Mike Southby

There seems to be a lot of confusion at the moment regarding IT training.  The adverts we all see on the TV will have you believe it’s a ‘given’ that you can sign up to one of the courses, attain an industry recognised qualification and head off into working bliss earning over £35,000 in next to no time.  Of course the reality is far from this.

Becoming a good IT professional takes a long time, it takes a lot of hard work and is not something which can simply be taught in a condensed, intensive training course.  There is so much more than simply knowing something, in order for it to become relevant one must understand it too.  There is quite a difference if you really think about it.

Now, after saying this I am not saying that doing some further training is a bad idea, it isn’t.  In fact I’d say that if you are to become one of the few who make it, it’s a necessity.  Training is of course only one part of the whole package.  Training cannot give you the real work experience that you gain starting at the bottom of the ladder and working your way up through the ranks.  If I were to tell you that I knew a way of become a skilled surgeon or a pilot by simply talking a month out and committing to a training course you’d think I was mad, and you’d be right.  When a medical student completes their training they are essentially a qualified doctor but would I want them treating me? Urm, no not really.  Same goes for a pilot.  There comes a time when they are deemed competent and they are given their ‘wings’, would I jump straight in a plane with them and fly off into the sunset, of course not.  Just as in the previous examples, becoming proficient in the IT sector takes time, it takes both knowledge and experience, each being useless without the other.

So which should you aim for first, knowledge or experience?

I don’t think there is no right or wrong answer here you need both to realise your ambitions.  I started my career doing menial tasks; configuring printers and email accounts, working with end users and ensuring they were using equipment correctly.  I was certainly never let anywhere near the server farms or SAN’s back then, and in hindsight I’m thankful.  With this basic working came confidence and the self belief that this was an industry where I felt at home.  It was then, after having a good number of years under my belt and about as much knowledge that I could self teach, I started thinking about which direction and speciality I’d like to pursue and what I had to do in terms of training to achieve it.

I decided that I’d like to continue working with a broad spectrum of IT hardware and software, learning more about infrastructure and business focused applications.  I wanted to have the knowledge to be able to administer a network serving thousands or users across multiple sites as well as the smaller, self contained networks.  I decided that the right direction for me would be to work towards, and hopefully attain Microsoft’s MCSE certification which was at the time, about the best there was.  In fact, it still is today.

It was then that I was faced with the dilemma, how I should go about realising my goals in the most time and financially efficient way.  I looked at distance learning and instructor based training and decided that the best way forward was to be taught by a qualified trainer, that way I would get firsthand knowledge and could be sure I understood what I was learning.  Remember that understanding what you know is vital, anyone with practice can remember something but if they don’t understand it, the knowledge become useless.  I already had a few years experience under my belt at this point, not to mention the years of interest and experimentation when I was growing up.  Further research pointed me in the direction of offshore training, it appeared much more cost effective than learning here in the UK and also, didn’t make any promises about how much I’d earn, how quickly I’d earn it and so forth.

After months of research and planning and another year of learning the foundations, I flew off to India to study for my MCSE at Koenig Solutions in New Delhi.  That was back in 2004, I’ve since progressed and advanced further but thought I’d reblog my original review that I wrote at the time, detailing my experiences at Koenig.

The Decision – When I first decided to develop my experience and skill set further by training towards an MCSE, I knew that the only way that I would be able to devote myself fully to the task would be to book some instructor based training from qualified experts.  Sure you can self study but I wanted to learn the right way and be pushed to reach my potential, I had self studied before and whilst I reached the goals I had set myself, it took a lot longer than I was expecting as I had to fit it in and around life, no, this time I would do things right and book myself into a proper, full time training regime where I could focus my concentration fully.  After looking at all of the highly inflated prices here in the UK I decided to look further afield.  My initial thoughts were the US or Australia but there too prices were high and we putting me off fully committing to the idea.  Then I stumbled across the Koenig website.  The packages looked like just the sort of thing that I was looked for and the prices seemed too good to be true after a week of staring at prices more than twice the amount; the prices really were amazing.  Then the alarm bells started to ring in my head.  I started to ask myself why these guys were able to offer these courses at such reduced prices.  Regardless, I was interested in finding out more and started to investigate and find out more about Koenig, the hope of it being a legitimate proposition pushing me on.  I posted on forums and contacted both Microsoft and Prometric to confirm Koenig’s position and claims.  All of the responses that I received back were positive so I decided to drop Koenig an initial email to express my interest and find out where I went from there.  I heard back from Sandeep, the training manager, later the same day which was further evidence that they were real and eager to help and answer any questions that I had.

With the combination of positive recommendations, the flexibility of the courses and the great prices I decided to take the plunge.  I booked myself onto an MCSE course and set about finding a good deal on the flight.  The cheapest flights I found were with Air India but I’d heard many horror stories about flying the London – Delhi sector with them (some pretty horrific stories about the ‘cleanliness’ of the facilities as the planes have often flown via the US) so decided to fly with Emirates, who’d I had good experiences with previously.

Course booked.  Flights booked.  All I had to do now was get my visa sorted and pack.

The Koenig Experience – Towards the end of the long flight to India, I found myself questioning the madness I was undertaking, flying halfway around the world in the hope that I would be greeted at the airport by someone holding a card with my name written on it.  I didn’t know a great deal more than that apart from the fact I would be taken to my hotel and collected the next morning once again to visit the training facilities.  Crazy in hindsight now I think back.

I was very pleased after a 3 hour epic queue through immigration that as promised, I was greeted in the arrivals hall by a very friendly smiling chap.  He introduced himself, shook my hand and welcomed me to India.  He then handed me an envelope and carried my case to his car.  I have 2 clear memories to share with you here.  Firstly the heat and humidity, it was around 3 in the morning and yet as we walked out of the terminal it was as if I was walking into a shower cubicle with the water steaming hot, it was really hot and humid.  Secondly, the drive from the airport into Delhi itself arguably the most memorable drive of my life.  There seems to be only one rule when driving in India and that is that there are no rules.  I found myself gripping the seatbelt which had become my new best friend as tight as I could.  Still, we arrived safely at the hotel, I soon came to realise that this standard of driving was the norm and whilst it seemed strange to those who had not experienced it before, it seemed to work and accidents were not common.

Owing to the length of time I would be staying in India I had decided to pay a premium and stay in one of the 5 star hotels, The Park in the central district of New Delhi.  Check in was painless and I was given a welcome pack which had been left by Koenig with some generic information and safety guidance for my stay in and around Delhi.  So far so good, everything that Koenig had promised they had delivered. We were off to a good start.

The following morning after a 20-minute ride I eventually arrived at the Koenig training facility.  I have to admit that my first impressions weren’t great.  The building looked run down and not what I had expected at all.  Maybe my expectations had been too high, I guess I was basing my assumptions on what I would have expected back home.  Maybe I was expecting a fancy office block with all the bells and whistles.  Anyway there was no turning back.  I was here now, I was here to learn and I was going to make the most of it.  Inside the building things looked pretty much the same, Koenig were situated on floor 3 and it was a very uncomfortable walk up the stairs.  As I entered I was greeted by everyone and there appeared to be smiling faces coming from every corner.  Right from the very start the staff impressed me, not only by their smiling faces and their friendly manner but also with their eagerness to please, it seemed as if there was nothing that they were not willing to do if asked.

The training over the following weeks as expected was extremely intense but all the teachers were very knowledgeable in their chosen subjects.  If you don’t understand something they will explain it again and again and again (and I’m pleased to say that whilst the accent did take a few days to really get used to, the English was actually very good).  The resources are more than adequate, using Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) books and training aids.  If I had to find fault, it would be that some of the IT equipment was a little dated; still it was more than able to handle the tasks we were performing.

The food that Koenig provide during the days training is excellent too.  There is an abundance of choice.  You could choose from pizza, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Burgers and much more.  It was strange to see McDonalds being delivered on the back of a scooter; maybe our McDonalds could learn a thing or two.

The concierge service which Koenig provide is a great idea and worked really well.  The idea behind it is that whilst you study you don’t need to worry about anything.  If you have any problems, need advice or requests for anything then they will take care of it.  It really does take the strain off of you when you are studying.  They are also able to arrange day visits and activities for you during your time off.  I choose not to take advantage of this as myself and some others did a ‘deal’ with our taxi driver to book him directly whenever we wanted to do anything.  It worked out cheaper and was also nice to be able to get to know him.  We got a great insight into the culture from him enjoyed some good days out, the highlight being the long day we sent visiting Agra and the Taj Mahal.  You really have to visit if you are in India, it’s a must.

The other students were all extremely friendly.  Koenig have a variety of students from all over the world, it was interesting talking with them about the differences to working practices in their countries, and some of the stories were very eye opening!  I found it very easy to make new friends whilst there; obviously everyone is there to learn so you have something in common with anyone you talk to.

India and Delhi – As expected Delhi is completely different from any city that I had ever visited before, it’s like stepping back in time, a huge culture shock at first.  The locals in general are very friendly but I would advise caution if going out in the evening on your own.  The best thing to do as I did is to go out in groups together, more sociable and of course safer.

Being driven around Delhi is an experience in itself; I could happily write a whole article solely about that, it is absolutely crazy.  There only seems to be 3 rules to the road. 1 – You have right of way, 2 – You must beep you horn as many times as possible whilst driving, and 3 – You can drive on the right or you can drive on the left whatever suits your mood.

The food is extremely good too; though I’d advise you are just a little bit careful about where you eat and what you choose, generally speaking try to avoid anything which could have been washed in the local water, such as salads.  Same applies for ice cubes in drinks.  I was lucky and didn’t get ill but we’ve all heard stories about the infamous Delhi Belly!
The Overall Experience – My overall impression of Koenig Solutions is that they are an excellent one stop shop for Microsoft certifications, but you have to have some background knowledge before committing, the study regime is intense and not for the faint hearted.  I would gladly recommend them to anyone who is thinking of studying for an IT certification.

So what did I get from the experience, well, both MCSE and MCSA certifications with security specialisations for a start, but also a better understanding of the culture.  I also found a new respect for what we are accustomed to over here in the UK.  It’s only when you have lived and worked in a place like India that you realise how lucky we are.  It was an eye opening experience and I’d love to return one day and see some more of the country.

So back on topic, there are no short cuts in IT.  If you want to learn and earn the money you have to build on a foundation of knowledge and work your way up, you have to strike a balance between both knowledge and experience.  Both are vital.

Let me make one thing clear here and now, after over 5 years in the industry, getting my MCSE and MCSA was no walk in the park! I spent 4 months studying everyday for those exams, the workload was exhausting and very intense, I had no idea it would be so hard. In an ideal world even I would have chosen to have studied over a much longer period of time, there really is that much to take on board. At Koenig, there was a mixture of experienced IT personnel like myself and people who had decided they were going to have a career change and try attacking the IT sector by gaining one of these sought after qualifications. We had a saying for these people; Paper MCSEs.  After all, anyone can with practice revise for a series of exams by digesting the course material but does that really qualify them to be recognised in the top % of the workforce? Imagine the scene, you are admin for a large corporate with let’s say 2,000 employees across 5 sites. When disaster strikes and it’s you having to deal with it or suffer the consequences, how would you react when you have no real world experience? I’d suggest that a 19yr old IT tech with 2 years experience would probably deal with the situation better than someone with little or no experience but with an MCSE.  Working in IT isn’t an easy ride, yes, there are good salaries to be had but as with any career path, these are structured and come with time and experience.  In keeping in touch with some of my fellow students from back then, it’s interesting to note that a lot of them who had hoped to get into the IT sector were unable to find work, employers aren’t that naive and know which questions to ask at interview to work out who actually knows what they are doing as well as who only has the piece of paper saying they can.

I have no personal experience with any of the companies who claim to be able to turn you into a high flying IT professional overnight with no experience apart from the research I carried out when I was planning my own training.  I chose then, and I’d still chose the same today, to steer well clear.  The truth is it’s not really possible to gain the experience you require in the real world starting from a blank sheet in such a short period of time.  That’s not to say I am suggesting you shouldn’t aim for a career in IT or seek training because as I said at the start of this blog, I think it’s a great career but I just don’t want to see anyone waste their money and end up in a position where they are out of their depth and regret ever coming into the industry, and that only applies to the minority who could ever hope to achieve the salaries quoted (we are in recession after all), for the most, I suspect that after completing one of these training courses the best you could hope for is working as front line support engineer behind a phone which let me tell you, isn’t glam and doesn’t earn the big bucks.  Of course you could do this without the training, and probably be respected more for entering at the bottom wanting to learn as opposed to entering at the bottom thinking you are better than that.

There simply is no substitute for experience, there are no short cuts.  My advice is to start at a junior level in a progressive company that with give you the experience that you need to prepare for one of the sought after qualifications, then and only then, when you are ready speak with the company and see if they have any opportunities to sponsor the cost of the training, most will at least consider this option.  With some hard work and determination, there is no reason why you can’t earn some good money, but it will come with time, please don’t be fooled into thinking there is a quicker way; there isn’t.

In summary, IT is a great career path.  I enjoy what I do greatly and find a lot of reward, both financially and in terms of job satisfaction but it has taken me 12 years to get where I am today.  It has been damn hard work with a lot of personal struggles along the way.  I’d encourage anyone to give it a go, but would suggest you go about it the right way and put experience above the promise of anything else.  In time you will know enough to attain a proper industry recognised qualification, not some useless piece of paper which essentially says ‘sucker’.

I wish you all luck.

The first thing to bear in mind is that Exchange 2007, the latest version of Exchange, will only be supported on 64-bit servers.  Initially this may sound like an odd decision by Microsoft but they claim that almost all new server hardware these days has 64-bit technology anyway which means that new installations will be able to utilise better sizing and scalability options.  If you refer to Microsoft’s documentation, it clearly states that in order to run Exchange 2007 you’ll need x64 architecture with either an Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (Intel EM64T) processor or an AMD processor that support the AMD64 platform.  The Intel Itanium family IA64 processors are not supported.

You’ll also need a minimum of 1GB RAM although 2GB is recommended and at least 1.2GB of hard disc space, which must be formatted as NTFS.

To check if your processor is compatible, you can use CPU-Z which is available here.

The 'Eclipse'

Absolutely love this.  Well, from a technology perspective anyhow.

Roman Abramovich’s new luxury yacht, the Eclipse, has been installed with anti-paparazzi lasers according to recent press stories.  The high-tech system on board sweeps the decks and surroundings and when it senses a CCD it fires a bolt of light directly into the lens to destroy any photo that is being taken, clever stuff.  Apparently the system doesn’t run all of the time so friends and guests are still able to take photos, the system being switched on by guards if they spot photographers nearby.  But hang on, isn’t that the job of the paparazzi to hide and take photos when you’re least expecting it?  The jury is still out on the legalities of the system in some countries but I doubt that will bother him too much.

Other things reported to be built into the new 557 foot super yacht are two helipads, two swimming pools (but sadly no flumes…), 6 ft movie screens in all of the guest cabins (of which there are 24), a mini submarine and missile proof windows!

The reported cost is around £750 million which let’s face it is a little extravagant in the current climate, especially when you consider it is going to be the fourth mega yacht in his fleet, already owning: the 377 ft Pelorus, the 282 ft Ecstasea and the 160 ft Sussurro.

Somehow, I doubt I’ll be invited aboard anytime soon but if you are reading Roman, drop me a line.

I’ve updated my original post to now include APN settings for Orange, enjoy!

Link – http://www.mikesouthby.co.uk/2009/09/t-mobile-g1-unlocking-for-use-with-o2/