What's Open Access?

Having recently celebrated its tenth birthday, BMGI is plotting a path for the next ten years.  A lot has changed.
 
BMGI was born with the goal of making a difference in the way Lean and Six Sigma was delivered.   And we think we did.  We made a difference by hiring the best Six Sigma and Lean practitioners in industry and by never forgetting that we exist for one reason – to ensure our customers are successful.
 
Jump ahead ten years and things have changed.  Six Sigma has become Lean Six Sigma.  Hoards of Black Belts and Green Belts have come and gone.  And many early adopters of Lean and Six Sigma are beginning to ask, “what’s next?”
 
After considerable reflection, we have decided it’s time for some real change.  Lean and Six Sigma are no longer competitive advantages; they’re necessities.  Lean experts and Six Sigma Black Belts no longer stand out above the rest—such experience is commonplace.  But referring to something as a necessity, or commonplace, doesn’t make it any less valuable or important.
 
BMGI’s Open Access is designed to make world class courseware, tools, templates and other resources available at little or no cost. Our Open Access website at www.BMGI.org contains an extensive library of web based training that is free to everyone.  We’ve also made many of our most sought after tools and templates downloadable with the click of a button.  And, we’ve drastically lowered the cost—by about 90%—of downloading our content to your own servers.  Open Access is easy and inexpensive, and it enables us to then develop new content and shape the future.
 
We’ve also started a conversation about the future…by creating collaborative communities.  We’ve taken some liberties by trying a new approach that we call “moderated” discussions. We’ve asked some terrific people from outside BMGI to moderate discussion forums to ensure they’re engaging and disciplined discussions that provide the greatest possible value.  These moderators are volunteers and experts who want to give something back to our community.
 
This is just the start. Over the next year we will introduce new, low cost services that will enable you to manage your own classes on our system.  You’ll also be able to create classes using BMGI’s courseware. And, you’ll be able to import your own courseware, too. Soon, we’ll give you the tools that will allow you to author your own courses or exams, all at an extremely low cost.
 
We invite you to check us out, join the discussions, and give us your feedback. All you have to do is go to www.BMGI.org and create a free account.

It’s that easy.
 

All my best,

 
Dave