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 BUTTRISS
MOVES TO PPI
Jon Buttriss has left Computeach, where he was Executive Director, and has taken
up a new role – closer to home – as Chief Technology Officer at PPI
Learning Services. PPI’s Managing Director is Roy Sunley, with whom Buttriss
worked both at Computeach and previously at NETg. Aug 2007
STERIA
TO ACQUIRE XANSA
 Following
recent speculation in financial markets, Xansa and Steria have announced
that agreement has been reached on the terms of a recommended proposal
for Steria to acquire Xansa. Post-acquisition, Steria is expected to
be among the ten leading IT Service providers (by revenue) in both
Europe and the UK, with a particularly significant presence in the
public and financial services sectors. Both companies have training
businesses, and both are listed in the latest IT Skills Research Top
50 – Steria at 27th and Xansa at 46th. Given Steria’s recent
organic growth rate, the combined business is likely to be ranked in
the Top 20 before long. Aug 2007
FUEL
ACQUIRED BY LRN
LRN, a US-based leader in compliance training, has acquired Fuel.
Fuel is a European online education market leader – it claims
to have helped over a million learners, educating staff on a range
of subject areas from regulatory compliance to product knowledge
and soft skills
– and was named one of the five global e-learning visionaries
by Gartner Group. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Aug
2007
TOP
20 COMPANIES IN TRAINING OUTSOURCING
US-based analyst TrainingOutsourcing.com has published its annual
Top 20 Training Outsourcing Service Provider Companies. Its selection
is based on a number of criteria including experience and recognition
in managing training BPO engagements; revenue generated from training
BPO services; geographic reach; potential for growth; and the talent
of corporate leadership and professional staff. Because of the
diversity of services provided, no attempt is made to rank the
Top 20, but this year’s list includes Global Knowledge, Accenture,
RWD Technologies, IBM Learning Solutions, SkillSoft and KnowledgePool.
TrainingOutsourcing.com says its Top 20 companies reported revenue
growth of 32% in learning BPO services from 2005 to 2006 and have
projected a further 30% increase for 2007.
TrainingOutsourcing.com has also recognised 14 ‘Emerging
Leaders in Training Outsourcing’ – including Learning
Tree, Tata Interactive Systems, Business Training Partnership (BTP)
and Hemsley Fraser –
and 19 ‘Top Specialized Learning Process Providers’ including
Hewlett-Packard (for Administrative Services) and New Horizons
(for IT Training). Aug 2007
ON-LINE
BOOKSHOP LAUNCHED BY GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE
A new website has been launched by Global Knowledge to enable customers
to purchase a broad range of business and IT titles that complement
the training they receive in the classroom. Global Knowledge is
working in partnership with Computer Bookshops to provide the service.
It is initally offering offering books on areas such as Cisco,
Microsoft, ITIL, Java CompTIA and Oracle courses and examinations.
It plans to offer a wider range of titles as it develops both its
own curriculum and the web site. Aug 2007
QA-IQ
& NIIT LAUNCH INTEL MULTI-CORE TRAINING
QA-IQ and NIIT have announced the UK launch of a training curriculum
on Intel’s Multi-Core processor architecture. QA-IQ will
offer the training, developed jointly by NIIT and Intel, at its
centres across the UK. The Multi-Core curriculum will offer basic
and advanced training, from an initial overview of Multi-Core to
working experience of parallel programming, including the intricacies
of multi-threaded programming and performance optimisation. Thelaunch
is an element in Intel’s overall initiative to prepare the
software industry for Multi-Core programmers. Aug
2007
COMPTIA
PDI+ INTRODUCED ...
 CompTIA
is developing a printing and document imaging (PDI+) certification
that will validate a technician’s knowledge and skills on printers,
LED, multi-function products, scanners, fax machines, copiers, digital,
networking, connectivity and colour theory. CompTIA says 400,000 printing
and document imaging technicians worldwide could benefit from the new
certification. The beta exam is available now. Aug
2007
...
BUT COMPTIA i-NET+ TO RETIRE
CompTIA will retire its i-Net+ certification on December 31, 2007.
It was established in 2000 as a certification for individuals who
maintained and developed Web-related content and applications,
but CompTIA says that in recent years, these job roles have evolved.
20,000 individuals worldwide have achieved the i-Net+ certification. Aug
2007
PEARSON
VUE TO PROVIDE EXCLUSIVE CISCO TESTING
Pearson VUE is now the primary vendor of Cisco certification exams
worldwide. Cisco says its primary-vendor strategy with Pearson
VUE will enable both organisations “to build a stronger infrastructure
that will provide innovation in technology to preserve the integrity
and security of certification testing; better market penetration
into remote locations, as well as concentrated marketing outreach
and recruitment efforts; and greater convenience for Cisco customers
and partners in testing locations (both mobile and fixed)”. Aug
2007
CMA
AND BCS TO JOIN FORCES
 The
Communications Management Association (CMA) has voted to become a subsidiary
of the BCS. The move will enable BCS to have a stronger offering in
the field of communications and for CMA to have access to new resources
and a wider community of IT professionals. CMA will remain a separate
independent company with its own brand and membership, although now
wholly owned by BCS. At the same time BCS will create a new Communications
Forum that will be operated by CMA. BCS members will become CMA affiliate
members with CMA members becoming BCS affiliate members. Aug
2007
XPERTISE
SOFT SKILLS PROGRAMMES ACCREDITED BY CMI
Key soft skills training courses from leading UK training provider
Xpertise have been accredited by the Chartered Management Institute,
enabling delegates to qualify for Institute membership. The CMI-accredited
schemes are Xpertise’s intensive programmes leading to the
Introductory Certificate in Management and the Introductory Certificate
in Team Leading. Xpertise acquired soft skills training provider
Watermans last year and has successfully integrated the niche training
company into its core business, enabling it to offer one of the
widest portfolios of courses. Aug 2007
CIOs:
USERS NOT SUFFICIENTLY TRAINED
According to the latest findings from Computer Weekly’s CIO
Index, only 53% of CIOs believe their end-users are sufficiently
trained to use systems effectively – down from 57% in the
previous survey. Aug 2007
QA-IQ
AWARDED VMWARE AUTHORISED TRAINING CENTRE STATUS
QA-IQ has been appointed a VMware Authorised Training Centre (VATC)
to support the growing demand for skills in the industry-standard
software for virtualised desktops and servers. QA-IQ now delivers
a UK-wide schedule of VMware courses including certified courses
and training in advanced technical skills. Leigh Lovering, Director
of Learning Solutions at QA-IQ, says: "Many of the organisations
that we work with are looking to VMware to deliver new efficiencies
and we expect this demand to grow as other companies grasp hold
of the significant benefits that VMware technology provides”. Aug
2007
GLOBAL
KNOWLEDGE INVESTS IN REMOTE LABS
 Global
Knowledge has opened a new Remote Labs facility at its headquarters
in the UK. The Labs facility has been developed with the support of
Cisco Systems – one of Global Knowledge's vendor partners – and
is capable of supporting over 80 different courses and as many as 1000
delegate students simultaneously, using the latest Cisco equipment.
The venture represents a multi-million euro investment by Global Knowledge.
The facility is currently being used to support courses across Europe
and as far as Russia, Singapore, Australia, Brazil and North America. Aug
2007
TRAINING
PROFESSIONALS CAN SAVE HALF A DAY A WEEK
IT Training professionals could save up to half a day every week
simply by switching to automated course technology, according to
new research. The in-depth survey of training professionals, carried
out at the recent IITT Annual Conference 2007 by Pardo Fox for
Watsonia Publishing, found that just 20% of the typical training
professional's time is spent actually delivering training. Another
16% of their time is spent developing and editing course materials,
equivalent to almost one day a week: 76% of this time is spent
creating new materials, presentation and proof reading
– unnecessary if good customisable content is readily available,
says Watsonia – and 24% editing and arranging, which could
be done in seconds rather than hours using a simple course customisation
tool. Aug 2007
$4.45
MILLION FOR OU OPENLEARN
 The
Open University has been awarded a $4.45million grant to expand its
work to make course materials freely available to anyone in the world.
The money, from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, will enable
the OpenLearn website to double the amount of free learning content
by April 2008. The website will also have more learning support and
collaboration tools to connect learners and educators online. The OU
says it will also be working with partners in the UK and abroad to
extend the use of the free content in more targeted ways. Aug
2007
TRAINING
ADMIN IS TOP L&D PRIORITY FOR OUTSOURCING
A survey of senior UK Learning & Development practitioners,
conducted by KnowledgePool, says training administration is L&D’s
top priority for outsourcing. KnowledgePool says its findings show
that large organisations “want to offload this time-consuming
work in order to redeploy staff onto higher value activities”.
Results indicate that the design, development and delivery of training
are currently the most commonly outsourced activities. However,
over the next two years, 39% expect to see an increased interest
in outsourced learning, with training administration topping the
list of learning activities to be outsourced to third parties.
For more detailed findings, see Other Research pages. Aug
2007
TIS
LAUNCHES ITS OWN LCMS
Tata Interactive Systems has launched Learning Planet, an enterprise
learning content management system (LCMS). TIS says Learning Planet
is based on the business insights it has gained from some 30 custom-built
LMS implementations for clients. Learning Planet is AICC Level
1 and SCORM 1.2 compliant, allowing the importation of third party
learning materials and integration with third party systems including
Oracle HRMS, PeopleSoft and SAP. Its multilingual support allows
users to address an international audience. Aug
2007
ATLANTIC
LINK PARTNERS WITH EDUCONS
 Atlantic
Link is aiming to increase its momentum in North America with the announcement
of a partnership with The EduCons Group in the US and Canada. EduCons
will focus on government, corporate e-learning and the mobile learning
markets. David Still, President of EduCons Canada Inc, says: "We
see a huge market in North America for the Atlantic Link range of LCMS
and e-learning products and services". Aug
2007
GLOBAL
KNOWLEDGE APPOINTS MVP
Global Knowledge has appointed Ilse Van Criekinge, a Microsoft
Most Valued Professional (MVP), as its Microsoft Business Development
Manager in Belgium. Ilse, who specialises in Microsoft Exchange,
gained most of her expertise in Microsoft technologies during a
five-year period with Global Knowledge and is now returning to
the company having spent nine months working as a specialist consultant
with Atos Origin. Aug 2007
QA-IQ
IS RBS APPROVED SUPPLIER
QA-IQ’s learning programmes for the Royal Bank of Scotland
(RBS) have been recognised with the company’s inclusion in
the bank's Approved Supplier programme. The scheme is intended
to drive performance improvement and innovation amongst the bank's
suppliers by evaluating them against stringent criteria to measure
their value contribution and innovation. QA-IQ has worked with
RBS for eight years, and now provides its services via a Managed
Training Service (MTS). Aug 2007
ACADEMY
INTERNET WINS SMALL COMPANY OF THE YEAR
 Academy
Internet, provider of bespoke e-learning & internet marketing,
has won the prestigious npower Business Impact on Society Award for
Small Companies in recognition of its commitment to responsible business
practice. Academy’s creative community partnerships have helped
it win new business through a programme that invests in its people
and in the local community. The award was presented to MD Jason Woodford
by The Prince of Wales at Business in the Community’s Awards
for Excellence ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall. Aug
2007
XPERTISE
TO PROVIDE PROCLARITY TRAINING
Xpertise has been selected by Microsoft as one of only two partners
in the UK to provide ProClarity business intelligence training.
Xpertise is already delivering the training – as both public
courses and closed (one-company) courses – to leading ProClarity
customers. It is also running free-of-charge briefing seminars
on ProClarity in conjunction with Microsoft. Aug
2007
HAYS
AND BRIGHTWAVE DELIVER INDUCTION TO LV=
Hays, a specialist in recruitment and HR services, is partnering
with Brightwave to develop a blended corporate induction solution
for LV=, formerly Liverpool Victoria, the UK's largest Friendly
Society. The blended approach is intended to reduce the costs associated
with the 400 new starters who join LV= each year. The programme
will rationalise the existing three-day, face-to-face classroom
induction by delivering the core content online in conjunction
with off-line activities. Aug 2007
APEX
AWARD FOR TIS
Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) has won the APEX 2007 Award of Excellence
for its game-based learning programme developed for ICICI Bank,
India's second-largest bank. The ICICI Game won the award in the
'Education &
Training Campaigns & Programs' category at the 19th Annual
APEX awards in the USA. The APEX Awards programme is an annual
competition for writers, editors, publications staff and communicators,
sponsored by Communications Concepts Inc. Aug
2007
EMIRATES
SELECTS PLATEAU FOR ENTERPRISE-WIDE LMS
 Emirates
Group, which operates one of the fastest growing airlines in the world,
has selected Plateau Systems’ learning management system to support
learning and development for its global workforce. Emirates highlighted
Plateau's scalability, customer satisfaction and support ratings, and
compliance with learning industry standards including SCORM and AICC
as key factors driving its selection. Aug 2007
MKM
DRIVES UK'S BIGGEST MOBILE LEARNING PROJECT
The UK's largest-scale exercise in mobile education to date is
helping 9,000 students throughout Yorkshire to assess their own
competencies via their phones and related handheld devices. The
Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings project (ALPS) aims
to ensure that graduates studying health and social care courses
have the skills needed to be effective in the workplace. Learning
development specialist MyKnowledgeMap (MKM), working with T-Mobile
and mobile software specialist ecommnet, is creating a backbone
system to handle the management, mapping, co-ordination and analysis
of the assessment data. Aug 2007
NEW
GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT – AND HOPE FOR OUR INDUSTRY?
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced the creation of a
new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Its Secretary
of State, John Denham, says the Department's primary role will be “to
drive forward delivery of the Government’s long-term vision to
make Britain one of the best places in the world for science, research
and innovation and to raise the level of education and skills at every
level in our economy to give the UK the competitive edge”.
Bill Rammell is Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education.
His responsibilities include skills strategy and implementation, including Leitch
delivery; the Learning and Skills Council; and standards and performance in further
education and skills, including the Quality Improvement Agency.
David Lammy is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Skills, with responsibilities
that include the Commission for Employment and Skills, Sector Skills Councils
and employer relations, the Train to Gain programme, National Skills Academies,
Apprenticeships, Investors in People, Ufi learndirect, Industry Training Boards
and Union Learning.
Ian Watmore is the first Permanent Secretary for the new Department. He was previously
in the Cabinet Office where he was the head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery
Unit, the Government’s CIO, and the first head of the Government IT profession.
[So perhaps there is a possibility that government will at last recognise the
critical role of the professional IT Training industry in equipping UK plc with
its IT skills? Or maybe not.] Aug 2007
NEW
CAMPAIGN: “OUR FUTURE. IT’S IN OUR HANDS”
A new campaign, Our future. It’s in our hands, urging people
to take control of their future by investing in skills, has been
launched by the DIUS and LSC. It is the most ambitious marketing
and communications campaign of its kind, and over a three- to five-year
period aims to “bring about the cultural change needed to improve
the attitudes and aspirations of employers and individuals to learning
and skills across England”. Advertising will appear across
national and regional television channels as well as print, radio,
outdoor and online media. A dedicated phone line (0800 011 30 30)
and website will
provide access to information about how to get better skills through
different training opportunities available for young people, adults
and employers. The campaign forms part of the Leitch implementation
plan,
“World Class Skills: Implementing the Leitch Review of Skills
in England”. Aug 2007
GOVERNMENT
EARNS PRAISE FROM CIPD...
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has welcomed
the announcement that employers can develop their own training programmes
through accreditation by the Qualifications and Credit framework.
The CIPD says the most recent quarterly CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook
report shows that only 23% of UK employers believe that government
agency officials are effective ‘skills champions’ – a
low rating compared with trade union learning representatives (32%)
and internal champions (79%). Meanwhile, only a third of employers
with experience of Train to Gain are satisfied that this initiative
meets their business needs. Martyn Sloman, adviser for learning and
development at the CIPD, comments: “Our research shows that
Government is right to devolve more responsibility and power to organisations.
With a majority of employers reporting that the current skills agencies
are not adequately meeting their needs, the Government is right to
change the policy framework in a way that helps meet business needs.” Aug
2007
...
BUT CRITICISM FROM CMI
The Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute has criticised
the government’s World Class Skills report setting out its
plans for implementing the Leitch Review of Skills, saying the report
does not go far enough to address the UK’s long-term needs
for higher-level skills, particularly in management. Mary Chapman
says: “The Government’s response clearly indicates that
leadership and management skills have a vital role to play in increasing
productivity and prosperity across the economy, so it is disappointing
that management skills barely feature in the detail of the report’s
recommendations”. The majority of Government funding for adult
education will be focused on the lowest skill level and least qualified
individuals. Yet according to Leitch’s interim report, 41%
of managers are not qualified up to Level 2. Furthermore, Labour
Force Survey data indicates that just 38% of managers are qualified
to NVQ level 4 or above compared to 81% of those in other professional
occupations. Chapman also criticises the plan to pilot the development
of new qualifications from employers and private training providers: “Employers
already find the number and range of qualifications confusing, and
individuals need a simple framework with qualifications that are
easily transferable. We should, therefore, be focusing on achieving
more qualified employees, rather than a greater number of different
qualifications”. Aug 2007
WBEL:
TOWARDS MATURITY
Following the publication of its 'Towards Maturity' research earlier
this year, the Work Based e-Learning (WBEL) Project is building on
the research findings by identifying practical evidence to support
organisations in their implementation of e-learning at work. Topics
it will be exploring in the next few months include supporting learners
at work, demonstrating learning impact, engaging businesses with
e-learning, and new trends (including informal learning). Changes
include improvements to its good practice website which has now been
renamed Towards
Maturity. It is aimed at employers looking to increase business
impact or learning providers looking for insights to help them support
employers more effectively. The site provides free downloads, case
studies and articles to support good practice, and RSS feeds for
quick access to new case studies and resources. Aug
2007
CEDEFOP
LAUNCHES ONLINE VERSION OF ETT
Cedefop has launches an online version of the European Training Thesaurus
(ETT), which it says is a controlled vocabulary of reference for
vocational education and training in Europe, covering topics from
the Education and Training 2010 agenda such as lifelong learning,
quality of training, training systems, teachers and trainers, qualifications,
vocational guidance, and others. The ETT is available to download. Aug
2007
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