Philipsburg:--- Two University of St. Martin (USM) Business Information Management (BIM) students, Isabelle Hodge and Gregory Renfurm, have joined over 1 million professionals in over 125 countries who are certified by EXIN, an internationally recognized organization for certification of professionals in information management.Hodge and Renfurm were handed their EXIN –Certificates by Business Division Head Mr. Erwin Wolthuis on Tuesday. The two took the examination, which is based on standards, best practices, and international frameworks, earlier this year after completing the BIM 300 Business Intelligence / Information Management class.
According to Wolthuis, this is a milestone for the graduates and the university. He further read a letter to the graduates, from CEO of EXIN Michiel van der Lande, which states as follow: "Congratulations with earning your EXIN-Certificate! You are now part of a worldwide group of professionals that have given their career a demonstrable new impulse. The EXIN-Certificate is an independent proof that you have extended your skills according to a worldwide recognized standard."
Both Hodge and Renfurm, noted that the course and exams were very challenging. They added that especially the cases demanded some rereading at times. Both graduates explained that they have already been applying what they learned in the course.
Wolthuis further explained that within the complexity of today's market, businesses simply cannot do without properly functioning information technology (IT). As such, IT is one of the most important aids for the implementation of any business strategy. The most critical points are found in the alignment of IT with business processes. It is precisely this alignment that is often far from optimum. Business information Managers bear final responsibility for this alignment.
"The BIM Certificate establishes a bridge between IT and business processes. It offers a starting point for the improvement of these processes using best practices, amongst other things, and it provides uniform terminology," Wolthuis noted.
The USM Associate of Applied Science degree program in Business Information Management (BIM) is a business-oriented program that will allow the students to acquire the necessary skills, concepts and experiences to be employed in a variety of positions within the administrative department of any middle-sized or large company. Graduates can, of course, also decide to continue their studies towards a Bachelor degree.
The program blends the essential elements of business, information technology and accounting needed by employees who are responsible for business intelligence, management information and formulating the company's desires and demands towards Information Technology solutions.
