The Certified Information Professional is back

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The Certified Information Professional certification is back!

AIIM have announced that the CIP certification will not be going away.

Certified Information Professional – Before the Announcement

When AIIM originally (and quietly) announced the end of the AIIM Certified Information Professional (CIP) on the 11th of December 2015, there was a strong reaction.

Possibly stronger than AIIM had expected.

Here’s a small list of some of the feedback that was given:

• George Parapadakis: The rise and fall of CIP – by AIIM
• Laurence Hart (ex AIIM CIO): The CIP: A Lost Opportunity
• My previous post: The end of CIP
• Chris Walker: CIP No More – Meh
• Dan Antion (AIIM Board Member): Ding Dong the CIP
• AIIM LinkedIn group discussion: An update on the Certified Information Professional program
• Twitter: https://storify.com/markjowen/aiim-cip-tweets

(If I have missed any, let me know.)

If you read all those, you’ll see that most people were upset that the CIP was “deactivated”.

They feel cheated, and you can see other Info Management organisations circling. There’s even discussion about setting up an alternative certification.

At the same time, there was a small number that said “didn’t really need it”, and a couple of inputs from AIIM Board members that said (more, or less) “stop crying”.

Explanation

Noticing the unrest, early on, among the CIP natives, AIIM CEO John Mancini wrote a “justification post” on the 14th of December 2015. (This was alluded to in Dan Antion’s post).

John gives some reasonable reasons for stopping the certification:

• There was no alignment between the CIP abd what was being taught in their courses.
• There was more interest in knowledge gained from a course rather than being part of a qualified group.
• It was hard to get adoption by the industry
• Maintaining the CIP was costing more than it was earning.
• AIIM made a decision to give more of its focus to their Master program.

You can read more here.

Turn Around

4 days later (18 December 2016), John publishes a well-worded announcement in which he states that they will be continuing the CIP, and improving it.

it’s easy to forget that passion is the underlying force that keeps any association alive

– John Mancini

In the announcement, John states:

1. We will continue the CIP and begin work on CIP 2.0.
2. For CIP 2.0, we will redefine its body of knowledge as the full body of knowledge represented across all of AIIM’s training courses.
3. We will launch CIP 2.0 at AIIM16.

This really excites me … for two reasons.

1. It means that AIIM listened to its members.
2. They are not only reinstating it, but aligning it to the training material, and courses, that they produce.

The alignment of the CIP and the training material is absolutely brilliant and something that really needs to be done.

The IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis) offer the CBAP certification. This certification is based on an understanding of the BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge). All training materials exist to reinforce the/focus on the BABOK. That is, the BABOK came first, and then the certification after it.

This is where there was a lack of alignment with the CIP. The training material, and the certification did not, actually, reinforce each other directly.

Post Announcement

• Dan Antion (AIIM Board Member): Remain Calm You’re Still a CIP
• Kevin Parker: The Certified Information Professional (CIP) Lives Again!
• Project Consultant: AIIM ECM Master Kurs komplett überarbeitet
• Twitter: https://storify.com/markjowen/aiim-cip-post-anouncment-tweets

Happy Ending?

I’m really keen to see how this will go. It’s been made clear that there are a lot of supporters of both CIP, and AIIM in the community. And I’m really glad that AIIM is going to be overhauling the CIP certification.

I feel, however, like I’ve been watching a TV series, where you’ve seen watching the main protagonist fighting challenges. Will he survive? Can he do it? The hero has many long-term supporters that have come to assist him, and yet, at the same time, a few of these have shown their true colors, and are secretly working against him.

We, the viewers know it. The main hero, however, doesn’t…

Let’s wait for the next season….

 

Want to learn more?

Below is a selection of resources that I personally feel are relevant to this blog post, and will allow you to get more in-depth knowledge. I do earn a commission if you purchase any of these, and for that I am grateful. Thank you. (Important Disclosure)

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