IT staff will get proper recognition for their skills and
experience - and IT projects will have a greater chance of success
- following the restructuring of the BCS. So said leading
government and private sector IT specialists at the launch of what
chief executive David Clarke called "the new BCS".
The restructuring, reported in Computer Weekly last week, enables
IT staff to get recognition in the form of a BCS professional
member grade much earlier in their careers.
People with the right degree can become a member (MBCS) on
graduation, and those without degrees can get that grade after five
years instead of the previous 10. The route to fellow (FBCS) has
also been simplified and a new title of chartered IT professional
(CITP) has been introduced - this demands a formal
assessment.
The BCS initiative was welcomed by Peter Gershon, former chief
executive of the Office of Government Commerce and now head of the
government's efficiency review.
He pointed to the 16% IT project success rate highlighted by
Computer Weekly research.
"We are facing a massive problem," Gershon said. "At the heart of
this is a fundamental issue: we have not done enough to recognise
that software production is an engineering discipline.
"I cannot think of another engineering area where such a low
percentage of people belong to a recognised professional institute
or have a recognised professional qualification.
"If I ask an architect and civil engineer to design an unsafe
bridge, their professional integrity and competence will make them
say they won't do it. But if in all innocence I ask a software
architect and engineer to design an unsafe system - unsafe because
there is inadequate time for testing - how often do we hear those
professionals saying no, not at any price, in that
timescale?"
Gershon referred to the new code of conduct for government IT
projects drawn up by Intellect, the trade body for IT services
companies.
"Importantly, one of its commitments relates to individual skills
and professionalism, encouraging individuals to seek independent
accreditation for their professional skills and formal validation
of their experience, achievement and relevant qualifications," he
said.
"I welcome this initiative by the BCS to help fill this emerging
demand for people to be able to establish proper professional
qualifications and attract a much broader range of people currently
working in the industry to get relevant professional qualifications
and belong to a professional institution.
"I believe this initiative will go a long way to helping to enable
IT specialists to gain trust both from their employers and from the
clients of those employers."
He added, "I am sure it will make a very important contribution to
helping to improve IT project success rates."
The increased professional recognition of IT staff was also
welcomed by science and innovation minister Lord Sainsbury.
"The new BCS membership structure is absolutely essential," he
said. "It is very important that we give the status and respect to
intermediate skills and technicians that previously we have only
given to people at the very highest level."