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 ETS
TO ACQUIRE PROMETRIC
Testing specialist Prometric has been sold by The Thomson Corporation to ETS,
which describes itself as the world's largest educational assessment and research
organisation. ETS is acquiring Prometric for $435 million, pending regulatory
approval. Prometric had annual revenues of $317 million in 2006. The transaction
is expected to close in the third quarter of 2007. Prometric delivers assessments
via the web and through a global network of testing centres in 132 countries.
It has an extensive customer portfolio in the academic, professional, governmental,
corporate and IT markets. In IT, its customers include IBM, Microsoft Learning
(see below) and Sun Microsystems. ETS is Prometric’s largest customer for
technology-based delivery of tests and assessments. Prometric delivers ETS’s
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) test, GRE (Graduate Record Examinations)
tests and Praxis teacher licensing assessments. Jul 2007
MICROSOFT
CHOOSES PROMETRIC
Prometric has been chosen by Microsoft for the worldwide exclusive
delivery of all its professional certification exams. The contract
begins this summer. Microsoft says the deal will allow it “to
more easily meet aggressive growth targets for its global certification
testing program”. Microsoft and Prometric have both reported
a strong resurgence of the IT certification market. This major
success for Prometric comes just a month after it won a similar
exclusive deal to carry out all IBM’s certification testing.. Jul
2007
RECOGNITION
FOR STEED’S CHARITY FUNDRAISING
 Colin
Steed, chief executive of the Institute of IT Training, has been presented
with an award by the Countess of Wessex for his work in raising over £100,000
for children’s charity ChildLine. Host Esther Rantzen, Chair
and Founder of ChildLine, told the audience at a special event in London
that Steed’s achievement was “outstanding and driven by
his unstinting personal desire and drive to help children in trouble
or danger”. She said that the Institute’s Charity Auctions
at the IT Training Awards nights at the Dorchester were a personal
triumph for Steed who drove the event with passion and determination.
Steed confirmed that the next IITT Charity Auction in aid of ChildLine
will be at the IT Training Awards on Thursday 7th February 2008. Jul
2007
QA-IQ
APPOINTS CHRIS SUTTON GM FOR NORTHERN ENGLAND
QA-IQ has appointed Chris Sutton as General Manager to further
develop its business across the North of England. Sutton joins
QA-IQ from Remarc where he gained nine years experience in the
training industry, latterly as General Manager of the business.
QA-IQ says it will be enhancing its public schedule of courses
across all its training centres in the North
– it has centres in Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and Stockport. Jul
2007
GLOBAL
KNOWLEDGE CHALLENGES NEUTRALITY FOR MTS
A new white paper from Global Knowledge challenges the claim that
neutrality enables managed training services providers to deliver
greater benefits to customers. The white paper, entitled 'Neutral
Gear', examines the pros and cons of neutrality in depth. "Those
managed training services providers that don't have their own training
delivery teams often claim that they are free to make unbiased
decisions,"
says Frank Hojgaard, UK Managing Director of Global Knowledge. "On
the face of it, this seems to make sense - but our research shows
that there's actually no evidence to link neutrality to any tangible
customer benefits. Indeed, those training providers which are not
neutral may well be able to offer a service which is more responsive,
of more consistent quality - at a lower price."Jul
2007
LOGICACMG
WINS £3.1MILLION TRAINING DEAL FOR MOD
 LogicaCMG
has been awarded a £3.1million contract for a major upskilling
programme under the MoD’s Defence Acquisition Change Programme
(DACP). LogicaCMG will design, develop and deliver a blended learning
programme for four of the MOD’s functional competence areas.
The programme builds on the existing ten-year training provision relationship
between LogicaCMG and the MOD, and is expected to be completed in March
2008. The training solution will be designed and developed by a team
of LogicaCMG staff from both the UK and India. The offshore team will
contribute to the e-learning components of the blended training.
BUSINESS
SKILLS GAP A MAJOR ISSUE FOR EMPLOYERS
Around one in five employers say gaps in technical skills (18%)
and communications skills (13%) are reasons for not employing new
graduates into ICT roles, according to findings from the latest
e-skills UK ICT Inquiry. But a full 40% of employers consider the
level of business, non-technical and interpersonal skills of new
recruits to be below company requirements. In addition, around
one in four (27%) employers who report skills gaps in their existing
IT workforce regard the level of their business and other non-technical
skills as 'poor' or 'very poor'. Jul 2007
WORLD
OF LEARNING AWARDS 2007
Organisers of the World of Learning conference and exhibition have
released details of their awards programme for 2007. Judged by
an independent panel of experts, they “recognise and reward
organisations and people who have significantly advanced workplace
productivity and performance within the field of learning and development”.
There are nine award categories: six organisation awards, two individual
awards, and the Training Provider of the Year title, which is selected
by a vote on the organiser’s website [!!]. The awards will
be presented in November at a black-tie dinner at the ICC, Birmingham. Jul
2007
IITT
ACCREDITATION FOR SELF-FUNDED TRAINING MARKET
A new accreditation programme has been launched by the Institute
of IT Training for training providers who sell directly to the
public. The ‘IT Training Provider Accreditation Programme
- Personally Funded Training’
is the direct result of industry interest in supporting buyers
in finding training providers of repute. The IITT says the programme
will address the quality of the training delivery, and crucially
will provide a strong focus on the training providers' sales processes.
The Institute has issued a new kite-mark accreditation logo, and
will be embarking on a national publicity programme. Jul
2007
QA-IQ
EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY
 QA-IQ
has launched a global partnership programme to provide its customers
with access to technical, professional skills, management and personal
development training across a wide range of international locations.
The Global Reach programme will allow companies to access training
courses and learning support in multiple global regions via partnerships
with leading training organisations across key geographies including
India, the US, China, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand as well
as European markets. The service will give QA-IQ’s international
customers access to its managed training service administration, including
an online catalogue and portal for global booking, a structured booking
process, a UK-based administration support team, online reporting and
an invoicing model set up to handle multi-location and currency invoicing. Jul
2007
CS
GROUP MERGES WITH IRIS SOFTWARE
CS Group has joined forces with IRIS Software, and says the enlarged
business will rank in the Top 10 Software and Service providers
in the UK. The business has combined pro forma revenues of over £100
million and will trade under the IRIS Software Group brand. Investors
including private equity group Hellman & Friedman have funded
the £500 million merger and recapitalization. H&F will
be the majority shareholder while management, employees and HgCapital – the
former owners –
will remain substantial shareholders. Jul 2007
GP
ACQUIRES SMALLPEICE
General Physics Corporation, through its local subsidiary General
Physics (UK), has acquired the business of Smallpeice Enterprises,
a provider of business improvement, technical and management training
services. Smallpeice has over 40 years’ experience in providing
programmes for an international blue chip client base, in topics
such as Project Management, Team Development, Leadership, Culture
Change, Process Improvement and Six Sigma. Its annualised revenue
exceeded $5 million in its latest fiscal year. GP says it expects
to leverage Smallpeice’s portfolio of services and materials
to its worldwide customer base. Jul 2007
EPIC
PARTNERS WITH ADOBE
Epic has announced a partnership with Adobe Systems Europe. Adobe –
with its Flash technology and products such as Authorware, Connect
and Acrobat – has chosen Epic to provide a range of strategic
and capability building consulting services as well as blended
design, content and platform production to complement Adobe's technology
solutions. Jul 2007
TRAINING
FOR HOMEWORKERS
 Training
Synergy is offering a course for homeworkers which delivers PC and
networking skills, and also ties these in with the employer’s
best practice processes and procedures. The company says the benefits
and potential risks of homeworking are well known and documented, but
one of the major areas that tends to be overlooked is the need for
homeworkers to be as self-sufficient as possible in terms of both applications
and PC awareness. It believes that investing in training for homeworkers
in basic PC skills and networking is one of the best ways to reduce
downtime and take the pressure off technical support. Jul
2007
REPORT:
DEVELOPING THE FUTURE
A new report finds great potential but considerable challenges
for the future of the UK economy. The Developing the Future report
was produced by City University’s School of Informatics in
conjunction with Microsoft and the BCS. It identifies the key challenges
facing the UK as it evolves into a fully-fledged knowledge-based
economy, and sets out an agenda for action to ensure the UK maintains
its global competitiveness. Among its key findings, the report
says the knowledge economy will soon contribute 50% of UK GDP:
private sector investment of £127 billion a year on intangible
assets now equals that on tangible assets: the IT industry faces
a potential skills shortage: and there is growing pressure on the
government to reform the National Curriculum to allow students
to study computing at GCSE level. Jul 2007
MATCHETT
NAMED IN HOT 100
Matchett has been named as one of the 100 fastest growing private
companies in the UK by Real Business magazine in its annual Hot
100 list. The company was formed in 2002 by Alastair Matchett.
It was created through the strategic acquisition of financial trainers
Adkins Matchett & Toy and John Matchett Ltd (founded by Alastair's
father in 1971), which provided IT and business training, executive
development services, managed learning services and learning management
systems. Jul 2007
ASSIMA
GOES EAST
Assima has taken a major step into the training market in the Asia
Pacific region by signing of partnership deals with two leading
training organisations in China and Singapore. The partnerships
with eLearn Consult Ltd and Knowledge Platform will enable the
companies to resell Assima products and services including its
software simulation tool, the Assima Training Suite. Assima's Asia
Pacific development comes after it was named in 2006 as the fastest
growing company in the UK, with Library House research showing
an eight-fold increase in sales, with turnover up from £1
million to £9 million following the acquisition of DACG in
the UK and SystemLink in the USA. Jul 2007
KNOWLEDGEPOOL
GROWTH LEADS TO OFFICE MOVE
 KnowledgePool,
the provider of vendor-independent managed learning services, has relocated
to larger premises in Bracknell, Berkshire. It says the move reflects
its strong performance, and that its revenue for the first half of
this year is £6.3m, which is similar to its revenue for the whole
of last year. With over 60 staff, KnowledgePool has taken 65,000 square
feet of space at Trinity Court, just outside central Bracknell. Jul
2007
BOOKS24X7
LAUNCHES ITIL COLLECTION
Books24x7, a subsidiary of SkillSoft and the developer of online
book collections for IT and business professionals, has introduced
an online edition of the latest IT Infrastructure Library – ITIL
Version 3. Books24x7 offers online access to the complete ITIL
Version 3 collection through a partnership with The Stationery
Office and the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). The text of
the ITIL collection is fully searchable through Books24x7's multi-tier
search engine. Jul 2007
E-LEARNING:
TO BUY OR TO BUILD?
Bourne Training has published the results of ‘To Buy or To
Build’, a survey into the practitioner’s view of e-learning.
The research found that 34% of respondents have never used e-learning:
86% of those who have use bespoke e-learning: and 44% of organisations
using bespoke e-learning have never used external providers. The
company says that while self-authoring can be a powerful solution,
it is not the only answer.
“Organisations that use subject matter experts to author
their entire e-learning portfolios must ensure they’re offering
their internal customers ‘best value’ in terms of creativity,
instructional design and learning approaches – it’s
easy to be left behind in such a dynamic field.” Jul
2007
ATLANTIC
LINK AND KINEO LAUNCH FLATPACK
Atlantic Link has launched its new Flatpack e-learning modules.
Developed in partnership with e-learning consultancy Kineo, the
modules include Coaching, Effective Recruitment, Sales Skills and
Health & Safety. They are available as Content Point courses
on CD-ROM, and as SCORM modules for deployment into existing LMSs.
Each Flatpack comes complete with professional images, full scripts,
formative questions and an end of learning quiz. Jul
2007
EPIC
PROMOTES TIMPSON
 Epic
has appointed Nick Timpson as Director of New Business reporting to
Deputy Managing Director of the Commercial division, Tracy Capaldi-Drewett.
Epic says the creation of the new post “acknowledges Nick's success
in breaking new ground for Epic, both in the profile of projects he
has brought to the company and of his development of new sectors”.
Timpson joined Epic from Experian in 2004, with eight years' experience
in the retail sector already behind him. Jul 2007
GIUNTI
LABS RECOGNISED
Giunti Labs, the European vendor of e-learning and mobile learning
content management solutions, has received two industry awards.
First the company received a silver award in Canada at the Learning
Impact Awards, a global competition on the high impact use of technology
in learning. Then it was honoured by the United States Distance
Learning Association at its 2007 Distance Learning Awards, where
it received its award in the 'business/ corporation' section of
the '21st Century Best Practice' category. Jul
2007
THE
CHANGING FOCUS OF END USER TRAINING
According to training solutions provider Training Synergy, distinctions
between IT and business skills training are becoming much more
blurred. The company, which delivers some 40,000 end user training
days a year on bespoke systems, believes training is now more than
ever about work processes rather than specific applications. It
also believes that the delivery of this training should be done
in short bursts and reinforced with on-going support and encouragement
from training consultants or selected superusers. "If it is
to be effective and absorbable, training needs to be succinct and
avoid superfluous information," said Training Synergy's David
Field. "Traditionally, this has not been the case - with the
proliferation of 'catch all' standardised applications training." Jul
2007
WEST
SUSSEX SELECTS BRIGHTWAVE
West Sussex County Council has selected Brightwave to design and
deliver its online emergency response training. With more than
24,000 employees, the Council serves in excess of 750,000 residents
in the south-east. The new course will ensure that all staff have
an awareness of the County Council's emergency responsibilities.
It will be the first in a series of planned e-learning packages
and will form part of a wider training programme to support the
implementation of a new strategy and policy from April 2007. Jul
2007
GUINNESS
TRUST USES PERFORM RAPID E-LEARNING
 Guinness
Trust is using Perform, a rapid authoring tool from Jenison, to develop
its own e-learning courses. Its first project was on Age Discrimination
legislation: Jenison says the course was developed in a matter of days
and is now required learning for all managers and recruiters. It says
the Guinness Trust has found staff are happy to undertake the e-learning
courses, and is now focusing on internal marketing to achieve management
buy-in around the country as well as developing further courses. Jul
2007
ENHANCEMENTS
FOR CS GROUP’S COURSEBOOKER
Computer Software Group (CS Group) has announced additional on-line
booking and shopping enhancements to its CourseBooker software
solution - the integrated application for training providers. The
company says CourseBooker's shopping basket function gives training
companies the tools to enable their customers to book on-line and
make payments simply and easily - without the need for staff to
re-key data in to a separate back office bookings database. Jul
2007
RWD
IS SAP PARTNER FOR MID-MARKET
RWD Technologies has signed a Channel Partner agreement with SAP,
enabling RWD to sell and implement SAP All-in-One solutions to
mid-market companies (those companies with a turnover of £20-50
million) as a value-added reseller. RWD says the partnership will
expand the strong relationship it has with SAP for education and
learning into implementation and support. The new SME Practice
in RWD will be headed by Andrew Robinson and Robin Pearce. Jul
2007
BILD
ON THE MOVE
The British Institute for Learning & Development has relocated
from its previous Letchworth base to a new office in Bristol. Details.. Jul
2007
ESN
AND EPIC TEAM UP FOR EU E-LEARNING
 With
help from the European Service Network and its sub-contractor, Epic,
the European Commission's Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry
has launched the first in a series of e-learning modules for the 3,000
staff of the EU-wide Euro Info Centre network. ESN and Epic are developing
the e-learning modules for publication on the network's intranet, to
complement regular face-to-face training events in Brussels and at
national level. The e-learning is built using Rapid Create, a new tool
from Epic. Jul 2007
EUROPEAN
TECH INSTITUTE COULD LAUNCH NEXT YEAR
The dream of a European rival to America’s MIT has inched closer after
the European Commission agreed a general approach to the European Institute of
Technology (EIT), and claimed it could begin operations as early as next year.
If approved by the European Parliament, the structure of the EIT will be that
of a federation of ‘knowledge and innovation communities’ (KICs),
which are partnerships between academic institutions, businesses and other stakeholders.
Each KIC will work in a particular field of interest. The European Commission
will contribute €308.7m to help cover the costs of the EIT's governing structure
and co-ordination between the KICs. The establishment of an EIT has been a controversial
issue; one outspoken MP has called the scheme "complete lunacy"
and claimed it is 20 years out of date. (Reported by silicon.com) Jul
2007
SKILLS
BOOST NEEDED TO DRIVE UK PRODUCTIVITY
A snapshot of the state of skills in the UK shows productivity
levels are falling well behind Europe and the US, and that this
is caused to a large extent by the UK's relatively lower skills
levels. The Sector Skills Almanac for the UK, published by the
Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), provides a portrait of
the skills of each UK workforce sector. It reveals that while the
UK's employment rate is the fourth highest in Europe and that some
sectors are more productive than their EU and US equivalents, the
UK's overall productivity levels are 21% behind the USA and 8%
lower than Europe. The Almanac maps out and compares the different
skills needs and approaches across 27 economic sectors.
On the IT sector specifically, it says productivity is relatively
high, ranked sixth in the UK; the sector contains the highest proportion
of small businesses; and the workforce is highly skilled, with
the second highest proportion of managers, and the highest level
of employees qualified to level 3 or above. It also says future
employment growth will decrease in line with the whole economy,
but IT is still expected to be the fastest growing sector in the
UK. Jul 2007
150
EMPLOYERS SIGN SKILLS PLEDGE FOR 1.7 MILLION WORKERS...
Education and Skills Secretary Alan Johnson has congratulated the
first 150 employers to sign up to a public pledge to train their
1.7 million staff, helping the UK to meet the challenges set out
in Lord Leitch’s Review of Skills. By making the Skills Pledge,
employers commit to support all their employees to develop basic
literacy and numeracy skills and work towards a full level 2 qualification.
In addition Johnson announced that Sir Michael Rake will be the
chair of the new UK Commission for Employment and Skills, which
the government says will be “a powerful new employer-led
voice at the heart of the skills and employment agenda”. Jul
2007
...
BUT UK EMPLOYERS ARE LUKE-WARM ON GOVERNMENT POLICY
Employers are concerned about the quality of training given by
the government’s skills agencies, and show low awareness
of Train to Gain, the Government’s flagship skills initiative,
according to the latest quarterly CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook.
Among its key findings:
- Two thirds of employers agree that raising the proportion
of UK adults with at least level 2 equivalent skills qualifications
should be a priority for government policy. 54% say that they
are likely to make the level 2 ‘skills pledge’ as
recommended in the Leitch review of skills.
- 14% of employers seem indifferent or uncertain about the skills
pledge, while a further 12% say that the pledge is not applicable
to them. Another 15% say that they are unlikely to make the pledge.
- 46% of employers unlikely to make the pledge are concerned
about the cost or resources involved. 33% are not convinced of
the business case. 22% cite lack of commitment from senior management
and 13% lack of employee motivation.
- Only a minority (15%) of employers surveyed had direct experience
of Train to Gain. A third of employers with an experience of
Train to Gain are satisfied that Train to Gain meets their business
needs, compared with 23% who say that it doesn’t.
- Government agency officials are given a relatively low rating
as effective
‘skills champions’, cited as such by only 23% of
respondents, trailing behind trade union learning representatives
(32%) and, in particular, internal champions (79%)
- 58% of employers surveyed say that help with funding of training
would increase their level of contact with public training agencies.
But employers also want agencies to be more responsive to their
needs (mentioned by 51%) and to operate with less bureaucracy
(50%). Jul 2007
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