Dear subscriber,
Happy 2021. 2020 has been full of hurt and disappointment for many. We’ve all been burnt by life, some have lost loved ones, relationships and jobs. But God doesn’t want us to sit in the ashes of the past; He wants to trade our brokenness for healing. He wants to give us beauty for our ashes. The key is that we have to be willing to give up the ashes in order to receive the beauty. You can’t have both, because the old has to go before the new can reach fulfilment.
As I look back over last year, I’m thankful to God for hundreds of new subscribers to the Ray of Hope devotion. I’m thanking God for lockdown virtual revivals in London, Wolverhampton, Harlow Essex, Kenya, Toronto Canada, Trinidad and many others, where hundreds gave their hearts to God despite the pandemic. I’m thankful for the Ray of Hope radio show each Sunday, and the listenership has grown tremendously. Ray of Hope ministries and God Interest want to thank you for your prayers, donations and continued support, and to ask you to continue to bless our ministry throughout 2021. We would love you to encourage your friends and family to also subscribe for their daily blessing.
Today, let’s move forward, not focusing on yesterday’s blessings, but reaching forward with hope and purpose, as we tackle the projects and challenges this year will bring. Are you willing to trust God with your future? Are you willing to let go of the pain, to forgive others and yourself so you can move forward in freedom? Don’t waste another day sitting in the ashes. The year 2020 is over, but your future remains. Let God give you joy instead of mourning, and let Him make something beautiful out of the ashes of your life in 2021.
…he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness…” (Isaiah 61:3, TLB)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for promising to sweep away the ashes of my past and give me something beautiful in their place. Father, thanks for blessing Ray of Hope ministries, God Interest and it’s subscribers, to reach so many for the kingdom in 2020. Almighty God, I choose to give You my 2021 for more ministry endeavours as you give me clear vision. I receive Your healing and restoration in my life, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
Let’s Crossover into 2021 With No Fear
As we enter the final day of this year, I urge you to let go of your past. All of those mistakes worries, stresses and fears. In the same way that faith opens the door for God to work in our lives, fear opens the door for the enemy to work in our lives. So leave it behind!
Scripture says that fear brings torment. Fear has no mercy. If you act on fear instead of acting on faith, it will keep you depressed, miserable and lonely. So many people today are missing out on God’s joy, peace and victory because they keep giving in to fear. They feed fear by what they watch on TV, or read in the news or on the internet. Don’t let that be you! How do you get faith? Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. I urge you in 2021 fill your heart and mind with God’s Word, and the stronger your faith will be so you can stand against the powers of darkness. Choose faith instead of fear this new year by choosing to spend time in God’s Word.
Today, on December 31st 2020, remember, the power that is in you through the Holy Spirit, is greater than the power of fear. When thoughts come that say, “you’re not able,” choose faith by saying, “I can do all things through Christ!” Choose faith, overcome fear and live in the freedom God has in store for you! Lets crossover by faith into 2021! Hallelujah!
“This is my command–be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9, NLT)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, on the final day of 2020, I receive Your Word which is life, health and strength to me. I choose to close the door on fear by guarding what I say, listen to and dwell on. God, fill me with Your love and faith, as I meditate on Your Word and crossover into a new year, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
Keep Pressing Forward!
As we come to the end of 2020, think about the process a caterpillar goes through before it becomes a butterfly. When it’s wrapped in its cocoon in the dark side of some tree, it doesn’t look like it has many options. But after it becomes a butterfly, it doesn’t just sit and wait for someone to come and drill a hole and let it out. No! That butterfly knows that it has to make a move if it’s going to be set free. In the same way, we have to do something to get out of the confining places we are in. We have to pray, set goals and move; we have to believe and keep pressing through to victory.
Truth be told we all go through seasons of difficulty that can sometimes feel overwhelming. But during these times, we have to remember that our God is greater than the struggle we face! In 2021 He’ll take our challenges and use them to strengthen us, all we have to do is get into agreement with Him.
Today, and throughout 2021 no matter what you may be facing, remember His grace is sufficient for you. His strength is made perfect in your weakness. Keep believing, keep praying, keep hoping, and keep pressing forward. Before long, you’ll break free and rise to the new levels of victory God has prepared for you. Hallelujah!
“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’…” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NKJV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for the strength to make it through any challenge I face in 2021. Father, I will put my trust in You. Almighty God, I declare that You are good, and I thank You for working behind the scenes on my behalf, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
In Your Weakness
Growing up, I used to believe that weakness was as a result of continued sinning in one’s life. Sometimes, people get distracted by what they consider to be a disadvantage or weakness. It may be something about their personality or looks, maybe they’ve been through an unfair situation: a divorce, loss of a job, or just a bad break. We all have things that can feel like disadvantages, things that make life hard and difficult. It can even be a mental or physical disability.
In 2020 you may have been “disadvantaged.” However, just because you’ve been through a tough time, it doesn’t mean you’re supposed to sit back in 2021 and settle where you are.
Today and in this new year, God has something great for you to do! He wants to show Himself strong in your weakness. The Holy Spirit wants to help you when you feel weak and low. Stay strong in faith, and let God take what you see as a disadvantage and turn it around into an advantage, so you can move forward into the abundant life He has for you! Hallelujah!
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness…” (Romans 8:26, NLT)
Let’s Prayer
Yahweh, I give You all that I am – my weaknesses, my disadvantages, my emotional and physical pain. Father, I invite You into the weak places in my life so that You can make me strong. God, thank You for working in my life in 2020 despite my weakness, and using me for Your glory, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
Your Fear Is Not From God
As we reflect on 2020, so many people have missed out on God’s abundant life of joy, peace and victory because they have lived in a spirit of fear. They are afraid to make a decision, afraid to confront issues, afraid to step out, afraid of the past, afraid of the future, afraid of racism and afraid of the pandemic. But as believers, we don’t have to live that way. Fear is not from God. God hasn’t given you that spirit, He has given you power, love and a sound mind!
Today, in these last days of 2020, make the decision that you are not carrying the spirit of fear into 2021. Scripture says that perfect love casts out all fear. Ask God for a deep revelation of His love. Meditate on His Word and let it fill you with faith. Equip yourself spiritually to stand strong in the face of fear, knowing that God has good things in store for you in the year to come and beyond!
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for giving me power to overcome the fears of 2020. Father, I receive Your love and choose to stand strong in faith. Almighty God, fill me with peace and joy as I end this year, please keep my mind stayed on You, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
Breaking News
My inbox lately has been full of prayer requests for change and direction in the year to come. My belief is your future begins today. Today, I declare that a shift is starting in Jesus’ name! What do you need – a shift in your health, a shift in your finances, or a shift in a relationship? It may not look like anything is happening in the natural, but we serve a supernatural God. He’s about to move in your direction in a new way! Hallelujah!
The enemies you have seen in the past, you will see no more. The addictions or bad habits that have held you back in 2020 are being broken in Jesus’ name. God’s favour is being released in a new way that will propel you forward. What should have taken you 20 or 30 years to accomplish, God is going to do in a matter of minutes!
Today, I’ve got breaking news – ”your shift has been accelerated.” The shift means going beyond where you could go on your own. The shift is seeing Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our Provider, do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond. Our attitude should be, “God, I’m ready. I’m taking the limits off of You. I’m enlarging my vision. I receive it. I may not see a way, but I know You have a way. I declare I’m coming into my shift today!” Hallelujah!
“You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways.” (Job 22:28, NKJV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, today I open my heart and mind to You. I ask You for a supernatural shift in my life today. Father, I claim and declare that a supernatural shift is coming my way. Change my health, my finances, my relationships, and my vision. God, I receive Your Word, I receive Your promises, I receive Your truth, and I receive the increase You have in store for me, in Christ’ name! Amen.
His Goodness
In these uncertain times we can learn the attitude of the psalmist David. He was going through very tough uncertain times when he declared the words in today’s verse. He said in effect, “I’m not worried. I’m not upset. I am confident I will see God’s goodness.” In other words, “this situation I’m in may be rough, but that’s not going to steal my vision or joy. It’s not going to cause me to give up on my dreams. I am confident that in this crazy unpredictable year, I will see God’s favour unfold in my life.”
Today, remember what you focus on, is what will come to pass. No matter what the medical report says, no matter what your finances look like, no matter how bad that relationship may seem, be confident that you will see God’s goodness unfold in your life!
Today, during this strange year, 2020, we must not forget our God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. He is the creator of the universe, and He holds you, your plans and your dreams in the palm of His hand. So you can be confident nothing is too difficult for Him! Take hold of this truth by faith and focus on His goodness today!
“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
(Psalm 27:13, NIV)
Let’s Pray
Yahweh, thank You for Your goodness in my life. Father, I remain confident in Your power to control my life in these uncertain times. I will focus on You no matter what my circumstances may look like. God please give me Your peace as I keep my mind stayed on You in Christ’s Name! Amen.
Let’s Pray Differently
Lately, I’ve found myself constantly praying for God to change my situations.
As if he doesn’t realize how messed up the world is. How broken we are. How chaotic 2020 has felt. I ask Him to change the circumstances surrounding me as if He’s just sitting up in heaven watching Netflix completely unaware of what’s happening in this world He created. As if He’s forgotten about us down here. But He hasn’t. He knows what’s happening. Nothing that happens in this world happens without his consent. He’s allowing it to continue to happen because He’s not done doing what He’s planning to do with it. Are you following?
Now let’s turn to the Old Testament superstar of struggle… Job. His story is unique in that we get a little glimpse at the dialogue between God and Satan. Satan and his angels come to God and get this… he had to ask God’s permission to mess with Job’s life. God literally gave His consent for the enemy to do whatever he wanted with everything Job had, but with an important condition: “…but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” (Job 1:12b)
For those of you that aren’t familiar with the story, Satan proceeded to take away everything Job had including all of his livestock and fields, his wife and children, and even his health. He left Job broke and alone, but through all of Job’s struggles and heartache, God was never worried because He still held Job’s life. God’s protection was on him the whole time.
So now that we’ve seen God’s side of it, let’s look at Job’s perspective. How did he respond? Well Satan’s plan here was to get Job to curse the name of God, but Job wouldn’t do it. Even after everything was taken from him and his three friends blamed him for his misfortune and gave him a bunch of bad advice, Job still praised God. His faith was not shaken. He prayed things like this:
“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” – Job 23:10
and this…
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” – Job 42:2
Even when he had nothing, Job still held on to the faith that God would use all of those awful circumstances to refine him like gold. He still acknowledged God’s power and honored Him. I want to pray like Job.
Instead of praying for God to change my circumstances, I want to pray that God will never stop using my circumstances to change me. I challenge you to do the same. Instead of praying for God to “fix” things so they can go back to our broken version of “normal,” let’s ask Him to keep shaking things up until they’re better, new, and more reflective of His kingdom.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven…'” – Matthew 6:9-10 (emphasis mine)
Let’s ask Him to change our hearts in the face of uncertainty rather than asking Him to make COVID-19 go away. Let’s ask Him to cover our family with peace in the face of loss rather than blaming him for taking our loved one away. Let’s ask Him to change the hearts of those corrupted by power and authority instead of acting in violence in response to offense. Let’s ask for the coming of His glorious kingdom rather than asking for a perfect life in our own little bubble.
Because here’s the thing: circumstances will always change and more often than not, they will be inconvenient, uncomfortable, and difficult. So let’s stop complaining and wishing for an easier life.
Sooner or later, you’ll have to respond, and it’s how we respond that matters. It’s how God is using it to make us look more like Him that matters. It’s how it fits in to the bigger picture of the redemption of God’s creation that matters.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” – Thessalonians 5:16-18
So, let’s not get swept up in trying to pray away our problems. Let’s take up a different stance, and pray through them, because that allows God to change us, grow us, and mold us to better reflect His glory.
Remember, nothing in this world happens without God’s consent. Your bad day didn’t sneak past His radar while He was enjoying His morning coffee. He allows our circumstances to be difficult because He wants us to be a little uncomfortable, because that’s when we turn to Him and lean on Him so He can remind us of His power and glory. So let’s embrace whatever circumstance we find ourselves in and commit to seeking out the Lord and His goodness. Because no matter how broken we are, He is always good.
Societal enables people to connect with one another online through this time of international crisis
We’re living through a time of international crisis. Our systems are falling apart, we’re being separated from friends and loved ones, frightened and unsure as to how life may be about to unfold. “Reality” seems to stagger from one disturbing scenario to another. Information and advice keep changing – nothing holds fast, but the idea that everything is going dreadfully wrong. But if there is a silver lining in this crisis, it could be that the virus is forcing us to use the internet as it was always meant to be used – to connect with one another, share information and come up with collective solutions to vital problems.
Launched in March 2020, Societal’s (https://societal.co/) sole purpose is to connect people and allow people to share their thoughts with a big audience.
Societal website administrator Dean Jones a former Central St Martins College of Art & Design postgraduate said, ‘One of the most disastrous months in the history of global medicine and global economics has ended with country after country retreating into their national silos. They are fighting their own individual battles against coronavirus and in their own way, but we must work together. Like it or not the Coronavirus Crisis is showing us how to live online and hopefully Societal can help people with that.’
The new Social Network follows a UK government announcement that everyone should only go outside for food, health reasons or work (where this absolutely cannot be done from home).
Jones hopes his digital platform will help create connections, not conflict in this time of uncertainty.
Jones said further ‘As we isolate ourselves at home to protect our health and our neighbours, we still need each other. Societal means that even in this time when we are physically apart, we can still connect with our friends.”
The Core Principles of Societal are-
- Respect.
- Justice/Fairness.
- Honesty.
- Service/Giving Back/Contribution.
- Responsibility.
- Family.
- Community.
Societal is trying to shift the paradigm. In a web full of pseudo thought-leaders, Societal promises to be place that people from all walks of life can rely on and cater to those looking for fresh, new, authentic voices and believe wholeheartedly in community. Societal offers free accounts and doesn’t serve ads.
Jones has launched a kickstarter page in order to support this worthwhile project https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deanjones/societal
Press release distributed by Pressat on behalf of Societal, on Thursday 26 March, 2020. For more information follow https://pressat.co.uk/
LGBT lessons row: More schools stop classes
In the latest update from crazy ville here in the UK today British politicians in parliament will be discussing whether they have the right, not you, to decide what relationship and sex education advice your child will have in school.
One hundred and six thousand parents have signed a petition saying that they should be the ones who decide when and who teaches their children about LGBTQ matters. But the government ‘big brother’ says it knows best. It wants to make its new relationship and sex education lessons compulsory by 2020 and they’re already beginning to roll those in.
Now what it means for four and five year olds in the UK is that they will be taught LGBTQ issues and they will be taught about transsexual relationships. Now this is before they’ve ever really had a proper science lesson or a biology lesson and this before they’ve had a chance to go out, run about, play and be a child or in fact learn how to use a bathroom or nappy nightmares. 70 percent of schools say kids are starting school in nappies. So our British government thinks that before a child has learned to use a bathroom or be out of nappies the most important thing is to make it compulsory that they learn about LGBTQ issues and accept the latest narrative on trans.
Something is going very badly wrong here in Britain. Our kids are being indoctrinated in schools and it’s time parents stood up and made a stand. Get involved.
Get in your schools, get those letters in saying you do not want your child to be part of this mandatory madness and perhaps before a child is indoctrinated into the latest trans thinking they should at least be able to enjoy life or find out a few biological facts for themselves. Get involved. Write to your school. Do not be complicit in the indoctrination of our children.
How Technology Has Changed Procurement in the Last 10 Years
Over the past decade business procurement has experienced rapid technological upheaval that, in the main, has made life easier for everyone involved.
The first ever Global Procurement Technology Summit was held in March 2016. It shows the emphasis procurement is now putting on understanding and utilising new technologies, and that it’s clearly a huge talking point for professionals across the world.
Looking in greater detail: which technology has been responsible and what has the effect been on procurement and buying professionals?
1. More informed decisions are being made
The digitalisation of procurement processes and integration of data-sharing across buyer behaviour, ratings and history of purchases over extended periods of time, has made for smarter and more informed decisions.
Despite the greater insight into decision-making, a study of US procurement professionals still revealed accurate forecasting to be the biggest challenge, something that’s possibly down to the rise in budget responsibilities over the last ten years.
The Coupa ‘Top 5: Constants and Change in Cloud Procurement’ report revealed that in 2003, budgets were reported as an average of $31m, compared to $100m in 2013.
2. Response times have drastically reduced
Procurement solutions are now quicker and easier than ever thanks to new marketplace technologies.
Buyers can take advantage of online purchasing possibilities, using websites like Amazon to source, purchase and arrange delivery of items.
The speed of procurement reflects the new speed in which consumerism moves ’’ the integration of digital mediums with online shopping has made the process of deliberation through to transaction much easier, a trend which has been reflected in the world of procurement.
3. Integration has brought its own problems
Technological integration has created many positives for procurement, but it’s also created challenges.
Millennials will make up 40% of the workforce by 2020, which is great for improving current procurement solutions as younger generations have higher expectations for technology and are early adapters.
However, the average age of procurement professionals in the UK is currently 44 – much older than the next generation of workers, who fully understand the capabilities of technology, and who will be easier to train and able to work with increased speed and accuracy.
The gap will close in the coming years, but procurement faces a struggle as older workers need to ensure their skills are relevant to the changing world around them.
Additionally, Hays’ ‘Procurement Salary Guide’ revealed that demand for procurement professionals has increased at all levels within the public sector, pushing salaries up. This demand is the result of a squeeze on public finances and attempts to cut costs following the slowdown in the economy.
4, Technology and the future of procurement
To conclude, technology is clearly a powerful enabler that’s here to stay. Plenty of companies are now seeing the importance of procurement technology as a means to improve their bottom lines, which was reflected in the inaugural Global Procurement Technology Summit earlier this year.
Integration of contract management, risk management and supplier lifecycle systems through investment in improved systems with added capabilities, has ensured more accurate sourcing is possible and due to the skills involved in running these systems, has driven salaries up.
Sophia Chapman is a guest contributor from Portfolio Procurement, expert recruiters in the compensation, benefit and reward sector.
Bridge House, Croydon, Is Prefab Really Prefabulous?
Prefabricated homes have been available for years and date back at least a century. The Sears Roebuck index made and offered prefab homes to the public as early as 1908, and Prefab was later explored by famous twentieth-century architects, such as, Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Marcel Breuer, Frank Lloyd Wright, who saw the method as a likely solution to the dilemma of housing in modern society. Interest in Prefab grew in the first half of the twentieth-century, with the outburst of manufacturing expertise and the creation of the assembly line.
Historically the mention of prefabricated houses invokes memories of housing built to cover in the temporary a deficiency of housing in the UK following the World Wars.
The Government promised ‘homes fit for heroes’, however, negative public attitudes surfaced towards prefabricated housing because of substandard building materials used and poor workmanship.
A staggering 1 million of these homes were built during the 20th century and more than half a century on, many are still standing despite no foundations. A few are listed while others have been demolished.
Today people remember the shabby mobile classrooms as in, bitter cold in winter and like an oven in summer. Therefore, memories have rendered the concept of prefabricated houses an unattractive idea. Talk about the term prefabricated housing to an architect, and their eyes will beam with visions of fascinating contemporary homes. However, talk to the ordinary person on the street and people immediately think that we are going down the same path, a pretty hard image to shake off. The very factors that are presented as positive advantages of prefabricated homes became liabilities in the eyes of homeowners who wanted a durable appreciating asset.
An example can be found by looking at the prefabricated houses on Catford estate built by German and Italian prisoners of war in 1946.
‘They were not built to last and need regular maintenance. They are just large sheds really and taking up a lot of space. They should really be demolished.’ (Drake 2008)
Over the ten years, Lewisham Council has tried to develop the site many times and a review found none of the dwellings met Decent Homes Standard.
So why do more and more developers choose prefabricated construction?
First and foremost – Speed. “It may take a bit longer in terms of design, preparation and planning but site based activities are taking up to 30% less time and allowing homes to reach the market sooner. Other reasons cited include, in order of preference:
- Design Quality
- Cost
- Previous Experience
- Funding
Source: Design and Modern Methods of Construction. The Housing Corporation and CABE 2004″
Bridge House (Example)
Croydon Vision 2020 is a regeneration programme by the London Borough of Croydon for the centre of Croydon in South London. The Old Town Masterplan focused on the area between the High Street and Roman Way, one of the oldest areas of Croydon.
Formerly the site of a telephone exchange, Bridge House is a £20 million development that has provided 27 private and 48 affordable apartments, above ground and mezzanine retail spaces.
The block wraps around an existing multi-storey car park and offers the opportunity for cafs and shops to open onto the new square. A mix of green and brown roofs, to support biodiversity, form part of a series of environmental measures and the scheme is to be of modular construction.
The Croydon chose the modular approach principally because of the speed of construction offered. The project began on site in the spring of 2006 and the 75 flats were stated to have been erected in approximately 26 days, vastly outperforming the time taken by traditional construction.
Client: Howard Holdings plc
Architect: AWW
Structures: Walsh Associates
Principal Supplier: MC First
15 Shocking Project Management Statistics
The project management landscape is changing with an increased emphasis on productivity, reporting, and information technology. A number of studies have been completed that look into the success and failure rates of projects.
Below are 15 shocking statistics that reveal how project management has changed and is performing across various industries over the last 5 years.
- There is projected to be 15.7 million new project management roles to be added globally across seven project-intensive industries by 2020 reaching an economic impact of over $18 trillion, across seven project-intensive industries including Manufacturing, Finance & Insurance, Information Services, Utilities, Business Services, Oil & Gas and Construction (Project Management Institute)
- 75% of IT executives believe their projects are “doomed from the start. (Geneca)
- The healthcare industry is projected to increase project management roles by 30%, a higher growth rate than any current project intensive industry between 2010 and 2020. (Project Management Institute)
- A third of all projects were successfully completed on time and on budget over the past year. (Standish Group)
- 80% of “high-performing” projects are led by a certified project manager. (PricewaterhouseCoopers, Insights and Trends: Current Programme and Project Management Practices 2012)
- One in six IT projects have an average cost overrun of 200%. (Harvard Business Review 2004)
- 44% of project managers use no software, even though PWC found that the use of commercially available PM software increases performance and satisfaction. (Pricewaterhouse Coopers)
- More than 90% of organizations perform some type of project postmortem or closeout retrospective. (The Standish Group: CHAOS Research Report 2013)
- On average, it takes 7 years in the profession to go from entry-level to managing large, complex projects. (ESI International: Annual Salary Survey 2013)
- The average large IT project runs 45% over budget, 7% over time, and delivers 56% less value than expected. (Project Management Institute: Pulse of the Profession 2015)
- Only 64% of projects meet their goals. (Project Management Institute: Pulse of the Profession 2015)
- 60% of companies don’t measure ROI on projects. (KPMG New Zealand: Project Management Survey 2010)
- The United States economy loses $50-$150 billion per year due to failed IT projects. (Gallup Business Review)
- In just a 12 month period 49% of organizations had suffered a recent project failure. In the same period only 2% of organizations reported that all of their projects achieved the desired benefits. 86% of organizations reported a shortfall of at least 25% of targeted benefits across their portfolio of projects and many organizations failed to measure benefits so they are unaware of their true status in terms of benefits realization. (KPMG – Global IT Project Management Survey 2005)
- According to an IBM study, only 40% of projects meet schedule, budget and quality goals. (Harvard Business Review 2004)
If you have any other project management statistics please share them with us.
Axelos CEO Peter Hepworth in the Spotlight
Project Journal had the privilege of interviewing AXELOS previous CEO Peter Hepworth. Peter provided us with an insight into his role and AXELOS as a whole in October 2015.
AXELOS CEO Peter Hepworth
Peter joined AEXLOS as CEO in July 2013 and was previously Managing Director for Activision Blizzard a $400 million turnover and $150million EBIT business. In 2014, Activision Blizzard was the fifth largest gaming company in the world by revenue.
Peter is an economics graduate, chartered accountant, with an M.B.A. from Cranfield and A.M.P. from INSEAD.
What is AXELOS?
AXELOS is a joint venture set up in 2014 by the Government of the United Kingdom and Capita, to develop, manage and operate qualifications in best practice, in methodologies formerly owned by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).
AXELOS promotes best practice frameworks such as PRINCE2 and ITIL and is developing a cyber resilience best practice portfolio later in 2015.
How does AXELOS differ from APM?
AXELOS is an independent organisation, allowing the user community to focus more on the content of frameworks and guidance without much interference. The firm puts a heavy focus on the guidance given, ensuring the content is fuelled by good ideas to keep the ITIL structure up to date. But while the business has a combination of access to one of Britain’s largest corporations and the UK government, more than 75% of publication sales and Prince2 certification is sold outside of the UK, a trend that is growing faster due to emerging markets.
The company varies its training approach. Its Portfolio, Programme, and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3), for example, encourages users to assess their performance against benchmarks. Mike Acaster, PPM portfolio manager, says: “PRINCE2 is applicable to many sizes of organisation, but sometimes it’s better to be a bit more specific. It’s about tailoring advice for that context. In some cases it has been tailored, and people don’t realise it’s PRINCE2 – you have to scratch the surface.
How do you view the future of project management?
After years of being associated with large engineering and construction projects, project management has moved beyond infrastructure. Firms across different countries and sectors now acknowledge the need to manage their processes and keep costs and timing under control. As businesses begin to recognise the importance of project management worldwide, questions are being asked about the standards required. AXELOS is focusing on how these can apply to different staff and situations, as well as how workers can develop a career path in project management.
Is AXELOS popular aboard?
“It’s hard to measure the adoption of our products, but if you look at the number of exams taken, you can see strong growth outside the UK, as well as in the UK,” he says. “In the US there’s a lot of interest, and the biggest international user of PRINCE2 is the UN, to make sure their aid development is correctly managed.
“Our Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) product was used to deliver the Olympic Games. I was in Tokyo after they had won the right to host Tokyo 2020 and the focus was ‘When can we have MSP?’ They want to see the same success as London has had.”
What are the future priorities for AXELOS?
“Career path. For the individual, it’s about how your career can develop. There’s a different skill set between project and portfolio management, and no linear route. It comes to modularisation. We have been able to offer different dimensions.
Cyber Resilience is next. Companies need to put more emphasis on improving their reactions to cyber attacks rather than continuing to focus on prevent. Although there are a number of standards and best practices in place to prevent cyber attacks, firms are still falling foul, and this is usually due to the internal attitude and people, rather than technology.
New products launched in 2015 include PRINCE2 Agile; Cyber Resilience Best Practice and Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
What’s next?
Young people are learning things online and changing how it is done. We want our members to feel proud about having AXELOS qualifications and have launched digital badges so that project professionals can display their mark of professionalism across popular social networks.
Digital badges are tokens that appear as icons and are awarded to signify learning achievements in a way that can be easily verified and shared online. Our members digital badge’s will hold and display information about their professional development activity as well as the issue date and an expiry date.
Individual workers, organisations and entire industries can benefit from badges. Badges are a new form of currency – a more transparent and efficient way to communicate the acquisition and development of workplace skills.
From AXELOS to Microsoft, IBM to Oracle, many leading companies have adopted digital badges as a form of recognition for continuing professional development and certifications. The individuals who earn these badges enthusiastically share them to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other online destinations. Once shared, anyone can verify the authenticity of and learn more about the individual’s abilities. That shareability and verification can make all the difference in a competitive job market, whether an individual aspires to move ahead in her current position or move into a different job.
We also want continued openness from AXELOS, even more community collaboration and specific actions to further increase the relevance of AXELOS in the future.
Where do you believe project management is heading?
Anyone can benefit from project management guidance. “We are all project managers now,” he says.
