Ahana Infotech has launched a training center called Digiterati that caters to the needs of Operating System managers. The center is the first in the country to have the authorized certification status from all OS vendors (Microsoft, Santa Cruz Organization (SCO), Linux,
Novell and CompTIA (Computing Technology Industry Association, US).

Digiterati is the first and only A+ training provider in India to offer training in areas of hardware, networking, components and servicing.

Parthasarathy Ravikumar, Chief of Digiterati, said, “The employment potential for Os managers is phenomenal and our training center will act as an OS management specialized institution.”

He feels that education must change from teacher centric to student-centric pattern.

About 14 students are to be trained per batch and the frequency of the course varies with each project.

Most Industries have made A+ certification mandatory for all their service technicians. What is this course all about?

What do you do when your computer is acting up? You call the service engineer. He comes over, scratches his head, adjusts a few wires, taps a few keys, and it works perfectly – until the next problem comes up. Without the engineer you are totally helpless.

With an estimated sale of two million computers by next year, service technicians are going to be great demand. Here’s where A+ certification comes into the picture. It is a testing program to assess basic computer service and repair technology skills, in order to certify entry-level service technicians. The test covers a range of hardware and software technologies.

A+ is sponsored by CompTIA – Computing Technology Industry Association, the US-based non-profit organization representing every major company that manufactures, distributes, publishes or resells computer products and services. IBM, Apple computers, AT&T, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, CompUSA, GE Information, Ingram Micro, Intel, Microsoft, Lotus Development are some of these companies. Earning A+ Certification means that an individual possesses all the necessary knowledge, skills and customer relations, for a successful entry level (six months experience) technician, as defined by experts from companies across the industry.

In fact, most of the industry leaders have made A+ Certification a mandatory requirement for all their service technicians. The A+ test is conducted all over the world, and is even translated into Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese. There are said to be 150,000 A+ certified technicians worldwide.

And now, A+ training is available in India. Digiterati, a computer training center based at Chennai, has been appointed as the only authorized training partner of CompTIA in India.

The A+ course will start off with the fundamentals of Physics, Electricity and Electronics and go on to teach the nuances of hardware, networking, troubleshooting etc.

At Digiterati, the only qualification required for this course is +2, preferably in science. The students will be given hands-on training during the course.

As Parthasarathy Ravikumar, Chief, Digiterati says in lighter vein, ‘they will have to learn it practically – receive a few electric shocks, blow up a few motherboards etc. At the end of the course each student has to be a master technician – more accurately – a computer doctor.

Though A+ is comparatively unknown in India, Ravikumar believes that this won’t last long. “People are becoming increasingly aware of the need for service technicians. In fact I strongly believe that software programmers will be extinct in 10 years – they will be reduced to mere digital clerks. But the Systems Administrator will remain and his importance will grow.”

There are great opportunities for Indian service technicians in US as well. “ Mainly because Indians are willing to be on call on a 24-hour, 365-day basis. Such a willingness is practically unheard of in an American,” asserts Ravikumar.

The course costs Rs.16,000 and can be taken part-time also. The students are given live projects to work on during the course. “We send them out to fix computers that are not functioning, free of cost,” he says.

THE HINDU – BUSINESS LINE
Dated. Wednesday, April 17, 2002

An educational institute. No exams. No placement. Sounds like a set of oxymorons? Sure. We thought so too, till we bumped into Ravikumar Parthasarathy, founder of Digiterati, which he calls, “A finishing school for cyber professionals”.

Intrigued by what he says – which is definitely different from the usual stuff that is dished out in the IT education industry, he talked about why women are intellectually cut out for the IT profession and they are better decision- makers – eWorld chatted with him for a good hour.

Excerpts:

What made you enter the education industry?

I saw around me several institutes springing up that merely wanted to capitalize on what is current. I saw a future in other areas, particularly in networking. It demanded a different set of skills. Software skills can be easily replicated across geographies. But networking needs an in-depth knowledge. That’s what will give them bread and without concern the rest will catch up soon. And, it’s similar to the road-laying industry.

You know that the population is only going to increase, that vehicles will hence increase, and that you will need more roads. So you need more people and companies with road-laying skills across the world.

So few potential students understand the need for computer doctors – in other words, SysAdmins and network engineers. If we take the road-industry parlance, we have for long focused on car-making and acquiring driving skills. But with the Internet increasing in power everyday (with every computer added to it), the roads need to be made.

And those with such skills command respect.

What areas do you focus on?

Networking essentials, intricacies of the operating systems and other skills that are useful in system administration duties. These are skills that are certified by various product and service providers. Our strength, we believe, lies in bringing even competing forces such
as Sun and Microsoft within our roof.

How do you evaluate students?

We do not conduct exams. Our speciality lies in education. Exams, for certification by vendors such as Microsoft, Novell and Sun Microsystems; are conducted by others who go in for exam certification. We do not want to dangle the commercial carrot before the student. It debases your values. In the long run, it has proven beneficial to us, since some international product giants discovered that certain exam centers were guilty of fraudulent practices. Now there is stricter control and lesser faith in the Indian geography, as far as exam credentials go.

How has the year been for you?

All major IT education companies have reeled under the effect of the slowdown in the US.
Good talent is hard to get, whatever the shape of the industry. It is hard on the teacher when he has to reach work using the city’s metro bus service but sees his students flying to the US by the dozen for a better lifestyle. But we try to teach candidates who are teachers in the true sense. Their priority should be to teach. Once we are convinced about that – which
conclusion we arrive at through some 53 enquiries in 4 interviews – we take him in. His technical knowledge does not matter. We can impart that to him once he is on board. A case in point is one of our teachers, who comes from the government’s fisheries department! His priority is to teach and we have taught him the technical skills required. And our students needless to add, find him the best.

Computer Technology Industry Association, U.S. (CompTIA), is organizing a special Junior computer Doctor Course as a ramp course for A+ certification this summer, exclusively foe students aspiring to pursue electronic and communication and computer science courses.

The CompTIA A+ Certificate is an internationally recognized certification of technical knowledge and a widely accepted standard for measuring the skill of a technician with six months on-the-job experience.

Industry leaders such as CompUSA, IBM and Packard Bell NEC in the U.S. have made his certification mandatory for their service technicians. Although there are various courses in software application, Digiterati is India’s only authorized A+ training provider. For further details contact Digiterati, 231 TTK Road, ph: 4997934 or e-mail digiterati@digiterati.info

Digiterati, an institution training students in various aspects of computer science has started a one-stop- shop for all Operating Systems management Engineering. Talking to media persons Parthasarathy Ravikumar, chief of Digiterati said Digiterati was first in the country to concentrate specifically on hardware and networking components. It aimed at providing essential skill for managing Operating System resources.

Digiterati targets OS Managers

Chennai-based Ahana Infotech has launched a training center, Digiterati, which claims to be the first in the country to have authorized certification status from all Operating Systems (OS) vendors, namely, Microsoft, Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) , Linux, Novell and CompTIA (Computing Technology Industry Association, US).

Targeted at managers, the center serves as a one-stop-shop for all operating systems management and engineering services. About 14 students are to be trained per batch and the frequencies of the courses vary with each project.

Parthasarathy Ravikumar, Chief of Digiterati, said, “Currently only five percent of the total server backbone is in place and the employment opportunities for OS managers are tremendous. Our center will serve as an OS management specialized institution, training professionals in this segment.”

Breaking free from the herd

The IT industry seems to be in the firm bear grip of nay sayers and ill-advised, self-appointed futurologists. Over- investment in any flourishing and new horizon industry has been the bane of free market company.

The major fall in the IT industry can be attributed to the hype and blind flow of investment from companies with little IT background. The success of the free market economy lies in the fact that it shakes out the inefficient and the incompetent.

All the short-term courses yielded at the very best very short-term results. Thousands of “Short TermProfessionals” had to be retrenched.

Interestingly they all concentrated on Application Software and Programming language skills. Few understood the need for Computer Doctors, System Administrators and networking Engineers.

The infrastructure was not ready for dissemination of Information, because there were very few trained professionals with relevant skill sets. In the Electricity Industry parlance, the Power generation Plants and the electrical appliances and its uses.

Now after the advent of the Internet, it has been proved beyond doubt that the network is the Computer. A stand-alone computer is like a telephone toy not connected to the telephone exchange. The need of the hour is trained and certified networking professionals.

In the Information age, the information processing devices will become pervasive. A high infrastructure has been created and considerably much larger infrastructure needs to be created.

This indicates a huge opportunity for skilled and trained professionals to manufacture, to quality test, to assemble, to market, to sell, to distribute, to repair and to update and to upgrade the entire IT infrastructure, be it the hardware or the software. How do you do this without education and training befitting a thinking worker?

The digitally trained graduates, application software programmers, the cyber coolies will be required in large numbers just as in the garment industry requiring textile workers, tailors and packers. Export garment houses and software companies are no different, just as stitching and coding are no different.

East India Company needed Dubash, plaint Indians who are proficient in 2 languages primarily to act as interpreters. American Corporations expect Indians to be proficient in Java and C, a Digital Dubash. Old Dubashes rode horse drawn carriages, Digital Dubashes ride Delta Airlines. The parallel is striking – both of them make tones of money in the short term.

Servile workaholics were required by the British to fill forms and ledgers. Americans want you to do it digitally! Except that these cyber coolies don’t have the protection of a Government job and a pension.

Sun Microsystems, Novell Inc., Microsoft and Linux have entrusted Digiterati, a Chennai based finishing school for Cyber Professionals, with the task of training System Administrators and Networking Engineers. The training modules are designed and implemented by the respective companies and the evaluation and certification is also by the same companies. The entire program is administered by the respective companies, to ensure compliance with the International Standards.

The need and importance of the Digiterati courses can be best understood by the fact that more than 70% of its trainees – called Sishya Digiterati – are from abroad. Immediate and lucrative placements abroad seems to attract the Computer Professionals in droves, though Digiterati does not promise placement as a matter of policy that Educational Institutions must not dangle commercial carrots to lure students.

Not for nothing Digiterati boasts of a corporate clientele worldwide, including big names like Oracle Corporation, IBM, Compaq, Citi Bank, Grindlays Standard Chartered, TCS, Wipro and Cognizant Technologies.

International Technology and Indian Teacher is an ideal combination and Digiterati’s strength lies here. Ironically, in a career where women can match men, Digiterati has attracted very few women students. A lack of awareness about this career option seems to be the reason for this. Worldwide amongst Certified Computer Professionals, women constitute only 11%.

Degrees, diplomas and any form of paper certificates will become as archaic as a plough and a bullock cart. Post-school, colleges and other educational institutions must don new roles as vocational and skill based training centers, rather than centers fulfilling prehistoric syllabus requirements. The standards, the contents, the methodology and the evaluation in the field of education will be the International.

When Digiterati is offering you SCSA, SCNA, MCSE, CNE etc., all truly international. In a global market, education must also be globally valid. Digiterati gives you the advantage when the certificate comes directly from Sun, Novell and Microsoft to help you gain employment anywhere in the world without additional qualification.

Sun Microsystems (India) Pvt. Ltd. And Digiterati has entered into a strategic alliance to set up Solaris technology training center here.

Digiterati, the high-end IT training division of Ahana Infotech India, will start delivering training programme as the authorized Sun training provider.

Digiterati will offer Solaris administration and network management courses.

Digiterati is a pioneer in standards based net-centric technology training and also provides the entire range of leading network operating systems.

Sun and Digiterati together make it possible for the large user community of Solaris professionals to have access to international standards based training.

Digiterati is the one-stop training shop for all net-centric technologies, operating systems, networking, infrastructure, implementation and deployment of the high-end IT training.