We wanted to eliminate these costs and integrate these processes into a single tool while keeping the source of data in one location.
Moving Ahead Means Going Up
The argument for (modern) vertical integration in your assessment process
Ruben Garcia
Feb 28, 2023
I sat down with industry friends (who are now Certiverse clients) and asked them what was the standard process that they used to launch new exams. The answers were long and complex, and they struggled to remember every third party that was involved. It was disappointing to hear that they were still dealing with outdated methods rife with inefficiencies and high costs.
Most of these costs are related to disjointed processes. For example, to develop items for an exam, you need an exam blueprint. To develop the blueprint, you need to complete a job task analysis (JTA). To develop a JTA, you need a survey tool and a separate statistical analysis tool. You also need psychometricians to assist you through that process.
All in, before you have developed a single item, you are using and moving data between half a dozen tools. Keep the process going – developing and managing items, building forms, delivering them, reporting, etc. – and you are close to a dozen different tools and multiple vendors.
Certiverse was initially focused on solving this problem for exam development. We wanted to eliminate these costs and integrate these processes into a single tool while keeping the source of data in one location.
After we met this goal, we decided to move our own goal post. We realized that a well-orchestrated exam development platform only solved half of the problem.
If you can build an exam form to the point where it’s ready to be delivered, there are still many vendors and tools in front of you. There are vendors for practice tests, for proctoring, some that provide vouchers and others that provide reports and analytics. Data and reporting come from multiple vendors and it’s your job to try to put it all together. Add it all up and it takes months to get an exam in front of a candidate. We saw clients build brand-new certifications in unprecedented time frames but then spend another six to nine months before a single test was taken.
We knew testing organizations needed a modern vertical integration leveraging innovative technology and automation, but it didn’t exist. So we built it.
Certiverse now allows test sponsors to go from JTA to item authoring to beta testing to voucher management to exam scheduling to online proctored delivery, all in one system and with a single data flow. Of course this saves exam development time, which also dramatically cuts the cost of developing multiple exams and creates more opportunities for learners. This streamlined approach is key in moving the industry forward and allowing more programs to participate.
Nearly every industry moves faster than it did 20 years ago, and the exams that cover them should, too. We believed it should be possible to take a certification from concept to candidate in weeks – not months, not years – and now with Certiverse, it is.