The state of North Dakota taps training program for help with network overhaul.
There’s no better way to get new skills than rolling up your sleeves and immersing yourself in a brand-new role. Brandy Peterson, who for the past four and a half years has worked as an administrative assistant within the telecom division of the North Dakota state government’s IT department in Bismarck, has just dived into the state’s multimillion-dollar network replacement program as a project manager.
Peterson, whose supervisor had pinpointed project management as a future career path for her, is among the first of a group of state IT employees who will be trained under the National IT Apprenticeship System (NITAS). The program, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Labor and the CompTIA trade association, is being rolled out across the country after an 18-month beta test initiative.
For the next year, Peterson will shadow her mentor, Dirk Huggett, IT business analyst within the state’s policy and planning division, as he oversees the project to overhaul the state’s backbone infrastructure. “I will be getting a lot of hands-on experience. Being tied to a mentor, I will have someone to bounce ideas, which is good,” Peterson says. She began her journey into project management when the 18-month-long network project was launched in March.
The project, called STAGEnet Infrastructure Services, will replace the state’s ATM network. The state hopes to convert to a high-speed WAN using lambda switching technology that will carry a range of applications, including human resources and ERP software, for state government offices, K-12 schools and universities.
According to Huggett, the value of the total contract for all vendors involved will be between $35 million and $50 million. RFPs will be issued in early July, with vendor contracts to be signed in September and implementation to be completed in July 2006, Huggett says.
On-the-job training
NITAS students are assigned an in-house or external skills validation consultant or mentor for hands-on learning of industry-developed and validated competencies, and receive classroom training. CompTIA divided IT roles into several tracks, including security , networking and and project management – Peterson’s track.
There are three levels to the project management track, and the difference depends on the size and scope of the project in which the students will be involved. Even though North Dakota’s project is considered a Level 3 initiative – the highest level – Peterson will be limited to the entry-level Level 1 duties, which include initiating, scoping and planning a project; developing the project schedule; determining the project cost; and acquiring the resources.
Within these duties are 30 project management competencies or skills that Peterson will need to get under her belt. Each competency has to be validated by Huggett, who confirms that she has applied each skill in her new role before she can move on. Peterson will be given a small portion of the project to manage.
“Brandy will be involved in writing the business case, reviewing documents and deliverables, and will be in charge of the organizational aspects. She will help develop part of the project plan and will also take the lead in some of the post-implementation processes,” Huggett says. Those processes will include developing and managing team and end-user surveys, and facilitating some of the lessons learned in meetings.
Although Peterson is not a technologist, she says she is looking to hone her organizational skills that will help keep the project on track and on budget. Indeed, the NITAS program is applicable to everyone, from IT novices to IT professionals looking to gain skills in new areas of the industry or advance their knowledge within their specific fields, according to Neill Hopkins, CompTIA vice president of skills development.
To be a mentor, Huggett also has to have his project management skills validated. This is being done by peer review with the state’s other senior project managers, including Enterprise Project Manager Mark Molesworth, who oversees all the state’s IT projects and introduced the NITAS program into the organization.
“Giving up control and turning something over to the apprentice will be the main challenges” of being a mentor, Huggett says. “The rest isn’t difficult; it’s a matter of taking the time to spend with the apprentice. It’s the apprentice’s responsibility to push forward to the next skill competency. My responsibility as a mentor is to review and offer constructive criticism.”
Molesworth says he introduced NITAS to the state because it lacked a skills validation aspect in its project management training programs. The state mandates that IT projects that cost more than $250,000 over two years, or $500,000 during the life of the contract, require project oversight. Molesworth says the state averages about 18 to 24 projects at any given time that fit that criteria. Producing well-rounded project managers is the goal of the state’s NITAS program. “Certifications and education show that you know how to do something, but NITAS shows you can do the job,” he says.
After presenting the NITAS initiative to some 50 potential candidates, Molesworth received 30 applicants for the apprenticeship program – double the number he expected. Molesworth says he would like to see everyone through the program but initially he is limited by the number – seven so far – of senior IT staff who have agreed to become mentors.
The state has limited mentors to one apprentice each, and apprenticeship programs take between one and two years to complete depending on the program level. But Molesworth expects that as apprentices become trained, they will in turn be able to mentor others. “With 30 applicants, that will keep us busy for the next two years,” he says.
