ICL Plc, the European services wing of Fujitsu Computers, hopes to capture a major slice of the $5.5bn UK IT training market, by targeting the small and medium sized enterprise market with online learning services. The UK firm is providing the internet framework for small businesses that can’t afford to hire outsourcing contractors to learn the skills to become self-sufficient.
Its Future Focus initiative combines ICL’s online infrastructure, providing more than 40 online classrooms, with Thames Valley University and Slough Borough Council’s on-site assets of computers and textbooks. Students browse the www.futurefocus.co.uk site to find out which modules they need, then go to one of the sites on the ground to collect the appropriate coursework. Students also have real time access to a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer or Systems Engineer based in either Stockport in the UK, Singapore or Dallas in the US. Optional exams are taken in Windsor and recognized by Microsoft.
Martin Pratt, head of ICL’s European online operations, said companies will save on overheads such as travel and subsistence, as well as receiving a more flexible service than that of a classroom. The service is available in English, Japanese, French and Finnish, and the company has plans to offer German, Portuguese and Swedish. Although the UK, Singapore and the US are the only geographic areas covered, ICL is in talks with a partner called KnowledgePool in New South Wales, Australia, and Pratt says that India is also a possibility.
