RAMCO Software Training
Our Mission: To Make People More Productive Through Training

Welfare and Pension Administrative Service Inc.

Background
Welfare and Pension Administrative Service Inc. was established in 1953 and has grown from having one account and just two employees to offices in Seattle, Anchorage, Gladstone and San Jose employing over 150 people. They pride themselves on using state-of-the-art technology to deliver the best product and services they can to their customers.

Training Objectives

WPAS started working with RAMCO in 1998 looking for a training partner who could meet a stringent list of criteria as outlined below. It was essential for them to use a company that understood their objectives and could work within their budget constraints. In 2010 WPAS implemented a global software version change; it was obvious from previous successful training experiences that RAMCO would continue to meet and exceed all training goals expected. The most critical training was needed for Word, Outlook, and Excel.

• Quality training from experienced instructors
• A comprehensive curriculum for the latest software applications
• Pricing that would allow WPAS to train all staff as needed without exceeding a specified budget
• Multiple locations and delivery methods for convenient training in and out of the office
• Ease of registering individuals for specific classes
• Vendor management of all registrations/cancellations, billing, materials, location, instructors, scheduling, etc.
• Each student's training to be tracked
• Certificates of completion for each class students completed
• Competent account representatives to address their varying and evolving training needs
• Work with a single point of contact at WPA to provide department managers with the necessary information to make successful training choices

RAMCO's Solution
RAMCO provided WPAS with a perfect solution to their training goals with a combination of our Private Group Training, Open Enrollment training options and voucher program. With the help of RAMCO’s class outlines and pretests, which are available on our web site, department managers were able to successfully gauge each individual's training needs and map out a very accurate budget for training. By purchasing the vouchers in bulk they received a deep discount and ensured that there would be no unexpected cost overruns and that the budget would not be exceeded. This strategy saved over 28% on the total cost of training!

Results
RAMCO Software Training began working closely with WPAS and soon became the choice provider for their additional training needs such as new employee training, software efficiency, and employee training for advancement within the company. All of the training objectives were satisfied and WPAS continues to send employees to RAMCO for additional training beyond the scope of the original roll-out, which was completed sucessfully and within budget.

City of Seattle: Enterprise Migration to Exchange/Outlook 2007

Providing just in time training support to multiple departments and diverse computer users is always a challenge.  Considering the training audience numbers in the thousands only adds to this challenge.  This is what the City of Seattle faced in 2009 when they migrated all of their employees to Exchange and Outlook 2007.

In serving multiple stakeholders and working with both Citywide and Departmental training coordinators, there are numerous logistical and business process issues to work out.  Typically, each major training department operates independently, but for this project to be successful, it required collaboration between the GroupWise Exchange Migration (GEM) team, the Citywide training team, the Department training coordinators, and RAMCO Software Training, the primary training vendor.

Background
In the fall of 2008, the task of training all City employees on Outlook became the responsibility of the Citywide Training team.  Coming on the heels of our successful Office 2007 rollout collaboration, we gained experience in offering large-volume training.  Working with RAMCO, the Citywide Training Unit developed a training plan to meet the needs of the City user groups.

Each of these groups presented an opportunity to provide custom content tailored to specific needs based on their type of product knowledge and usage requirements.  In addition, there was the challenge to offer training in enough locations, so that it was convenient for participants to attend training sessions.
In order to create a total training plan, RAMCO met with the GEM team to make sure training would support the overall project goals of a successful migration.  During this meeting, we defined the scope of training that included the following elements:

• Assessment of current user skill depth
• Tiered training course development to support basic to advanced skill recovery
• Logical road map for users at all levels to identify training opportunities
• Alternative delivery methods

The course development had to include new and existing City policies and procedures regarding the use of certain new features and the eventual implementation of related products, specifically a third party archiving tool.

Skill Assessment: Determining the Right Training
RAMCO met with the GEM team to determine the range of courses that would support users at their current skill level.  In general, we found that a slight majority of the City employees had a basic knowledge of email, and used the calendar to manage some of their own appointments.  A slightly smaller group of employees utilized the calendar for planning meetings and managing resources.  Two smaller, but critical user groups were administrative specialists that managed other users’ calendars and Inbox functions; and at the other end of the spectrum, employees who had limited use of Outlook, but who managed their email through a web-based interface.  Many of the employees in the last group were located in Police and Fire departments, where attending training was simply not feasible, or their needs were outside of the 8am-5pm timeframe, when the training was typically scheduled.

Course Development: Creating the Right Training
After identifying the courses that would meet the needs of recovering current skill levels on the new product, we took our total curriculum and designed short, custom courses for each participant group:

• Basic users
• Advanced users
• Users who manage other peoples’ calendar and Inbox
• Remote users who access their email via web interface

By first creating a lecture-based overview course, we could provide instant familiarity with the new software for every attendee.  This lecture course served a need for those who wanted minimal training, and as a prerequisite for those who would go on to attend additional, hands-on training classes.

RAMCO tested the courses to ensure that all user groups would be able to transfer their general knowledge of email and calendar management to Outlook 2007 and learn the features required to recover their productivity from GroupWise.  “I am thrilled that the books and handouts were tailored,” stated Sandra Wong, Personnel Department Training Manager/GEM Project Team member.

GO Time: Delivering the Right Training
To meet the challenge of training the employees in multiple locations in the City and at different times, the City and RAMCO were able to creatively schedule classrooms and formats.  The backbone of the training program was using computer classrooms in several existing locations, so that the setup could be consistent and equipment already in place.  Start times ranged from 4am to 6pm, to accommodate as many shift workers and traditional staff schedules as possible.  We used the existing RAMCO classroom in downtown Seattle at the beginning of the training project, when the Exchange configuration was not yet available in City training classrooms.  “Not only did RAMCO come in and conduct training in my usual training facilities, they were also willing to travel and go to offsite areas to do training and did an excellent job,” comments Wong.  “For me, it was an excellent benefit that RAMCO has a computer training room in downtown Seattle to allow my customers to go to their facility before my room was ready for Outlook training.”

In addition, Citywide Training utilized large conference rooms and auditoriums for the lecture-style training.  Both the City and RAMCO provided a laptop for the instructor that mirrored the default settings of the classrooms.  RAMCO further provided an Exchange Server for training where a City laptop was not available and a network connection could not be made.  This extended the ability to provide training by providing an independent, fully functional client/server combination.

To meet the needs of the remote users who typically work round the clock shifts, we contemplated offering “briefings” during times when they could be gathered together at the beginning or end of their shift schedules.  This option did not seem feasible based on the inability to utilize instructor time for additional training if overviews were scheduled for midnight or 3am.

In order to provide a training opportunity for this group, whose need was minimal but crucial, we created a 15-minute, recorded training session on the single requirement that they had—to access their email account via a web interface.  The Citywide Training Unit and the GEM team reviewed the video for clarity and content before releasing it to the departments.  This creative approach provided a timeless, custom, training solution tailored to this particular demographic.

Success!
RAMCO completed the entire project on time, and under budget—the two things that always help a project be successful!  Over 2500 employees attended at least one training session, while many of those attended multiple sessions.  The overall instructor satisfaction rating was 94%.  Student satisfaction regarding the custom courses was 92%.  “RAMCO did an OUTSTANDING job working as our vendor partner,” concludes Wong.  “Their work has saved thousands of dollars and days of our time in our training projects.”