Elements and Performance Criteria

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.

technical requirements
user problem statement
current system functionality

internal departments
external organisations
individual people
employees

business
system
application
network
people in the organisation

customer
supplier
payroll
inventory
tax requirements of the organisation

ISO/IEC/AS standards
organisational standards
project standards (for further information refer to the Standards Australia website at: www.standards.com.au)

hardware and software components that run a computer

commercial, in-house, packaged or customised software

ISO/IEC/AS standards
audit trails
naming standards
version control
project management templates
report writing principles

Incident response procedures
network intrusion detection systems
forensic procedures
training
awareness raising policy

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 confirm the ability to develop and maintain actual website performance against benchmarks, to ensure that the website meets specifications.
Where performance criteria are not met, faults must be identified and appropriate remedial action taken.
Assessment must verify the ability to implement scheduled and non-scheduled maintenance and to effectively monitor and tune website performance.

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

Web servers and websites
Technical requirements
Web traffic diagnostic tools, including timing tools to gauge website response times

Context of and specific resources for assessment
The effective and efficient operation of an organisation's website is of critical importance when business transactions a conducted online. Additionally, a website provides a 'new window' into an organisation and as such provides existing and potential clients with an indication of organisational credibility, effectiveness and efficiency.
The rapid growth in the use of websites as the primary media for client interaction, places considerable strategic and operational importance on activities around effective website monitoring and performance.
Testing the website under different conditions of load is essential to understanding how it behaves from the client's perspective. Thus, testing tools should include some way of simulating traffic from numerous users.
Breadth, depth and complexity of knowledge and skills would prepare a person to perform basic skills in managing website performance.
Operations must be in accordance with organisational polices and procedures.
Managing the performance of a website should be done under competent supervision where there is a clearly defined range of contexts for ensuring that ongoing demands on the site are met.
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, for example:

ICAS4124B Monitor and administer network security

An individual demonstrating this competency would be able to:

Demonstrate understanding of policies and procedures related to website performance, with theoretical knowledge of security issues
Apply known solutions to a variety of predictable website problems
Interpret available website information using discretion and judgement
Take responsibility for outputs in managing website performance
Maintain knowledge of industry products and services

Additionally, 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