The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.

Overview of assessment

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit

Evidence of the following is essential:

Assessment must verify knowledge of intranet technologies.

Intranet technology (hardware and software system) must be verified as installed and configured correctly.

To demonstrate competency in this unit the person will require access to:

Server and workstation hardware and software

Internet connection

Organisational policies and procedures

Context of and specific resources for assessment

Intranets are important corporate communications mechanisms, particularly in larger, complex organisations. Many organisations frequently use internal video, sound and text communication methods in conjunction with their intranet facilities as a means of maximising reach within the organisation. Additionally, some intranets form extranets, that is combinations of intranets linked together by virtual private networks VPNs.

It is essential that this unit covers a broad variety of software and hardware, including VPN solutions, PPTP and webDAV. Additionally, it is important to provide for hands-on experience, particularly relating to SOHO and small business needs.

The breadth, depth and complexity of knowledge and skills in this competency would cover a broad range of varied activities or application in a wider variety of contexts most of which are complex and non-routine. Leadership and guidance would be involved when organising activities of self and others as well as contributing to technical solutions of a non-routine or contingency nature.

Assessment must ensure:

Performance of a broad range of skilled applications including the requirement to evaluate and analyse current practices, develop new criteria and procedures for performing current practices and provision of some leadership and guidance to others in the application and planning of the skills would be characteristic.

Applications may involve responsibility for, and limited organisation of, others.

Method of assessment

The purpose of this unit is to define the standard of performance to be achieved in the workplace. In undertaking training and assessment activities related to this unit, consideration should be given to the implementation of appropriate diversity and accessibility practices in order to accommodate people who may have special needs. Additional guidance on these and related matters is provided in ICA05 Section 1.

Competency in this unit should be assessed using summative assessment to ensure consistency of performance in a range of contexts. This unit can be assessed either in the workplace or in a simulated environment. However, simulated activities must closely reflect the workplace to enable full demonstration of competency.

Assessment will usually include observation of real or simulated work processes and procedures and/or performance in a project context as well as questioning on underpinning knowledge and skills. The questioning of team members, supervisors, subordinates, peers and clients where appropriate may provide valuable input to the assessment process. The interdependence of units for assessment purposes may vary with the particular project or scenario.

Guidance information for assessment

Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended.

An individual demonstrating this competency would be able to:

Demonstrate understanding of a broad knowledge base incorporating some theoretical concepts

Apply solutions to a defined range of unpredictable problems

Identify and apply skill and knowledge areas to a wide variety of contexts, with depth in some areas

Identify, analyse and evaluate information from a variety of sources

Take responsibility for own outputs in relation to specified quality standards

Take limited responsibility for the quantity and quality of the output of others

Maintain knowledge of industry products and services

Additionally, an individual demonstrating this competency would be able to:

Configure and build an intranet

Select appropriate software for a particular scenario

Interpret available information and request clarification

Take responsibility for outputs in work

Required skills

Skills in network applications and configuration

Web services set-up

Uploading and downloading software to a server

Communication skills in relation to dealing with clients

Basic problem solving skills in a network environment

Questioning and active listening skills

Required knowledge

Current industry-accepted hardware and software and its application in business environments

Intranet services, including software and hardware platforms

Client business operations

Communications technologies for interactive web processes

Intranet technologies, including implementation and capabilities

The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.

Intranet may include but is not limited to:

file and printer sharing

groupware collaboration

database access

shared websites

Requirements may be in reference to:

business

system

network

people in the organisation

Appropriate person may include:

supervisor

teacher

authorised business representative

client

Hardware may include but is not limited to:

workstations

personal computers

modems and other connectivity devices

networks

DSL modems

remote sites

servers

Software may include but is not limited to:

commercial software applications

organisation-specific software

packaged software

in-house or customised software

Client may include but is not limited to:

internal departments

external organisations

clubs

individual people

internal employees

User may include:

a person within a department

a department within the organisation

a third party

Applications may include:

FTP

HTTPS

WebDAV

multimedia

conferencing

CRM

document sharing

Server may include:

Application/web servers

BEA Weblogic servers

IBM VisualAge and WebSphere

Novell NDS servers

Email servers

File and print servers

FTP servers

Firewall servers

Proxy/cache servers

Network may include but is not limited to:

large and small LANs

national WANs

VPNs

the internet

the use of the PSTN for dial-up modems only

private lines

data

voice