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The
emphasis on Return on Investment (ROI) has never been as strong
as it is in the present times. The IT industry is seeing an increased
stress on checking costs and getting more with less investment.
Sensing this corporate need, most Indian IT training houses are
busy redefining their role from just being ‘skill deliverers’
to ‘total solution players’. While customisation and designing
of training packages has always been the focus of the corporate
IT training market, now additional service analysis, assessment,
planning, advisory and consultative services are also being provided.
With 80 percent of IT training players already involved in providing
these services, many industry experts feel that these value-additions
will prove to be the new profit zone in this market.
According
to industry observers, the most popular value-added services offered
by IT training houses are designing and development of customised
curriculum, pre- and post- training mentoring and support, training
effectiveness analysis, reporting and tracking tools and providing
advisory services on integrating new e-training solutions into an
organisation’s education strategy. And, what exactly is driving
the demand for these value-added services? Cost-cutting being the
norm, there is an increased emphasis on recognising the outcome
of learning, rather than the delivery system. “I believe that
today’s circumstances have forced the corporates to look at
training in a more result-oriented manner (with an increase in the
monitoring requirements), where focus on building the domain expertise
will help the company in the long run,” says Dr Suresh Nanda,
CEO, STG. He believes that for most corporates value-added services
will prove to be the key factor in terms of fulfiling their ROI
goals. There is an increasing need to make employees more productive
and enhance their cross function skills and technical capabilities.
N
Rajendra Raju, executive vice president, corporate services, Zee
Interactive Learning Services (ZILS), believes that value-added
services will equip professionals to work in a dynamic and competitive
environment. Agrees Narendra Saxena, managing director of Xansa
India, who says, “Today organisations need specialised and
customised solutions, with each service bringing a value addition
to the market.” The company is offering its ‘Training
effectiveness analysis’ service, wherein Xansa is already working
with GE Capital.
More
and more training houses are investing in building their R&D
and focusing on market building exercises for these services. While
some are busy creating awareness or assessing the training needs
of their clients, many top IT training players have already gone
ahead and started offering these exclusive services. Training players
are now working closely with their clients, identifying business
issues and also determining the appropriateness of training in addressing
these issues. Take for instance the case of STG, which is planning
to provide an end-to-end solution as per their training delivery.
Initially targeting the call-centre industry, the company is offering
services like assessment of the training needs or requirements,
short-listing of candidates and providing need-based training. “I
believe that by getting involved in every stage and offering a total
solution, not only would we be able to help our clients in saving
their individual costs (incurred through all these processes), but
they will also get the suitable candidates,” explains Nanda.
Agrees Rahul Thapan, director, Tata Infotech Education (TIES), who
says that with the availability of such solutions (which help to
cut the cost by 5-10 per cent), many IT companies are showing an
inclination towards adopting the value-added services.
TIES
has already come out with their ‘Training need analysis’
solution, divided mainly into two phases the pre-training metric
and the post-training metric. Presently, TIES is looking at corporates
who have clerical or support staff and then plan to venture into
the call-centre arena to look at people who are providing help desk
applications. Another player which has increased its focus on the
corporate IT training market is Microsoft India, which is planning
to target the industry through its core deliverables of trainers,
technology, skill updation and Internet penetration. According to
Pankaj Srivastava, education & certification manager, Microsoft
India, “The company is increasingly emphasising on customisation
and modularisation which were missing earlier in their courseware
(the Microsoft Official Curriculum - MOC). There are also plans
to modularise each MOC and make it e-learning compatible.”
And,
what will be the driving market force? “The niche segments,”
comes the unanimous answer. According to Nanda, the changing market
dynamism has forced training houses to re-look at their source of
maximum benefit. While each player will try to focus on the broad
categories, the major differentiation would be the services offered
and the tools developed, which can help a company to leverage its
productivity to the fullest. STG is presently looking at the core
business segments of providing banking solutions and business process
outsourcing. However, according to AM Thimmaya, head, corporate
training division, Aptech, though companies need to focus on value-added
services to survive in today’s scenario, without an e-learning
platform, it would be difficult for them to achieve the kind of
quality they want.
 Understanding
the importance of Internet platform most training players also offer
their services online. Zee Interactive Learning Systems (ZILS) provides
its online courses through a Learning Management System. According
to Rajendra Raju of ZILS, this offering not only facilitates in
Synchronous and Asynchronous learning but also provides Customised
Training Solutions based on individual needs and access to rich
resources and expert support. Besides this it also provides solutions
like racking, evaluation and monitoring of the learner’s progress,
which according to him have become a key necessity for a company
to stay ahead. Raju points out the usage of elearning not only helps
in better visibility but cutting costs.
Another
training player in the pipeline is Xansa Websity (formerly known
as IIS Websity), which plans to target the corporate IT training
market through its Learning Management System called the ‘Quality
Learning System’ (QLS), for faster delivery. Besides ZILS and
Xansa, software major Oracle plans to launch an e-learning methodology
for its existing and future courses. SV Krishna, head-Asia Pacific
division, Oracle OU, says that the company plans to offer this services
through the Oracle Learning Network (OLN), expected to be launched
soon. “The purpose is to disseminate information anytime, anywhere
and help in providing to those who are really in need of it. On
OLN, one is learning from Oracle and with Oracle. The corporates
can choose their specialised module, rather than undertaking the
whole course. And the whole offering becomes more customised,”
he adds.
Experts
however feel that online delivery is not such an easy task. “It
is difficult for training houses to offer these services because
implementing an Internet-based training solution goes beyond providing
Web-based training content. A training house may not be able to
provide the technology back-up and innovation necessary to provide
the complete learning experience,” says Raju.
Interestingly,
while some consider these value-added services as a part of their
training delivery, others are planning to sell them as separate
proposition. For instance TIES is focusing on providing the training
need analysis and assessment services. Presently at the pre-matric
(analysis) stage, later the company plans to reap profits by partnering
with different corporates. Though Thapan agrees that it is a high-risk
business, he believes that it can also fetch in a lot of revenue.
Thimmaya agrees that value-adds are part of Aptech’s overall
services offered to corporate clients. “The entire package
is aimed at helping clients get their due mileage from the training
money they are spending. Each service helps a corporate define and
refine its requirements, select appropriate methodologies, schedule
convenient time and track its training,” he says. The company
stresses on training as a “hands on, real world” process
and the value-adds are all woven around that objective.
According
to PK Tripathi, MD, Edutech Informatics, “The future scope
of these value-added services like customised curriculum, pre and
past training, mentoring support, training effectiveness analysis,
e-training solutions, etc, is bright. This will be one of the prime
revenue generators in times to come as it helps in customer retention
and expansion, which is directly related to enhanced revenue margins.”
However, since this trend is still at the development phase, many
training players agreed that it is a high-risk business, which needs
to be assessed at the ground level. Also, it would not be very easy
for many of the low and the medium players to offer these special
services. However, Thimmaya feels that it is more a matter of core
competency rather than the ability to offer the service. With the
IT industry still at a learner’s stage in terms of understanding
their requirements, it will take sometime for this zone to become
really profitable.
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