The number of individuals certified in the TOGAF® Certification Program as of April 2019 has reached almost 88,000, with certified individuals from 144 countries. This represents approximately 10,000 new certifications in the past twelve-month period since the latest TOGAF Standard, Version 9.2 was introduced, and certifications in five additional countries.
I recently wrote a blog entitled ‘Why the Court of Master Sommeliers Made the Right Decision’ in which I stressed the importance of program integrity in the world of certification. A number of people have asked me subsequently about how The Open Group goes about building our certification programs, and how we achieve and maintain that integrity. Well the short answer is practice and experience!
The Open Group hosted its latest event in the Scottsdale Plaza Hotel, Arizona, January 28 – 31, welcoming over 600 attendees including decision-makers, Enterprise Architects, engineers, technologists and end-users representing many businesses and governments. The theme was ‘Digital in Practice and the Supply Chain’, with a focus on the standards, architectures, and business frameworks that support and enable the transition to a modern Digital Enterprise.
Some of you may not know this about me, but I’m a wine fan. I don’t just enjoy drinking it, but I also enjoy learning about (and visiting!) the different grapes, and wine regions of the world. Indeed, a good friend of mine is studying for his Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), Level 3 exams – not because he wants to work as a sommelier like many who take that course, but for his personal further enjoyment of wine! My wife and I have been on several “educational” wine trips with he and his wife, so I know how hard and how regularly he is studying for these. So when a cheating scandal rocked the world of Master Sommeliers last September, I was doubly curious about what happened, both on a personal and professional level.
For many of us, each new year is an occasion to look back at the previous year’s accomplishments, as well as look forward to what’s to come over the course of the next year. For the past three years since I took over the reins as CEO of The Open Group, I’ve made it a tradition to take advantage of the new year to do just this, as I’m sure many of you do both in your professional and personal lives.
With the passing of each year, I’m always struck not only by how quickly it goes by, but how many new opportunities arise throughout the year for The Open Group that none of us ever could have predicted. What’s nice for me, from where I sit, is that there is no shortage of new opportunities for us as an organization to do what we’ve always done—to help organizations come together to solve their business problems through open standards.
The Open Group, the vendor-neutral technology standards consortium, is hosting its upcoming event in Scottsdale, Arizona, January 28-31, 2019. The Open Group Scottsdale 2019 will bring together vendors and end user organizations to discuss ’Digital in Practice and the Supply Chain’. Hundreds of attendees are expected including, Enterprise Architects, engineers, technologists, and end-users representing many businesses and governments.
