Winning and Keeping Business through Workforce Development

Computacenter, Europe’s leading information technology (IT) services providers, is implementing an innovative workforce development process. The goal of this process is to move its well-trained and highly skilled and motivated technical workforce to the next level of achievement through an emphasis on across-the-board standards and best practices. Management knows this will enhance the competitive standing of the organisation.

Computacenter works with the world’s leading technology providers and currently resells more than 35,000 products. Computacenter advises its customers on their IT strategy, implements the most appropriate technology from a wide range of leading vendors and manages elements of their technology infrastructures on their behalf. At every stage, the company helps them minimise the cost and maximise the business value of their IT expenditure.

Computacenter support personnel, technicians, and field service engineers are extensively certified on the hardware and software products offered by the company. These vendor-specific certifications ensure that products and systems are implemented and supported to the relevant specification. Certification offers a credible and independent validation of skills mastery, and customers increasingly expect their suppliers to have certified personnel on staff.

With IT certification recognised as the bedrock of skills validation, Computacenter began to formulate a comprehensive strategy for workforce development that would use certification as a means of layering best practices across the organisation in a consistent, thoughtful, and cost-effective manner. The company believes that a well-planned and executed progression of training, experience, and validation through certification will improve overall performance, motivation, loyalty, and ultimately customer and supplier satisfaction.
Computacenter is standardising on the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) best practices certifications for foundational skills. Certifications at the foundation level include: CompTIA A+ certification for desktop technicians, Network+ certification for network administrators, and Server+ certification for server technicians. Additional CompTIA certifications such as Linux+ for Linux applications and Security+ for personnel involved in IT security may be selectively applied in the future.

CompTIA certifications are vendor independent and a valuable measure of competency. Candidates who earn these certifications demonstrate that they have mastered the standards common across an industry or technology. At the foundation level, for example, all personal computers share a common structure and trouble-shooting methodology. With fundamental skills, validated by earning CompTIA certifications, Computacenter technicians and engineers are aptly prepared and have the flexibility to solve a myriad of issues and are equipped to delve more deeply into vendor-specific technicalities.

“Standardising on CompTIA vendor-neutral certifications gives Computacenter employees a shared vocabulary and common understandings across the organisation,” said Ernie Bardwell, internal technical training consultant, Computacenter. “Furthermore, CompTIA certifications are either required or recommended for many of the vendor-specific certification tracks. This gives Computacenter the opportunity of taking a building block approach to professional development through the certification process and allows us to maximise skills while minimising time and cost to validate that our team has acquired those skills.”
CompTIA certifications are now required or recommended steps for personnel at Computacenter, based on a worker’s experience level, seniority, job responsibilities, and departmental objectives. For example, the Service Centre and Field Service operations are striving for the CompTIA A+ Authorised Service Centre designation as a mark of distinction. These departments require the majority of their personnel to be A+ certified. This department-level approach gives the organisation flexibility and ensures that training and certification budgets are allocated most effectively.

“ Computacenter’s fresh approach to certification, beginning with the CompTIA foundational certificates and building up through the vendor-specific certificates from such IT Partners as HP, Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Toshiba, and others, is already having a positive impact on performance, morale, and loyalty,” said Ernie Bradwell.

“We believe that our strategic emphasis on a progression of training, education, and skills validation through certification will not only win new customers, but also retain them.”

Steve Harvey
Regional Field Manager

“I currently have engineers studying for CompTIA A+, Server + and Network + certification. The engineers have commented on how useful the study guides are compared to the manufacturers’ training, which is becoming more and more focused on sales. We believe that CompTIA certifications are a good base and certainly the way to move forward. New engineers will be asked to take these exams very early in their Computacenter careers.”

(Christopher) Paul Ryan
Customer Engineer Hardware

“I believe that the CompTIA A+ certification has enabled me to develop a clear line of thought in a troubleshooting process, a way of thinking not restricted to desktops and laptops, but also covers other important areas such as software, printers, PDAs, and networks. I feel this process has given me the essential knowledge to perform my role.”

Harrish Mistry
Service Center Technical Vetter

“CompTIA certification has definitely improved my fault diagnosing skills and my first time fix rate.”

Dave Waterhouse
Systems Field Engineer

“I would say that the CompTIA qualifications are essential for anyone who would like to enter the IT industry.