As from this morning, ICL Plc’s Training Services division is to transform itself into Peritas Ltd, a wholly-owned, but independent subsidiary. The move fits in with ICL’s strategy, begun three years ago, of developing arms-length businesses; basically setting up joint ventures and autonomous companies, such as Guardian (CI No 1,664). The idea behind this policy was to try and expand the software and services side of ICL’s business, which has now grown to UKP600m a year. However, it is the first time that ICL has split off part of its business to the extent of actually forming a new subsidiary. The former training division is an established one of some 25 years’ standing. Training 40,000 delegates a year and with annual revenues of UKP20m, Peritas will henceforth Peritas be the UK’s largest independent information technology training company, ICL claims. It is also said to be the largest UK supplier of Unix and open systems training, and ICL says it is the first company to receive accreditation from Unix International Inc for its portfolio of Unix courses. Obviously enough, it is to be Europe’s largest ICL-specific trainer for both ICL staff and other members of the public too. Some 50% of its portfolio of 400 courses is presently ICL-related, generating 80% of current revenues, but the long-term aim is to move away from this narrow market, and ultimately double revenues by 1996 as a result. Operating as Peritas, the company is to place increasing emphasis on open systems training as well as developing proprietary training for information technology professionals, such as programmers and analysts, on Hewlett-Packard Co, IBM Corp, Digital Equipment Corp and Compagnie des Machines Bull SA systems. By 1996, this latter market is hoped to grow by a potential 10% or so. Other markets considered of interest to develop are those of the end-user and executive management personnel. With regard to this latter category, the main aim is to convince executives that information technology training should be an integral part of an organisation’s business strategy. Such a goal would seem to make sense in the light of current statistics. According to the UK government, the total UK training market is worth some UKP33,000m, of which UKP400m is for information technology. However, given the recession and the fact that training budgets have been traditionally seen as an area of discretionary spending, the value of this particular market fell 3% in 1991. A low growth rate of about 2.6% per annum is forecast as far into the future as 1994, with projected revenues then of UKP432m.

Expert or skillful

Thus, expenditure on training does not match that of investment in technology, and ICL contends that under-use of this technology forms a major barrier to increasing business productivity. Also, the company is eager to cash in on the industry’s trend towards outsourcing or using external suppliers to provide training. Another section of business said to be growing rapidly is that of managed services. This is aimed at customers, who want to run their own training and conference programmes, but lack the facilities to do so. Peritas’ headquarters in Beaumont, near Windsor, Berkinghamshire offer 196 bedrooms and 50 classrooms, most of which have a range of information technology equipment. The site also includes a multimedia unit, yet another area of interest to exploit. Boasting some 3,000 regular customers, a staff of 200 and a network of training centres throughout the UK and Ireland, Peritas recently attained full BS5750 quality management status. This is especially meaningful to a company that has adopted a name derived from the Latin word peritus, meaning expert or skillful. Peritas’s aims for the future are several: as well as double revenues to some UKP40m by 1996 by broadening its range of courses and expanding into new sectors, it intends to continue the work begun as ICL Training Services in the field of developing and applying standards for the training industry. Thirdly, it is eager to continue work in such European Community-funded

projects as Detta, where research is being carried out into the benefits of distance learning, and CTA, or Common Training Architecture, where a set of training standards are in the process of being designed and developed. As an autonomous company, it is thought that Peritas will be in a much better position to provide an across-the-board training portfolio to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse marketplace. – Catherine Everett