IT Training Market Barometer Released: What does the Future hold?
2009 was seen as a somewhat austere year for businesses the world over. In order to appreciate the extent to which the economic climate affected the IT Training sector, Pardo Fox released the IT Training ‘Market Barometer’ towards the latter end of last year, produced exclusively for members of The IITT’s Learning Directors Network. The Learning Directors Network is an exclusive association of executives from the top training providers in Europe, facilitated by the Institute of IT Training, and forming an exclusive community of practice.
The Market Barometer forecast is a report into the third quarter of 2009 and contains a forecast for the 4th quarter of 2009. The data has been drawn from a number of leading training providers, representing more than 25% of the third party IT training market.
The report found that “the rate of decline in the third quarter of 2009 turned out to be as bad as expected and just as bad as in Q2”. Bleak news indeed, however there is light at the end of the tunnel, with 25% of companies reporting feeling ‘bullish’ and optimistic of higher revenues in Q4 than in the same period of 2008. Although, it seems that as revenues continue to fall, so too do training company profits, so the state of the entire economy indeed has a direct effect on the IT training market.
All 3 areas of Instructor-Led Training (end-user, technical and business skills) suffered equally, each incurring nearly a 10% decline since Q1. Despite forecast for little change, Learning Technologies suffered declining revenue in Q3 compared to the same quarter last year, bucking the trend of recent times in which many organisations have been replacing Instructor-led training with ‘cost-saving’ technology-based spending. The market for training support services had a second successive sharp decline of almost 10% since Q2. IT certification also suffered, as the number of IT professional tests administered fell for the first time, and end-user testing continued its decline at a steeper rate. Should we expect an improved review of Q4?
Those taking part in the survey were asked “Which subject groups saw the biggest increases or decreases in your training revenues last quarter?” answers included: “Biggest decrease in Public schedule classes, the biggest increase in training tool development for business users.” “Decreases in public courses: increases in e-learning development.” “E-learning and collaborative learning is in demand – bespoke product sales training is increasing, Prince2 has fallen through the floor.”
Also asked was the question “have you noticed any recent or unusual changes in the way your business is generated, or do you have any comment on the state of the IT training market generally?” one participant responded “signs that things are picking up. Investment in learning tools/ technology in particular is increasing – budgets no longer frozen.” Another commented; “sales cycles for on-site courses are still getting longer due to team leaders’ etc, inability to sign off expense. More last minute bookings on public classes being received.”
Whilst the outlook for the future may not be as favourable as would have been hoped, some areas of IT Training are expected to grow, albeit at a slow rate. Having had the longest and deepest downturn on record, what does the future hold for IT training?