LANSA Introduces eLearning Option of Education and Training

Published: March 24, 2009

by Dan Burger

Continuing education and training for employees hasn't disappeared, but we will likely see it taking some different directions. With budgets pinched in the Vice Grips of upper management's cost-cutting raids, companies are looking for training alternatives that maintain commitments to educating IT personnel. At IBM i tools vendor, LANSA, that means a greater reliance on its eLearning curriculum, an on-demand training program that covers the company's line of application development, modernization, and integration products.

Shortly after hatching the eLearning early-adopter program in 2009, LANSA users started signing up. "Response to the early-adopter program was excellent, but not surprising," said Steve Gapp, president of LANSA Americas. "Even with the current economic pressures, companies are still investing in their employees through continued education. When managers contemplate travel costs (airfare and lodging, in particular) along with the absence of a developer for a week, education requests get declined. LANSA's eLearning solves this issue because it provides our customers and partners with a means to educate themselves without leaving the office."

As an alternative to the eLearning program, LANSA offers education and training in a customer on-site classroom setting, at the LANSA offices in suburban Chicago, and via the Web during scheduled online sessions.

The eLearning option not only provides a lower cost, it also allows participants complete scheduling freedom, which often means learning at night and on weekends. Training courses are available in introductory, intermediate, and advanced skill levels, and with a focus on the range of LANSA products.

It is delivered via a thin client connected to a virtual machine on the LANSA server, providing users with a preconfigured environment that preserves their data and settings until they request it be deleted. An AS/400 interface is available on the network.

The LANSA eLearning environment has enabled developers at Intelliware to quickly bring new developers up to speed. "Learning an unfamiliar environment can be a bit overwhelming at first," says Intelliware's Arlyn Dale, "but LANSA's eLearning has simplified the steps and made understanding the technology very easy."

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