Where It All Happens
On-site training can take place at various venues, depending on the nature and size of the training required. “When our channel partner program was first launched in 2004, we held them only in our offices,” Pedersen recalled. “Over the years, we have spread out to other locations to make it easier for attending regionally, with less travel costs or time involved for participation.”
There used to be very few training sessions conducted in Asia, but recently manufacturers are holding more in cities like Shanghai and Singapore, Lim said. “Some manufacturers are willing to hold private sessions for our engineers right in the office, but there are still several courses that require us to travel overseas.”
No One Left Behind
It is not uncommon that trainees from different sales and technical backgrounds sit in the same class during training. To better address the audience, some training providers now offer separate courses to allow for more flexibility. “In addition to providing different levels of product training, we now offer separate technical and sales training sessions, and trainees can choose to take both,” Pedersen said.
Others believe that intermingling technical and sales topics is beneficial to trainees. “Technical and sales topics can overlap,” Schimpf explained. “For example, a thorough understanding of the capabilities of various technologies is critical to understanding their ability to provide ROI, which is often the determining factor in the purchase process.”
Analog to IP
The shift from analog to IP is also reflected in the trainee makeup. “This is a critical issue in our industry today,” Morgan said. “We find an increasing number of IT professionals in our classes. Teaching an audience with such a mix of competencies and backgrounds can be challenging; however, instructors have trainees share their different perspectives, which adds to the learning experience.” It is common for constructive conversation to take place between the two groups, leading to a better, all-around experience, Schimpf added.
“We are finding that as the migration continues to pick up pace, there is a new generation of learners who are keen to keep up with the Internet/network technology,” Matthew said. “Not only from security personnel, but those from the IT industry are encouraged to embrace security applications such as surveillance, access control and intrusion detection, as well as transmission methods pertaining to IP.”
Currently, about 80 to 90 percent of trainees have IT/ IP knowledge prior to signing up for training, Lee said. “Trainees without prior IT/IP background might find training courses difficult to grasp initially; therefore, it is usually recommended that they attend basic training before working their way up the course ladder.”