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February 15, 1999

IT Boot Camps Foster Quick Learning

Intensive studying out of the office may help you pass that certification exam

By Jennifer Mateyaschuk

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f you're studying for a certification exam, you can read books, take night courses, and buy software programs. Or you can sign up for the most intensive training of your life: 16-hour days with food, water, a place to sleep, and an instructor hell-bent on teaching you everything you need to know to pass the exam. Welcome to IT boot camp.

The first boot camps for technology professionals began popping up around the country about a year ago. So far, only a handful of companies are offering them (see box, p. 162). But they're catching on, and some conventional IT training companies are adding them to existing courses. IT workers like the camps because they allow them to focus on the certification exam to the exclusion of all else.

"I don't think I learned more than I would have in a traditional class, but I was more focused because of the intensity of the class," says Lee Melton, MIS director for Minwax, a division of the Sherwin-Williams Consumer Group Inc., in Flora, Ill.Melton became a Novell Certified Network Engineer after attending a 12-day Novell Certified Network Administrator boot camp run by Automated Office Solutions of Evansville, Ind. "For two weeks, I ate, breathed, and slept Novell NetWare."

Melton was able to pass the seven Certified Network Engineer exams and says his salary has increased considerably because he is certified. Normally, the Novell 4.11 classes run 23 days, he says. "If I took the traditional route--a class there, a little studying here--and mixed that with my hectic work schedule and my family life, I don't think I could have passed the exams."

Conventional certification courses are usually either a couple of hours at night over several weeks, or 9-to-5 every day for a week. They tend to have larger classes--20 to 40 students with varying levels of knowledge. Boot camps have smaller classes--typically a dozen students or less--and they screen their applicants to make sure they have a certain level of knowledge of the subject area, so teachers don't waste time bringing beginners up to speed. Instructors at boot camps also must be certified, which isn't always true with conventional courses.

Boot camps are also held away from the student's usual environment, so there aren't any distractions. They typically run from five to 16 days and immerse students in one subject for 12 to 16 hours a day to prepare them for a certification test.

Most training companies offer boot camps only for Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and Novell certifications. Microsoft and Novell programs tend to be two weeks or more, while Cisco courses are typically five days.

"We'll only provide boot camps for the Cisco Certified Network Associate certification, which is the easiest Cisco exam," says Keith Felder, training director for ASAP-Computer in Exeter, N.H. "A full-fledged Cisco training boot camp would be too intense and too long for even your experienced networking professional."

Most certification boot camps feature morning lectures and afternoon labs, which let students work on their weaknesses and strengths by solving problems related to all areas of the Microsoft and Cisco certification tests. After a dinner break in the evening, students can study together, go back to the lab to work on more simulations, or take practice tests. Students who have been through the training courses generally praise the system.

Last fall, John Gorman, an internetworking engineer for TechForce Corp. in Clearwater, Fla., attended a five-day Cisco certification boot camp run by CCIEPrep.com. Gorman, who was the manager for TechForce's technical support center, passed the Cisco Certified Network Architect exam on his first try and was promoted to his current position.

"The class helped me to work on what I was weak in: IP addressing, IPX networking, and filters," says Gorman, who spent many hours in the labs dealing with potential networking problems. "At first, I worried about how a boot camp would operate," he says. "I thought it might turn out to be a cram-and-purge session, but happily I can say I had a very good experience."

Automated's MCSE class is priced at about $8,000 and includes hotel accommodations, breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as instruction, labs, and the cost of the certification test. Classes run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Automated is also a Sylvan testing center, so it's authorized by Microsoft to administer the certification exams.

ASAP-Computer condenses a 30-day Microsoft certification program into a rigorous 16-day training program, held at hotels across the country. As with most boot-camp programs, the classes are fairly small, ranging from 10 to 20 students. The MCSE course comprises six exams. ASAP's Felder says about 90% of his students pass the exams on the first try.

The tremendous shortage of IT professionals may encourage companies to send employees with the potential to perform well at a higher level to the boot camps. "If companies can't hire outside individuals to fill the IT shoes, then they may want to send current employees to a boot camp," says Judy Weller, an analyst with Gartner Group Inc. "The big caution with this kind of program, however, is that it's an immersion-type of training and if the students don't put the skills they learn to use right away, they may lose those skills."

A Question Of Cost
Boot camps have other drawbacks--particularly for small companies, which often can't afford the high cost of the programs or to have one IT person out for a week or more. Even big companies look carefully at the lost time and expense of sending someone to another city for training. According to a recent Dataquest survey, companies look not only at the quality of instructors, vendor certification, and the willingness to customize training, but also at the cost, location of training centers, and willingness to deliver on-site training.

Mike Reffel, director of sales for Innovative Client Services in Evergreen, Colo., says his company has a hard time appealing to smaller companies. About 95% of Reffel's students are from Fortune 500 companies or the U.S. military. Reffel's 16-day boot camp prepares his students for the MCSE in a training lodge located on 10.5 acres of land. There are 12 students per camp, and the lodge provides sleeping accommodations, meals, and 13 Windows NT computers. Reffel says the demand for these programs is growing within larger companies, which can afford to lose an employee or two for a week.

Some students might prefer learning at a slower pace, but for others, nothing beats boot camp. "I'd recommend boot camp to anyone with experience who doesn't have the time to devote to months of training in normal classes," says David Stennett, a network systems engineer for Entré Computer Center in Macon, Ga., who recently attended Innovative's Microsoft certification camp. "But I wouldn't recommend a Microsoft certification boot camp for someone with no NT experience."

Illustration by Chris Lensch