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A Trainer at your Doorstep

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DQI Bureau
New Update

The slowdown has been tough on IT training institutes in the country, given

that the number of students registering for new courses has fallen drastically.

This has forced these institutes to re-look at their existing business models

and come up with alternative ones in order to expand their market share.

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SOPS

DO WORK:
A large number of

students are now enrolling for a variety of skill-enhancing courses

such as Unix, C++ and Oracle

Training vendors are facing the crunch primarily due to the downturn in the

software services market and a subsequent decrease in hiring by software

companies.

The IT training market in India was affected by the negative sentiment among

students. Incidentally, the bulk of the training market comprises individuals

viz-a-viz corporates. Training majors are thus trying to innovate and tap newer

segments.

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Innovate or perish



There has been an increase in courses aimed at teaching basics such as

Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Internet and e-mail, all of them aimed at

making students computer literate, as against the ‘job-oriented’ training

courses, which were being sold earlier and made merry for training companies.

Some institutes, meanwhile, have also included basic programming like C and C++

in their curriculum. Training majors like NIIT already have short-term courses

like SWIFT and other vendors are just beginning to follow suit.

A new addition is an innovative offering by the Software Technology Group (STG).

Called ‘Dial a Trainer’, this scheme involves taking IT education to the

doorstep of the consumer. The consumer in this case, would be a PC owning

household  where some of the family members might not be able to access the

computer due to lack of training. This marks STG’s entry into the niche

segment, which would include housewives, senior citizens and school children.

Says Alka Kaul, STG’s associate vice-president (communications),

"Apart from first time computer users, we are targeting at the 40-plus

segment, which has not been exposed to computers". This would include

housewives, senior citizens, executives who do not use computers at work, small

businessmen and school children. Kaul adds that the scheme is aimed at making

STG a household brand. The scheme, priced below Rs 800, is targeting the

home-segment that makes up almost half of all PC sales in the country.

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Institutional training: A new opportunity?



Chennai based SSI has begun to focus more on direct marketing and counseling.
According to an SSI spokesperson, "SSI’s marketing strategy relies less

on splashy advertising and more on counseling and direct marketing. We believe

students need to be reassured about the continued validity of IT as a career

option. In the absence of any dominant technology, students are enrolling for a

variety of skill enhancing courses. We see enrollments in Unix, C++, and Oracle.

There is also some interest in vertical specialization given the emerging

opportunities in fields like insurance."

While SSI continues to primarily target individuals through its training

centers, the company plans to tap the institutional education business segment,

thus broad basing its revenue stream. The new thrust involves targeting central

and state government initiated education-training programs. Another key area

explored by training centers involves large corporate houses. This segment is

quite lucrative, given the potential of training and re-skilling opportunities.

According to SSI chairman and CEO Kalpathi Suresh, "The institutional

business focus allows us to further strengthen and demonstrate our franchisee

interests. Since this part of the training business is not dependent on

individual responses or the job market, therefore will always be a steady and

growing revenue stream." Given that the IT training vendors are still

struggling to emerge from the doldrums, a focussed and innovative approach is

called for.

Amit Sarkar in New Delhi (with inputs

from G Shrikanth in Chennai)

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