ITPNZ

Is your IT provider a member of IT Professionals New Zealand?

ITPNZ, as it is known, is the IT professional body in New Zealand. Membership requires individuals to sign up to a Code of Professional Conduct and provides them with access to a Professional Knowledge Curriculum designed to upskill them.

Using a member of the institute for your IT needs ensures that your IT provider is required to act professionally and ethically, and also a professional who will be judged by their peers if they do the wrong thing by their client.

The institute is a community of IT professionals who care deeply about professional practice in IT. The institute helps develop its members, sets standards and recognizes those IT professionals in New Zealand who aspire to excellence, and works as the voice of the IT profession to Government and others.

The code ensures IT Professionals NZ members provide the best possible service to their clients, regardless of their specialization.

Complaints against ITPNZ members are referred to the institute’s Professional Conduct Board which will investigate the complaint through a hearing.

If the IT professional is found to have committed a breach of the code a penalty will be handed down from the board.

If the hearing uncovers significant criminal or civil wrongdoing the IT Professionals NZ National Council may refer the matter to police through a formal complaint or start other legal proceedings.

Things change very quickly in the technology space, and the institute has acknowledged that by forming the Professional Practice Working Group. The new working group is reviewing the code and curriculum and will make recommendations on other professional practice guidelines that could be added.

We, at Company-X, are primarily engaged in software development for a range of clients big and small. Mostly, we start new projects from scratch, but sometimes we inherit projects from new clients after they have had a suboptimal experience with another software developer often based overseas.

This is one of the reasons we believe that this institute led review is such important work. This is not just a company sentiment, but we have actioned our commitment by freeing up staff who were selected to participate in the review. One of them recently flew down to Wellington for the day, as part of the review process, and there will be more trips as the project continues.

Next time you get someone in to meet your IT needs, check to see if they are a member of the Institute of IT Professionals.

  • David Hallett is chair of the Hamilton branch of the Institute of IT Professionals.