Richard Pharro is CEO of the APM Group Ltd, the accreditation body for the UK Office of Government Commerce’s (OGC’s) Best Practice Portfolio, which includes PRINCE2 and MSP. He trained as a civil engineer and worked on projects in the UK and the Middle East, and was part of the Programme Management team responsible for the re-development of the London Docklands in the 1980s. In the past, he has been a member of the board of delegates for the International Project Management Association (IPMA) and Vice Chairman of the Association for Project Management (APM) in the UK. With colleagues, he has built APM Group into an international organization with offices on all continents specializing in accreditation and certification. Richard is co-author of the book The Relationship Manager and is a frequent speaker at conferences. This interview was based on a discussion between Richard Pharro and David Pells, Managing Editor of PM World Today, during the PMAJ International Project & Program Management Symposium in Tokyo, Japan in March 2008. The questions posed below by Pells were answered by Pharro in May.
PM World Today (PMWT):What type of organization is the APM Group? A certification body? A consultancy? What services do you provide?
Richard Pharro (RP):The APM Group (APMG) is a global business providing accreditation and certification services. Through its international network of Accredited Consultancy and Training Organizations APMG helps end users develop their professional skills and organizations improve their processes through the adoption of worldwide best practice. APMG is the only organization offering professional qualifications in Programme and Project management with third party independent accreditation through the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). APMG works closely with the UK Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and TSO (The Stationery Office Ltd), their official publisher in running global accreditation schemes in PRINCE2™, MSP (Managing Successful Programmes), M_o_R® (Management Of Risk) and ITIL® (IT Infrastructure Library).
Other partners include The Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) and the UK's Chartered Management Institute.
PMWT: What is your relationship with the Organization for Government Commerce (OGC)?
RP: OGC is the owner of PRINCE2™, MSP (Managing Successful Programmes), M_o_R® (Management Of Risk) and ITIL. We act as their accreditor. This means we accredit training organizations to deliver programmes around the methods and we set and mark examinations. It is our responsibility to ensure the widest possible take up of examinations around the world. The APM Group (APMG) is the Certification Body and is responsible for the running of examinations and accreditation of training organizations (ATOs), trainers, consulting organizations (ACOs) and consultants.
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