PRINCE2 vs. PMI's PMBoK

I've heard quite a few comments recently about the relative merits of PRINCE2 [1] vs. the PMI's [2] PMBoK [3] (Project Management Body of Knowledge). Today I came across this presentation [4] which has a few useful comparative comments. In the past I've also noted this short paper comparing PRINCE2 and PMBok [5].

The paper's [5] comments about the role of a Project Manager are raise a striking point. A PMBoK style Project Manager is a dramatically different role from a PRINCE2 Project Manager. Indeed the term Project Manager is probably far too loose a term to mean a great deal!

[1] http://www.ogc.gov.uk/prince/
[2] http://www.pmi.org/
[3] http://web.syr.edu/~chtejase/PMBOK_2000.pdf
[4] http://www.pmiwestchester.org/downloads/Prince2PMBOK.pdf
[5] http://www.pmforum.org/library/papers/Prince2vsGuide3.htm

PRINCE2 Open Exam booking workaround

The day after posting this, APM Group fixed their site. Thank you.

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Attempting to formalise my PRINCE2 knowledge has been frustrated by the fact that the Open Examinations in the UK conducted by APM Group are booked through a web site booking form which which uses some outdated JavaScript to display available booking slots. From my testing this appears to only work on Internet Explorer on a PC, though Internet Explorer on the Mac will display the options even if you can't book them!

I'll see if I can persuade them to fix this, but in the meantime, if you are a user of Firefox or Safari you can circumvent their JavaScript museum by typing the following line (as one long line) into the location bar and hitting Return:

javascript:var str=document.f.T1.value; document.getElementById("Topic").innerHTML=str; document.getElementById("Topic").style.visibility = "visible"; alert("Done!");

Replace "T1" (for Milton Keynes) in the above with "T2" for Winsford or "T3" for York.

Once the dates are displayed you can proceed as normal.