While everything was at place in the IT industry, the elephant in the room – PeopleCert grabbed the attention. It enthralled every IT professional, news channel and big company. PeopleCert acquires AXELOS at £380m (c. €450m / $pro525m) which was a watershed moment for Big Tech and the IT industry. Its vision to become the global leader in Project Management and IT qualifications is an attempt to bring the IT revolution. This acquisition has hyped up the expectations of companies to bring a major impact on global IT training and certification agencies.
[su_highlight background=”#fffa99″]Byron Nicolaides, Chairman and CEO of PeopleCert, said: “PeopleCert is happy to agree to acquire AXELOS and looks forward to being the custodian of the world-leading professional qualifications. We intend to further develop these under PeopleCert’s stewardship for the benefit of all stakeholders. It includes corporates, governments, academic institutes and professionals alike. The current portfolio of qualifications includes several programs – all of which are gold standards in their respective fields. PeopleCert is involved in developing the success of AXELOS over the years. It looks forward to working with our ecosystem of partners around the world to build on this successful track record.”[/su_highlight]
The big news about PeopleCert acquires AXELOS shall have major impacts. And to know about them, you have to read till the end! But before that, if you are not aware of who PeopleCert is, let’s quickly jump to let you know.
Who is PeopleCert?
As quoted by PeopleCert itself: “PeopleCert is a global leader in the assessment and certification of professional and language skills, partnering with multi-national organisations and government bodies to develop and deliver market-leading exams worldwide.”
It is also noteworthy that PeopleCert acquired the International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC), the global Professional Association. It assisted in growing and enhancing the Lean Six Sigma Community standards in the year 2020.
So, what was the reason for the buzz? Well, because not every day it happens that a global leader in the assessment and certification purchases the custodian. Earlier, AXELOS used to monitor the quality through best practice frameworks and methods and PeopleCert fell under it. But now, the tables have turned. PeopleCert will take charge to regulate the IT certification practices. Yes, you got that right. Now, you might ask who the custodian that we mentioned is. So, for this let us introduce you to AXELOS aka the custodian.
Who is AXELOS?
AXELOS was a joint venture company by the Cabinet Office between Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) in the United Kingdom and Professional service company-Capita plc in 2014. Its mission was to manage, develop and grow the Global Best Practice portfolio and hence, emerged as the custodian.
You should be aware of the fact that PeopleCert made its way to become the newest, and exclusive Examination Institute (EI) for AXELOS in 2018, succeeding out competitors such as APMG and EXIN in this race.
The Elephant in the Room– PeopleCert
But on 21st June 2021, things took an undetected turn. PeopleCert bought Axelos – this big announcement brought in opinions, critiques and chatters in the ITSM community. Both the practitioners and the trainers discussed and brought in their opinions. The agreement to acquire AXELOS at £380m (c. €450m / $pro525m) on a cash-free, debt-free basis from the UK Cabinet and Capita plc was a calculated move. It helped to bring in effective development in the product portfolio. Hence, PeopleCert is now all set to establish its position as the global leader in project, programme and portfolio management. It shall also takeover IT and digitally-enabled services, developed by the UK Government over the last thirty years. Project Management and IT qualifications- mainly ITIL certificate and PRINCE2 certificate have greater impact amongst all the certifications.
Also, it should be noted that FTV Capital of the U.S. also holds a stake in PeopleCert. It is a highly renowned sector-focused growth equity investment firm that associates leading management teams to pace up the transformative growth since 1998.
The Impact of AXELOS Acquisition:
When PeopleCert bought AXELOS, the news broke and everybody started to analyse the impact of this acquisition. Well, PeopleCert believes that the new, furbished and developed methodologies would give comparative effective growth to the private, public and voluntary sectors of more than 200 countries that have adopted them. The procurement of AXELOS shall further establish an entrusted relationship of PeopleCert with the UK Government. and is fully aligned with its strategy to accelerate growth and further establish its leadership position in the professional skills and languages certification markets. It will further enable PeopleCert to address the amplified demand for reskilling and upskilling the workforce in the upcoming years.
The close tie-ups of PeopleCert with AXELOS over the years shall be fruitful to share more profit shares earned by the development of the best practice portfolio. It will lead to bringing a new era for ITIL & PRINCE2.
Expectations After PeopleCert bought AXELOS
PeopleCert has now taken an additional responsibility to prove its leadership in making the best practice product portfolio sustainable. Though it is foreseen that this change may have a major impact on DevOps but it is also expected that it will bring a boom in the PeopleCert ITIL and PRINCE2 certification. Zoc Learnings hopes that this acquisition would lead to upgradation and enhancement in the course and syllabus structure of the popular IT certifications. It will also be a challenge for PeopleCert to maintain and uphold the benchmark of portfolio products set by AXELOS.
After PeopleCert acquires AXELOS, it has to live up to the expectations of everyone who has an eye towards its strategies and plans. Also, Peoplecert should work on updating the exam syllabus that covers diverse prospects and knowledge. The content should be valuable and qualitative rather than exam-based for better marketing and sales. It will ultimately decide the fate and future of this industry. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
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