World Education Alliance Announced

Along with Bill English and Todd Bleeker at Mindsharp, Kathy Hughes at Combined-Knowledge Asia myself Steve Smith and my business partner Craig Carpenter, we’re pleased to announce the creation of the World Education Alliance.

The World Education Alliance is a global education alliance, incorporating Mindsharp (USA), Combined Knowledge Ltd, (UK and EMEA) and Combined Knowledge Asia Pacific, (Australia and New Zealand). Each of the companies within the WEA specializes in the development and delivery of Information Technology Training classes. The Exclusive portfolio of courses that are available from the World Education Alliance enables organizations to have Global Training Solutions that meet the needs of any role involved in an environment from Administrators, Developers, Designers and End Users to Executives.

The courses are written and delivered by Expert Information Technology trainers and consultants who have the knowledge and skills required to deliver quality training courses either on a public scheduled basis or as private courses to various organizations. Our Trainers and Consultants boast industry leading accreditations and references including the prestigious Microsoft MVP Accreditation.

The World Education Alliance, enables you to organize your Information Technology Training requirements for Administrators, Developers, Designers and End Users over multiple locations in one easy step, you can maintain the same local contact that will help you to plan and organize your training program across multiple office locations. This process enables you to maintain the quality of IT training that you require across all regions ensuring that all people involved in an implementation are receiving the same training wherever they are based.

Benefits of using the WEA

The WEA provides clients with a ‘One Stop Shop’ for their IT Training Requirements. Through the WEA, a world-wide company can train everyone in their organization on SharePoint and Unified Communications and experience the following benefits:

• One-Stop-Shop for all of their SharePoint education needs
• Seamless booking for trainers, travel and materials for world-wide engagements
• Consistent courseware and customer experience
• Assurance that the instructors are well-trained and fully prepared to teach their classes
• Consistent pricing and invoicing processes
• Unique, but flexible bundling of solutions for customers, including trainer selection, course selection and delivery mechanisms

Benefits of working with Combined Knowledge, Mindsharp and the World Education Alliance

For those who train and work with us, there are several benefits of associating with Combined Knowledge and Mindsharp:

• Work with recognized, respected industry leaders
• Live anywhere in the world and train with us
• World-wide training opportunities
• Participate in internal education on new technologies
• Technical support for trainers for both the technology and the course
• Mentoring for professional development, including writing and training
  

Education Courses

The breadth of the education options within the WEA is substantial. Consider the following number of training classes, sorted by audiences for SharePoint Products and Technologies:

• Administrators
  • Core Technologies in SharePoint Server 2007
  • Configure and Administer Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
  • Upgrade SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to SharePoint Server 2007
  • Customize SharePoint sites without writing code using SharePoint Designer 2007
  • Implement Business Intelligence Solutions using Excel Services
  • Implement, Customize and Manage SharePoint Server 2007 and Search Server 2008
• Developer
  • Developer’s guide to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
  • Create Branded Solutions using SharePoint’s Web Content Management
  • Customize SharePoint sites without writing code using SharePoint Designer 2007
  • SharePoint InfoPath 2007 for Developers
• Power End User
  • Office SharePoint 2007 Power End User
  • Site Collection Administrator for the Power End User
• End User
  • Site Owner
  • Site Member
  • Key Topics for SharePoint End Users Online
• Executives, Architects and IT Managers
  • SharePoint Server 2007 Governance and Taxonomy Workshops
  • SharePoint Server 2007 Design and Architecture Workshops
  • 1 day Management overview

For Unified Communications, we offer the following course:

• Core Technologies in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007
  

Delivery Methods

Both Mindsharp and Combined Knowledge offer our courses via a number of different delivery methods. These methods can be combined within a larger bundled solution to meet your exact needs. Utilizing over 50 authorized trainers world-wide, the World Education Alliance allows you to have our training delivered using the following methods:

• Instructor-Led
• CBT
• Train-the-Trainer (end-user courseware only)
• Remote Training to your desktop (Live Meeting plus Audio)
• Public classes
• Private classes
• Customized classes and workshops

Delivery Locations

• Nearly any city in the United States
• Ottawa and Montreal, Canada
• UK Midlands – Public Classes
• UK London – Public classes
• UK Wide – Private classes
• Cologne, Germany – Public classes
• Amsterdam, Holland – Public classes
• Luxemburg –Public classes
• EMEA wide for private classes
• Sydney – Public classes
• Melbourne – Public classes
• Brisbane – Public classes
• Auckland NZ – Public classes
• Wellington NZ – Public classes
• Asia Pacific wide for private classes
  

Facts about WEA Trainers

There are over 50 authorized trainers in the World Education Alliance. Of these, twelve are MVPs and two are former MVPs. We also offer training in English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch and Finnish. Between 2007 and 2008, our corp of trainers more than doubled.

Please let us know how we can help you today. You’ll find that this alliance between Combined Knowledge and Mindsharp will bring you benefits and advantages for SharePoint and Unified Communications education that few others can offer.

If you need education world-wide or in your own town, we can assist you today. If you live in North America, South America or Africa, please contact David Hoffeld at dhoffeld@mindsharp.com. If you live in the UK, Europe and the Middle East please contact Zoe Watson at
zoe@combined-knowledge.com. For Asia Pacific and Australia please contact sales@combined-knowledge.com.au We pledge to you that we’ll do everything we can to ensure you’re delighted with our education services.

Steve Smith, MVP