HONG KONG - Game Experience 7/16-20/07

Playing the game

Initially we had eight attendees and Yantl from ITP and myself. There were four teams of two as instructed in the material. Media team was Brian (SC) and Rocky, Hotel was Max (SC) and Gonzaque, Transport was Michael and Carl(SC replaced by Yantl – day 2) and Stadium team was Gary and Richard (SC).

Round 1 went well. The planning assignment went well where all teams reviewed and selected their respective projects and created a short list. All teams did not select the correct projects as detailed in the answer key so we discussed and I presented them the correct projects for each team and sent them to reduce the capacity of the selection as required from their existing capacity to 30.

Round 2 began the morning of day 2. Interesting incidents that occurred: Hotel team purchased land and permits for the wrong location and ran out of money. The steering committee member negotiated with the media team steering committee member and borrowed funds to correct their mistake. Since I was busy with the bank I did not see this happen but it came out in discussion that Max called and steering committee meeting but all members were not present and the transaction was questionable. In round 3, money was reimbursed. At the end of round 2 there was noticed disparity in goals based on the board. All teams except the media team met there goal of 10. Media was at 7.

Round 3 started with a steering committee meeting and a quick understanding that the teams were going to have to work together better to meet the overall goal. The build session was much more efficient and organized and pointed to achieving the goals. However one team was lagging behind on there individual goals and it wasn’t noticed. The steering committee established a chair and He (Max) oversaw all build and session activity. At the end of this round the stadium team had achieved 30 and hotel and transport were in the low 20’s and Media was at 14.

Round 4 started with a SC meeting and detailed funds analysis based on what was need to focus on three locations. No one still noticed the lagging behind of the media team in achieving their individual goal. It was about half way through this round that it finally was noticed and then all scrambled to help them get this done.

In summary comments on the game is that is was fun and interesting and the logistic problems were there but not insurmountable.

Don

COBIT Games Japan

COBIT Games Japan
Originally uploaded by cobitgames

Winner: Media Team
Score: 255 points
Instructor: Katsushi Yaginuma / Isao Tomita

The COBIT Games were run in Tokyo in May as part of an ISACA COBIT Foundation Course. The Media team won with 255 points, followed by Hotel and Stadium with 245 points. The Transport team finished last with 240 points. The four teams performed almost equally good as the scores lie very close to each other.

COBIT Games Rotterdam Train the Trainer

serious work at the cobit game board
Originally uploaded by cobitgames

Winner: Stadium Team
Score: 245 points

The COBIT Games were played as part of a Train the Trainer Session in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. 13 trainers from Europe and the Middle East participated in the course with the intent to become trainers for delivery of the Games.

Four teams with 3 or 4 people played the Games. The Games had a bit of a rough start on day 1 particularly because the room was not very large and the air conditioning was not working. At the of the first building round a capacity of 6 or 7 was achieved anyways. Not good enough though as 10 was required. The participants were struggling with setting up the internal governance structures within their teams and between the teams.

In day 2 of the Games the four teams made up for it though and completed their goals in time and budget. Only in round 4 of the Games decision making was very effective and streamlined. The assignment that was used after the third round of the Game helped in focusing on the right areas.

Once more the city was ready in time for staging the Olympic Games. Good work teams!

Steering Committee and VAL IT group

Gary Hardy - the cobit games master
Originally uploaded by cobitgames

Saturday the 2nd of June the COBIT Steering Committee and the VAL IT Group played a mini version of the COBIT Games. Operating at the strategic level for COBIT this team had to prove themselves worthy of mastering CONCORDIA.

The mini game is a shorter 3-round version of the COBIT Games that can be played in 4 hours. Two rounds were played to get an insight into the game dynamics. In the first round of the game the experts beat the clock and the system. Everyone completed their assignment well ahead of time: something that had never happened before. Next to that all teams scored a full house and earned 120 points for the round.

Typically only 100 points are given in the first round, but this group conducted not just one but almost three full Steering Committee Sessions to seek alignment between teams. That must be the experience in this domain. . . .

The second round is where the chaos started. There was a slight disconnect between the Steering Committee, the Project Managers and the Developers. This resulted in an intense second round of the Games that took a little longer than planned for... This to make up for ending ahead of time in Round 1.

The round ended with a self assessment where Gary Hardy ensured that the assessments were reasonably in line with performance.

COBIT Games Trailer

Version 2.0 of the COBIT Games will be launched in July!!

Version 2.0 of the COBIT Games is ready for release in July.

A number of distinct upgrades to the COBIT Games have been made to the COBIT Games to increase the learning experience of the Games. Version 2.0 of the COBIT Games includes the following changes:

1. Version 4.1 of COBIT integrated: The new COBIT Games includes the most recent version of COBIT
2. Strategic Planning: The first round of the COBIT Games has changed significantly. Learners now have to analyze the Olympic Bid and come up with a defined list of projects that directly map to the requirements dictated in the bid. Can the learners align their projects well to the business goals?
   
3. Reducing complexity: The COBIT domains PO/AI/DS/ME are introduced in phases and not at once, thereby reducing the complexity of the Games. Learners will first learn to plan for and build their projects and only later will manage the operations of the hotels, media facilities, stadiums and transportation infrastructure
4. Linking with the COBIT Foundation Course: The 4 rounds of the COBIT Games are very tightly linked to the different sessions of the Foundation Course. This ensures that learners will directly apply learned knowledge in the rounds of the Games
5. Student materials: Every student receives a comprehensive student workbook that is used in the Games. The handbook explains all the rules and actions that learners have to take in the Game rounds.
6. Updated COBIT dashboard: the COBIT dashboard is upgraded and helps learners better to manage the performance and progress during the Games.
   
7. Trailer: the COBIT Games trailer has been completed and will be made availalble on the COBITgames.com website soon.

COBIT 4.1 Foundation Course released

Rotterdam/Chicago, May 9, 2007 - ISACA and ITpreneurs are offering an updated education portfolio reflecting the recently released update to the COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology) IT governance framework. As a first step, ITpreneurs will launch the 4.1 COBIT Foundation Course on the 16th of May 2007. The COBIT Foundation Exam will be available from the 16th of June this year.

About COBIT 4.1
COBIT provides an authoritative, international set of generally accepted practices that helps boards of directors, executives and managers increase the value of IT and reduce related risks. Published by the IT Governance Institute® (ITGI™) and available as a free download, COBIT's guidance helps organizations successfully link business and IT goals to meet today's business challenges.

The updated course portfolio reflects the refinements made in COBIT. The official ISACA training portfolio features state of the art learning solutions for COBIT. Training courses help individuals to adopt and internalize COBIT for use within their organizations. A training roadmap is available presenting training courses at various levels for different audiences.

The main changes in COBIT 4.1 content are:
• Enhanced performance measurement guidance, including performance drivers and outcome measures
• Improved control objectives that avoid overlaps and focus on management practices
• Updated guidance to include compliance with internal policies and contractual requirements
• An improved list of business and IT goals
• Additional supporting materials, based on user requests

These refinements in COBIT are working their way through in the COBIT course materials. After the changes made for COBIT 4.0 in 2006, ISACA and ITpreneurs now are ready to launch the third and improved version of the course curriculum.

About COBIT Foundation Course
ISACA® and ITpreneurs have successfully updated the COBIT Foundation Course to align it with COBIT Version 4.1. The COBIT Foundation Course helps IT, Audit, Risk and Compliance professionals to master COBIT at a foundation level and apply this knowledge within the organizations they support. The course helps professionals understand how COBIT can be used in a logical and understandable manner and validates this knowledge through assessments and quizzes. An exam preparation module is included in the course, which prepares the participants to take on the official ISACA COBIT Foundation Exam.