IT-IQ, the former training arm of Datatec, has had a busy start to the year. In the first few months, staff have hosted intensive Microsoft product workshops, participated in a technical session in New Orleans and witnessed a management buy-out.
ITWeb spoke to Andre Keartland, technical trainer at IT-IQ, and Wayne Dalton, project manager, about the company`s position and strategy.
According to them, the bottom line is that IT-IQ will continue to focus on job-related training as opposed to certification training, and is looking forward to the positive effect the Skills Development Act and related legislation will have on the training industry.
The FNB Most Admired IT Company Awards held in Sandton recently singled out IT-IQ as the most admired training company. The annual competition is initiated through sponsors and based on market research.
IT-IQ believes this recognition reflects the market`s belief in its training strategy. Keartland says: "The knowledgeable part of the industry appreciates... the fact that we give job-related training as opposed to certification training, which is the norm in the industry."
Keartland participated in the Microsoft Technology Week in New Orleans where he made contact with those responsible for developing the methodologies and best practices around the Windows 2000 product. This networking opportunity has helped to strengthen the company`s existing relations with Microsoft - a connection based largely on training projects and future prospects.
Readiness training
IT-IQ is a CTEC partner of Microsoft SA and has forged a strong relationship with the software giant. Since August last year, the group has been involved with Windows 2000 training and has worked with solution providers, technical support companies and others.
IT-IQ`s vision is to continue to offer training assistance for Microsoft SA. It has already established common ground in the area of product-related training programmes for the benefit of the end-user.
Keartland says Microsoft has identified a problem in the complexity of its latest generation of products and has come out with a "readiness training" programme. This initiative is aimed at preparing people for new products as they are introduced into the market.
IT-IQ has provided readiness training for Windows 2000 at the Microsoft premises over a six-month period and will be doing the same thing for the Exchange 2000 product, which is a standalone messaging application designed for use in conjunction with Windows 2000.
IT-IQ says the readiness training forms part of the "value-add" it brings to the table.
"It fits in with our business philosophy. We try not to be just another CTEC giving shrink-wrapped, commodity Microsoft courses on existing products that we know well," says Keartland.
"(We) put the effort in to be the first people to know any given product set."
The development laws
Dalton is enthusiastic on the "hot" topic of new skills development. He says the demand for increased and more focused training of staff across the board bodes well for the IT industry. He believes the industry is ready for a revolution to save itself from its current crisis of skills development
However, Dalton has strong advice for training providers that believe the benefits of the new legislation will automatically fall to them. He says the act has established bodies seeking to regulate a previously unregulated industry, including the National Skills Authority, Sector Education and Training Authorities, and the Education and Training Quality Assurance. While regulation may be good for the industry it may be "bad news for training providers of questionable agenda and ethics".
Dalton adds that IT certification, while it definitely has its place in the world of life-long learning, has been used as the "short cut and panacea to IT skills delivery by an industry that is focused on short-term gain".
Keartland agrees the legislation will go a long way to levelling out the playing field. "I think it will... assist in cleaning up the industry a little bit. Because we have had a heck of a lot of fly-by-nights."
The options
Dalton says IT training is not significantly aligned with the demands being placed on IT professionals.
"We are generating educated IT professionals, but they are not able to do the job in the industry (according to employers and placement agencies alike). The only reason for this is that employers and recruitment professionals are not effectively communicating their needs to the training and education industry and vice versa."
He says the mode of tuition is irrelevant and subject to change as technology advances and industries converge, but stresses the process of generating standards. "Whatever method is used to obtain the learning, it teaches towards specific outcomes of the unit standards and assesses against the assessment criteria of the unit standards."
The standards issue is another by-topic emanating from the skills development and investment in training debate.
Dalton points to the Standards Generating Body (SGB) as an organisation and process aiming to help regulate the industry and smooth out skills-related problems.
"One recent positive trend is the significant involvement by major players in the IT industry in the Standards Generating Body process. This illustrates an understanding and acknowledgement of the importance of getting the standards generating process right the first time," says Dalton.
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