E-learning champions skills development in tough economic times

17 February 2009

The tightening economic climate in South Africa has placed resellers in a somewhat confusing situation - while on one hand it's important for them to keep their revenue healthy, on the other hand they realise that a focus on cutting costs wherever possible is just as important.

And there's no area where this disparity isn't as glaringly obvious as it is on the skills development and staff retention fronts. "In order to continually differentiate themselves from their peers, resellers not only have to ensure they're able to offer customers the best price, but also the best service," says Marius Vermeulen, Cisco technical specialist at Tarsus Technologies.

"The only problem is that an ICT company's ability to render excellent service levels to its customers relies heavily on the skills set it has at its disposal," he continues.

"Unfortunately, in times of economic difficulty, it is challenging to scare up the funds required to keep one's skills at the best possible level - if resellers don't do this, however, they know that their companies will only feel the pain of dwindling revenue harder.

"It's a less-than-ideal place to be," Vermeulen notes.

"Resellers need to start thinking smarter about the way they keep skills development ticking over.

"A great example of this comes in the form of using online training tools, such as those provided by Cisco in preparing technical and sales staff for qualifications such as Cisco Certified Network Associate, Professional and Sales Person," he says.

Vermeulen says the vast majority of e-learning modules provided are available free-of-charge and where a charge is involved, this generally pales in comparison to the cost of booking an employee off work, arranging and paying for training required and, in many cases, arranging for accommodation and airfares if they need to travel to a business centre in order to attend lectures.

"Even though all of the major qualifications in Cisco's stable require the candidate to write examinations at a training centre, e-learning is the most cost-effective way of getting employees skilled up," Vermeulen says.

"It's quite frankly an option that cannot be written off in tough times such as these," he says.

"We foresee a great increase in this practise over the coming months - interested resellers can contact us for more information and guidance, should they require it," he concludes.