Edit: The link no longer works.
Originally posted June 29, 2010 on AIXchange
As more companies migrate to IBM Power Systems hardware and the AIX operating system, the need for education grows. It may be hard for us longtime users to imagine, but every day, seasoned pros are just getting started on POWER hardware and AIX.
While I’ve provided customer training, what I do–either through giving lectures on current topics or talking to people informally as their systems get built–doesn’t compare to the educational value of a “traditional” instructor-led class or lab.
With that in mind, check into the IBM Power Systems Test Drive, a series of no-charge remote (read: online) instructor-led classes.
Courses being offered include:
IBM DB2 WebQuery for IBM i (AT91)
IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for IBM AIX (AT92)
IBM PowerHA and Availability Resiliency without Downtime for IBM i (AT93)
Virtualization on IBM Power (AT94)
IBM Systems Director 6.1 for Power Systems (AT95)
IBM i on IBM Power Systems (AT96)
IBM AIX on IBM Power Systems (AT97)
Remote training, of course, saves IT pros and their employers the time and expense of having to travel to an educational opportunity. But is something lost if students, instructor and equipment aren’t in the same room? Not necessarily. Let’s face it: Nowadays a lot of education is remote anyway–when you travel to classes and conferences and do lab exercises, you’re likely logging into machines that are located offsite. By now good bandwidth is the norm, so network capacity shouldn’t be an issue when it comes to training.
Sure, offsite training has its advantages. When you travel somewhere for a class, there are fewer distractions, so you can concentrate on the training. Taking training remotely from your office desk, it’s easy to be sidetracked by your day-to-day responsibilities. (This does cut both ways though–I often see people connect to their employer and work on their laptops during offsite training.)
Offsite training also allows you to meet and network with your peers. I still keep in touch with folks I’ve met at training sessions. If I run into a problem with a machine I’m working on, I have any number of people I can contact for help. Being able to tap into that knowledge with just a call or a text message is invaluable.
While I haven’t taken a remote instructor-led class like the ones IBM offers, I’ve heard positive feedback from those who have. But what about you? I encourage you to post your thoughts on training and education in comments.