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E-Learning: The Online Panacea

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DQI Bureau
New Update

The internet has

generated a great shift in economic value since the Industrial Revolution.

Geography is now history. Around the world from Phuket Island in Thailand to

Tehran in Iran and Athens in Greece, there is one common trend–the drive to

the internet. The internet has brought with it a 24-hour global workday.

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The number of internet users in

China today is 4 million and is expected to more than double in the next twelve

months. In India, the drive is on to bring internet to every village. India’s

biggest challenge–its large population–is being transformed into its most

significant asset. Just as the discovery of oil transformed countries like

Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, the internet is set to

transform the world–only the impact will be far more extensive economically,

and the reach will be truly global.

Business models

Businesses

worldwide are moving from a push-based
(build-to-stock) manufacturing

model to a pull-based (build-to-order) model. The pull-based model requires a

lot of IT and web support. The demand-driven pull model entails additional

support for increased product variability, reduced lead times, improved quality,

lower unit costs, operational excellence and comprehensive performance measures

for control purposes. Companies trying to deliver the right product in the right

quantity and at the precise time, are highly dependent on the application of IT

and web technology in all aspects of their businesses.

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Customizing enterprise portals

The lifeblood of

any organization today depends on its information flow. Yesterday’s intranets

need to be positioned as tomorrow’s enterprise corporate portals. The need for

dynamic organization and continuous updates of information has never been

greater. It is this access to information that provides the opportunity for mass

customization. Businesses continue to invest heavily in internet technology.

However many hit stumbling blocks when trying to successfully integrate IT and

web skills with their applications throughout the business processes, systems

and communications.

Billion pages and more

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Having

qualified internet professionals with
e-skills is the key factor for

internet technology deployment. The application of internet technology for

business requires technologists and business professionals who understand each

other’s fields. Future-minded businesses are applying ebusiness solutions in

areas such as corporate communications, marketing and advertising,

manufacturing, production, sales automation, human resources, purchasing,

R&D, finance and accounting. These new applications for internet technology

require professionals with internet skills. They need the proficiency in

authoring and scripting languages, content creation, digital media, an ability

to use development tools and implementing database connectivity solutions.

Currently, there exist about a

billion web pages. This number is expected to rise to eight billion in the next

three years. What is required today and increasingly in the future, are

e-skilled professionals.

Emerging internet technology

jobs

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There are many

emerging jobs related to the internet technology:

  • A

    site designer designs, implements and maintains websites using authoring and

    scripting languages, content creation and management tools, and digital

    media.

  • An

    application developer builds client and server-side web applications using

    rapid application development tools and component technologies to implement

    two-tier database connectivity solutions.

  • An

    enterprise developer builds n-tier database and legacy connectivity

    solutions for web applications, using Java, Java application programming

    interfaces (APIs), Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) solutions, middleware

    tools and distributed object models.

  • A

    server administrator manages and tunes ecommerce infrastructure including

    web servers, FTP, news and mail servers for mid-size to large businesses.

    Server administrators configure, manage and deploy ebusiness solutions

    servers.

  • An

    internetworking professional defines network architecture, identifies

    infrastructure components and analyzes network performance. This

    professional also designs and manages TCP/IP networks.

  • A

    security professional implements security policy, identifies security

    threats and develops countermeasures using firewalls and attack-recognition

    technologies. He is an expert on transaction and payment security solutions.

  • An

    ecommerce professional is an expert in standards, technologies and practices

    in electronic commerce. He understands and manages the relationships among

    credit-card holders, issuers, merchants, acquirers, payment gateways and

    third parties. He understands and uses secure electronic transactions (SET),

    cryptography standards, certificate authorities and electronic services such

    as CyberCash.

Skilled internet professionals

are needed to connect the broad reach of the internet with the vast resources of

IT systems. Employers’ need for professionals in this space is unprecedented–there

is an urgent need to web enable almost all business processes and operations

with the objective of improving customer service, reducing cycle time and

getting the most results from limited enterprise resources.

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Technology is no longer a

back-end operation that supports business objectives. It is the enabler, and the

creator of new business opportunities and of industry shifts. We are witnessing

a transformation cycle wherein data is transformed into information, which in

turn is transformed into knowledge. Action springs from this knowledge. Skilled

professionals are required to enable this transformation. So how does one

acquire these skills and how does an employer validate that the individuals

hired to deploy the technology are qualified?

Online learning is the answer

As the internet

infrastructure struggles to meet the demands for user applications, the next

killer application is online education. The trends in the training and learning

industry are as follows:

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Vendor-Neutral:

The demand for certified, vendor neutral IT professionals is on the rise.

Employers are increasingly asking for certified professionals who have obtained

+ such+ certifications.

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CIW:

The Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) program is globally being recognized as a

key credential for individuals who desire to be skilled internet professionals.

Product Specific Certification:

Product specific certifications such as those available from Cisco, Microsoft,

Oracle, Novell and IBM will continue to grow. These professionals are expected

to be in high demand in the foreseeable future.

Java:

The demand for Java certification is likely to grow at a faster pace in 2000 and

beyond.

Assessments:

Demand for assessments will rise substantially in 2000. Employers have to do

internal assessments on a continuous basis as part of their career management.

Individuals are looking to use assessments and practice tests to determine their

weaknesses and prepare for industry leading certifications.

IT Learning Portals:

The training industry as a whole is still substantially fragmented. The

consolidation will take place through an integration of computer-based

technology, web-based technology, assessment products and services driven off IT

learning portals. What will separate winners from losers would be the quality of

service, range of assessment and practice tests related to IT skill and

certification areas. These include offerings similar to those of ExamsOnline.com

and MeasureUp. It would also include a range of easy-to-find, order and use

computer-based and web-based technology materials.

Looking ahead

Because the

internet is made up of so many platforms and products, a wide perspective is

necessary to build a solid understanding of the intricacies of
the

internet and to apply that knowledge to leverage the internet’s capabilities.

This wider base of internet working knowledge provides a foundation for

understanding  important internet techniques.

We are about to enter a period of unprecedented

opportunities–the challenge for individuals is to add substantial e-skills to

their core competency, while the challenge for employers is how best to leverage

and deploy internet technologies across the enterprise and better integrate

customers, suppliers, investors and employees.

Uday O. Ali Pabrai

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