Online learning gains credence
When the UK went into lockdown on 23 March, it meant that the TD SYNNEX Academy had to suspend all classroom-based courses. Fortunately, it was ready to deal with such an eventuality, and delegates have responded very positively, said Richard Whitson, Academy Training Business Development Manager at TD SYNNEX.
‘Historically, classroom-based training has always been the most popular choice for customers, especially where content is highly technical. Attendees value the opportunity to question the instructor and classmates on how to apply generalised learning content to the specific issues they face in their own IT environment.’
With customers prevented from attending training centres, TD SYNNEX switched to using its Individual Multimedia Video Presence (iMVP®) training environment. This enables anyone to attend instructor-led sessions from any location. It creates a high-quality virtual environment, giving attendees a fully-interactive experience with seamless two-way audio and video communication allowing them to share ideas and ask questions in real time.
In addition, he noted, with many IT projects being placed on hold, consultants have been able to use their time to take certification training using on-demand courses. Many of these include tutorials and practical exercises that can easily be done from home.
Customers have been quite happy to use iVMP® and on-demand resources under present circumstances, said Richard. Now that more people have experienced it, he believes it will become more popular. ‘Given the reduced travel expense and flexibility to combine geographically-dispersed teams into a single environment, I would expect there will be a step-change increase in the use of online training that will remain long after the current crisis has passed.’
The temporary change in working practices has also allowed salespeople to sharpen their skills, said Anjali Saraswathyamma, Training and Education Manager for the TD SYNNEX Channel Academy. ‘Remote learning has never been so much in demand. In the last few weeks, we have seen a surge of registrations for The TD SYNNEX Channel Academy, where our customers can access free online training resources from the likes of Vendors such as HPE, Microsoft, Intel, Dell, Cisco and others.’
The Channel Academy can also act as a useful way to bring teams closer together she noted. Sales managers can register all their sales team and get reports and updates on their progress and users can access and track their own learning as well. All resources can be accessed anytime and on any device.
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