APMG Accredited Consulting Organisations (ACO's)
What is an APMG ACO (Accredited Consulting Organisation)?
Welcome to KPS Consultants' APMG ACO Page. Please note that in the interests of protecting client confidentiality requirements, client framework agreement clauses and as a result of APMG's suspension as a UKAS Accreditation and Certification body on the 12th October 2007, amongst other reasons, KPS Consultants formally and voluntarily served notice to the APM Group Ltd (APMG) on the 18th December 2007 terminating KPS Consultants subscription to the APMG ACO scheme. Further information on reasoning is outlined below based on KPS Consultants experience as an APMG ACO to date and throughout our period of subscription to the APMG ACO scheme. Please feel free to contact KPS Consultants for further information. KPS Consultants' decision was made post consultation with all employees and various clients. Whilst we have voluntarily released an accreditation status for the first time in our history, our clients and employees have and will always continue to be our first priority!
Is KPS Consultants an APMG ACO (Accredited Consulting Organisation)?
As of 29th September 2006 KPS Consultants Ltd (KPS Consultants) formally became a fully registered PRINCE2 APMG ACO (Accredited Consulting Organisation).
KPS Consultants completed stage 1 of the APMG ACO Assessment (Overall company assessment) on 24th May 2006.
KPS Consultants completed stage 2 of the APMG ACO Assessment (Individual consultant assessments) on the 29th September 2006.
KPS Consultants served notice of termination to the APM Group Ltd (APMG) for subscription to the APMG ACO scheme on 18th December 2007 at 2120Hrs GMT
KPS Consultants is the 9th organisation to be accredited as an APMG ACO (Accredited Consulting Organisation) in England and Wales.
KPS Consultants is the 10th organisation to be accredited as an APMG ACO (Accredited Consulting Organisation) in the United Kingdom.
KPS Consultants is the 14th organisation to be accredited as an APMG ACO (Accredited Consulting Organisation) Worldwide.
KPS Consultants is the 1st organisation to voluntarily terminate subscription to the APMG ACO (Accredited Consulting Organisation) scheme Worldwide.
In addition to being a former member of the APM Group's ACO Community, KPS Consultants are and will continue as members of the APM (Association for Project Management) and Institute of Business Consulting (IBC) who issue the status of Certified Management Consultant (CMC®) to those consultants who have been assessed and demonstrated the highest levels of competence in business and management consulting.
KPS Consultants initial registration, certification and accreditation as an APMG ACO can be viewed and validated here
Why did KPS Consultants terminate its APMG ACO subscription?
The below comments are made without prejudice. Comments have been made for the sole purpose of sharing information relating to the activities and views of KPS Consultants only. Comments must be 'taken as is'. KPS Consultants can not be held accountable for or liable for sharing our views and suggest organisations or individuals make their own investigations and verdicts before deciding on any course of business or career direction either as an organisation or individual.
KPS Consultants voluntarily terminated subscription to the APMG's ACO Scheme primarily owing to the following reason:
During the period of KPS Consultants' subscription to the APMG ACO scheme there were several issues, concerns and queries raised by KPS Consultants to the APMG, most of which were not addressed, resolved or responded to. KPS Consultants had attended all APMG ACO away days and also raised several issues during these APMG ACO away days, these were also not addressed/resolved to our satisfaction. On the 18th December 2007, an audio call was arranged between a senior representative of the APMG and KPS Consultants' Operations Director Maya Kotecha in order to discuss the concerns that had accumulated since our initial registration as an APMG ACO. On this audio call there were comments (one in particular) made by the APMG to Maya Kotecha deemed by KPS Consultants as being apathetic, unprofessional, irrelevant, inappropriate and unacceptable. The comment made by APMG was subsequently escalated to KPS Consultants' Managing Director later in the day on 18th December 2007 during a KPS Management Meeting. Further discussion also took place with all employees/relevant stakeholders including clients where appropriate.
On acquiring knowledge of this highly apathetic comment by the APMG, KPS Consultants' MD served a notice of immediate termination to the APMG ACO scheme. Why? Simple - KPS Consultants will not tolerate its employees being spoken to in such a manner! The notice of termination was sent directly to Paul Faulkner (APMG), Nicola Mckinney (APMG), Richard Pharro (APMG's Managing Director) and Alan Harpham (APMG's chairman) on 18th December 2007 at 2120Hrs. Prior to and since our notice of termination there has been absolutely no attempt by the APMG or these individuals to retain KPS Consultants as a high fee paying client or any offer to resolve KPS Consultants' issues and concerns despite the immense level of support and substantional fees given to the APMG by KPS Consultants to date.
Being an APM Corporate member and an IBC Recognised Practice, KPS Consultants Ltd refuses to reciprocate in a similar unprofessional manner but instead takes this opportunity to extend its respect to the APMG in accordance with our code of conduct, ethics and professionalism. It is for this reason that the statement made by APMG's senior official will not be published here or anywhere on the KPS web site.
In addition to the above primary decision making reason, there are numerous technical reasons which may be published at a later date, one of these being the value of having an APMG Quality Management System running in parallel to the internationally most recognised UKAS ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Standard. We apologise for the delay to those that have approached KPS Consultants for information.
FAQ 1: Would KPS Consultants consider re-subscribing to the APMG ACO Scheme?
No, not in its current state given the aforementioned comments. A full personal apology would be expected by the senior APMG representative reffered to above in which case KPS Consultants may consider re-subscribing to the ACO scheme at some stage in the future. At this stage however we feel the APMG ACO scheme is not yet managed properly or mature enough to offer our organisation, our employees or our clients any substantial value add or benefit. KPS Consultants feel that there are substantial improvements that need to be made by the APMG before we would consider re-subscribing. The approach of senior APMG management and representatives has not at all been satisfactory. Additionally, by KPS re-subscribing to the APMG's ACO scheme as it stands, it is inevitable that our clients would experience a substantial increase in the cost of interim management support and/or consultancy services, which we wish to avoid.
FAQ 2: Has KPS Consultants decision had any impact on business?
No not at all, in fact to the contrary!!
FAQ 3: Has KPS Consultants realised any Return on Investment (RoI) from the APMG's ACO scheme to date or during subscription?
No, none what so ever!
FAQ 4: Has un-subscribing changed KPS Consultants core business strategy and direction?
No not at all, KPS will continue to promote, initiate and deploy 'best practice' PPM and the methods owned by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) such as PRINCE2, MSP, M_o_R (with or without the use of logos!) but will also expand our activities, capabilities, knowledge base and involvement in other projects for world class consultancy initiatives whilst also reviewing other methods and models so as to increase domain expertise, impartiality, independence and objectivity in the best interests of clients.
FAQ 5: What about the PRINCE2 Registered Consultant, MSP Registered Consultant and M_o_R Registered Consultant schemes?
KPS invests in the desires of its people / employees and the interests of clients. All employees currently feel and have indicated a very strong preference to aim for what they believe to be the only single and true recognition and validation of consulting professionalism and capability. As part of the KPS Skill Development Programme employees will be sponsored and encouraged to achieve the internationally recognised CMC® award as a single and over-arching certification of true competence in management consultancy. Working further with the APM (Association for Project Management) is also a Key target for KPS Consultants and already underway - APM is not to be confused with APMG.
FAQ 6: Do you place higher value on the ICMCI's / IBC's CMC Award, APMG's Registered Consultant or APMG's Practitioner accreditation?
These are all very different things but as suggested in FAQ 5, having been through and achieved all these routes and learned from them, KPS Consultants are of the opinion that the Institute of Business Consulting's CMC Award by far demonstrates superiority in management consulting competence. APMG's PRINCE2, MSP, M_o_R Practitioner only with years of experience, hard work and a proven track record of delivering tangible results = specific domain expertise. As a result the lowest of our priorities at this time are the non examination based APMG PRINCE2 Registered Consultant, MSP Registered Consultant and M_o_R Registered Consultant. The Institute of Business Consulting and it's unique roadmap for the Certified Management Consultant (CMC®) award is one of our top priorities and a mandatory requirement for all KPS Consultants to achieve from the 0809 period.
FAQ 7: Can KPS Consultants recommend whether to join the APMG ACO Scheme?
KPS Consultants would not hinder nor deter organisations from subscribing to the APMG ACO scheme, Registered Consultant Scheme or any other APMG subscription based payment scheme. KPS Consultants has decided to unsubscribe from the APMG ACO scheme for specific reasons and experiences to date. Instead the company will increase its level of support to other Royal Charter and Registered Charity Organisations such as the APM, Chartered Management Institute, Institute of Business Consulting, IPMA and ICMCI. The latter should by no means form the basis upon which other organisations make their decisions whether or not to subscribe to the APMG's ACO scheme.
