APMG Awarded Accreditation Contract for ITIL.

HIGH WYCOMBE, England -- At 4pm GMT on July 20th 2006, APMG signed a contract with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) to become the new accreditation body for ITIL(R).

The new contract marks a period of significant growth for APMG, which is also the accreditation body for OGC's programme, project and risk management methodologies: PRINCE2(TM), Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) and Management of Risk (M_o_R(R)). APMG is the only programme and project management certification body accredited to ISO17024. APMG will apply for the same accreditation standard for its ITIL processes in the near future.

APMG's managing director Richard Pharro said, "Over the last ten years APMG has helped OGC establish PRINCE2 as a global standard. Our success is due to the quality and size of our delivery network of accredited training organisations (ATOs) and accredited consultants. We have over 150 ATOs and 500 trainers worldwide. We're looking forward to developing the take up of ITIL around the world. To facilitate this process we are expanding our operations to include America in 2006 and India in 2007. We have existing operations in the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and China and will continue to find innovative ways to deliver certification and qualifications."

Pharro said he is hoping to work with the itSMFI (IT Service Management Forum International) to continue the development of ITIL's global awareness.

"Everyone at APMG is looking forward to working with the thriving ITIL community," Pharro said. "We're also delighted to be working with our partner TSO (The Stationery Office) and hope that working across the board with OGC will strengthen this relationship."

APMG's existing accredited community has offered APMG its support as it takes on the complete OGC best practice portfolio. For market comments, please visit www.apmgroup.co.uk.

About the APM Group

The APM Group (APMG) provides business accreditation and certification services. Through its network of Accredited Consultancy and Training Organisations APMG helps end users develop their professional skills and organisations improve their processes through the adoption of best practice. It is the only programme and project managerment certification body with third party accreditation through UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service). APMG runs the PRINCE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environments), MSP (Managing Successful Programmes), M_o_R (Management Of Risk) and ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) accreditation schemes globally on behalf of the UK Office of Government Commerce (OGC). Visit: www.apmgroup.co.uk, call + 44 (0)1494 452450 or join our community at www.apmg-icp.com.