ISACA – Certified Information Security (CISM)

 by Brian McCarthy

Are you considering adding a CISM Certification to your professional credentials in 2022? If so, this post will explain the program, the process to gain certification, and help you understand different methods of getting to your CISM certified goal. 327 Solutions is an ISACA Accredited Partner and Authorized Training Organization.

First off, CISM is one of ISACA’s most popular certifications, with over 46,000 certification holders. Right now, ISACA has eight total certifications across Risk, Audit, Management, Governance, Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, Emerging Technology, and general Information Technology. So they genuinely do have an excellent roster of courses. With the addition of new certificate programs (IT Risk Fundamentals / Cloud Auditing / Computing Fundamentals, Networks, and Infrastructure Fundamentals), they continue to roll out relevant and valuable training programs.

Why CISM for your Certification?

But, back to CISM here, right? With over 46,000 certified professionals, the CISM certification serves many purposes, some of them as follows.

  1. Proves knowledge and competency against a globally recognized body of knowledge
  2. Elevates individual social media value and professional reputation
  3. The CISM credential will move resumes to the top of the pile as a marker of quality and excellence
  4. Beyond capability, CISM is a marker of someone ready to move from team player to manager and leadership
  5. It can help individuals and corporate leadership create more effective teams and reduce turnover

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The Four Domains of CISM

The CISM program is segmented into four distinct domains of knowledge. They include the following.

  1. Information Security Governance
  2. Information Risk Management
  3. Information Security Program Development & Management
  4. Information Security Incident Management

The exam is split into these four domains, and we would be happy to help you prepare confidently for the test.

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How to Get Trained and Certified for CISM

Are you ready to prepare yourself for the exam? Well, you’ll find out quickly that there are a tremendous number of ways to get to the goal. First, take an honest inventory of the type of learner you are, how quickly you need to accomplish this goal, if you must have a high level of assurance you’ll pass, and others. Some of which follow.

  1. Instructor-Led Certification Bootcamp (physical or virtual-live)
  2. Self-Paced eLearning
  3. Self-Study
  4. Persistent Training Environment

327 Solutions is the ONLY ISACA Authorized ATO that delivers the complete ISACA learning kit (Authorized Review Manual, QAE Exam Review Questions, Testing Voucher, and ISACA Membership) that uses a Persistent Learning Environment (PTE). What is a PTE?

A PTE is a hybrid of human, technology, and self-directed methods to continue learning if a student is not ready to take the exam immediately. Of course, many students can pass the CISM exam after our training, but those who need some additional hand-holding through coaching will get it.

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You see, many vendors advertise 94% or 97% passing rates of higher. For starters, that’s not truthful, so shame on the industry. Initial exam passing rates in the cyber/risk training industry average just under 80%, and that’s good. They don’t tell you that after training if you fail, you can “retake the class at no charge” as part of their certification guarantee. So yes, after taking the class 2x, 3x, 4x times, you’ll likely pass and become part of that lucky ~95%+.

We think that’s a terrible waste of time, so instead, we developed our custom Persistent Training Environment (PTE). We deliver a fantastic Authorized Instructor-Led BootCamp (like the rest), but that’s where most stop and 327 Solutions starts. We also record your training event, program it into a modular eLearning experience (exclusive to 327), post it to our custom PTE system giving you 3-months of unlimited training access (exclusive to 327). Lastly, we then coach you on the exam for three weeks (a 327 exclusive). That’s an extra 12-hours of training, and exam coaching focused on YOU at no additional charge to ensure passing the exam.

327 Solutions has a 100% Certification Guarantee. So if you attend our training, take part in our coaching, and fail the exam, which is very unlikely in our PTE, you will be coached until you pass the exam with an assigned certification agent. So nobody gets left behind at 327 Solutions, ever, 100% of the time.

To learn more, get in touch with us here.

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