InformationWeek

The Training Payoff: For many technology managers, it's smarter to train existing staff than to hire people for new jobs. But updating skills isn't easy--or cheap. By Eric R. Chabrow
Issue date: July 10, 1995

andy James, a mainframe expert at GTE Data Services Inc. in Temple Terrace, Fla., was recruited last year to coordinate the installation and testing of a new project-management system that was to run on a Hewlett-Packard 860 Unix server and a variety of 486 PCs. During her nine-m onth assignment, James struggled with technologies in which she had no formal training. "If a user asked how long it would take to make a change," she recalls, "I didn't know if it would take 10 hours or 1,000 hours." James' tale illustrates the problem facing many technology managers: Businesses as diverse as heavy-equipment maker Case Corp. and credit-card provider MasterCard International Inc. are developing strategic systems on client-server platforms but find themselves with staffs skilled in legacy system applications development. As a result, many are realizing that the most effective way to gain developers, analysts, and programmers with client-server skills is to retrain existing IT personnel.

The process is costly but full of rewards. Current employees possess invaluable knowledge about their companies' businesses, work flows, and competitive environments--often gleaned from years on the job developing mainframe or minicomputer applicati ons. By contrast, new employees--even those adept in client-server technologies--rarely possess that knowledge.

Even when a development task can be handled by a newcomer, there aren't enough qualified programmers and developers out there to fill all openings. "We can't find them," says Ron Thompson, manager of training at GTE Data Services, the IT unit of $19.9 billion telecom giant GTE Corp. "Their résumés say they can do C programming. But when we bring them in and conduct extensive interviews, we find out they don't have much practical knowledge or experience."

Numbers Tell The Story
Analysts tracking the client-server industry estimate that only 30% to 50% of the applications developers in the U.S. possess requisite client-server skills. Among that group only 5% can be considered expert.

A 1993 survey of large companies by Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., found that 86% of developers were conversant in Cobol. Only 12% knew C and other fourth-generation la nguages. Forrester analyst Waverly Deutsch, who tracks client-server technology, says those numbers haven't budged in the past two years.

That creates a critical skills gap. Eight of every 10 new multiuser commercial applications will run on client-server platforms by 1998, according to Gartner Group, an IT advisory firm in Stamford, Conn. But because of downsizing, the supply of IT professionals within the companies creating these applications will have dwindled. "A lot of knowledge within corporations has gone out the door with downsizing," observes Brian Smith, associate director of Washington University's Center for Application of Information Technology (CAIT) in St. Louis. "Those people who are left have a tremendous amount of knowledge about their businesses."

But retraining existing developers is expensive. Gartner estimates the cost of educating a programmer earning $50,000 a year at $17,800. GTE Data Service's Thompson figures that the price of the classroom instruction alone to retrain one d eveloper is $5,000--excluding the up to nine weeks of time lost away from the job. A company can spend nearly $3 million in three to four years to retrain an IS department of 200 developers, say Forrester Research analysts.

Is cost becoming too much of a deterrent? Gene Raphaelian, a Gartner VP of industry services, estimates that only one in 10 major corporations has any retraining program at all. A typical company now earmarks a paltry 1.8% of its IS budget for training, the same level as in 1992, Gartner reports. By contrast, the information-intensive financial sector sets aside on average 2.9% of its IS budget for training, the highest among 24 industries. At the other end, surprisingly, is the telecom sector, which metes out a paltry 0.9% of its IS budget for education.

Fortunately, the number of corporations increasing their retraining budgets is rising. Raphaelian predicts that by next year, four in 10 companies will have a retraining program.

At Case, for instance, retraining is becoming a strategic weapon. The Racine, Wis., heavy-equipment maker devotes 4% of its IS budget to training. That figure stood at only 1% in the early 1990s. Ken Sergi, manager of IS training and education at the $4.3 billion company, calls existing employees "a very valuable resource." Adds Sergi: "These individuals are core to making the company profitable."

Time And Money
Training requires more than deep pockets; it's also time-consuming. Case, for instance, reserves 5% of an IT worker's time--the equivalent of one day a month--for training. That's a lot. In the early 1990s, the typical IS organization devoted three days or less to IS training annually. The number of days in the classroom could multiply tenfold as IS employees gain new skills. But even that may not be enough. Gartner estimates that legacy developers require as much as 40 days of training, not including "play time," to master new client-server skills.

Some companies invest even more time in retraining. At GTE Data Services, developers spend up to nine weeks away from their jobs to receive full-time instruction in aspects of Unix, C, C++, and Visual C++.

That's time well-spent. Gartner estimates that $1,000 spent in re-education is the equivalent of $3,000 to $5,000 if a programmer has to reach the same level of proficiency without formal training.

Experts suggest that businesses begin client-server training as soon as they identify their first projects. They also say training should include almost every IT worker. This early client-server training also allows managers to identify those developers with the best aptitude to grasp new skills. That's important, says Paul Jacobson, president of I/S Resource Group, an emerging technologies consulting firm in Worthington, Ohio, because "you're demonstrating a commitment to your staff. If and when they're selected for a client-server project, you've got the base knowledge going into more intensive training."

Specific client -server expertise should be taught just before it's needed. The suggested cut-off is no sooner than three months before a project starts.

Client-server training programs often include courses that teach so-called soft skills such as writing, team building, time management, and total quality management. "It's not enough for analysts and programmers to have the skills to program in Sybase," says Case's Sergi. "To be a valued resource, they have to know how to facilitate a meeting or make a presentation."

Degree Of Expertise
Some corporate retraining programs resemble a college degree program, but with client-server certificates awarded by a corporation instead. The McDonnell Douglas Corp.'s "night school" program at the $13.2 billion defense contractor's headquarters in St. Louis requires 90 hours of instruction over a five- to nine-month period, all after regular work hours.

The McDonnell Douglas courses are taught by Washington University faculty and developed in cooperation with CAIT , which provides IT training to several large corporations. The curriculum includes overviews such as "Introduction To Client-Server Development" and "Database Fundamentals," as well as specific technical courses such as "Advanced C Programming" and "Object-Oriented Programming-C++." The program even has an Internet component.

Each McDonnell Douglas employee-student picks one of five areas of concentration. These can include open systems, database principles, and modern desktop applications. Students must also take courses outside of the core curriculum to become familiar with other elements of client-server technology. "We want our
certification program to reflect a broader education than just programming in C," says Bob Thomas, director of training programs at CAIT.

At GTE Data Services, Cobol developers attending the company's training program cram a year's worth of academics into seven to nine weeks. About a month before they start the program, employees receive a preparation packet that may include computer-based training courses from CBT Systems USA Ltd., a computer-based training publisher in South San Francisco, Calif., or presentations from video producer National Education and Training Group in Naperville, Ill. These tools provide a head start for employees before intensive classroom instruction begins.

Among those GTE certified was James, the ex-Cobol programmer. Now, with nine weeks of retraining behind her, James helps maintain client-server systems that enable parent GTE to keep inventories of its telecom equipment. "I'm starting out fresh again," the 35-year-old programmer says. "I have years ahead of me."

GTE Data Services trains IS professional like James in groups of up to 12 students at one time. Students spend 10 hours daily training in the division's Florida headquarters. They sit at a U-shaped station, with special terminals--covered by gray-tint glass--recessed in the desk at a slight angle to make viewing easier. A pull-out drawer houses a keyboard for every student. The classroom's 12 HP 590 Pentium PCs are linked to an HP 735 Unix server. The instructor can present the same image on all 12 monitors.

Some companies prefer to immerse their developers with new technology, rather than set up classroom courses. MasterCard in New York is creating a system to process credit-card transactions on an AT&T Global Information Solutions 3600 running Unix SVR/4 and using IST 4.0, an information-tracking software package from Oasis Technologies Ltd. in Toronto. MasterCard will use the system to develop a credit-card authorization system written in C, which will complement and eventually replace a Cobol transaction processing system that runs on an Amdahl/MVS 5995 mainframe.

Mastering The Possibilities
In mid-June, MasterCard began sending six legacy developers to Toronto for three or four days every week to learn IST 4.0. "The best way to get them trained is to immerse them in technology," says Rod Mack, senior VP of systems at MasterCard. "The best way to immerse them in the technology is to base them in Toronto."

One of these students, Chris Kampmeier, is a MasterCard software engineer who was trained nine years ago in Cobol and once helped design credit authorization systems using a macro-assembler on an IBM Series/1 minicomputer. Kampmeier says working side by side with Oasis developers gives him "a much greater appreciation of the skills needed to develop the system." And, adds the 30-year-old engineer, "by being there, we're provided with a perspective that's different from the one found in a typical legacy environment."

Like MasterCard, McDonnell Douglas looked outside for client-server training help. Consultants from Texas Instruments trained close to 90 McDonnell Douglas programmers to use TI's Composer for IEF 5.3 applications development tool to help create a shop-floor work-order control system running on an HP 9000-735 and HP/UX. Unlike during the CAIT program, Mc- Donnell Douglas deve lopers received their training on company time. McDonnell Douglas officials decline to reveal how much they paid for Composer courses, but say it was less than $500 per day per student.

Despite the best retraining efforts, not every programmer and analyst wants to learn client-server skills. Experts estimate that as many as one in four legacy programmers will refuse to make the jump. About half of the refuseniks will quit, retire, or be laid off.

Often, age determines whether a developer is willing to learn new skills. "People well-established in careers don't have the same motivation as younger folks trying to establish themselves," observes Forrester analyst Deutsch. At McDonnell Douglas, few developers over 40 have signed up for the Washington University program. "I can't think of anyone in their 50s taking the course," laments John Miller, a McDonnell Douglas manager who coordinates training.

But developers migrating to client-server environments are discovering that their technology education isn't over once they complete a course of study. "You have to know so much more with client-server than you did in the older environment," says Ron Barnes, a 41-year-old programmer-analyst at McDonnell Douglas.

Last year, Barnes completed a certification program in open systems technology. He'll return to the classroom this fall to get a second certificate, this time in client-server development. The education never ends.

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Photo: Paul Cerney

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