The greening of training

By Peter Dinham
Wednesday, 27 May 2009 12:55

IT People - Training

EXCOM Education and Connection Research are claiming an Australian first with the launch today of a range of green IT training courses in Australia, with an immediate follow-up expansion into the international market.

The two companies, who say they are former foes in the IT analysis market, claim the green IT courses – three in total – are Australian firsts and will fulfil a growing need both in Australia and internationally for green IT education.

Former Gartner analyst and founder of Connection Research, Graeme Philipson, said today the two companies were “the first to enter this area in Australia and New Zealand, with courses based on real local experiences,” and “we intend to expand the courses' coverage internationally."

EXCOM's Jim Watson, a former Asia Pacific managing director for Gartner, says the courses will be launched with an "Is your IT Carbon Ready?" roadshow in June, with a series of two hour breakfast seminars that will “explode some green IT myths, outline the course contents, and provide clients with a green IT training roadmap.”

The two companies say the three courses to be offered initially are a one day introduction to
green IT concepts and best practices, a two-day overview of green IT planning and implementation, and a one day course on how to select a carbon emission management software (CEMS) tool.

“The courses will be based on the lessons we have learnt in our Green IT research," says Philipson, adding that "we recently surveyed over 250 Australian IT departments about their green IT practices and policies, so we are very aware of the level of maturity - or lack of maturity - of green IT in Australia,  New Zealand and internationally."

Commenting on the launch of the training programs by Excom, CSC chief technology officer and AIIA board member, Bob Hayward, said today that “green IT is here to stay”, suggesting that organisations must be prepared to address a variety of regulatory, cost, and energy management opportunities, and that “this training is one key vehicle to accomplish this."

And, VMWare’s Australian and New Zealand managing director, Paul Harapin, reckons awareness of green IT, particularly as a business efficiency and cost savings strategy, has been at the core of “VMware's success in the Australian and New Zealand markets."

According to Harapin, many organisations consume as much as 50 per cent of their total power consumption just from within their IT infrastructure, and, he says, “virtualisation is one of the most important things they can do to reduce their carbon impact.”

“We are seeing a real skills shortage in this area, so new training, such as the specialised range of course EXCOM is introducing, is critical to help address this.”