The national Information System Integration Project Manager certification

Today I sat the national Information System Integration Project Manager certification. It consists of three parts:

1. 75 Multiple choice questions. The questions mainly surround the PMP PMBOK. There are some on IT technical concepts as those found in MCSE, a couple on software development processes/notations such as SDLC, (structured analysis and design), RUP and UML, some on IT project supervision, some on laws and some on English. If you have studied PMP and have a strong IT background, this part is not that difficult.
2. Three case studies and three questions for each. Those case studies were quite interesting and realistic. If you understand the PMP framework and have managed IT projects, the part shouldn't be that difficult either.
   
3. Essay writing on one of two topics in IT project management. This part, in my view, is here to let you show/share your IT project management experiences. If you have managed IT projects, you should be able to think, organize and express your such experiences in the PMP framework.

Even though I don't know if I'll pass it, I think this exam is a pretty good one. Unlike the PMP exam, it goes beyond multiple choice questions (knowledge/concepts) to test if the candidate does have real world experiences in IT project management. Unlike the CISSP exam which takes six hours without break, it has breaks between each part so the candidate can get a good rest.

CISSP exam

Sat and passed the CISSP exam in Oct 2008. It was easier than I expected. I mainly used the open CISSP study guide as the study materials. I did spend a lot of time reading the CISSP preparation guide by Ronald Krutz but I felt that it did NOT help at all. All you need is the open CISSP study guide plus some (or quite some) knowledge on networking (as found in MCSE).

Overall I don't think CISSP qualifies someone as an expert security; it only proves that the holder has taken the initiative to learn a little about everything in security.