*** NEWLY UPDATED:
June 2008 ***
Over the last 10 years,
especially the last 3, I've had the opportunity to
attend many network security related classes. I've
attend training at many different schools, some of which
were very good, some just average. In this
article, I'll discuss my experiences and offer my
opinions as both a student and more importantly as
A CUSTOMER...
it's amazing how many companies either forget that
they're in the customer service industry, or pay loads
of lip service to their customers, but fall sadly short
of true quality customer-oriented actions.
I've often wondered what
it would be like to offer a short seminar to these
companies from a customer perspective. I'm not
talking just about the frontline folks, I mean Senior
Management. I bet it would be rather eye opening!
;)
I am a CCIE. I also
run my own Information Security Company (http://www.rmiss.net)
, so I think I can speak pretty well to the quality of
training organizations! To get an idea of my
experience, you can see my online resume
HERE. (I put this in so you'll
be confident that I know what I'm writing about!)
In many cases, the
training may be great, the the overall customer service
level is awful. In other instances, it's the
opposite. For fear of getting sued, I won't write
about the worst place I went, but there's still plenty
to read.
To be fair and
consistent, I've rated each training institute in the
following categories.
New for 2008:
I've added another category to the scoring system:
| Number /
Variety of Classes Offered |
Does this company have many choices of courses
over a wide field of technology? |
| Class
Availability |
Are the classes offered actually scheduled on a
consistent basis? More importantly - in
fact probably the MOST important - does this
company keep its' word to the customer and
conduct classes that are scheduled and paid for,
or do they cancel classes? (The 'nature of
the business' argument may work for the company,
but from a customer's perspective it's an image
killer) |
| Ease of
Registration |
How easy is it to actually register for a class?
This should be a no brainer. |
| Facilities |
Are the training facilities accessible and
convenient to lodging, transportation, etc.
Are the facilities clean and orderly, thus
conducive to a good learning environment? |
| Equipment
Used in Class |
Is there actual devices on site to work on?
Or, do you need to access the systems remotely.
In either case, was the performance of the
equipment adequate? |
| Instructors |
Were the instructors knowledgeable? How
about competent? Were they good teachers?
Were they professional? |
| Office
Personnel |
Were the employees on site professional?
How was their attitude towards the customer?
Were they helpful? |
| Training
Materials |
Were training materials provided? If so,
were they adequate, accurate, and complete? |
| Access to
Management |
Was senior management available in case of
problems? Did senior management make any
effort to make the customer feel valuable and
willing to return for repeat business? |
| Advertising |
A
high score indicates the absence of spam.
You know the kind... all of those
unsolicited emails and/or phone calls for
training 'deals' you don't want or need. |
| Billing |
Do you receive quotes and invoices promptly?
If classes were cancelled, did you receive a
refund promptly? |
| Overall |
Would you go back? Would you spend your
OWN money on training with this company? |
Scoring Definitions
1 - 3
Terrible, disgusting, revolting, bordering on offensive.
GET A REFUND and DON'T GO BACK!
3-5
Way below expectations. Question the ethics and
intelligence of the company.
6 - 7
Pretty much average. Go back if you get a
discount.
8 - 9
Now THAT's why you've just spent $3,000 on a class, plus
travel, plus lodging, plus meals.... etc. Not only
go back, but leave positive feedback for management so
they can appropriately congratulate their team.
Not only that... recommend them to your associates and
other organizations. 'Word of Mouth' is a powerful
tool in the training world!
10
Mega-Hella-WOW!!
Each
category will be given a rating from 1 (Absolutely
Abysmal) to 10 (Superstars) You can click any of
the links below for scores and more juicy info. I
will warn you, I tend to score TOUGH, but fair.
Any institute that meets expectations should score about
a 7. They have to truly excel to get higher than
an overall score of 7.
Security University
Overall Score: 9.4
Sunset Learning
Overall Score: 7.5
Globalnet
Training Overall Score: 6.4
IP Expert
Overall Score: 9.1
Ascolta
Overall Score: 4.6
|
