Run the Migration as a Structured Program
A PQC migration is a multi-year program with hundreds of interdependent tasks, multiple stakeholder groups, vendor dependencies, and a hard deadline. Someone has to run it as a structured program, not an ad-hoc series of technical changes. In this course, project and program managers learn a specific methodology for managing PQC migration. It covers work breakdown, milestone design, resource planning, and dependency management. It also covers how to sequence migration waves.
Course Outline
Module 1 Program Structure and Work Breakdown
Translating the PQC Migration Framework into a project plan. Work breakdown structure for cryptographic migration. Defining workstreams: discovery, planning, implementation, verification, and operations. Milestone design and entry/exit criteria for each phase.
Module 2 Resource and Dependency Management
Resource planning for migration programs: the skills needed at each phase and how to source them. Dependency management: technical dependencies between systems, organizational dependencies between teams, and external dependencies on vendors. Critical path analysis for cryptographic migration.
Module 3 Vendor Coordination and Wave Sequencing
Managing the vendor dependency problem within the program plan. Migration wave design: grouping systems for coordinated migration. Sequencing waves to manage risk and demonstrate progress. Handling systems whose migration depends on vendor timelines outside your control.
Module 4 Tracking, Reporting, and Risk Management
Metrics and KPIs for migration progress. Status reporting for technical and executive audiences. Risk management specific to cryptographic migration: rollback planning, contingency for vendor delays, and managing the residual risk of systems that cannot migrate on schedule.
Prerequisites
A working understanding of PQC fundamentals is recommended. Consider Post-Quantum Foundation or PQCS certification for background.
Certificate of Completion
Upon completion, you receive a Quantum Academy certificate of completion. It is separate from our professional certifications and states your CPE credits, one for each 60 minutes of teaching. CISSP, CISM and PMP holders can claim them with their certifying body. The credits also count toward renewing a Quantum Academy certification. Our CPE credits page explains how to claim them.
Who this course is for
Program managers, project managers, PMO leaders, and CISOs responsible for PQC migration program governance. Also relevant for security directors and technical leads transitioning into program leadership roles.
What you’ll be able to do afterward
- Scope a PQC migration program using documented scale benchmarks from Applied Quantum engagements, including a 120,000-task program and a ratio of about one migration engineer to three application teams
- Design governance structures that work for multi-year cryptographic transitions
- Plan multi-year funding that continues through annual budget cycles
- Compose teams across the five bench areas (cryptographic engineering, infrastructure/PKI, vendor management, GRC, program management)
- Build phased migration plans using the Applied Quantum PQC Migration Framework
- Manage cross-functional dependencies across vendor timelines, internal readiness, and regulatory dates
What you leave with
When you finish, we email you the course handbook, a PDF of every slide with notes that explain it in full. We also include a PDF copy of Quantum Ready. The handbook is yours to keep.
Enrollment includes 180 days of access to the online on-demand course. Where that course is not yet published, the 180 days start on the day it is.
Where this course fits
Post-Quantum Foundation or PQCS Specialist Training provides the background for this course. You can take this course without either. PQC Migration: Executing the Waves covers the delivery detail, and PQCM Manager Training leads to the credential.
Why we teach this
The course is built on the Applied Quantum PQC Migration Framework. Its author, Marin Ivezic, is one of the practitioners who teach here. The framework is published openly under Creative Commons at pqcframework.org. The people who teach this course run migration programs inside organizations today. The course covers the problems they meet in that work.
About this program
Quantum Academy credentials are private professional credentials issued by Quantum Academy, a trade name of Post-Quantum Institute. They are not government-issued licenses, accredited degrees, or academic credit, and earning one does not guarantee employment, promotion, regulatory approval, or any other specific outcome.
Quantum Academy programs are educational and informational only, and are not legal, compliance, or engineering advice.
