How do you transform that newbie into a competent professional?

A common challenge in our industry is putting together a training program that will meet the needs of a newly hired employee. In rare cases, the new person may have absolutely no experience in IT. More often, he or she has plenty of experience, but not with IBM i or Power Systems. IBM i operators and system administrators, for example, are often drawn from the ranks of Windows and Linux professionals. I've encountered many individuals like Pete, who told me this story:

"Last week, I was the Windows network administrator. Somebody retired, so my boss pointed to the black box in the corner and told me that I was now in charge of that, too. I learned it runs something called 'IBM i.' Since it never seems to go down, how hard could it be to learn everything I need to know?"

Pete was in for a big surprise. Yes, IBM i is famous for its reliability and ease of use. And people with limited job responsibilities—like a payroll clerk—can be productive with minimal training. But Pete assumed he could become a competent IBM i system administrator after taking a three-day class. After we discussed the tasks he was expected to perform, Pete realized that the IBM i environment is as rich and complex as any he has encountered in his previous jobs. We laid out a study plan that eventually took him the better part of a year to complete. By taking Manta courses, Pete was able to train for his new job while he performed his day-to-day administration duties.

I later found out that, to keep me honest, Pete also laid out a curriculum built from classroom-based courses offered by IBM and others. Due to scheduling requirements and prerequisite relationships, this plan would have taken him over two years to complete, with over four months away from the office. It would also have cost him 10 times as much, and that is before including travel expenses.

The attractive price and the ability to take courses on your own schedule are just two of the many advantages of Manta training. You can take courses from anywhere—at the office, at home, or on the road. All you need is an Internet connection and a PC that can run Internet Explorer.

Unlike boring "Webinars" and other passive forms of training that you may have seen, every Manta course is an interactive learning experience. A key a part of every course involves our exclusive IBM i simulator, which lets students practice IBM i procedures from their PCs. When they move to a real system, they will have the confidence and skills to perform system tasks correctly the first time.

Manta's student-paced courses are easy to schedule, averaging two hours in length. You can finish a complete course in a morning or an afternoon—or at home in the evening.

Because training is delivered from the Manta Web site, course updates are immediately available. This means that you receive free, immediate maintenance. Moreover, if we add a course to a product you purchased, you have immediate access to the new course at no extra charge.

A Manta Competency Exam is available for every course. Not only do the exams help you determine whether you have mastered the material covered, they are also an excellent way to test whether a new employee has the required skills. Students who pass a Competency Exam can save time by skipping the associated material.

Manta courses make an excellent online reference when students are back on the job. In addition, a printed Student Reference Guide is available for each Manta series or standalone course.

As the leading IBM i trainer, Manta Technologies has designed complete curriculum paths for the common IBM i job functions. We've analyzed each job and put together a sequence of courses that is designed to transform that newbie into a competent professional. In Pete's case, I recommended that he start with the Operations Combination Pack. Once Pete took these courses and became a competent operator, he was able to move into the System Administration Combination Pack.

In 17 years, Manta has trained tens of thousands of IBM i professionals in over 5,000 organizations worldwide. Let us put that expertise to work for you.

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Throughout his career, William A. Hansen, Ph.D., has rarely been able to do only one thing at a time. While a math graduate student at Northwestern, he also worked full time as a computer operator, making him the only algebraic topologist capable of running a System/360. His 1974 Ph.D. thesis, "A Computer Calculation of the Homology of the Lambda Algebra," applied Fortran to an algebra problem. This mixed background led to a college appointment teaching both mathematics and computer science.

 

Dr. Hansen was an early advocate of multimedia training, spending his free time developing MVS operator courses that used text, video, audio, and scripted lab sessions. The freedom to devote weeks of time to perfect an hour of self-study training led to a permanent position with Deltak, Inc., one of the first companies to produce media-based courses for computer professionals. At Deltak, Bill established the job of quality assurance manager while also serving as the product manager for all operating system courses. His interest in applying educational technologies to computer training led to dozens of magazine articles and the creation (with Auerbach Publishers) of DP Training, the first subscription publication devoted to the art of training computer professionals.

 

Bill founded Hansen Training Systems, Inc. in 1980. HTS specializes in media-based training for IBM midrange and mainframe systems. HTS has been a leader in the use of personal computers to simulate larger systems since its first CBT course in 1985. Bill's courses have included simulators of MVS, JES2, VM, VSE, the ES/900 hardware console, and OS/400 (now IBM i). With his business partner, John Todd, Bill designed EasyTutor, a PC-based authoring system that includes native facilities for the simulation of both green-screen and GUI applications. Seeing the benefits of EasyTutor for AS/400 training, Bill and John founded Manta in 1994. Manta's 120 courses push Bill's lifetime total to over 300 courses that he has written, designed, edited, and/or updated.

 

Bill is the current Education Manager for COMMON, the Power Systems users' group. He and his wife, Sandy, have four children and four grandchildren, who enjoy watching him feed the sharks, eels, and rays in his position as a volunteer diver at the Denver Aquarium.

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