Prince2 2009 plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Sadly PRINCE2:2009 seems to be a scripted repeat of ITIL V3. Wholesale change is passed off as a minor revision. The public are assured that older certifications will still be of value and that the new certification is no big deal. Your Highness, don't alarm the peasants.

We went through exactly the same crap with ITIL V3, the - haha - "Refresh".

I blogged on this previously. Recently APMG have yet again repeated the assurance that

PRINCE2 2009 is an evolution of the method and will not result in sweeping changes... The main difference between the 2009 version and earlier versions is that there will be two manuals... The refresh of the manual updates and improves the method but it is not a major re-write

Allow me to once again quote the excellent FAQ over at www.crazycolour.co.uk:

	2005	2009
Principles	none	7 Principles
Themes	8 Components	7 Key Themes
Processes	8 Processes	7 Processes
Sub-processes	45 sub-processes	none
Techniques	3 techniques	Cross-references to other Bodys of knowledge including ‘soft’ aspects
Management Products	36 products	27 products
The Project Environment	nothing	Content rich
Trouble shooting	Hints & Tips	Hints & Tips in FAQ style

The "Planning" Process has disappeared, Product based planning has been removed as a chapter.
...
the language in PRINCE2 is changing. This means that if your company is already training people in PRINCE2 (2005 version) then it might be a good idea to train your remaining staff in that version to avoid having a mixed language

Even ITIL V3 didn't attempt to change the existing terminology. Oooh no, not sweeping changes at all.

APMG go on to say

The PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner examinations will remain very much the same as they are now

It is hard to imagine how that can be the case given the extensive structural changes and revisions to terminology.

Sometimes the stuff that comes out of APMG is downright Orwellian.

And finally

registration exams... Candidates will be able to attend either a short course from an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) or simply read the new manual.

I note that ATO training is a prerequisite to ITIL practitioner exams but apparently not PRINCE2. I guess Project Management is not as important or difficult as IT Operations.