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Trends in training

With a growing need of IT professionals, profusion of technologies and products and consequent reskilling, the Indian IT training industry is booming

The Indian IT training market can be termed as one of the most matured markets in the global scenario. Currently, it is estimated to be worth Rs 2,100 crore of which around 10 percent pertains to corporate training i.e around Rs 210 crore. The IT corporate training market however is growing at a faster pace and this year it is expected to grow at 40 percent. Over the next 3 years it is estimated to be a Rs 600 crore market. Hence, there is buoyancy and cheer among all IT training companies. The IT training segment can be classified into the organised and unorganised sectors.

The organised sector

The organised sector comprises those companies that operate from multiple centres and have been in the market for a decade. These companies invest in people, products and processes. Their objective is to invest in the industry and offer value to its learners and students by enhancing their knowledge base and making them job-worthy.

Their general features include having stable operations for more than 10 years, being professionally managed and having a network of centres (national and a global presence). They have a good courseware, structured way of delivery, dedicated and state-of-the-art infrastructure, experience of having trained a few thousand students and a good client base that keeps coming back to them for reskilling.

The unorganised sector

The companies in the unorganised sector are more like grey market operators in the hardware segment. Most are opportunity-driven and hence you will find them inconsistent in their presence in a particular market. These are companies that are predominantly opportunistic in their approach and not professionally-managed.

Key trends

The IT training industry has witnessed some interesting trends in the last few years. They are as follows:

• Markets are moving from a pure skilling market to a reskilling market
• Despite fierce competition, IT technology products continue to co-exist while they compete thus leading to good multi-skilling opportunities on different platforms and products for training companies
• The expansion model for most companies has moved away from franchising to setting up own centres
• The academic base required for pursuing a career in IT has widened from minimum of an engineering degree to fresh graduates from other streams
• There is a recruitment frenzy at almost all levels of IT companies
• Security training is emerging as a new opportunity for advanced high-end training companies
• The IT training segment is quite well segregated between software, networking, IT security, multimedia and animation segments. Earlier it was largely software-driven

Movements in training industry

The IT training industry is on a growth path with the software and networking sectors on the upswing. The training industry is dependent on the growth of IT and technology products in the local and international markets.

With India becoming the hub for IT development, lucrative opportunities available locally and new products and technologies hitting the marketplace with regular frequency, IT training never had a better economic climate.

The need for skilled manpower is increasing and with technology upgrades, reskilling will become an equally big market. With the demand supply gap growing there are abundant opportunities for a good scalable and sustainable business model.

Segment training

Any IT training company needs to belong to a specific segment or domain. The largest segments in the IT training industry are software, networking, multimedia and IT security. Most companies choose their domain and try to operate within the limited products and courses therein.

The current method being practised is to conduct a requirement analysis and identify the set of personnel needing training on a variety of products. On such identification, the technical co-ordinator would finalise indicative schedules and proposed venue.

Moreover, application development is on the rise and the markets are dominated by .Net and Java technology. Given the reduced supply of experienced professionals in .Net and Java, development companies are now resorting to picking up raw talent and grooming it to face the challenges of real-time development. As a measure to entice them, the pay scales have been quite encouraging.

Business model for expansion

Earlier, franchising was the only form of expansion for the education industry. However, with complexity of business increasing with time and quality being the buzzword, a few organised sector companies have moved away from franchising to either the manage-franchise model (management is looked after by the company) or have ventured into their own centres.

The margins in the IT training industry continue to be healthy and hence companies with good fiscal policies believe in investing in own centres rather than franchising and working on lower margins.

For the client, deployment of latest technology is best used when you have trained manpower. Productivity enhancement is a tangible benefit and it cuts down a lot of experimentation that the users would otherwise resort to. Training programmes teach participants to use the software to the fullest potential thereby cutting down time requirements and getting the best ROI on their technology deployments. Training as a culture also helps corporate HR retain their people.

On the technology side, participants aspire for a lot of knowledge initiatives besides money and constant updating on technologies at most times is a good reason for people to stay longer in an organisation.

From a training company perspective, it’s a relationship based marketing model and leads to constant revenue model. It’s an effective B2B model for matured IT training companies to address and in the process add value to their clients’ and their own business. Even for their technical staff, it’s a new scale or peak that they aspire to reach as a technocrat.

This model has progressed further with companies setting up their own centres at key locations and appointing franchisees for market penetration. In the marketplace, this is most often referred to as the hub-and-spoke model and is considered to be one of the better models of expansion thereby retaining profits through own centres and expanding marketshare through franchisees.

Growing talent in India

The combination of strong educational system, widely available training infrastructure and proficiency in English, has allowed India to develop a large and sophisticated software talent pool for the software services industry.

As per a Nasscom survey, the demand for software professionals is expected to be approximately 1.1 million people by 2008. However, based on current trends, the supply of software professionals is projected to be 885,000 by 2008. The Nasscom survey has highlighted a potential shortfall of 235,000 people by 2008 if current trends of intake of technical talent in the IT workforce continue.

The role of KarROX

KarROX Technologies offers a single window for all training solutions. It has been in operation for the last 14 years and over the period grown steadily and consistently. It is among the few organised sector companies with a presence in about 50 locations in India and about four locations abroad.

The company says that it is technically advanced and is popular for launching courses on the latest technologies.

KarROX caters to software training, networking training and IT security training through a range of courses. This is managed through three different technical teams which have top notch professionals at the helm of affairs.

What sets it apart from competition are its trainers, technology (latest courses), courseware, global certification, good infrastructure and student relations.

Anticipating change

KarROX’s Board of Directors boasts of top industry names (refer www.karrox.com). Besides the high-powered board, its high technology investments and partnerships with technology companies always helps it keep ahead of competition.

Plans

KarROX will aim at a growth of about 60 percent this fiscal year. It plans to consolidate its leadership in the software, networking and security training space. The company is bullish about its prospects and expects a good fiscal year ahead for the industry.