Updated CPE Portal & Annual requirements

[netzwerg]

I just jumped on the portal to submit some CPE requests for podcasts.  It appears that the portal has a glitch that doesn't recognise that means it doesn't remove the 250-500 word "book review" requirement for the podcasts, which makes it quite painful to submit the request.  I have also found that if you are too close to either end (250 or 500), it glitches and tells you you haven't reached the 250-500 word limit.

[green20151]

I actually agree with EVERYTHING you said.  No one wants to complain to loudly for fear of being audited, losing certifications, etc. I emailed them and told them their website was just awful. They apologized and said they were working on it.  Hard to believe.  I have not seen an application this bad since the early 1990's.  

No change.  I don't know who they piloted this with or what they were thinking.  Oh, wait. Maybe they did not do any of those things.  No one with any Testing or QA experience would have assessed this website/CPE portal as serving the customer's needs.

But ISC2 is not alone.  The EC Council Aspen website also underwent an "overhaul" so now you have no idea how many CPEs are needed or when they need to be submitted.  But even the awful, backward EC Council website is far better than the ISC2 website.

Ironically, I also have a certificate with ISACA.  As you mentioned, while their site is sometimes time-consuming, it is functionally far, far better than the EC Council portal or the ISC2 portal.  

I do not know who ISC2 paid for developing the "portal" but either they gave their developers very, very BAD requirements, or ISC2 should ask for their money back.  It is, frankly, the worst.  I really am wondering about not the value of membership but whether or not we as members are valued.  

If we were valued as members, who would have approved this horrible website design and lack of functionality?  I could go on, but thanks for letting me vent.  

These people are anxious to get their certification fees but obviously the decision-makers care little for the vast number of ordinary working members in the field.  Sorry that sounds so harsh, but what else should I think?  

[green20151]

And yet, if you are unlucky enough to get audited, they will want certificates, documentation, and lots of extraneous paperwork.  

[green20151]

You are absolutely correct.  In fact, I think your comments are charitable.  I'm really frustrated with the "CPE Portal" to say the least.

[green20151]

denbesten -- good advice. But many of us do not have the luxury of taking time from work to go through a time-consuming process of collecting evidence, logging it ourselves, submitting, and waiting days to see whether or not it was credited (especially since it does not show you that very well.)

[Fareed]

Wow. You've got a great setup there with all your colleagues. Sadly, we aren't all so lucky. 

I was audited. I was asked to provide proof of everything that I had claimed to be a CPE and told that if the first set of proofs I provided were inadequate that further information would be required. So I have to guess what will be required as proof since in the case of the webinars nothing is specified.

I have already invested about $70,000 in the CISSP - getting it and maintaining it over the years. I think I am the only CISSP from Afghanistan. There is no local chapter for me to join and no CISSP colleagues in my office or even nearby.

Thinking as I CIO, since the webinars I have been watching are coming from Brighttalk and are supposed to be added by them - what do I do if they don't add to my CPE list? There are no other CISSPs in my organization to claim that we watched it together and discussed it. I would love to have the situation that you are in but for me it's not possible. I'm alone and guessing. Every security bone in my body tells me that's not the best thing - that I must take every precaution and double up on proof. I will start to email myself as well as the image captures. BTW if you're on the audit committee it would be great to know. Thanks for reaching out.

[erwindus]

Brighttalk keeps track of what you did, that record should be sufficient for (ISC)2

Sent from my iPhone

[LBednar]

If I only used Brighttalk for CPE credits I would have no issues.

However I use/attend various webinars/seminars from OTHER sources (as I suspect a fair number of other credential holders do as well).

The issue still stands for anything OTHER than Brighttalk.

[Fareed]

What are Brighttalk's standards and performance guarantees? Do they back-up
logs? Is there anything in the Brighttalk log that shows that you actually
watched the whole video? Is it safe to depend on having the logs of an
outside source available in case of audit? Personally, I am not fond of
depending on an outside source when I can take measures to demonstrate to
an auditor that I watched that webinar. I also then have all the
information for my own reference. And during the major outage in May/June,
Brighttalk's webinars weren't added to the CPE list for more than a month -
not 5 days as the site claims. Everyone has a different comfort level and
at the end of the day, maintaining the credential is up to each individual. It
would be really nice though if ISC2 would give some clarity on the
requirements for webinar proofs - Brighttalk or otherwise. Thanks for
listening. Have a good evening.

[green20151]

Hi,

Yes, horrible.

Cards - awful.

There is a way somewhat around the awful floating cards. 

First, you must have an Excel or Word file where you independently are tracking your CPEs.

THEN, Open a web browser window and select the card view.  THEN narrow the window down so only 1 card appears in one row.  Go to the bottom of the list (newer ones seem more likely to appear there).

Start from the bottom card.  

On your excel/word tracking file, mark off which the entry for the card.  

Continue until every card has a mark on your tracking file.  OR if your file is only for this year, just mark this year's cards... 

Yes, monstrous pain but the only way to tell what you have submitted and what you have not.  ALSO immediately after submitting, you will not see a card -- so submit a couple of days in advance before you "audit" what is being priocessed and look for missing CPEs.

By now you have probebly figured this all out, but maybe it wll help someone else.  🙂

[denbesten]

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@green20151 wrote:

Yes, monstrous pain but the only way to tell what you have submitted and what you have not.

Or, total the CPEs on your spreadsheet and the web site.  If they match, you can check everything off on your tracking spreadsheet as having been submitted.