Announcing the P3O Qualification Scheme

9 June 2008, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK……….. The APM Group (APMG) has announced there will be a qualification scheme to accompany OGC's new P3O (Portfolio, Programme & Project Office) Guidance.

P3O is a formalisation of guidance regarding support offices in organisations using Programme and Project Management to deliver business change. It is based on current Best Management Practice thinking.

This new guidance, aligned to OGC's PRINCE2, MSP and MoR, brings together a set of principles, processes and techniques to facilitate effective portfolio, programme and project management by proposing proven support structures, roles and responsibilities. These structures also bridge the gap between the process of developing the organisation's strategy and it's delivery.

There will be a Foundation qualification based on an objective test exam along the same lines as the other OGC qualifications. The exam will focus on concepts, structures and duties of a P3O and is aimed at anyone who works with or in a P3O.

The foundation exam will be available when the guidance is published and a Practitioner qualification will follow after launch. The higher qualification is designed for those responsible for setting up, managing or improving a P3O.

Like all other OGC methods, P3O will have a manual detailing the guidance, a pocketbook and an introduction to the subject entitled 'Think P3O'. The manual and Foundation examination will be launched in autumn 2008.