IT Skills Research - News Archive September 2007

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SEPTEMBER 2007

TRAINING CAMP REBRANDED
Firebrand logo IT training company of the year in 2006 and 2007, The Training Camp has changed its name to Firebrand Training. The change comes after 6 years of very strong growth. enabling the owners to bring its franchise relationship to an end and establish an independent company. The company will focus on targeted course development specifically for the European IT community. Sep 2007

GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRES SYNERGY PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Global Knowledge is to acquire Synergy Professional Services (SPS), a privately owned business headquartered in Dubai. SPS provides professional and technical IT skills training, consulting and services in the Middle East and Africa. With offices in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, SPS offers a range of certification training programs, including those from Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft, Nortel, and International Standard for Information Security throughout the region. Like Global Knowledge, the company is a fully accredited Cisco Learning Solutions Partner (CLSP) and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Learning Solutions (CPLS). The company will continue to operate under the Synergy brand and will report into the EMEA division of Global Knowledge, led by Richard Pryor-Jones, President EMEA Sep 2007

IT TRAINING AWARDS: CALL FOR ENTRIES
The Institute of IT Training is calling for entries to the IT Training Awards 2008. The Awards recognise outstanding examples of high standards, best practice, innovation and excellence in IT training. So if you are proud of your achievements and would like to win the recognition you deserve within the IT training profession, submit your entry and put your team in the spotlight at the IT training industry's night of the year. There are 13 award categories, including Training Company of the Year, External Training Project of the Year and Trainer of the Year. Entry is free, and the closing date for entries is 31st October 2007. The awards will be presented at The Dorchester in London, on 7th February 2008. Full details of how to enter can be found at www.ittrainingawards.com. Sep 2007

GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE OFFERS FIRST LOOK AT WINDOWS SERVER 2008
Global Knowledge is giving its IT training course delegates the opportunity to gain hands-on experience on Microsoft Windows Server 2008, the next generation of the Windows Server operating system. A demonstration system has been set up in each of Global Knowledge’s UK training centres, to give delegates a chance to investigate and experience the new product. The company says Microsoft Windows Server 2008 “helps IT professionals maximise control over their infrastructure while providing unprecedented availability and management capabilities, leading to a significantly more secure, reliable, and robust server environment than ever before”. Sep 2007

QA-IQ JUMPSTART COURSES ON NOVELL ZCM
QA-IQ is launching 'Jumpstart' courses for the new Novell Desktop Management solution, ZENworks Configuration Management (ZCM). QA-IQ says these courses will give network administrators their first opportunity to understand the significant benefits of the new product, including improved user desktop management compatible with Microsoft's Windows Vista. Attendees will gain the skills they need to install the system on either a Windows or Linux host. Sep 2007

UK AMONG LEADERS IN IT PROFESSIONAL SKILLS TRAINING
The UK provides more training for IT professionals than most other European countries, according to findings published by e-skills UK. Data drawn from Eurostat research, covering the original group of 15 EU member states, indicates that 26% of IT professionals in the UK had received training in the month leading up to the survey, against a European average of 15%. The e-skills Bulletin says that almost 5 million people work in IT professional roles across the 15 original EU member states, representing around 3% of the total workforce. See Other Research inthe members' pages for more details.
e-skills UK also reports that a recent study by the Economist Intelligence Unit ranks the UK third worldwide in terms of IT professional skills, and fourth in overall IT competitiveness. Sep 2007

NO IT SKILLS GAP, SAYS LSC
The LSC has published a report on the supply and demand for skills by sector (Mapping the Supply and Demand for Skills by Sector, July 2007). The analysis is intended to help the LSC and its partners to determine which sectors should be a particular focus for their efforts to increase the level of skills and/or the number of skilled individuals. It concludes that e-skills is one of the sectors that have “highly skilled workforces and relatively low skills gaps, indicating that the supply of skills is in line with demand. The analysis indicates that there is little need to focus on increasing the supply of high-level qualifications in these sectors.” Sep 2007

BUY E-LEARNING AND SAVE THE PLANET?
Organisers say this year’s World of Learning Conference “will examine the role of learning and development in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and carbon footprint reduction, and will support and encourage carbon neutrality in training”. Delegates will be asked to consider how ‘green’ their training is and will be given guidelines on utilising resources to make a positive impact. “Each delegate will also have a tree planted in their name within a dedicated UK forest project”, says the blurb, “and will receive a ‘Dedicate a Tree’ gift pack including a certificate and map of the chosen forest indicating where their tree is planted”. Sep 2007

HAPPY COMPUTERS IS 2ND BEST PLACE TO WORK IN UK
Happy Computers Happy Computers has been named as the UK runner up in the Best Workplaces awards, run by The Great Place to Work Institute. The ranking is based on anonymous online surveys filled in by staff, combined with a Culture Audit carried out by the Institute. Happy had previously been 12th in 2004 and 11th in 2006. Happy is capitalising on its success by setting up a new division, Happy People, to train companies to become great workplaces. Sep 2007

PPI LAUNCHES ITIL VERSION 3 COURSES
PPI Learning Services has introduced the Version 3 Service Management Foundation course to its ITIL portfolio, along with a one-day bridging course for holders of the Version 2 Foundation Certificate, to introduce the key differences in Version 3. Sep 2007

SMART SEARCH FROM QA-IQ
QA-IQ has launched its new website with a course search facility to help customers identify the right training for their needs. The site includes detailed information on technical, management, personal development and professional best practice courses. It offers online course booking, and certification tracks and skills paths to help learners and managers to plan learning programmes. QA-IQ says it will continue to add new learning resources and support tools over the coming months. Sep 2007

GIUNTI LABS' TOOL FOR VIRTUAL LEARNING WORLDS
The use of virtual worlds for learning is attracting interest after the explosion of Second Life and similar online virtual communities. Now Giunti Labs says it has addressed the gap between virtual worlds technology and e-learning by launching eXact VLW (Virtual Learning Worlds), a new authoring environment. eXact VLW is an optional module of Giunti Labs' learning content management system (LCMS), learn eXact. It allows e-learning instructional designers and authors to create interactive virtual worlds, populated with 3D objects, artefacts and standard SCORM learning content, to be published online on collaborative VW platforms. Sep 2007

MYKNOWLEDGEMAP ADDS OFFICES AND SENIOR SALES
Knowledge systems specialist MyKnowledgeMap (MKM) is opening new divisional offices in Manchester and Glasgow and has made key appointments to its commercial and public sector sales teams. Colin Tait, formerly of Thomson NETg and Barclays Bank training division, joins MKM as Business Development Director (Commercial), while Paul Wren joins the company as Business Development Director (Public Sector) with over 20 years’ experience in sector skills developments and employer engagements such as 'Train To Gain'. Sep 200

WHAT LEARNING PERSONALITY DO YOU HAVE?
Only some personality dimensions actually suit e-learning, according to research by SHL, the psychometric testing provider. SHL’s investigations indicate that individual personalities greatly affect the ways that they learn most effectively – and neither a pure e-learning approach nor 100% classroom learning suits most. SHL says that to be effective for all personality types, “e-learning should not only be clear, interactive, animated and engaging but also form part of blended learning. This retains an element of the non-routine face to face interaction and could be the future of really successful training.” Sep 2007

REDTRAY’S ALTO GAINS SCORM CERTIFICATION
ALTO, RedTray’s LMS for fully hosted and managed blended learning, has achieved SCORM Certification. ALTO is an integrated suite of tools that provides e-learning, online presentations, instructor-led administration and document management. It allows customers to create, deploy and manage blended learning solutions and provides customisable reporting tools. Sep 2007

SCHOOL-LEAVERS: GOOD IT SKILLS, BUT POOR MATHS AND ENGLISH - CBI
Tech-savvy youngsters are making a good impression on employers with their IT skills, but too often they lack basic abilities in English and maths. A CBI/Pertemps Employment Trends Survey shows 52% of employers are dissatisfied with the basic literacy of school leavers, and 50% with their basic numeracy, even though 92% are satisfied with their IT skills. The CBI says deficiencies in maths and English basics often leave teenagers unable to function in the workplace because they cannot make simple calculations in their heads, speak in a suitably articulate manner, or understand written instructions. 86% of employers think that improving maths and English skills should be a top priority for Government. Sep 2007

ATLANTIC LINK LAUNCHES AUTHORWARE CONVERSION SERVICE...
Following Adobe’s recent announcement that it plans to discontinue development of its Authorware e-learning software, Atlantic Link is to offer a conversion service for legacy Authorware courses. The company says its service uses automatic conversion routines to extract the media assets from an Authorware course and convert it into Atlantic Link’s Content Point format. Sep 2007

... AND OPENS NEW OFFICE IN SCOTLAND
Atlantic Link is opening a new office at Grangemouth in Scotland. It says its move will enable it to provide local support for its existing customers and build an expanded Scottish customer base. Sep 2007

QA-IQ SUMMIT ON DEPLOYING WINDOWS VISTA
Experts from QA-IQ and Microsoft will be explaining the best way to plan for deployment of Windows Vista at a free summit on 12th September at Microsoft Campus, Thames Valley Park. The free community event is intended to give technical managers and senior IT professionals the chance to understand how to plan and prepare for upgrading to Windows Vista and Office 2007. Sep 2007

SKANSKA SELECTS KNOWLEDGE SOLUTIONS
Knowledge Solutions has won a contract from Skanska, a leading construction group, to assist with the implementation of its new financial IT system. Knowledge Solutions' offering will enable Skanska's IT staff to create process documentation by capturing processes using its unique "auto-capture" technology. Processes can then be exported to various outputs, including written documentation, simulations, e-learning content and in-process support, ensuring that all documentation is up-to-date and relevant. Sep 2007

INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP – THE MISSING INGREDIENT IN UK BUSINESSES
The Chartered Management Institute says resignation levels are on the increase as business leaders fail to provide the inspiration and direction UK employees expect to see in the workplace. To address these concerns and provide guidance for managers and leaders, the CMI will run a special session on ‘Transforming Leadership’ at its National Convention in Birmingham on 11-12 October. Focusing on different styles of leadership, it will enable participants to measure their own leadership strengths, understand where development is needed and identify techniques to improve performance. Sep 2007

BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY PM CONFERENCE
Bournemouth University Business School is holding a Project Management Conference, following on from the success of similar events in 2005 & 2003. It will take place on 13-14 September, and is aimed at those who are interested in identifying and providing excellence in the teaching and learning of project management. The 10 best papers presented at the conference will be published in a special edition of the International Journal of Project Management in November 2007. Sep 2007

SWISS RE AND BRIGHTWAVE CONTINUE SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIP
Brightwave is to design and deliver an e-learning programme on records management for Swiss Re, the leading reinsurer. It continues Brightwave’s successful preferred supplier relationship with Swiss Re over the last 18 months on a variety of bespoke solutions. The course will cover all aspects of record management to comply with legislation, and will integrate with Swiss Re's Learning Management System. Sep 2007

MORE SUCCESSES FOR INFORMATION TRANSFER
The Priory Group has been selected as a National Training Awards finalist for its multi-award winning Clinical Risk Assessment learning programme developed in partnership with Information Transfer ...Hamptons International property agency has used e-learning developed by Information Transfer to train hundreds of staff from 70 UK offices on the rapidly-changing details of the new Home Information Packs ... and the US-based global division of pharmaceutical company Organon has commissioned Information Transfer to produce a training programme on anaesthesia products for its international sales operation; the training materials will include manuals and electronic assessments and will be translated into many languages. Information Transfer already has an established working relationship with Organon in the UK, Netherlands and Australia. Sep 2007

GOVERNMENT SKILLS POLICY SLATE
The House of Commons Education and Skills Committee has published a highly critical report on the government’s skills policy. It says

The government’s approach to skills is predicated on a direct relationship between prosperity and skills, when in fact skills are only part of a very complex equation, and simply boosting training will not necessarily lead to increased prosperity.
There should be a much stronger focus on management skills than is currently the case.
Improving the national stock of qualifications has been a central aim of skills policy, but more qualifications will not necessarily be an accurate indicator of an increased national stock of skills.
The new Qualifications and Credit Framework (which makes it possible to accumulate units over time) is very welcome, but needs also to be accompanied by more flexible, responsive funding.
The current infrastructure for delivering the Government’s ambitions for skills is extremely complicated, and there is still significant work to be done to minimise overlaps between different intermediary bodies, reducing inefficiency and duplication of effort.
The system also often appears highly complex from a user perspective. Comprehensive Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) is vital, but many people have little or no access to it.
The Government’s overarching ambition is for a system that is increasingly ‘demand-led’, but Train to Gain cannot be described as truly demand-led, given the strict constraints on what is currently fundable.
The Committee says it is particularly concerned by some of the evidence it has received on Train to Gain brokerage, which raises questions about quality and suggests that in some cases brokers may be succeeding only in adding an extra, unwelcome layer of bureaucracy to the process.
It is also concerned that much of what is funded under Train to Gain might otherwise be paid for by employers themselves.
It says Sector Skills Councils are presented as another key part of a demand-led mechanism, but they face real challenges in representing the views and needs of very diverse sectors, and of SMEs in particular.

“Finally, but perhaps most importantly of all”, says the report, “is the issue of raising, not simply responding better to, demand from employers and individuals. Supply-side reforms are only likely to succeed if accompanied by sustained attention to the issue of increasing individuals’ and employers’ commitment to learning”. Sep 2007

ANOTHER DECLINE FOR A-LEVELS IN COMPUTING AND ICT
The number of students who took A-level Computing exams in 2007 was 5,610. This was down 10% on 2006 (which was itself down 14% on 2005), and represented just 0.7% of all A-level candidates. The A-level in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) was taken by 13,360, down another 6% from last year. The number of candidates for Computing has now fallen by 44% since 2003, while ICT has declined by 26%. In contrast, this year’s candidate numbers increased again for Media/Film/TV Studies, Sociology and Sport/PE Studies. In all these subjects there were significantly more candidates than for ICT. [Comment: Across all subjects, 25% of candidates achieved an ‘A’ grade, but once again the corresponding figures for Computing (16%) and ICT (10%) were much lower. As we have asked before, is this because the students are below average, the teaching’s no good, or the marking is unfair? Whatever the reason, this anomaly won’t do much to improve the attraction of Computing and ICT as A-level subjects.] Sep 2007

LSC TO INVEST £60MILLION IN TECHNOLOGY FOR LEARNERS
The Learning and Skills Council has announced plans to invest £59.8 million during 2007/08 in technology “to improve the learner experience”. This figure is almost £20 million more than last year. The additional investment will contribute to learning infrastructure, student equipment upgrades and expanding the numbers of mobile devices available for students. The LSC says its research has found that learning programmes delivered using technology can improve the engagement, retention and achievement success of post-16 learners, and research from Becta (the Government's technology partner) says students are keen to access learning resources remotely – for instance in their own home – and value the flexibility this offers. The LSC has invested over £260 million since 2001 to embed the use of technology in teaching and learning. Sep 2007