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IT Training: From Finishing School to Pubs

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DQI Bureau
New Update

The demand continues. Last year, India’s IT training and

education market grew 33%, crossing Rs 1,500 crore. But half that figure came

from the top two players, and 70% from the top ten.

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The Calcutta-based Globsyn Technologies is not in that top

10. Promoted by Bikram Dasgupta, former chief of PCL, the three-year-old

training and software company now ranks #17, with Rs 7.5 crore in IT training

revenues last year. While IT education and training constituted about 60%,

software exports accounted for the balance. In the IT education and training

segment, it grew at over a 40%, thanks partly to its focus on a gap it

identified: software "finishing schools" that combine business

education with focused software area skills.

Now, in addition to partnering with the West Bengal

government for an IIIT (Indian Institute of Information Technology), it’s

eyeing bigger volumes, with "KnowledgePubs". The objective: to cater

to more segments of the market, from first-time learners to students, with an

eye on serious IT careers, scaling up to professionals seeking specific skill

updates.

Pubs for all

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Globsyn’s core product stays at the high end of the

spectrum: TechnoCampus, its finishing-school concept blending software training

with business education. The programs have built in managerial modules to equip

software professionals with business savvy. Currently, Globsyn has seven

TechnoCampus Centers. For the IIIT, it’s a corporate partner of the West

Bengal government, and will provide IT training at the under-graduate and

post-graduate levels as part of the university system in eastern India. The IIIT

campus located at Globsyn’s Technocampus in Salt Lake, Calcutta, has commenced

two courses–Bachelor’s Diploma in IT and Master’s



Diploma in IT–from August 2000.

Top Training Vendors

Rank  Vendor Revenue



(Rs lakh)
1,2 Aptech*, NIIT 71,485
3 SSI 13,565
4 LCC Infotech 4,921
5 Tata Infotech 4,098
6 CMC 4,018
7 Datapro 3,763
8 STG International 2,743
9 CMS 2,190
10 IIHT 2,112
11 Boston

Education
2,004
12 Jetking School 1,857
13 IBM Global Services 1,781
14 IIS Infotech 1,504
15 SQL Star International 1,329
16 Edutech Informatics 1,100
17 Globsyn Technologies 743
18 CADD Center 382
19 Gebbs Infotech 203
20 Maars Software 190

At the lower end but with an eye at the mass market are the

KnowledgePubs. These ‘Pubs’ or centers are providing all the three modes of

IT skills instruction under one roof–instructor-led, computer-based and

Web-Based training. The focus is shifting from technical certification courses

to overall IT and professional skills. Launched in August this year, the company

intends to set up about 100 KnowledgePubs across the country over the next two

years with an estimated investment outlay of Rs 30 crore. Globsyn chairman

Bikram Dasgupta says that the KnowledgePubs are designed as all-age learning

centers where almost the entire family can find a suitable course of study–from

the first-time learners to students with an eye on serious IT careers. They are

positioned as an "integrated learning concept blending all the three

aspects of IT training". Conventional IT training centers offer only

instructor-led training, which is today failing to keep pace with the frenetic

pace of technology changes and the consequent need for rapid changes in

curricula and instructor skills. The other extreme, the Web-based model also

leaves the student groping for guidance, and is also severely limited by low

Internet penetration under 2% today.

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Will it succeed?

TechnoCampus is Globsyn’s flagship IT training product, now operational in six Indian cities–Calcutta, New Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar and MumbaiThe company’s software exports business seems to be growing

faster and with higher margins. In this business, one is not sure about the

long-term focus of the company. So while in 1999-00, IT education and training

accounted for over 60% of revenues, its overall 85% growth was primarily from

software business, about 380%. So in the long term, whether the company will

focus on the high-margin software business or the low-margin, heavy-competition

IT training and education business remains to be seen. Also, unlike the

TechnoCampus finishing schools concept, the KnowledgePubs do not appear to be

bringing much that is new in the market. The "pubs" description may

even be seen as frivolous by some, or confused with cyber cafes. Globsyn

believes the KnowledgePubs will bring it volumes, and big revenues. But here in

the mass market, it will compete with the heavyweights: NIIT, Aptech, SSI and

LCC. Sure, the market demand is huge, but in the long run, Globsyn’s success

in the mass training market will depend on its ability to develop the brand to a

bigger extent than it has managed with TechnoCampus–and to reach an audience

many times bigger.

SUPRABUDDHA SANYAL



in New Delhi

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