News and Events
- 2011 GM State of ExecuTrain Address
- DynaQuest Event
- ExecuTrain of Utah to Offer Cisco Authorized Training
- Citrix to help users run Windows 7 on the iPad
- ExecuTrain -Top Rated National Training Company again for 2009
- Microsoft Office Courseware Change
- Welcome to the new ExecuTrain of Utah!
- KSL interviews Executrain of Utah GM Dale Byrd
- ExecuTrain Named Top 20 IT Training Company
- Turn off CNBC
- Windows 7 Sneak Peak Event
- Utah SharePoint User Group Meeting
- ASTD Utah Workplace Learning Conference
- Windows 7 Webinar Event
- Windows 7 News
- Time Management - Dealing with the Recession
- Utah SharePoint Users Group
- ExecuTrain - Top Rated National Training Company
With the New Year upon us, I wanted to give you a brief report regarding ExecuTrain of Utah and our direction for 2011. We receive lots of questions from our clients, so I’ve taken some of these questions and addressed them below.
How has ExecuTrain of Utah performed in the recession?
2010 was a good year and a stronger year than we projected. Revenues and training volume was 94% of what we experienced in 2008. Clearly, 2009 was a challenging year.
The recession temporarily knocked the life out of all types of industries but many of our clients have adjusted and are finally experiencing some nice recovery.
On our end, Technical Training has almost doubled when compared to the years even before the latest recession. That has been a good sign. The bottom line is that we see a strong, non-phantom, increase in training. Many corporations and governments are realizing improved financial health despite what you might hear in the media. While our economy hasn’t fully recovered, training programs are definitely on the rebound.
What Technical products are most popular?
Microsoft Windows 7, SharePoint 2010, SQL 2008, Exchange 2010, Citrix and Cisco products are hot right now. While Microsoft has released its 2010 series of products, we find that the older versions are still in use and we continue to train quite a few clients on these. Products such as SharePoint 2007, SQL 2005 and others will still be in use and we have classes for them, but expect to see the majority of companies shift to the newer releases soon.
We are still the only Citrix Authorized training center in the State of Utah and our Citrix clients give great reviews about the instruction they receive.
As for Cisco courses, in 2010 we partnered with a Cisco Learning Partner called Sunset Learning who now provides these classes at our facilities. The great part about this program is that our students in Salt Lake can attend classes remotely with other offices around the country. We have a giant HDTV and Meeting system that allows the instructor and students to interact as if they were in the same classroom. At first, students were unsure if it would be the same as having the trainer right there with them, but after the first day everyone says that they love the setup and there is no loss of training quality. The travel costs that clients can save are enormous, and the breathe of Cisco classes that we can offer is greatly increased.
When it comes to Citrix training, we are now able to use this same remote training technology to provide Citrix classes from our office here in Salt Lake City to clients around the state as well as many cities around the country if needed.
What about Application products?
We’ve mostly trained companies on Office 2003, Office 2007 and Office 2010. Office 2007 is still quite popular but companies are finally shifting to Office 2010. A key benefit to using Office 2010 is that it works well with SharePoint, which is a server that allows collaboration of projects and documents like never before. Companies love SharePoint 2010, and they want Office 2010 since the two integrate with each other so well. We have innovated several 90 Minute hands on, instructor led courses that help customers quickly and effortlessly migrate from Office 2003 to Office 2007 or 2010.
Also popular are Adobe products such as InDesign, Photoshop, and Acrobat. Adobe just released their CS5 Suite which many companies are already using.
Are Soft Skills or Business Skills courses popular right now?
It depends on the course. Courses like Sexual Harassment are often conducted internally as refresher courses, so we really don’t see demand for these anymore. I’d say that we see a reasonable amount of interest in training employees on how to do effective presentations in front of groups, proper business writing and consultative skills.
However, Stress Management, Customer Service and Time Management seem to be the seminars with the highest demand. Lately, I’ve conducted far more Customer Service courses. The recession made customers pinch pennies and as a result, they reevaluated everything from their satellite provider to their insurance agent. If the price was high and the customer service was low, customers would head straight to a competitor. As a result, we’ve had firms look to us to retrain their people on proper customer service techniques as an effort to retain more customers, which is far more cost effective than trying to gain new ones.
I don’t think people understand what we do sometimes and that’s our fault. They think of us as just a computer training company. They don’t realized that we offer other services such as coaching, courseware development, training program development and, of course, business skills like those I’ve just mentioned.
Who make up your trainers?
We only want and use trainers who clearly know and actively work with the products they are teaching. While we primarily use local instructors, we have access to a network of thousands of trainers from all over the country because of our partnerships. These trainers are certified and are experts at the products that they teach. We don’t throw just anyone on a class. Our standards are pretty high when it comes to trainer knowledge and presentation.
What about 2011?
Remote Training
Remote training has been around for years but the quality and logistics were often in question, so holding such classes weren’t our focus. Our greatest concern was that the learning experience would be greatly reduced. We wanted the student to have close to the same experience as they would have if they could attend in person. Today, the technology has improved to a much higher standard. So we will be offering far more remote services to our clients. Again, when you look at the time and money saved by customers who need the training but also need to remain in their office or city, it’s an excellent solution.
Events
Every year we hold one or two open house events where we invite Microsoft and other partners to come talk to our clients about what lies ahead when it comes to technology. They also demonstrate current products to those who might not be fully aware of the tools available. These are well attended and have been well received.
A few of the technologies that we plan to hold events on are:
Microsoft CRM 2011
Cisco/Citrix XenDesktop VXI
New .Net Training Program
We have redesigned the flow and content of .Net Courses so those wanting to further their programming skills have a more direct, concise set of courses available. In other words, we’ve cut out fluff and hit the topics that real world programmers truly need.
Website & E-mail Communication
We want to be sure that the resources we make available to you are helpful and easy to use, so we plan to reach out to our clients for their feedback more often. Improvements are being made to our web site, newsletters and email communications so that you are kept in the loop without much difficulty. In the coming months we will send out surveys asking for your feedback in these areas. We hope you will take a few minutes to participate in those.
We look forward to a strong 2011. If there is anything that I or my staff can do, please feel free to contact us. Your feedback is always welcome.
Sincerely
Dale Byrd
General Manager
State of ExecuTrain Address