Reading PMBOK Chapter 3 was an easy go.  Clean, straightforward, making perfect sense.

 

The courses - were excruciatingly boring.  Not only that, but some of the questions on the tests required an answer that was clearly incorrect, and many questions were on small unimportant comments made.  I'm not sure whether the company is stretching out the time just to have the PDUs or referencing material that is included later in the PMBOK. 

 

From a software project management perspective, it's interesting to see how the PMBOK Configuration Management process corresponds to software configuration management.  It's similar enough to be easy to remember and the functions are all usual and important.  Even when I worked at eBay, where there was a huge PMO, there wasn't a person responsible for most of the Configuration Management processes and activities.  It was all a learn as you go body of knowledge that each project manager was expected to execute.  I wonder if there are actually PMOs that have people dedicated to this function and whether it provides a streamlined project management experience or a lot of frustrating overhead…

 

It is clear, however, that the various process groups and knowledge areas and their mapping are going to be a big deal.  At some point I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and memorize the chart.