Path Forward Policy
Contents
Path Forward Policy#
We’re not claiming infallibility. A path forward is a good way that a problem, issue or disagreement can be solved, allowing the discussion to move forward [1]. If some of our ideas are incorrect, then we invite you to tell us in accordance with our Path Forward Policy.
Criticism vs. Enhancement#
A criticism is designed to show that an idea doesn’t achieve its goal [2]. An enhancement is an idea that makes something better. This distinction is very important. Before you write to us, please review our goals below, and then identify whether what you want to tell us is a criticism or an enhancement.
MCSI’s Goals#
The MCSI Online Learning Platform is a tool that’s designed to achieve the following goals:
| Goal | How we achieve it |
|---|---|
| Offer 10,000 hours of hands-on training | Our catalogue comprises of 2,500 practical exercises across 22 I.T domains. On average, a course with us takes 600 hours of practical training to complete. |
| Deliver training that simulates real-world conditions |
MCSI's exercises are tasks that expert cybersecurity and I.T professionals have completed in the field. Aside from a small minority of exercises, we provide no solutions and no walkthroughs. Users are expected to setup their own lab environment, configure all the tools, and produce deliverables identical to real-world engagements. |
| Train users on critical thinking and creativity | 90% of our exercises are “open ended goals”. Users are required to use imagination, creativity, and critical thinking to solve the exercises. |
| Offer training that is 90% cheaper than SANS and deliver 100x the value |
The price of a course with MCSI ranges from $99 to $1295 for 100 to 800 of hours of practical training. Our courses have no time limit, no expiry date, no renewal fees. All future updates are also included in the price. Imagine that you wanted to learn digital forensics. With SANS, you'd need to buy a 6-day course called FOR500 at $8,525 and then the cost of a single attempt at the exam will be $979. You'd also need to include any potential travel cost for classroom courses, the cost of buying beginner courses if you can't start straight with FOR500, and an ongoing certification renewal fee of $479. In contrast, our MDFIR course is $595 for 600 hours of training, everything included. That includes having instructors available online to answer questions. MCSI is 94% cheaper than SANS and offers 550 additional hours of training. |
| Make cybersecurity information and knowledge tests free | People shouldn't pay for knowledge that's available for free on the Internet. That's why all our articles and videos have been released for free in our library. We've also made our knowledge tests available for free to all users because we don't think it's right for CompTIA, ISACA and others to charge for tests that validate whether someone is able to memorize things. |
| Support our users with obtaining employment using our Portfolio Technology |
Theoretical certificates and degrees have been refuted – they do not guarantee jobs for people. The reason is because employers are looking for employees with skills that solve problems worth paying for. That's why MCSI offers users a revolutionary advantage: build your own portfolio that showcase your skills to employers. With MCSI, every time you complete an exercise, you'll produce artefacts that demonstrate your competencies. These can be shown during an interview, and attached to your CV. This is how your portfolio is built and works for you. We're proud to report that 100% of the users that completed our Remote Internship Program have landed jobs using the portfolio they built from doing our training. |
Our platform is designed to achieve all of these goals. However, we welcome any enhancement or criticism that allows for improvement.
Maintaining and Updating Courses#
We have an enormous number of courses and exercises. Some of these exercises may become outdated with time. To address this issue, we’ve invented a proprietary technology that allows us to update an exercise in under 15 minutes. Users can also report bugs with exercises. Let us know if you think that an exercise doesn’t achieve its goal.
We ensure that our exercises are more up to date surpassing that of our competitors who need to update their lab environments, re-film courses, re-print booklets and so on.
In the past, we have not hesitated to rewrite entire courses based on the feedback and criticisms of users. If you’re right, and you’ve managed to convince us, then we’ll fix it, because our technology allows us to do so quickly.
Writing to Us#
Thank you for taking the time to read our Path Forward Policy. If you want to submit a criticism or an enhancement, please do this in the following way:
Write an email to learn@mosse-institute.com
Clearly identify whether your comment is a criticism or an enhancement.
Describe the problem and explain how it prevents us from achieving our goals.
Benjamin Mosse will personally read your message and respond to you. You should be aware that his standard response time may be up to two months for minor issues given his schedule. If the issue is serious, he will ask team members to investigate further and propose a solution that can be deployed quickly.
For any serious issue brought to our attention, it’s possible that we will engage in a conversation with you to get a better understanding. Do not get offended if your criticism isn’t immediately obvious to us – we may discuss your criticism at length in an effort to understand its value and make the necessary adjustments.
Finally, we may accept to fix something, but keep in mind that it may take us months to deploy a change in production. That’s because we have a very big software development roadmap, and not all ideas are a priority to us even if they are good ideas.
References#
[1] Paths Forward, Elliot Temple, https://fallibleideas.com/paths-forward
[2] Critical Fallibilism, Elliot Temple, https://criticalfallibilism.com/