Over the past few months ApplyIT has had many requests from consultants wanting to further develop their skills in OpSuite.     You have previously expressed interest in training and we wanted to update you quickly on what is happening behind the scenes...

Our business has grown substantially over the past 12 months and while this is great news for everyone, it also introduces challenges around how to effectively help our partners and sales people to be effective.

We first introduced the IntelliPERMIT competency program (the “ICP”) in 2007 and this was very well received at the time.   Several sales and consulting training courses were held.   During 2008 the ICP was renamed “OpSuite competency program” to cater for the other 3 modules.  

The initial competence program was quite constrained in that the courses were delivered in classroom sessions, requiring participants to be available in a single venue at the same time.  This became a serious limitation because of the dispersed nature of our business.  

So a new approach was required, and we are pleased to update you on what is planned:

So what is changing? 

The competence program will be enhanced in several ways:

(1)   Introducing a new provisional certification status

(2)   Increasing the availability to media rich eLearning resources to facilitate self study

(3)   Increasing the release frequency of training material as the products evolve

(4)   Breaking down courses into smaller modules

 What is a provisional certification?

We have recognised that there is an immediate need to recognise consultants who have successfully completed the ET-001 and ET-002 certification exams, and who have completed a full implementation already.

We will therefore recognise this achievement in the form of a “Provisional Certification” (in IntelliPERMIT) until the end of February 2010.

To get a provisional certification: 

(1)   You must have passed ET-001 and ET-002 assessments

(2)   You must have completed a full implementation (exemptions are possible for Developers/Technical Support competences).

(3)   You need to be recommended by a fully certified professional (if you are interested we suggest you approach Scott Bredin for this).

Provisional certifications will fall away in March 2010 unless the consultant has fulfilled the requirements of the additional courses and assessments which will be introduced between now and then.

Provisional certifications in all other respects are in every other respect a valid certification; and the consultant can use the “ApplyIT Certified Consultant” logo and title in their professional interactions with clients.

 What type of e-learning will be provided?

The e-learning courses will be a combination of webcasts; Windows live meeting sessions, multimedia presentations, documents (PDF), self contained e-courses etc.  All of this material will be made available through the www.applyit.com website.

Owing to the file size and local bandwidth constraints it will not be practical to download the virtual / demo environment, and these resources will be made available separately on physical media.

How does this affect certification levels?

The changes relate only to the delivery and content of training materials, this will have no impact on the certification levels (registered, certified etc). 

Will I still have to write assessments and exams?

The existing ET-001 and ET-002 assessments and your existing credits from passing previous assessments will stay intact.  New assessments will be introduced for the new courses.  Shorter, simpler assessments will be introduced for ongoing “refresher” training.

Where is the new course material for FlexiLOG?

Updated FlexiLOG training material is taking longer than expected to prepare owing to the evolving nature of the product and the more specialised technical skills required configuring the system.  It is expected that the next FL courses will be released in June 2009, although this date is just an estimate at this stage.

What about sales training?

Sales training has been provided on an ad-hoc basis in the past to resellers.   This training will be supplemented by additional refresher courses over the year.

Is there a new virtual demo system?

Not at this stage.  The Product team is working on a new virtual system for our partners and consultants.  The new virtual system is based on full Windows Server 2003 and includes the latest .NET technologies on which OpSuite version 5 will be based,  when released it will therefore be a more robust and accurate test system.

For training purposes can I continue with the old training system?

For ET-001 and ET-002 the older virtual system is still acceptable.  The course fundamentals have not changed and you should be able to complete the courses without requiring the new virtual environment. 

Where can I learn more about certification?

There is a useful document describing certification at http://insight.applyit.com/support/aoscp/admin/Documents/ApplyIT%20Operations%20Suite%20Certification%20Program.pdf  

Who manages the program in ApplyIT?

ApplyIT has recently appointed product specialists for each module.   

·         IntelliPERMIT – Scott Bredin

·         FlexiLOG – Dinesh Naidoo

·         OptiRUN – Henry Boshoff

·         SmartSURE – Shirley Breytenbach

These consultants will assist with preparing new course material.

Going forward the program itself will be coordinated by our marketing team.

Are ApplyIT employees certified on the same program? 

Yes,  ApplyIT implementation consultants are required to certify on exactly the same basis as partners and customers.

How will I find out when new courses are available?

By receiving this mail you are on our mailing list and have been registered in the program.  You will receive updates when new courses are published. 

If you wish to opt out of the program please let Nikki Beech know.