Resellers get into training

Resellers looking to add value frequently eye IT training as a source of new revenue. With the UK market for technology training expected to reach $1.1bn (£700m) by 2003, it looks like there will be plenty of opportunities to jump on the gravy train. But how easy is it to provide training as a value-added service, and what do resellers need to consider if they're going to offer training to their clients?

Training is an essential factor in establishing any successful business, particularly where modern technology is being used. Well-trained staff are more effective and proper training can ensure that products are used to their full potential. The effective use of technology can have a direct effect on profitability and help to create a better return on investment.

Training falls into two categories: didactic training, which refers to a subject taught in a formal manner, such as with a lecturer in a classroom; or self-driven training, where people study on their own using self-teach training materials such as manuals or computer-based training software. Resellers can offer either of these to their clients, but there are benefits and drawbacks to both methods.

The pros and cons
Traditional training requires a significant investment in classrooms, training materials, presentation equipment and computers, not to mention staff who are capable of providing training to a high standard. The main advantage of this approach is that formal training is similar to consultancy. Provided it is done professionally, you can charge premium prices. You can also potentially reap the rewards of establishing close relationships with your customers and can use training as a lever to sell more goods.

Informal self-study training has the advantage that you don't need to invest in a training infrastructure. There are plenty of packaged solutions that you can buy off the shelf cheaply. These tend to cover the most popular areas of technology. But taking this route means you are not going to benefit from any significant interaction with your clients; you supply the materials and let them get on with it. The other drawback is that you may not be able to offer each customer precisely what it wants.

Training is not support. Dealers often fail to recognise the differences between the two. They are sometimes under the impression that technical support can be a substitute for training.

This is a common misunderstanding, as Don Taylor, managing director of SkillsCo, explains: "First, resellers can't teach. They can sell and support, but providing a coherent training programme needs a lot of other skills and experience. Second, you don't know what you don't know. Often a recurrent support call will come up because a person doesn't have good underlying understanding of a product. It's a symptom, not a cause of the problem. The only fix is time with a trainer."

Some resellers believe that they can simply use their existing support staff to provide training. The idea of making use of existing technical expertise is very tempting, but it is not always the right thing to do. John Kauffman, commercial director at InterQuad, says: "This approach is dangerous for the reselling and the training part of the business. Support staff may know and understand the products, but they may not have the ability to communicate this knowledge effectively."

Special skills required
Karen Hill, senior training consultant at Information Builders, says the problem is that resellers do not appreciate the specialist skills required for providing training at a professional level. "Some support people can make good, credible trainers, but in our experience this is always a bit risky. Similarly, in some organisations technical knowledge is often given more weight than training excellence," she says.

"To run a course successfully the trainer has to understand a certain amount of human psychology, and the course content has to include more than the simple run-through of buttons and functions. In an ideal situation, training consultants are fully qualified in the training discipline and use their skills and experiences in the real world."

However, Mike Mousley, system engineering manager at Connectology, says using support staff for some aspects of training can be justified. "Using the support function is not necessarily a bad thing if a reseller is testing the water for the service. However, it is not something that I would recommend as a long-term solution. To do it seriously, training given to clients should be undertaken by people with the relevant skills and experience. It is, after all, a service to your clients and should be delivered as professionally as any other," he says.

Tailored to suit customers
Without doubt, the real opportunities to make money from training are in the area of tailored courses. Libby Harris, product manager for services, support and training at Chernikeeff Networks, says adapting courses to meet customer requirements is vital if you want to remain competitive. "When setting up a training service, differentiation is the key, and being able to offer bespoke training plays a major role in the success of a reseller's training facilities," she says.

This view is echoed by Hill. "In our experience, the demand for tailored training is on the increase. This is reflected in our analysis from 1998 to 1999, where it accounted for 62 per cent of all our training services business. I can only see this demand increasing, because we sell a solution and tailored training is part of it," she says.

But tailoring courses to individual needs is difficult and time-consuming. One possible answer could be Ideal Hardware's new division, Ideal Training and Development (ITD). The unit will offer services designed to give competitive advantage to resellers, manufacturers and users.

Debra Ames, director at ITD, sees the new service as being a natural extension of Ideal's added-value philosophy. She says ITD's services will improve its partnerships with resellers.

"Working as an integral part of any organisation, we can help to dramatically change its approach to business across a multitude of areas," she says. "Our tailored programmes are a far cry from traditional off-the-peg courses, which are often more concerned with filling seats than creating value. ITD will produce customised benchmarks of where companies are today, and then train and develop their own people to support the business in the short and long term. We will help them understand what they need to win and to ensure competitive advantage through investment in people."

Counting the cost
While traditional training has undoubted benefits it can be a very expensive option for customers. Not only do they have to pay the course fees, but they face additional charges for things such as travel, accommodation and meals. Holding training courses in-house can reduce some of these expenses, but then the customer has to provide an environment that is appropriate for training its staff. Therefore, in an effort to reduce costs, many companies are looking towards the technology-based approach to training which is available through computer-based training, web-based training and e-learning.

Some would argue that technology-based training or e-learning is no real substitute for having a person doing the teaching, but self-learning has come a long way since the courses of old.

Mousley is particularly enthusiastic about the potential of web-based training. "It allows people to train at their own pace, from any location," he says. "This can be important for a company with many offices scattered around the world because it can save time, money and effort. Users are more likely to go back to areas they don't understand. In a classroom environment, embarrassment and time pressures sometimes prohibit people from asking too many questions, and as a result the training may not be effective. "The difficulty resellers face with web-based training is in having the infrastructure to offer it and developing the online training course itself."

Remote learning is all the rage
One way to overcome the difficulties of setting up web-based training is for resellers to opt for an off-the-shelf solution, and recently there has been an explosion in web-based training products to choose from.

Vince Lucey, UK operations manager at DA Consulting Group, also backs web-based training. "The advantages are that it is more cost-effective and easier to deliver," she says. "There's no need for the expense of training rooms, all that is needed is a laptop and a phone line. There is also the advantage of distance learning because it can be difficult to get all of the trainees in the same place at the same time. web-based training is the future of training, particularly as technology improves. Now, students can be coached, mentored and tested without them leaving their desks."

In fact, web-based training is becoming so popular that researcher IDC predicts that by 2003, web-based training will have overtaken instructor-led training in the IT industry. Resellers that ignore this opportunity do so at their peril.

Conclusions

• there are two main types of training: formal, instructor-led training, normally in a classroom environment; and self-teaching using manuals or technology
• do not try to get away with using existing technical support staff for training. This rarely works well and you could easily lose all credibility
• off-the-shelf training courses are useful, but nowadays many clients will demand training tailored to their specific needs
• setting up traditional instructor-led training can be expensive. However, if done properly it can reap rich rewards
• technology-based training can be an alternative, but the lack of personal contact with customers can be a drawback
• the big growth area is online training using web-based training techniques. This can be delivered worldwide and tools can tailor it to a client's specific needs.