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IT Outsourcing

Remote training of our project managers

PentaGuy
PentaGuy
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On 22 and 23 May in Chisinau, 11 participants in the training cycle (project manager) finished the second part of their course. They were accompanied by Aleth, Pierre de Thelin (our quality consultant) and I. Aleth will soon post an article about this course.For my part, I wanted to tell about the resources we had implemented to organize this remote training. Yes because it was remote! For the first part (in April) we had 7 people from Chisinau, 2 people from Brasov and 4 people from Orléans, Pierre was at this time in Orleans.For the second part of this course we brought everyone together in Chisinau and Orleans and Pierre this time was in Chisinau. It is true that we have not been easy on Pierre since we started working together. We started with our meeting (remotely) of process definition, during our preparation for the certification ISO 9001-2008. Now that our enterprise has digital communications this allows Pierre to give his training classes “long distance” using a presentation (powerpoint), video and voice.As Instructor, he had at his disposal:

  • A microphone (round the head). The instructor is standing up. Sound quality must be very good without having to worry about the equipment.
  • One laptop connected to a video projector used for the presentation.
  • A portable tablet PC to have a digital whiteboard.
  • A machine to display the video from other agencies (webcam).
  • A machine to connect to the conference using our own platform Centrex via SoftPhone.
  • There is also an encoder on the machine to record the session (voice, projection, whiteboard).A machine is then set aside for the moderator who manages the various resources (switches laptop / tablet). The remote offices at their end have an octopus (conferencing system) to express themselves.Back in our office, we used:

  • NetViewer to share screens between different sites
  • Asterisk for the conference room on the Centrex
  • Yahoo messenger for the video
  • Internet Links
  • For these 2 sessions, all worked well, no major technical problems. This technical performance did not mask the concentration of the participants. This is very important because in a regular situation, the trainer is present and can communicate with a participant who needs further instruction.The financial resources necessary for the implementation of this training room is relatively limited. NetViewer only requires a license (purchased or monthly rental). The means will be increased by the introduction of Level 2 links to manage the quality of services through the purchase of cameras for a motorized steering in order to have high quality images. Other resources are relatively easy to deploy. Before that, it is necessary to simplify the platform by the use of virtual machines in order to facilitate its organization. It is true that packaged solutions are available for an initial cost exceeding 15,000 euros. We have been able to do it cheaper.I anticipate other uses of the aggregation of these resources:

  • Our various committees (steering N1 & N2) may benefit from this resources for its monthly meeting
  • Soon, the General Assembly of Pentalog will meet at the office in Orleans and the shareholders of Brasov, Bucharest and Chisinau will be able to participate in these meetings using this new system of communications.
  • The platform will evolve, as will the user requirements evolve and I will have the opportunity to talk to you once again on this new broadcasting system.


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