According to Wouter Haayman, managing director of Stevenage, Hertfordshire-based Mainframe Management Services Ltd – MMS, fewer than 50% of computer operators in the UK have received any form of training in the last 12 months. Haayman believes that trained operators can help out-perform better equipped operations, but says managers are reluctant to offer training as they either do not believe it necessary or that they think trained staff will leave soon afterwards. Formerly general manager of Microlife UK, Haayman says his new company has been in operation for two months, providing hands-on training in IBM operations. Funded by private money, the company offers public courses on IBM-based systems and general computing operations as well as specifically designed on-site courses for individual applications. Training takes place at a large insurance company’s data centre in Stevenage which runs an IBM 3090 and, according to Haayman, has all the necessary up-to-date peripherals. However training for operators is far less structured than on the application side, and most operators tend to pick up their skills in house over the years; so MMS may discover that smaller companies can not afford their service while the big ones do not need it. There are seven people currently employed by the new company, three of whom are instructors headed by former Microlifer David Lace. The firm has 12 customers – mostly high street names says Haayman, turnover is expected to rise to UKP500,000 next year and the number of staff to 20.
