On a global basis, the IT education and training market will see reasonable growth through 2011. However, there are significant opportunities within this market. IDC's IT Education and Certification service identifies growth areas among the hundreds of IT products, topics, and certifications to help software vendors, certification sponsors, consulting firms, and independent training companies best position their offerings. This service provides key documents on training, certification, and the ways in which certifications affect partnerships. Subscribers to this service receive direct access to IDC's top industry experts, who can supply competitive analysis and positioning advice, identify strategic partnering opportunities, assist with speaking to the investment community, provide press quotes, and more.

This service covers the following segments of the worldwide and U.S. IT education and certification market:

• IT education and training
• Worldwide and U.S. certification testing and training
• Top training providers
• IT elearning
• Advanced technology training
• U.S. security software training

Throughout the year, this service will address the following topics:

• IS/technical training
• Desktop application training
• Delivery of IT training (e.g., instructor-led classroom and technology based)
• Corporate IT education buyers' characteristics and trends
• Certification and test delivery
• Key drivers of the security training and certification market
• High-value elements of certification programs as a marketing tool
• Industry-leading IT training and certification programs

Our research addresses the following issues that are critical to your success:

1. How can IT training vendors increase market share?
2. How important is a vendor's certification program when prospects are considering purchasing new systems?
3. Do buyers prefer "vendor authorized" training content, and are they willing to pay a premium for it?
4. Do IT managers prefer hiring "certified" employees?
5. How significant is the trend toward outsourcing IT training?

IDC's IT Education and Certification service examines how IT education service providers and certification sponsors position themselves to compete in the IT education and certification market. This service reviews strategies, market positioning, and future direction of several providers in the IT education and certification market, including:

Accenture, Adobe, Advanced Concepts Center, AT&T, BEA Systems, Brainbench, CA, Certiport, Check Point, Cisco Systems, CompTIA, Dell Training & Certification, EDS, Element K, EMC, ExecuTrain, Gateway, Global Knowledge, HatSize, HP, IBM, Knoa, Knowledge Universe LLC, Learning Tree International, Linuxcare Inc., Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, MindLeaders, New Horizons Computer Learning Centers Inc., NIIT, Nortel Networks, Novell Inc., Oracle, OutStart, ProSoft, Red Hat, RWD Technologies, SAP Education, SkillSoft, Sun Educational Services, Sybase, Symantec, Telcordia Technologies, VeriSign, and x.hlp.

This service focuses on the following core research. In addition to the insight provided in this service, IDC may conduct additional research on specific topics, or emerging market segments, via research offerings that require additional IDC funding and client investment.

This analysis describes the opportunities and areas of demand for IS/technical skills training by content area and delivery method.

This analysis details market share and growth strategies for the top worldwide IT training providers.

This analysis details the certification testing and training market, including major vendors, content areas, forecasts, and future trends.

This analysis details the characteristics of buyers, purchase decisions, and purchase trends.

IDC offers a complete market intelligence solution customized to meet your business requirements. The array of products and services available to you includes:

• The opportunity to have your specific questions answered through personal interaction with industry experts who cover the topics and markets in your service
• Around-the-clock access to our market intelligence on idc.com, IDC's personalized Web experience
• A view of the market's future with 12 months of continuous intelligence about its direction and the reasons behind it, along with actionable advice for taking advantage of existing and emerging opportunities
• Special client discount pricing on purchases of research from other services
• Complimentary admission to IDC's annual Directions conference, where you'll hear our latest forecasts and network with IDC analysts and other industry professionals
• Complimentary invitations to monthly executive telebriefings, interactive forums designed to provide you with insights about research and strategies directly from IDC analysts

To find out how our flexible packaging options can meet your specific business needs, please contact your IDC sales executive.

As a privately held company, IDC believes that our customers are our primary constituency. A large percentage of every revenue dollar is reinvested back into our products, including more analysts, more geographic coverage, and extensive primary research.

Our steady growth over the past 10-plus years reflects our commitment to investing in our customers.