Siemens bitten by IT education bug

IT education has been big bucks in re
07 April 2001

IT education has been big bucks in recent years with scores of companies entering the arena. The latest one to be bitten by the IT education bug is Siemens Ltd., through its wholly owned subsidiary Siemens Information Systems (SISL).

Siemens Information has recently launched a broad-based, high-end IT training course called Siemens IT Learning. And why not? With the IT education market currently estimated at Rs 1,200 crore and said to be growing by over 50 per cent per annum, there are obvious reasons for Siemens to get into it.

Moreover Siemens is not new to IT education, having set up training centers in Chennai and Delhi through a tie-up with Sapient College, SAP's education and training division. This had made SISL the only authorized training partner of SAP across the globe, a recognition it still holds.

Having already invested about Rs 10 crore, the latest venture doesn't require SISL to fork out large sums of money. Says D Bhattacharya, deputy general manager technical education and training, "The investment requirement presently is only incremental. The process is an ongoing one."

SISL has forged an exclusive partnership with Wave Technologies (UK) Ltd. and Prometric. While the former is a world leader in developing and providing IT learning and certification training program, the latter is the largest global organisation for administering vendor certification examinations in the area of IT learning.

The existing and projected shortfall in qualified IT professionals seems to be the reason for Siemens to get into this area. Speaking to domain-b Anil Laud, managing director of the company said, "As per Nasscom, 2.2 million trained IT professionals will be required in the country by 2008. However, we are likely to face a shortage of about 70,000 professionals every year till then, considering the current avenues of providing IT training. Hence the decision." Mr Laud said Siemens IT Learning will ensure that professionals are trained in keeping with the fast-changing technology trends and continuously changing skill profile requirements.