Dan Nimmo, IBMS Head of Communications, provides an update on the new website and CPD system.
Although it has been a year since our last website update, a lot of work has been going on in the background as software developers have been trying to find ways to integrate our website with our membership database to ensure that members’ data are securely and seamlessly transferable between the systems. In that time we have exhausted many different avenues to try to find solutions that enabled us to launch the new website and move users on to a different CPD system.
I’m sure that many of our members who work in IT, integrating different databases and software, will share some of the issues and frustrations we have faced. However, as the integration issues have still not been fixed, the website will not be ready to “go live” anytime soon.
Whilst the reasons we cannot launch are frustrating, the delay of the project has given us the opportunity to look at the whole of our IT infrastructure and to consider how we can develop a major
IT plan to put the IBMS in a stronger position as we look to create a better digital offering for our members. This means that what started as a project to create a new website and bespoke CPD system has developed into a project that is far greater than we originally envisaged.
Under the direction of a new IT strategy, we are currently undertaking a review of our membership database that will act as the central piece of software for our other systems. This includes the new website and CPD system that will link to our e-learning portal and our new digital platforms for Certificates of Achievement, Registration Training Portfolios and the Specialist Diplomas.
This work will see the IBMS undertake major investment in technology that will better support our members and will ensure that we are future-proofed for many years to come. Due to the scale of the work required, it does mean that we will be delaying the website launch until further notice. All work already completed means that when other systems are ready and fully tested we will be in a better position to go live more quickly.
We understand that this is not the update that we had hoped to share with members, and we apologise for any inconvenience the move to a new CPD system may have caused. But we wish to reassure you that we will only go live with a system that is robust, fully tested and that protects our members’ data to the level that you would expect of us.
These further delays will give us time to update our current website and we will be making some improvements to the layout and navigation, making content easier to find and more engaging. Our CPD system also remains in place for all members to use and you can continue using it to record your activities and store your evidence in time for HCPC renewals this year.
Image Credit | iStock