A University’s journey through rectifying the issues in the current education practices and building learning solutions that is quintessential! Education institutes face ongoing challenges of competition, skyrocketing costs and unpredictable economy. It is imperative, above all, for the institutes to not to be fastidious and work on engraving the latest advents in their textbooks.

1. STRATEGIC
ALTERNATIVES
TO FIGHT AN
EXISTENTIAL
ISSUE

2. IIHTis a pioneering hardware and
networking IT IMS training institute.
It is India’s largest IT education
organization and Asia’s leading
technology training organization in
IMS, offering high quality industry
specific cost effective professional
computer training at individual and
corporate levels.

3. Based out of Bangalore, India; IIHT has
a strong presence in the Indian market
with over 300 plus centres. Its global
presence envelops West Africa, East
Africa, South
Africa, China, Turkey, Malaysia, Middle
East, Sri Lanka and other countries.
Latest collaborations in Africa include
countries such as
Angola, Nigeria, Mozambique, Liberia, T
ogo, Kenya, Ivory Coast, DR
Congo, Gambia and so on. IIHT is
present through its esteemed
franchises in Over 22 countries
Worldwide.
IIHT is a preferred partner of Microsoft, C i s
c o, H P, S y m a n t e c, R e d h a t, S u n M i c
r o s y s t ems, N e t A p p s, C omp T i
a, CITRIX, VMware, EMC2 and many more IT
majors around the world. And has Alliance
with Sikkim Manipal University, one of the
top Indian Universities, to offer Degree to
its IMS courses. IIHT has a strategic alliance
with EDEXCEL, UK. EDEXCEL has recognized
the 2 year IIHT d i p l o m a c o u r s e a s B T
E C H i g h e r National Diploma – IT IMS. In
Partnership with Microsoft IIHT has also
launched Cloud computing in 2011.

4. A University’s journey through
rectifying the issues in the
current education practices and
building learning solutions that
is quintessential!
Education institutes face ongoing
challenges of competition, skyrocketing
costs and unpredictable economy. It is
imperative, above all, for the institutes
to not to be fastidious and work on
engraving the latest advents in their
textbooks.

5. Identifying the
LOOPHOLE

6. A University in
Liberia, Africa amidst all, decided to add a
new wing to its unfaltering fraternity, a new
department that gives its students an edge over others
and thereby giving an edge to university itself.
The management was unsure whether existing course
set up was efficient enough for its students to achieve
their career goals. The management took up a two year
strategy to tackle the current situation faced by
graduates in the job market. The new generation
students are not being able to find placements on time.
A study was conducted covering three major
universities in the nation for two consecutive
years and it was found that over 60% of the
students graduating took longer than a year to
find a job and overall 60% were still under-
employed by the end of two years. It was
disheartening at the same time questioning the
credibility of the education imparted by the
university.
The university decided to build learning solutions
that address the issue giving its students an
opportunity to face the world with right
prospective and with skill-sets that support it.
Key purpose was also to strengthen the brand
image of the university and make it most
preferred among students.

7. The
Study

8. Year 1:
216 students
35% found a job
60% unemployed
30% under employed
Two years of study was focused on 300 students who
decided to pursue career paths in IT after a certain
graduation. Students were selected through fish bowl
method, from three different universities. Study
revealed that 72% felt they were job ready and
started to look for jobs in IT right after
graduating, 14% were looking out for options in
higher education, 8% were joining family businesses
and 6% had not planned anything yet. Of 72% only
12% were able to find a job within 2 months, another
23% got placements within the Year-1. Over 60%
students had not found a job even after a year and
the remaining 5% had decided to look for further
education. Of the ones who found jobs 30% were
under employed.
The Study

9. Year 2:
90% found a job
8% unemployed
83% still underemployed
When a survey was conducted among same
participants at the end of Year-2 it was found that
90% of them had found jobs, but surprisingly the
survey also revealed that 83% of them were
underemployed, with no substantial growth in the
career in the two years. 73% were found unhappy
with their job and compensation with rest being
somewhat satisfied. Over a third of them settled for
jobs that had no relevance to education. Even the
students who pursued further education were unable
to find jobs relevant to their education and aspiration.
The Study

10. “After applying for 100s of jobs I realised it’s
something or nothing. I was found unfit for all
most every type of job and so I am working as an
office assistant now. Even this I’m not sure how
long I can keep as things changes every day.”
Anna, Study participant
“I thought the course I chose and with marks I
scored I’d find a job anywhere however it took
over 6 months for me to find this job and at
executive level it’s a very low profile job hardly
using any of my skills and compensation is quite
less.”
Richard, Study participant

11. Nearly 50 employers in IT field were interviewed to
ascertain the reason for not recruiting the fresher’s even
at the entry level. 86% of them felt that fresh graduates
did not possess required skills especially up-to-date IT
skills with negligible 8% percent feeling that fresh
graduates had some amount of skills required and rest
6% were unsure of same.
“Fresh graduates have no knowledge or skills
required for even executive roles. There are fewer
even applying for these jobs as they realise they
do not posses required skills. The IT environment
faces a challenge of inadequate supply of talent to
manage its operations today. ”
A CTO

12. It was decided that the new course
• Must be from a pioneering and reputed IT IMS
training
• Could be updated on a regular basis
• Has universal acceptance
• Comprehensive learning material and stimulating
learning experience
• Co-Certified by world IT leaders
• Is recognised by IT majors
• Possibility to create Live environments for real life
learning experience
• Cost effective
• Could meet needs of Secondary School Graduate to
a Master degree holder
• The courses ranged from few months course
designed for up-skill to graduation programs
The university called for board
meeting to discuss findings of the
study and to explore alternative
solutions to the situation. It was a
general consensus among the
board members that new courses
have to be introduced in the
university that would leverage the
employability quotient among
students and assure placements in
relevant field after latest
certification at various levels and
thereby build advantage for the
university over the others in the
nation.
THE BRAINSTORMINGThe Brainstorming

13. The board explored various franchising opportunities, for an
institute that is renowned for its product quality and possess
above stated features. Through a philanthropic university in
Nigeria, An institute named IIHT came into light. The
university, for a period of three months researched about IIHT
and its service repute. After comparisons with other major IT
IMS training institutes and evaluating opportunity costs, the
university approached IIHT for purchasing the Franchise.
Finding the Answer

14. AN IIHT INTERVENTION
After thoroughly
•investigating the university and the student end of the
story,
•conducting detailed analysis of the job market in Liberia
and the surrounding economies,
• exploring university relationship with the employers
•And understanding the knowledge among all three
about the current trends
The university determine the set of courses that they could offer to the students. Courses that
provide potentials that the employers are looking for. IIHT identified potential employers not
only from across the nation but also leading IT companies from across Africa that would offer
jobs to pupil with IIHT certification. The university management was trained on building
relationships with employers.

15. The university adopted courses such as ICCP, GNetPro, edexcel, GIMS and
extended to courses such as BSc IMS, Master’s in IT IMS etc in the next year.
Hand-held support was given to the University in acquiring all equipments,
talent and other resources. The new institution was established to provide
extended learning solutions to the students. The university is now able to offer
courses with 100% placement assistance. Effective enrolment was possible
through strategic marketing practices. Almost all the students passing out of the
courses find suitable jobs within couple of months and have a lot to expect.
University is attracting students from all over the nation and beyond.
IIHT continues to monitor activities of the centre providing services
and assistance as and when needed. IIHT strives to bring solutions to
issues of educationists by means of delivering core curriculum that is
standardised across all employers in the respective industry by
partnering with the IT majors themselves.

16. The goodwill is not only because IIHT provides skilled manpower in
the areas of hardware, networking, database
management, security and storage management but also because
the students are taught the latest technology advancements in the
industry. This is coupled with hands-on lab sessions where in the
students get exposed to simulation of live situations of day to day
operations in organizations. This equips the students to proactively
act to situations and implement the best possible solution befitting
the situation once on job.
Further the curriculum is customized based on relevance of current
trends and expectations of businesses, which is endorsed by our
many partners and many more IT majors from around the world.
IIHT’s brand repute is built over its’ years of excellence in service,
delivering high quality training and cutting edge infrastructure. IIHT
envisions of becoming a globally accepted and acknowledged end-
to-end IT education and training solution provider. As a testimonial,
IIHT is now catering to renowned IT majors and Fortune 100
companies for their manpower requirements; IIHT showcases 40%
annual CAGR; and our franchise partners are spread across the
world.
End Note

17. Corporate Headquarters
#15,Sri Lakshmi Complex, 4th Floor, St. Marks Road, Bangalore - 560 001. India
Tel: 91 80 6160 4545 e-mail: franchise@iihttechnologies.com web: www.iihttechnologies.com