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[Updated April 2021 - MSP® 5th Edition]

  • Five-day fully-accredited course
  • Comprises Foundation (3-day) and Practitioner Prep (2-day) modules
  • Modules can be taken separately or combined. See below.

Managing Successful Programmes (MSP®) represents proven good practice in the successful adoption of enterprise agility through the application of programme management. It is a framework whereby large, complex change can be broken down into manageable, inter-related projects.

MSP has been used and adopted by many organisations both within the public and private sectors.

Why adopt MSP?

Today's organisations exist in a climate of constant and increasing change. Organisations that have learned how to transform themselves through effective leadership and strategic control are more likely to survive and prosper. Programme management is increasingly being recognised as key to enabling organisations to manage that transformation.

Where there is major change there will be complexity, risk, many interdependencies to manage, and conflicting priorities to resolve. Experience shows that organisations are likely to fail to deliver change successfully where:

  • There is insufficient board-level support
  • Leadership is weak
  • There are unrealistic expectations of the organisational capacity and capability to change
  • There is insufficient focus on benefits
  • There is no real picture of the future capability
  • There is a poorly defined or poorly communicated vision
  • The organisation fails to change culture
  • There is insufficient engagement of stakeholders.

Adopting a programme management approach such as MSP provides a structured framework that can help organisations avoid these pitfalls and achieve their goals.

Roles and responsibilities

MSP defines the roles and responsibilities of all who need to form part of the leadership of a programme. Effective leadership of a programme is achieved through informed decision-making and a flexible management regime. The key roles involved are:

  • Sponsoring Group
  • Senior Responsible Owner
  • Programme Manager
  • Business Change Managers
  • Programme Office.

MSP  Integrated Framework

There are three lenses to the MSP framework:

Principles - the common factors that underpin the success of any programme.

Themes – covering essential governance and controls.

Processes – an incremental lifecycle that is flexible and adaptable yet enables an orderly progression with clear decision criteria

Copyright Axelos Limited

Also available as 5-day combined Foundation/Practitioner course or 3-day Foundation module on its own

Learning outcomes

The aim of this course is for each student to be able to work in a programme, including:

  • Recognise a programme, and how it is different to a project
  • Apply MSP theory in practice
  • Effectively control the start, progress and closure of a programme
  • Integrate the MSP themes and processes into a programme
  • Establish a programme organisation and manage the appropriate stakeholders
  • Apply the programme management principles across the life of the programme
  • Establish a Programme Office to support a programme
  • Conduct a programme Health Check

Who should attend

The MSP Foundation course module is appropriate for:

  • Senior Executives
  • Programme Sponsors
  • Programme Managers
  • Business Change Managers
  • Programme and project management consultants

The purpose of the Foundation qualification is to confirm you have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the MSP guidance to interact effectively with those involved in the management of a programme, or act as an informed member of a programme office team, business change team or project delivery team working within an environment supporting MSP.

Course contents

Practitioner Course

Day 4
  • Revision of topics from Foundation course and their application to a scenario
  • Sample papers
Day 5
  • Practice questions
  • Practitioner exam hints and tips
  • Facilitator led study or private study
  • MSP Practitioner Examination

Course fees

Course

Fees per person

  • MSP® Managing Successful Programmes Combined with Exams (5 days)
    • $3,160 + GST
  • MSP® Managing Successful Programmes Foundation - with Exam (3 days)
    • $2,280 + GST
  • MSP® Managing Successful Programmes Practitioner - with Exam (2 days)
    • $2,100 + GST

What you get:

  • Official Practitioner Certificate exam
  • Comprehensive course workbook
  • A3 MSP Process & Flow Charts

NOTE: The course textbook Managing Successful Programmes is not included with the course fee. It is assumed that participants already have this from when they attended the Foundation module.  If you need a new copy of the textbook this can be purchased. Please contact us.

Pre-Requisites

The MSP Foundation Certificate is an essential pre-requisite to achieve the MSP Practitioner Exam.

Live Virtual Training – Participants will be provided with an online exam voucher to sit the exams at a time and date of their choosing within 12 months of the course. The web-proctored exams are available 24/7 and run by the examination institute PEOPLECERT.

Face-to-Face Training – Participants will be provided with a paper-based exam which is completed whilst at the course in the same venue of the course itself.

Exam Structure

  • Objective testing
  • Eight questions per paper, 80 marks available in total
  • 40 marks required to pass - 50%
  • Two-and-a-half hours’ duration
  • Open book (only the MSP Guide is allowed).