Our world has reached the tipping point as we step foot into The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Defined as the digital era, business and society has embraced technology to the point where the line between the physical and digital worlds has blurred.

From big data, analytics and IoT, to cloud computing, virtual personal assistants, automation and much, much more, these technologies exist to simplify and enhance our lives so we can focus human capital where it matters most - customer experience (CX).

In the digital era, CX is the new competitive battlefield. Research indicates that organisations who lead in CX outperform those who don’t by 80% and report revenue up to 8% higher than the rest of their industry.

To keep CX at the heart of your organisation and free your people to focus on where they can add most value, technology has never been more critical. But the jobs market is becoming ever-more competitive. So how do you identify the talent your business needs to succeed?

Simple: RITTech.

Those 7 letters pinpoint the best IT talent going. A UK standard, it recognises and represents technical staff who are dedicated to their careers. Unlike certifications, which can be studied for and awarded following a quick examination, RITTech is independent validation of a person’s existing skills, knowledge and experience.

What is BCS RITTech?

RITTech is awarded by BCS, The Chartered Institute of IT to individuals that have proved they are a competent and trustworthy digital professionals. People who have attained the standard have shown their commitment to keep their skills fresh and to contribute to the industry as a whole.

It is the difference between an employee saying they can do something, and proving it. With 7 letters after their name, and a place on the public RITTech register, it’s the perfect way to signal to your customers that your team has the best people for the job.

Of course, the bonus of RITTech is that professionals must first be a member of BCS, which comes with a wealth of additional benefits, including:

  • A rich community of 60,000+ IT professionals.
  • Networking opportunities through 150+ different specialist groups and branches.
  • Continued professional development, career planning and mentoring.

What does the RITTech standard allow you to do?

  • Enhance your recruitment process: It’s hard to find people with the right skills – especially when you have to trust they can actually do what is listed on their CV. With RITTech, it helps to identify top performers at-a-glance. Not everyone is eligible for the professional registration, so those with the important 7 letters have proved to an independent third-party what they’re capable of.
  • Provide confidence to customers: As well as prove to you that an employee has the necessary skills, RITTech can help you prove your organisation’s technical competence to your customers. It’s a simple, smart way to build your reputation as a trusted and ethical organisation against industry-defined standards. And you can enjoy the wider industry recognition and influence it attracts.
  • Support employee growth: RITTech is an incredible way to nurture internal talent in your organisation. Invest in your people and show them how much you care about their personal career progression. Identify the right areas for training and development and help them reach the next level in their career - good for them, good for you, and good for your customers.

What are the RITTech benefits?

From an employer perspective, the public RITTech Register is going help you head hunt the right candidates. The professional registration isn’t about specific roles or job titles, it’s about skills and IT competence. Therefore, you can not only search for the best technical talent, in the process you know you have someone with the right attitude - someone who wants to give more than the average employee.

Additionally, RITTech is going to help you develop IT talent for tomorrow. The skills gap has hit the IT industry hard. But there’s a wave of new talent entering the workplace. Use a BCS membership and RITTech professional registration to attract graduates and identify your organisation as one of the best places to work. In partnership with BCS, you can develop your talent quickly and confidently, and build future talent management programmes.

What RITTech skills will people acquire?

The great thing about the RITTech professional registration is that it aligns to level 3 (apply) and level 4 (enable) of the SFIAplus skills framework.

Since SFIAplus is globally recognised, it means that you can either widen your talent pool by confidently attracting accredited professionals from other countries. Or if you send your teams to work from your other offices around the world, your customers will still take comfort in their level of competence.

All digital and technical skills are benchmarked against the rest of the industry to gain an independent assessment of your organisation’s capabilities. It can help you plot any current, or future, skills you may require by browsing the typical work associated with specific role types.

The bonus is that SFIAplus enables you to understand the latent and transferable skills you have within your organisation. This can prove invaluable for staff attrition and/or resourcing to meet the fluctuating needs of your organisation. And because RITTech is for all DIGITAL skills, it applies to personnel working in broader roles outside of IT, such as marketing, project management and strategy.

Is RITTech worth it?

Absolutely! RITTech applies to any digital practitioner and support roles from developers, to programmers, help desk technicians, project managers, testers, digital marketers, analysts, cyber experts, architects, administrators - and more.

But what’s the ‘real’ value it delivers?

We turned to our community for their thoughts:

“I believe such standards are important - our industry has not yet developed the maturity and rigour of other professions. Such standards are considered normal in engineering, accountancy, medicine and other sectors - but in IT, being able to formally evidence technical competence and professional integrity is an easy way to stand out from the crowd.” 
Ben Owen, RITTech

“RITTech for us is a measure of people in relation to attaining a particular standard. It’s really, really important, which is why every single one of my team has gone through it – even the non-frontline typical IT staff…It’s a baseline measure that everyone is working towards a particular professional standard.”
Paul Newman, Royal College of Nursing Group