Johannesburg, 18 Aug 2005
Titan IT, local Novell and Microsoft business partner, has announced a move to enter the Linux services market by adopting an aggressive Linux certification strategy for its key technical staff.
Jan Prinsloo, a member of Titan IT`s technical support staff, recently received the much sought-after Certified Linux Professional (CLP) certification, with four other key staff currently certifying for the CLE (Certified Linux Engineer) qualification. Prinsloo joins just a handful of people in the country with this high level certification.
Prinsloo received his CLP certification after completing the CLP course and examination through Smartsource Corporate Training. "The CLP course is an extremely searching certification and receiving this qualification means that one is at the top of the skills matrix when it comes to Linux," comments Matthew Costello, managing director at Smartsource Corporate Training. "Receiving the CLP certification is a real testament to Prinsloo`s Linux knowledge base, as the CLP course requires a thorough Linux understanding, coupled with some form of previous Linux experience."
The certification of Prinsloo is spearheading a move by Titan IT to skill-up its technical staff on Linux. "We currently have four other technical staff members doing their CLE courses and examinations," comments Nelson Machado, technical director at Titan IT. "Titan IT is embarking on this skills development drive as we see Linux as a key growth area within the South African IT market.
"We also feel these skills are key to strengthening our Novell partnership, as we are one of only a few local platinum partners. In doing so we aim to become a more integral part in Novell South Africa`s `Linux ecosystem`," continues Machado. "At the same time these skills will also enable us to grow our business by supporting an ever-increasing number of companies that are migrating to the various other Linux flavours."
"This CLP qualification should give Titan IT clients further peace of mind when it comes to technical expertise," continues Costello. "The addition of the CLP to Titan IT`s current high level of technical skills further illustrates that they are leading the way in their support of new technologies, as well as their commitment to Novell and other vendors, as they shift their focus to Linux," he concludes.
Titan IT aims to have a Linux support complement of one CLP and four CLE certified staff members by the end of August.
"There is definitely a strong move towards Linux within government and business which needs to be supported by certified people. Titan IT is placing itself in a good position to not only service the Linux needs of our current customers, but also to service the needs of the growing Linux market," concludes Machado.
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