Wake up and smell the lucre

Academe's failure to react to industry's training needs could prove costly, argues Matthew Poyiadgi

The extent to which the Government is prepared to back the move towards information technology qualifications was clear last month when it set out a series of measures to close the IT skills gap. Ministers recognise that UK productivity will improve only if IT skills improve. And, after the dotcom crash, these are in short supply.

The IT plan, developed by E-skills UK, the industry body representing IT, sees the creation of a new university degree and three new IT qualifications. They offer the UK's higher and further education sectors the chance to fend off competition from private training companies and to become the primary source of skilled technology workers in the UK. But will they?

Our experience at CompTIA, a global IT trade association, shows that universities have still not capitalised on the increase in the number of vendor qualifications offered by organisations such as Microsoft, Cisco and CompTIA, which offer skills used in corporate environments.

Universities and colleges have been slow to integrate these new qualifications into their curriculums, which threatens the viability of their courses. The ability to offer new business-focused IT qualifications will make universities more attractive and help them get more students through their doors, supplementing government grants and generating much-needed revenue.

The problem is that universities are not doing this effectively and competition is fierce. Private training companies have always served this market, offering vendor qualifications largely as off-the-shelf programmes.

They have traditionally attracted the corporate customer. But corporate users no longer want to have their training controlled by suppliers, they want skills development specific to their needs, personnel and circumstances. They want bespoke training.

This is why the broader range of qualifications on offer from academia has drawn their eye. Large companies are becoming interested in colleges and universities as sources of external training because they offer value for money, are recognised centres for education and offer skills training in disciplines relevant to business.

For the education system, this is an important opportunity to tap a new source of revenue and the chance to increase income rapidly - but the system is not geared up to cope with this demand. Not only are institutions not adopting the very qualifications that could ensure their growth, but they are also struggling to accommodate the customers that represent their best route to new funds.

While corporate suppliers have to be flexible, well-structured and accommodating, colleges and universities are bureaucratic, rigid and have never had to act like businesses. If they do not adapt to the changing needs of the corporate world, they will miss out.

The bottom line is that higher and further education are missing a trick. They must react to the corporate market; they cannot be slow to adopt IT qualifications; and they must change their approach to accommodate the demands of lucrative private sector customers. Not to do so would be to miss an opportunity. Not everyone likes the smell of commerce in the morning, but academia may have to get used to it.

Matthew Poyiadgi is European director, CompTIA.
www.comptia.org