"E-learning can save 40% overall cost "
Jan 11, 2008

To address the problem of trained IT professionals in India, QAI has launched a series of education, testing and certification initiatives under the Edista brand. Navyug Mohnot, CEO of QAI, in an e-mail interview with Abhinna Shreshtha, talks about the company's plans for India and the reasons for the slow influx of IT in the education sector.

What have been your general observations of the market in India; in what way is it different from other markets?

India is a highly growing market and boasts of a huge, highly educated workforce and is very successful at managing and developing talent. It is very agile on the Talent Management front and also has exposure in e-learning development. India could do well to capitalize on these strengths and seize a big portion of the Global e-learning pie.

Do you feel that there is a shortage of trained IT professionals in the country and what can be done to overcome this?

Yes, there is a shortage of trained IT professionals in the country and companies are spending huge amount of time and money to train and up-skill new hires. E-learning could prove to be a messiah and can lead to about 40% overall cost savings in the hiring to up-skill cycle. EdistaLearning is already developing a model / solution to tackle the shortage problem with benefits like just-in-time training, minimal overheads (travel, lodging, etc.), consistency in teaching content and evaluation and opportunity to up-skill before joining.

Education is a field where IT has been slow to catch up in, why is it so?

The IT industry has witnessed ups and downs in the last couple of years, from the time when the industry rode high on the Y2K and dot-com wave to the crash that followed with US-led tech slowdown in 2001 and 2002, the global economic recession, 9/11 and its aftermath. The industry began with the consolidation and recovery phase in 2003 driven by driven by the ITeS and e-governance sectors with emergence of high-end technical certifications from big-players like Microsoft, Sun & Red Hat. Today the Global IT training and education market is about US $20 Billion and a major chunk of this (about US$ 7B) belongs to e-learning. Also, with the advent of Web 2.0, learning and specifically e-learning is being taken to the next level known as 'E-learning 2.0' which is based on use of Web 2.0 technologies to support learning, and the changes to learning that result.

How do you plan to market your product in the Indian market?

The management plans a phased approach to market this venture and phase one would entail reaching out to the different market segments by focusing on advertising in the trade press and the print media to reach out to the target audiences, digital media is going to play a pivotal role in extensive branding on the websites that are most commonly visited by the target audiences. We would also focus on Electronic Direct Mailer (EDM) campaigns, as mailers are one of the most effective tools to reach out to the target audience given the space Edista operates in. EdistaLearning will be marketed through mailers to the QAI Community and leading T&D and Learning communities /associations of India. EdistaLearning will have visibility in various public/paid forums that are received well by the target audience. We have already rolled out a new site that is more interactive and have set up an online payment gateway to make purchase for the retail user efficient and easy. We are also focusing on building relationships with the key influencers in the training and education space and talks are in progress with colleges / universities and education boards of various Indian states.

Could you tell us in detail about the kind of services that you will be providing?

EdistaLearning aims to provide a complete learning-to-assessment web-based solution on software engineering process and quality to software professionals and organizations across the world. It enables you to learn anytime anywhere. Currently EdistaLearning offers 29 online courses in the domain of software engineering and management covering areas such as Software Engineering Process Approach Software Project Management Software Quality Management Software Configuration Management Software Testing Software Estimation, etc. It also offers a course on Software Project Management as a qualifying PMI PDU activity and learners earn 35 PDUs for completing this course.

Which verticals do you think will be more interested in your e-learning package?

We are primarily targeting IT, IT education, public sector (Government) and retail (individuals) customers.

You mentioned that Edista will be targeting the retail sector, is there any specific reason for this?

In the current scenario, individuals are on a constant lookout for options to upgrade their skills to move to the next level or perform better at the current level. EdistaLearning aims to facilitate knowledge, competence, and process improvement and helps learners apply contemporary techniques in the real world. This will enable the unlocking the potential within each individual.