l Outsourcing: Traditionally, the telecom sector has preferred to outsource its training needs. However, the industry’s requirements are such that it requires a very focused approach towards the market, and one has be constantly updated about the new technologies that are continuously rolling out. Being a very niche segment, operators cannot afford to ride too many boats at the same time and this is why they prefer to outsource training. Also, with plenty of expertise available in the market it does not make business sense for companies to have a separate training division. Outsourcing frees the company to focus on its core business.

One model that is becoming popular among operators is to tie up with some reputed training or educational institutes like IITs or engineering colleges, and send their staff for training there. The operator gets to avail of the expertise and high-quality training programs of the institute and saves money on course development, hiring, and maintaining training staff. The only catch in outsourcing training is that the quality of training has to be constantly monitored. The company has to ensure that the trainer delivers what was promised.

l Product-related Training: The vendor who supplies the equipment or installs the network provides the initial training. The client may bargain with the vendor for a continuous upgradation of product-related skills instead of a one-time training. These training modules are very equipment specific and often are of very short duration. The equipment vendors may opt to send their trainers or hire external trainers, train them and send them to the operator. Vendors usually prefer their own staff as trainers as they are more in-sync with the new technology. However, when everything is being outsourced some vendors choose outsiders too.

l In-house Training: A lot of debate has gone into whether the operators should have in-house training staff or not. The best option is to outsource, but some companies have been maintaining experienced trainers on their rolls. Some operators hire outside trainers and call them to the company campus make them use their equipment to train professionals. This option is mainly for the new recruits who are given the basic or job-related training in-house and then send outside for higher training. However, the underlying trend in the telecom sector is to outsource training and relieving the burden on HR department of maintaining an additional section.

l Options for Independent Professionals: The rise in demand for independent professionals, especially in network integration and network security fields, means that their skills must be updated according to market needs. Often, companies prefer to hire professionals for network security. With new threats emerging sooner than ever, the professionals have to keep track of the developments and upgrade themselves. Here, the onus of training is purely on the individual level and a better-trained professional will always have greater market value than others.