Does my company need a license for ISEB ISTQB?

Does my company need a license for ISEB ISTQB?

If you run a software testing group in a small to mid-sized company, at some point you have likely thought about training your employees for ISEB or ISTQB certifications. As you probably already know, there are many benefits of becoming certified, such as the fact that your employees' software testing skills, efficiency, and accuracy would be substantially improved. However, depending on how many employees you have in your group, this effort could get costly. To cap your costs, purchasing a company-wide training course license is something worth considering.

What is a Company License?

A company-wide license typically provides permanent access to ISEB and ISTQB training materials for an unlimited number of company employees. Licenses can typically be acquired for instructor-led classroom training as well as self-study courses. They can also usually be purchased for any certification level, including ISEB Foundation, ISEB Intermediate, ISEB Practitioner, ISTQB Foundation (CTFL), and even the ISTQB Advanced level.

For a self-study training course license, the most common way to provide employees access to the information is to upload the course content onto the company Intranet. If your company does not have an Intranet, the next best method is to have each employee load the content onto their PC via compact disc.

When a Company License Makes Sense

If your company has more than 5 employees that need ISEB or ISTQB certification training, a company-wide license is the most cost-effective method. The major benefit of a license is the provision for unlimited use. In other words, for a one-off cost, everyone in the entire company can be trained for pretty much the cost of sending one employee to an instructor-led course. Another benefit is that licenses are normally granted in perpetuity, meaning that they never expire. Thus, the license covers current as well as future employees. Finally, purchasing companies often receive any future updates for the lifetime of the training course. This ensures that the material never becomes out of date, thereby ensuring quality training content for years to come.
This might be obvious, but the best company license to purchase is one applicable to the ISEB Foundation or ISTQB Foundation (CTFL) software testing certification level. Because this is the entry-level certification, it is the one that all non-certified employees must start out with. And much like the percentage of college graduates who go on to post-graduate studies, many employees will stop at the ISEB Foundation or ISTQB Foundation level and not progress to the ISEB Intermediate or ISTQB Advanced levels. Therefore, although still a great value, purchasing a license for these more advanced levels is not quite as cost-effective, as fewer employees will progress beyond the entry level.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, if at least 5 employees require ISEB or ISTQB software testing certification training, purchasing a company license is an excellent option. This option is highly cost-effective due to the provision of unlimited use, the fact that licenses are usually sold on a perpetuity basis, and the fact that the underlying content never goes out of date. Whether it's the ISEB Foundation, ISEB Intermediate, ISEB Practitioner, ISTQB Foundation (CTFL), or any of the ISTQB Advanced modules, purchasing a company license is definitely a great way for companies to get the maximum bang for their buck.

Author: Al Kappauf
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