The late comedienne Linda Smith once joked, “I love Waitrose – it’s that little bit more expensive.�
It seems that until the recent global financial panic, all of us allegedly were sold the view that “Expensive equals quality�, or You get what you pay for�. Advertisers perpetuated the myth – imagine the luscious shots on the M&S ads, with “This is not ordinary food, this is….� At the other extreme, the food shops low cost ranges were acknowledged by ultra thrifty shoppers but most of us didn’t give a second glance.
In Computer training, the high end “luxury market� (surely they’re the best - if you have the money - why else would so many people use them?) acknowledged that there are companies around who’ll do it cheaper but be careful, it won’t be as good.
Then the world takes a couple of turns, the economic future is uncertain, and all of a sudden value becomes our mantra! Discerning shoppers abandon Waitrose, and instead discover the delights of Aldi and Lidl. Investment bankers and their fat cat payouts are out of favour, and we all re-evaluate our spending habits.
Have we been fooled by paying higher prices? Further investigation into the country’s IT training market, and there’s a lot to discover. Just because there’s a great need for greater numbers of skilled programmers and networking professionals, are we really getting a good deal coughing up 5k–8k to get qualified, or are we just paying to prop up dinosaurs? It’s a bit much that many computer training providers are preaching one thing whilst practicing another - supplying students with old fashioned methods. Is it reasonable to wade through books when anything can be downloaded in this communication age? Why should we drive to training centres, paying even more for our accommodation to do what we could do at home? 24/7 Interactive training should be available for me anywhere – at my convenience, but not at my cost.
With more comprehensive, slicker training options available at less than half these prices, shouldn’t we acknowledge the fact that in terms of electronic learning, value is higher quality for a more reasonable price. A new order is asserting itself in IT training – in supermarket terms, it’s “Taste the Difference� goods for “Basic� prices. In this changing world we live in, that’s welcome news.
(C) Scott Edwards - www.learninglolly.com. Scott Edwards has been involved in the IT and Training Industry for 30 years.
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