Leading training specialists will share their experiences of tackling IT development within their own organisations at a conference next month.
The free one-day event, jointly hosted by Microsoft UK and InfoBasis Limited, will focus on how to manage and develop the skills of IT professionals in line with business goals.
Donald Taylor, Strategic Alliances Director at InfoBasis said: "Employers know that developing their IT staff is crucial for success. The good news is that companies already involved in skills management such as EDS, Deloitte and Norwich Union are ready to share their experiences and best practice at this event."
EMEA Senior Project Manager Frankie Sutherland explained why managing the skills of IT staff has been so important for EDS: "For us, skills management is an essential part of managing our IT teams. For example, in one case we were able to run a rigorous training needs analysis, which led to us reducing a potential 57-day curriculum to a more manageable 20 days of highly targeted learning per person. There is no magic to implementing business-driven training: it is a question of getting the detail right. In particular it requires each piece of training to build skills needed by the business."
Others talking at the event include Tim Walker, Partner at Deloitte, who will speak on the practical value of skills management in an IT organisation. In particular Tim will draw on Deloitte's experience of implementing skills management programmes for its own customers. Lisa Mendoza, Organisation Development Manager at Norwich Union, will examine how the insurer has implemented IT skills management over the past two years, and outline some of the lessons she feels the organisation has learnt along the way.
Keynoting at the event will be British Computer Society Chief Executive David Clarke, who will focus on the need for the IT industry to grow more accountable and professional, and will examine what individuals and employers can do to make this happen.
The Digital Skills Summit takes place on 20th June at Microsoft UK, and is free to invited guests. For more information go to: www.infobasis.com/events.
