| | Ipswitch Training Seminar: A Give and Take of Valuable Information
It takes a special person to hang out a shingle and live up to the mighty moniker of computer consultant. But Eric Osterholm knew in his early teens that computer science was his calling. By the time he was a junior in high school, his hands on experience had already covered hardware, software, and programming. At that point, Eric recalls, I knew I wanted to stay in this field and pursue it through college and as a career.
Today, Eric Osterholm is a computer consultant, an IT professional, an expert in his field. Like a chameleon able adapt to its current habitat, Eric is able to draw upon extensive experience to deliver diverse services for a wide variety of clients. With a resume that spans 17 years in the computer, networking, and telecommunications industry, Eric s client list includes such industry giants as Dell, Motorola, IBM, GE Aircraft, Ford Motors, and the Texas Department of Transportation, to name a few.
What makes Eric so smart? He never stops learning. The computer industry revolves around rapidly evolving software, so in addition to servicing clients, Eric must keep apprised of all the latest and greatest developments and improvements. He does this by maintaining a complete computer lab in his home, staying well connected to a network of his peers, pursuing current certifications, subscribing to numerous trade publications, and attending training classes.
Eric has seen a consistent demand for monitoring and management tools and solutions in the industry. So, looking to broaden the existing skill set he s been building for years and to refresh his knowledge base, Eric took advantage of his first opportunity to enroll in an Ipswitch training course. He attended the Ipswitch WhatsUp Gold* training seminar in early 2003 close to his home in Austin, Texas. He says, I think Ipswitch has one of the best tools out there. I ve been using WhatsUp Gold and recommending it to many of my clients for more than five years, so I was happy to be part of this class and learn about the latest version.
With two clear goals in mind, Eric accomplished his mission. He learned the new features of WhatsUp Gold version 8.0 and those of older versions -and- he was exposed to a broader range of management concepts. As an added bonus, Eric found the swapping of stories and tips with the other students to be equally valuable.
According to Eric, the two-day Gold seminar was well worth the investment of resources. He reports, I picked up many of the new features in WhatsUp Gold 8.0 (events, interface monitoring and mapping, map file format and exporting, etc.), as well as several older features that I hadn t used yet. The newly added ability to monitor interfaces is an incredible new feature. The service monitoring is built in as opposed to an add-on, which provides great functionality.
He added, WhatsUp Gold has some wonderful graphics manipulation tools that provide the flexibility I need for creating detailed maps for network diagram needs.
At a cost of $750 per day, Eric says the Ipswitch seminar was a little more expensive than other technical training I ve looked at, which seem to average $500, but it was worth the investment.
With Brad Wilkus, WhatsUp Gold expert and highly skilled instructor, and a top notch training facility, the expenditure was justified. Eric says, The time spent in the labs and instructor-lead examples were great. Brad had a good presentation and delivery, good listening skills, and a great depth of knowledge about WhatsUp Gold. He obviously loves this product.
Like the full line of Ipswitch products, the two-day training seminar was a to-the-point, streamline presentation that provided immediate, immeasurable value. The commitment of time and money will undoubtedly provide a rapid return on investment.
On average, Eric spends more than $10,000 annually on training, and that doesn t include travel expenses. The Ipswitch training session cost $1500. If that seems like a high price to pay, just imagine the cost of falling behind the competition. That s a price Eric cannot afford to pay.
* WhatsUp Gold is Ipswitch s mapping, monitoring, notification, and reporting software that provides a detailed look into a network system and enables administrators to better understand and manage network resources.
Feedback
Following the seminar, Ipswitch sought feedback from Eric and other respected industry professionals. By seeking, processing, and incorporating users valuable input, Ipswitch will continue to improve WhatsUp Gold and enhance the next generation of the software and its support materials. (Thanks to constructive critique, it looks like the WhatsUp Gold printed manual may receive some helpful edits.) In summary, Eric says, It was a great class that covered a lot of material. I d love to see a third day added to include a generic overview of industry standards, specifically FCAPS (fault [where WhatsUp Gold fits in], configuration, accounting, performance, and security), and WhatsUp Gold s integration with other tools. I believe that integration capabilities and functionality is what will drive WhatsUp Gold to its next couple of releases.
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