Vendors Strong at Integrating Delivery Options in Their Training Portfolio, Weaker at Measuring Training's Impact on the Enterprise, New IDC MarketScape for IT Education and Training Finds

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International Data Corporation (IDC) has released a new MarketScape report profiling the leading technology vendors participating in the worldwide IT education market as a line of business to support the sale of their technologies. IDC MarketScape vendor analysis reports utilize a rigorous scoring methodology that produces a definitive assessment of each vendor’s current market capabilities and strategies for competing in the future.

“Education customers can be confident that their technology vendors are providing very good instruction in formats that are consistently improving”

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide IT Education and Training 2011 Vendor Analysis (IDC #226469) evaluates eleven technology vendors participating in the IT education market as a line of business to support the sale of their technologies. This evaluation is based on a comprehensive framework and set of parameters that assess vendors relative to one another and to those factors expected to be most conducive to success in a given market during the short and the long term. The vendors included in this analysis are CA Technologies, Cisco, Citrix, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Lawson, Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, SAP, and Symantec.

This IDC MarketScape assessment placed Red Hat, Lawson, Hewlett-Packard, and Cisco in the "Leaders" category with the remaining vendors close behind as "Major Players." The study also found that participating vendors are universally strong at integrating a variety of delivery options in their portfolio and are consistently improving their offerings as new approaches become viable. Many vendors leverage labs to provide practical exercises that closely resemble work tasks. And a wide variety of vendors offer certifications for integrators, operators, and end users. The vendors, too, are nearly universally committed to expanding their offerings to include training relevant to a broader client audience, often including process training in addition to application training.

On the other side of the spectrum, few vendors are in a position to be credible advisors to IT departments on staffing, skill requirements, and best practices for IT organizational management. Because IT organization success is tied to organizational competence, vendors need to be able to demonstrate their clients' competence or weaknesses to appropriately recommend a training solution. Training services strategies should focus on ensuring optimum team composition and skill gaps. These critiques aside, IDC's research reveals that overall, the vendors performed very well on this assessment.

"Education customers can be confident that their technology vendors are providing very good instruction in formats that are consistently improving," said Cushing Anderson, program vice president, IT Education and Training Services research. "Vendors are weakest at measuring the impact of training on the enterprise, making it difficult to effectively describe the opportunity cost of spending a dollar on training as opposed to some other essential need."

About IDC MarketScape

IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.

For more information about IDC MarketScape, please contact Karen Moser at [e-mail].

About IDC

IDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. For more than 46 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

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