12 Questions You Should Ask Your Training Provider
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Are your trainers technically certified to teach their classes?
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What’s the certification process for your trainers?
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How and when are your
trainers evaluated and reviewed?
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Does your organisation monitor and review it’s trainers?
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How are your courses developed?
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Do your courseware developers have insight into product
features and functionality?
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Are your training centres routinely audited
to make sure they’re
delivering quality training?
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Are your course evaluations or
scores published on the Web?
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Do your courses have mandatory hardware requirements
that training
centres must meet so that classes won’t be hampered by slow hardware?
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Do your courses offer
real-world scenarios?
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Will your courses help get my people certified?
- Are your courses guaranteed for quality?
Why Should You Ask These Questions?
Effective training plays a significant role in the performance of IT
workers, teams, and the return on any software investment. Who you choose
to fulfil the training needs of your organisation can make a big
difference. In a recent survey, 76% of customers asked thought that it was
important to use a CPLS (Microsoft Certified Partner for Learning
Solutions) to provide their training, yet 60% of them could not distinguish
whether a training company was a CPLS or not.
On this page, we have listed 12 questions you should ask your training
provider to ascertain whether they have the quality of skills and
performance of a CPLS.
Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions (CPLS) are the only
training companies that meet Microsoft’s international standards of
excellence. F1 has been a Microsoft Certified Training Centre (in its
various guises) for over 10 years, so with course sizes limited to just 6
people, you can be sure of excellent training when you book a course with
us.
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Q1. Are your trainers technically
certified to teach their classes?
In order for a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) to be authorised to
teach a Microsoft course, they must hold a certification in the specific
technology and version they are teaching. This means that the Trainer
not only has experience with the product, but they have also passed the
relevant exam, so can also offer advice to students on exam technique and
preparation.
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Q2. What’s the certification process for your trainers?
Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCT) are certified in two ways. Firstly,
they must hold a Professional level certification (MCPD, MCITP, MCSE, MCSD,
MCSA, MCAD, MCDBA). The certification they hold will directly impact
on which Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) courses they are able to
teach. Any MCT will be able to provide a link to view their Microsoft
Transcript showing their certifications online, which will also show their
trainer status and how long they have been certified by Microsoft.
Secondly, Microsoft also require that trainers are able to
teach! It seems like an obvious thing, but if a trainer is not
certified by Microsoft, then they may not have had formal instruction in trainer skills. This ability is important because you could have hired
the most technically able person in the world to teach your staff, but if
they are unable to communicate their knowledge effectively, then you could
be spending a lot of money for no real gain.
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Q3. How and when are your trainers evaluated and reviewed?
Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCT) are evaluated by their students at the end
of every course. These scores are collated into a central source
(Metrics That Matter / MTM) for analysis by the trainer, the training
company, and
Microsoft. If a particular trainer has an unsatisfactory level of
dissatisfied students in more than one quarter, they can lose their MCT
status, which could impact on their job. MCTs are
therefore motivated to ensure students have the best learning experience
possible.
Trainers also have to apply to have their MCT status renewed on an
annual basis. Renewal is granted at the sole discretion of Microsoft,
and they take into account the student evaluations and the certifications
the trainer holds. This renewal will be clearly listed on their
Microsoft Transcript (like a CV of certification) as 'Trainer' followed by
the year and the date they renewed. There will also be a separate
section showing their MCT history.
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Q4. Does your organisation monitor and review it’s trainers?
As a Microsoft Certified Partner for Learning Solutions (CPLS), we can log into
the Metrics That Matter web site to review all of the
customer evaluations for our training courses, and take action if necessary. We can quickly see all feedback, whether positive or
negative, against a trainer there.
F1 also undertakes peer group reviews and monthly trainer meetings,
where our trainers discuss and cross-train on courses and classroom
techniques. They also attend the MCT Summit organised by Microsoft,
and attend MCT readiness training for new technologies.
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Q5. How are your courses developed?
Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) is developed by Microsoft using
three separate stages before it is released as a course. Firstly, the
course is written by the software developers at Microsoft who have worked
on and developed the product. Then it is reviewed by specialist
courseware authors to ensure that the flow of the modules covers the
subject adequately. Finally, it is reviewed by experienced Microsoft
Certified Trainers (MCT) who comment on the course as a whole, including
the hardware standard, the PowerPoint slides and the lab functionality.
Even after the courses are released, feedback from MCTs and students is
encouraged, and may result in the course being re-released as a new
improved version.
Microsoft CPLSs are the only training companies that are able to
purchase and use MOC, guaranteeing not just the quality of the course, but
the quality of the training for the student. F1 only uses MOC manuals
for a training course and each student has their own to make notes in and
to keep.
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Q6. Do your courseware developers have insight into product
features and functionality?
Yes, because they actually develop the product for Microsoft. The
courseware comes from people who actually write the product code, so they
are developing the features and functionality of the software themselves.
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Q7. Are your training centres routinely audited to make sure they’re
delivering quality training?
Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions (CPLS) are the only
training companies that meet Microsoft's international standards of
excellence. As part of the CPLS program, F1 has to be available for
audit every year by Microsoft. This includes an audit of our training
centre facilities, our use of MOC, the MCTs we use, our service standards
and a 'secret shopper' process to ensure our Sales team are giving good
advice and are responsive to customer needs.
Additionally, Microsoft reviews CPLS customer satisfaction every quarter
and a more formal review of performance takes place at the annual
re-enrolment.
We are pleased to say that F1 Computing Systems Ltd participated in a review and audit by the
Microsoft Quality Assessment Program in 2008 and was found to have met the
requirements for courseware utilization, trainer certification, hardware,
facilities, and customer satisfaction.
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Q8. Are your course evaluations or scores published on the Web?
As of March 2009, all Microsoft CPLSs have their averaged course
evaluation scores listed on the web. This is easily available on the
Microsoft Learning Web site, at
www.microsoft.com/learning/classlocator.
Microsoft are the only company to provide accessible customer
satisfaction scores for their training partners (CPLS) on the web.
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Q9. Do your courses have mandatory hardware requirements that training
centres must meet so that classes won’t be hampered by slow hardware?
Microsoft set a hardware minimum requirement for every course they
produce, ensuring that students are not distracted from their training with
problems like slow hardware. Microsoft CPLSs have to comply with this
standard, although in F1's experience, we feel that sometimes the machines
are not fast enough and will often use a higher specification PC in order
to maximise the student experience.
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Q10. Do your courses offer real-world scenarios?
Every Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) course has exercises with
almost every module to enable students to implement what they have just
learnt in a real-world scenario. These 'labs' are clearly shown in
the Outline section of our course pages.
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Q11. Will your courses help get my people certified?
Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) has two objectives; enable students
to use the software more effectively, and prepare students for the
associated Microsoft certification exam. Microsoft believe that
certification helps IT teams perform at their best and has ensured that the
courses they produce are part or all of the required preparation for a
Microsoft exam.
All certification routes use courses as the main preparation tool and F1
has endeavoured to make the process clear and straightforward for
customers. Our certification pages
have separate tables to show which exams you need to take for a specific
certification, which courses you need to attend and how much it costs.
We even provide you with a PDF download of the course outlines so you can
see exactly what you will learn and use to get approval from your line
manager.
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Q12. Are your courses guaranteed for quality?
Yes. All Microsoft CPLSs undertake a continual and rigorous
process as part of the Microsoft program, meeting standards of customer
satisfaction, trainers, courseware, hardware, facilities, staff training
and knowledge, volume, reporting and promotion. Using a CPLS as your
training provider is one of the best guarantees for a good quality training
course.
However, all CPLSs offer a guarantee that if a student is not satisfied
with a course, then they are either entitled to re-attend the
course free of charge, or claim a refund on the price of the
course.
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And Finally...
If you are still unsure whether your training provider is a Microsoft
CPLS, then look for the logo shown below on their website. CPLSs have
to display it on their home page as part of their agreement with Microsoft,
and only CPLSs are able to display it.
F1 are so proud of our partnership with Microsoft, that we display our
Partner logo at the bottom of every web page.
If you would like further clarification on any of the
answers listed above, then please contact us either by email at
enquiries@f1comp.co.uk or by
telephone on 01225 336096.
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