Bytes Business Solutions has signed an exclusive partner agreement with Acuma Solutions, a UK-based leader in information management solutions.
In terms of the agreement, Bytes will expand its training facilities at its Rivonia head office and present courses targeted at both technical and non-technical personnel with a focus on business intelligence (BI) solutions.
"The move is a strategic one for us," says Sinisa Tucakovic, professional services manager at Bytes. "Acuma is a well-respected training organisation in the UK with a close relationship with Business Objects - one of our principal suppliers.
"There are definite synergies between Business Objects, Acuma and Bytes that we can exploit from a training point of view to raise the skills levels of South African IT professionals and specialists in the data warehousing and BI arenas."
Tucakovic says most high level training, particularly in this space, is performed overseas. "There are not too many high level courses of this nature held in SA, largely because of the significant investment needed to set up a quality training infrastructure.
"However, it is our intention to offer training at this level with the assistance of Acuma. To achieve our goals we have invested in appropriate resources and personnel who attended international training and have substantial BI knowledge.
"Acuma has committed to working with Bytes to deliver training quality comparable to its UK operations. Local courses will be evaluated on a continual basis from an outcomes perspective as part of our partnership agreement," he adds.
Sharlene Welgemoed, Bytes training co-ordinator, says course content will be varied according to the delegates` requirements.
"Essentially, we have one basic course that we will be presenting in three different ways, depending on the audience," she explains. "Our one-day course, aimed at project managers and other senior managers, is designed to provide a short, low-cost introduction to the key project and design issues involved in implementing a data warehouse.
"This course will address topics such as the difference between a database and a data warehouse. It will provide an overview of data warehouse design and implementation and highlight the requirements for establishing true business intelligence competency."
Welgemoed says a more in-depth, technically-oriented course is held over three days, targeted at IT professionals who are - or will be - involved in the design, building and maintenance of a data mart or data warehouse.
"This course addresses the key terminology and techniques used in dimensional modelling," she says. "The course combines theory with practical exercises giving delegates the knowledge to use the principles of modelling to design business intelligence solutions geared to resolving a wide range of user requirements."
The final course in the Bytes/Acuma portfolio is a five-day workshop aimed at users of the Business Objects BI solution. "The first three days of the course focus on dimensional modelling and data warehousing aspects, with the last two days covering advanced Business Objects designer functionality. This course is product focused and is designed for a technical audience.
"We would like to attract the specialists who are responsible for building, managing and supporting business intelligence universes using the Business Objects product set."
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