Independent MPE Ed options are en route
April 12, 2006
Since HP is stepping out of the HP 3000 education business, a third-party team with several decades of experience in MPE training is ramping up its first offerings this spring. These days, getting people to attend in-person training is getting to be the exception which proves the rule: online, Web-based training.
In years past this was called Computer Based Training, but CBT was a soul-less experience compared to being in a seat in front of an instructor. Now with software like the kind used during last summer's OpenMPE meeting in Cupertino, students can raise their hand, ask questions, chat with other students, even refer to a Web page within their messages.
The training partnership of Frank Smith at Alden Research and Paul Edwards of Paul Edwards & Associates reports that they are continuing the transition process from HP to their venture in accordance with the agreement signed by both parties last year.
Smith and Edwards report:
We are in the major process of reformatting, making corrections to, adding notes to, and updating the PowerPoint slides we received from HP for the MPE classes they have taught over the years. Many of the older course materials are in ancient formats that we are not able to view yet. Some of these formats may become accessible as we continue our conversion effort. The MPE Fundamentals course materials are about 95 percent finished, and then work will start on the System Manager course. The other classes, TurboIMAGE, System Performance, and Network Administration, will follow later this year.
We plan to offer classes starting in the June, 2006 timeframe. The response for training has been encouraging and we have enough potential students for several classes. Most of the requests have been for MPE Fundamentals and System Manager courses. We even received a request from HP's India operations. We plan to offer Suprtool classes, too.
Our investigation into delivering instructor-led Web based training is ongoing and will probably be our format of choice for all classes. The cost savings, little downtime, and no travel requirements are very appealing to the companies and the instructors. We plan to provide access to an HP 3000 for labs, white board capability, interactive discussion, and live instructor interaction. All the students will need are a Web browser and an HP terminal emulator. We plan to send the course materials to each student on a CD.
We will continue to update our Web site, www.mpe-education.com with course details and schedules as information is finalized.