ISEB, as a member of the Qualification Board, is pleased that Payne has taken on this role and is prepared to discuss issues that affect all ATOs throughout Europe. ISEB feels confident that he will play a key role in ensuring that the ATO views and issues are taken seriously and acted upon appropriately.

Payne is proud of the appointment. "It is clearly gratifying that QA is recognised as the market leader", says Payne, "but it is more important that we now are part of a platform that enables us to contribute to ITIL in a highly proactive way - not just on our own behalf, but on behalf of all of our peer training companies in Europe."

Payne takes up the position immediately and feels that it contributes significantly to QA's ITIL credentials. "We have to remember", says Payne, "that our role isn't simply to 'sell courses' - what we do is to help make organizations more effective at what they do and control costs in a far more structured way. The more we can contribute to that process the better."

The ATO Sub-Group is comprised of members from around the world who meet regularly to discuss ITIL service-management market concerns from a training provider's perspective, consider and provide feedback on proposals put forward by the ITIL Qualifications Board, and raise issues that are of concern to training organizations. In effect, the Sub-Group bridges the gap between the ITIL Qualifications Board and ITIL training organizations.