IT Training Awards 2006 sell out success
A sell-out audience of 450 people from all sections of the IT training industry attended the Institute of IT Training's IT Training Awards 2006 at the Dorchester on 2 February 2006. The event was sponsored by MWB Business Exchange.
Hosted and presented by television broadcaster Lucy Alexander, the awards night itself was a night of celebration of the continual rise in standards, which was evident in the quality of the training projects carried out by the finalists.
According to Chair of the judges Professor Peter Ford, the standard of this year's entries was again at an all time high. 'Since the Institute started the Awards, we have witnessed a continual rise in the standard and quality of the entries,' he said.
The Institute also took the opportunity of its annual Awards Dinner to celebrate its 10th Anniversary of its formation with an address from Chief Executive Colin Steed, which received a standing ovation. Senior members of the Institute outlined to the audience how the Institute has helped them in the careers over the years.
Attendees had flown in from around the world, including the United States, Benelux, South Africa, Ireland, and throughout the UK to attend the awards.
The winner of the blue riband award - Training Company of the Year - went to The Training Camp. 'We are delighted to present the Gold Award this year to the training team at The Training Camp,' said Colin Steed, chief executive of the Institute.
'In their feedback report, the judging panel said that The Training Camp really bring a fresh approach to the IT training market place. 'They have taken a different approach in terms of delivery methodology and product development with a focus on the holistic experience of learning. Scaleable, robust business management systems have allowed Training Camp to expand its operation and reach without significant additional investment in sales or marketing achieving profitable growth at the fastest rate for this industry. It is a worthy winner of the highest accolade in the industry - Training Provider of the Year 2006.' Happy Computers took the Silver and last year's winner QA took the Bronze.
'The judges were particularly impressed in how this company has made such creditable progress over the past year with significant staff development and financial results.'
Michelle Mook, a former NHS trainer now with Matrix FortyTwo, was presented with the coveted Trainer of the Year award. 'We had a record number of entries for this award,' said Steed, 'and this category again was the most difficult to judge for the panel. According to the judges, any one of the finalists could have won - and deserved to be recognised by their employers.' Steed explained that the judges had great difficulty finally coming up with a winner. 'The chair of the judging panel for this category told me that Michelle is an outstanding example to all trainers. Having said that, any of the six finalists would be very worthy winners.' Andy Driver of Parity won Silver and QA'a Gary Uffendell won the Bronze Award.
News International won the Training Department of the Year. The judging panel commented: 'News International began the year with a team of 4 trainers delivering training to meet a wide variety of project-driven needs. As well as responding with measurable success to some very business critical training, they have developed their own quality assurance process, e-learning materials and TNA process, while at the same time remaining very business-focused, and in touch with departmental requirements. As a result, against an atmosphere of tight costs, their contribution to the business has been valued and recognised resulting in the team being expanded to 8 members'. Centrica took the Silver and Portsmouth City Council won the Bronze.
e-Learning Project of the Year was won by Tata Interactive Systems & Zurich Financial Services. The judges reported: 'This innovative e-Learning/ knowledge management/performance support project for Zurich Financial Services was outstanding in the way in which it tackled a critical business need with an innovative integrated approach. It was an extremely well implemented programme that is ground-breaking in terms of its context and scope, and has enormous potential as an architecture into which other content can be incorporated'. The judges were particularly impressed at the way in which this comprehensive knowledge base is maintained and updated. It is clearly delivering business benefit and competitive advantage.
Internal Training Project of the Year was won by Belfast City Council. This project tackled the introduction of a new city-wide Leisure Service using an approach where the terms 'holistic' and 'culture change' really do mean what they say. In addition to focusing on the real return to be gained from the investment made in new technology and processes, the project illustrated direct read-through of the wider objectives of Belfast City Council. The judging panel was particularly impressed by the extension to the role of the trainers throughout to the project. The holistic approach extended far beyond the office confines and the first-line client (the Leisure Services Manager) to the wider population of Belfast. Indeed the team became an internal culture change agent for the whole of Belfast society.
The External Training Project of the Year was won by The Ultimate People Company & The William Hill Organisation. The judging panel commented: 'Using their people, processes and technology approach, Upco developed an outstanding end to end training programme for William Hill software development employees as they moved from a 3rd generation development environment to the world of OO and Java. The extremely comprehensive, work-based programme covered not just the technical, but also the critical people issues which arise in such a transition'.
Learning Centre of the Year was awarded to Pitman Training Centre, EC2. The judging panel was impressed by the way this particular Pitman Training Centre demonstrated absolute clarity of focus in its approach and its business goals. 'There was clear evidence of innovation and energy and outstanding evidence of the outcomes that can be achieved through the commitment to the overall process. This is a complex portfolio and the Centre manages that portfolio with entrepreneurial zeal. The marketing programmes were especially creative and there was a total commitment to quality and provable outcomes'.
Staffordshire County Council beat off strong competition to take the Staff Development Programme of the Year award. The programme to develop the ICT skills of a huge, diverse and disparate target group would have been a huge challenge if it had not been handled so well by the training team. Staffordshire County Council managed the Catch 22 - that ICT skills are not compulsory for the group but they are being driven by a Central Government edict. The 'softly-softly' approach adopted involved excellent change management, sound TNA work, a range of delivery options, staff involvement through the reference group, and a highly visible change manager who was able to relate the skills to the different jobs.
Training Manager of the Year was awarded to Julie Cassin, Training Manager of Ernst & Young. The judging panel reported: 'Julie Cassin has re-established morale in the training department and has energetically set about building a team that provides real business benefit and is proactive in enabling new business processes and technologies, such as wireless networking and IP phones. Julie has outstanding leadership qualities and has become a vital part of the Ernst & Young operation'.
Julia Emelogu won the Freelance Trainer of the Year award. The judging panel commented: 'Julia demonstrates drive, passion and professionalism in all areas of training. In so doing, Julia has demonstrated her competence as both a business person and a freelance trainer. She has the utmost respect for and from her clients evidenced by the strength of her client relationships. She is a credit to the freelance trainer profession and is a most worthy winner of the Freelance Trainer of the Year Award 2006'.
The Chief Executive's Commendation was awarded to The Cabinet Office & Parity Training. This award is presented on the recommendation of the judging panels for a particularly outstanding project or service which does not fit neatly into any one of the Award Categories. Whilst the project in question contained training as an element, this was a project of excellence, spanning training, HR and business processes.
The Colin Corder Award, presented in recognition of outstanding services to IT training, was won by Bob Mosher. Mosher, Microsoft's Director of Learning and Strategic Evangelism for Learning, was unable to be at the Awards Dinner due to a prior speaking engagement in the US and so accepted the award via a video presentation. He will be presented with his award at the Institute's National Trainer's Conference in May.
CHARITY AUCTION RAISES RECORD AMOUNT
The Institute held its annual Charity Auction at the Awards Dinner, with all proceeds going to ChildLine, the charity set up by Esther Rantzen for children in trouble or danger. Following a brief presentation by Michele Austin, better know as Yvonne Hemmingway in the TV series The Bill, the Institute raised £16,000 for the charity.
A week's holiday in Las Vegas for 2 was most keenly contested prize. 'Again I have received tremendous support from the industry by their generous sponsorship of the Charity Auction,' said Steed. 'Happy Computers, QA, SAS Education, Learning Tree, Cerco, and James Thornton Group should be congratulated in sponsoring the event in difficult times,' he said. Additionally, many organisations provided donations to the event.
The auction was hosted by Alan Bellinger who was delighted with the generosity of the audience.
The IT Training Award winners on the night are listed below.
Training Company of the Year
Sponsored by Hewlett Packard
Gold: The Training Camp
Silver: Happy Computers
Bronze: QA
Training Department of the Year
Sponsored by PPI Learning
Gold: News International
Silver: Centrica ICT Education & Training
Bronze: Portsmouth City Council
Internal Training Project of the Year
Sponsored by Computeach
Gold: Belfast City Council
Silver: East Sussex County Council
Bronze: National Grid
External Training Project of the Year
Sponsored by Ricoh
Gold: The Ultimate People Company & William Hill
Silver: PPI Learning/Computacenter, ODPM & Dept of Transport
Bronze: QA, Skillsoft & Nestle
e-Learning Project of the Year
Sponsored by EMC
Gold: Tata Interactive Systems & Zurich Financial Services
Silver: Intuition & NHS
Bronze: Alpha Airports Group & Skillsoft
Learning Centre of the Year
Sponsored by Learndirect
Gold: Pitman Training Centre, EC2
Silver: Pitman Training Centre, High Holborn
Bronze: Prudential & Skillsoft
Staff Development Programme of the Year
Sponsored by: Book-a-Trainer
Gold: Staffordshire County Council
Silver: EMC Global Education
Bronze: Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland
Training Manager of the Year
Sponsored by Parity
Gold: Julie Cassin, Ernst & Young
Silver: Lucie Thomas, University of Glamorgan
Bronze: Karren Graham, SJ Berwin
Trainer of the Year
Sponsored by OCR
Gold: Michelle Mook, Matrix FortyTwo
Silver: Andrew Driver, Parity Training
Bronze: Gary Uffendell, QA
Freelance Trainer of the Year
Sponsored by Broadskill
Gold: Julia Emelogu
Chief Executive's Commendation
Sponsored by National Computing Centre
The Cabinet Office & Parity Training
Colin Corder Award
Sponsored by IT Training
Bob Mosher