International ICT consultancy, Global Bits, has opened Thuta, a new Oracle Corp. training company, in Somerset West near Cape Town. Thuta is an Oracle Approved Education Centre (OAEC), and will run curricula developed by Oracle University.
The OAEC program provides Oracle training in locations where Oracle University does not maintain a direct presence. Thuta is based in Somerset West, near Cape Town, and will initially target the Cape peninsula, but also has the rights to expand into KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Free State. Thuta will open a centre in Durban, South Africa, in March 2004.
Veronica Etsebeth, MD and founder of Global Bits, says the company’s status as an Oracle E-Business Suite and Technology Certified Advanced Partner meant that the company possessed a depth of skills, which led to the company’s decision to branch into education. “Oracle University has drawn on our staff to lecture students, and the idea for a separate business as an Education Centre Contractor grew from there.” Thuta was awarded OAEC status in August 2003.
“Thuta is moving to a full Oracle solution training approach,” she says. “We currently offer all the public Oracle courses required by our agreement. This will be extended as we will look to add value through customized private training events, where we offer boot camps, continuous training and client specific modules at affordable rates.”
Thuta offers public classroom training and private on-site training. Courses are scheduled on demand, irrespective of the number of students who attend. Students complete a training needs analysis before any course as a type of “reality check” — an assessment that identifies exactly the type and level of Oracle skills required.
As an education partner, Thuta receives a revenue share based on each course, and is given ongoing support and marketing exposure by Oracle.
“We want our value to come from our professional resources, our good client relationships and our ability to consult on our client’s training requirements and adapt to them,” says Etsebeth. “Our relationship with Oracle is always up-front in this, and is included in all our needs analyses. We see ourselves as an extension of Oracle and the Oracle University. It is through this relationship that we want to grow our existing reputation.”
Dan Ellappa, country education manager at Oracle University, says the Oracle learning methodology is highly dependent on its delivery mechanisms. “The choice of a partner is evaluated in terms of its quality standards in information transfer and industry expertise. Global Bits Thuta has a healthy track record of adding value to Oracle’s training methodology.”
