evolving the Product Backlog involves: Establishing a clear vision that engages the Development Team and stakeholders Clearly expressing Product Backlog items Ordering the items in the Product Backlog to best achieve the vision and goals Ensuring that the Product Backlog is visible, transparent, and clear to all Working with the Development Team throughout the project to create a product that fits the customer's need What you will Learn You'll learn how to: Successfully prepare for the Scrum.org PSPO I exam Identify the characteristics of a successful Product Owner Create a powerful vision statement Apply techniques to understand your customers and the market Manage and engage stakeholders Write effective user stories with acceptance criteria Utilize techniques to visualize and prioritize the Product Backlog Participate in the 5 Scrum events as the Product Owner Understand the Product Owner's role in closing a Scrum project Getting Started Introductions Workshop orientation Exam prep preview Fundamentals Recap Agile Manifesto, values, and mindset Product Owner characteristics Good vs. great Product Owner Product Ownership Product ownership Project vision Understand your customers and market Personas Stakeholder management and engagement The Product Backlog User Stories and Acceptance Criteria Preparing User Stories for a Sprint The Product Backlog Visualizing the Product Backlog Product Backlog Prioritization Technical Debt Sprint Planning and Daily Standups Sprint Planning Planning Poker Team Engagement Daily Standups Sprint Review, Retrospectives, and Closing Sprint Reviews Key Agile Patterns Retrospectives Closing the Project

Management of Risk (M_o_R®) Practitioner: Virtual In-House Training The M_o_R® Practitioner course has been designed to provide learners with the opportunity to practice the practical application of the M_o_R method and covers the twelve M_o_R principles: Approach, Process and the basic techniques essential to managing risks using the M_o_R guidance. The purpose of the M_o_R Practitioner qualification is to confirm that the learner has achieved sufficient understanding of how to apply and tailor M_o_R in a scenario situation. What you will Learn At the end of the M_o_R Practitioner course, learners will gain competencies in: M_o_R framework (principles, approach based on risk documentation, process steps, and embedding and reviewing M_o_R principles Outline of M_o_R approach documents (including policy, process guide, and risk communications plan) Risk identification, assessment, and control Embedding and reviewing M_o_R M_o_R organizational perspectives (strategic, program, project, operational) Benefits The M_o_R Practitioner course offers a wide-ranging set of guidelines that will help in the management of risk in a project or program environment. It will help prepare learners for the M_o_R Practitioner Exam. They will feel more confident in approaching risk management after attending the course and will be aware of the use of different techniques that can assist in this task, including: Improved basis for effective strategy formation Reduced time spent fire-fighting and fewer unwelcome surprises Increased likelihood of successful change initiative outcomes Closer internal focus on doing the right things properly Increase in efficient use of resources waste and fraud Better management of contingency resources M_o_R roles and responsibilities M_o_R health check M_o_R maturity model Risk specialisms (including business continuity management) Introduction Introduction to the course What is a risk? What is risk management? Why is risk management so important? Basic risk definitions The development of knowledge about risk management Corporate governance and internal control Where and when should risk management be applied? M_o_R Principles The purpose of M_o_R principles Aligns with objectives Fits the context Engages stakeholders Provides clear guidance Informs decision-making Facilitates continual improvement Creates a supportive culture Achieves measurable value Risk management maturity models M_o_R Approach Relationship between the documents Risk management policy Risk management process guide Risk management strategy Risk register Issue register Risk response plan Risk improvement plan Risk communications plan M_o_R Process Common process barriers Identify - contexts Identify - the risks Assess - estimate Assess - evaluate Plan Implement Communication throughout the process M_o_R Perspectives Strategic perspective Programme perspective Project perspective Operational perspective Risk Specialisms Business continuity management Incident and crisis management Health and Safety management Financial risk management Environmental risk management Reputational risk management Contract risk management

Facilitation Skills for Business Analysts: Virtual In-House Training This course is part of IIL's Business Analysis Certificate Program (BACP), a program designed to help prepare individuals pass the IIBA® Certification exam to become a Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP™). Business analysts are communicators who bridge the gap between people with business needs and knowledge and the people who will provide solutions. Business analysts are continuously involved in communications with stakeholders and developers as they create the solution to business problems. They participate in information-gathering sessions including interviewing, joint requirements definition, and Joint Application Design (JAD) workshops which are used to streamline information gathering and get immediate validation from user representatives. The business analyst is also involved with negotiating the solution with the stakeholders, upper-level management, and the developers, mediating among the groups when disagreements take place, and influencing the results of decisions during the solution cycle. This course teaches the methods needed to organize and run information-gathering events. It combines the basics of graphic decision making and modeling with facilitation, communication, and meeting management skills. What you will Learn At the end of this program, you will be able to: Identify the major touch points between key BABOK® Guide knowledge areas and business analysis communication Describe the facilitation skills that are most supportive of those intersections Improve your ability to apply these skills in the context of your business analyst functions Foundation Concepts The role of the Business analyst (BA) An Introduction to the BABOK® Guide Business analyst roles and the product / project life cycle (PLC) Facilitation skills for the business analyst The BABOK® Guide and Communication An introduction to the communication process Addressing basic communications challenges Planning business analysis communication Communication and BABOK® Guide tasks Targeted Elicitation Techniques Synergy between communication and targeted elicitation techniques Preparing for elicitation Cornerstone targeted technique: interviews Other targeted elicitation techniques Related general communication skills Group Elicitation Techniques Synergy between requirements communication and group elicitation techniques Cornerstone group elicitation technique - requirements workshops Other group elicitation techniques Related general communication skills - meeting management best practices Related general communication skills - facilitating best practices Process / Model-Based Elicitation Techniques Synergy between requirements communication and process / model-based elicitation techniques Process / model-based elicitation techniques Related interpersonal skills - problem solving and decision making Investigative Elicitation Techniques Synergy between requirements communication and investigative elicitation techniques Cornerstone investigative elicitation technique - document analysis Other investigative elicitation techniques Summary of elicitation techniques by usage in the requirements process Using Presentations, Structured Walkthroughs, and Influencing Structured walkthroughs, presentations, and influencing within BABOK® Guide tasks Cornerstone technique - structured walkthroughs General communication skill - presenting Related interpersonal skill - influencing Special Facilitation Skills - Negotiating and Mediating Negotiating Mediating

OpenStack for NFV and SDN course description OpenStack is predominately a cloud management technology. This course looks at how OpenStack can be used in a NFV and SDN environment. What will you learn Describe the architecture of NFV. Explain the relationship between NFV and SDN. Implement NFV VIM using OpenStack. Explain how OpenStack as VNFM and orchestrator works. OpenStack for NFV and SDN course details Who will benefit: Anyone wishing to implement NFV using OpenStack. Prerequisites: Introduction to Virtualization Duration 3 day OpenStack for NFV and SDN course content What is NFV? What is NFV? What are network Functions? NFV benefits, NFV market drivers. ETSI NFV framework. ETSI documents, Architecture overview, compute domain, hypervisor domain, infrastructure network domain. What is OpenStack? Virtual machines, clouds, management. OpenStack architecture, OpenStack modules. Why OpenStack for NFV? Hands on OpenStack installation. OpenStack Virtualization and NFV Server, storage and network virtualization and NFV. Where OpenStack fits in the ETSI framework. Virtual machines, containers and docker. Data centres, clouds, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS. Hands on OpenStack Iaas, OpenStack Nova. The virtualization layer VM centric model, containers versus hypervisors, FD.io. Hands on OpenStack as the VIM. OpenStack Neutron VXLAN, Networks, subnets, ports. Security groups. Routers. Service and component hierarchy. Hands on Implementing a virtual network with OpenStack Neutron. Virtualization of Network Functions Network virtualization versus Network Function virtualization. NFV MANO Management and Orchestration. Where OpenStack fits. MANO descriptors, Open orchestration. OpenStack Tacker, Open MANO, OpenBaton, other orchestrators. OpenStack Tacker Installation, getting started, configuration. SFC and OpenStack. Hands on Deploying a VNF. OPNFV What is OPNFV, Where OpenStack fits into OPNFV. SDN What is SDN? Control and data planes. SDN controllers. Classic SDN versus real SDN. Hybrid SDN, network automation, SDN with overlays. Northbound, southbound, SDN protocols, OpenFlow, OpenDaylight, ONOS, SDN with NFV. SDN and OpenStack. Summary Deploying NFV, performance, testing. Futures