The market is saturated with training offers in the field of Information Technology. Companies of all kinds offer training catalogs on IT certifications, often without authorization, but above all without any guarantee of competence. Here are some points for reflection to guide you in your choice:

Check if training center is accredited by international companies (Vendors). When choosing a training center it is important to check which national and international accreditations it has. These awards are proof of quality and rigorous and reliable company procedures. Some Examples: ISO 9001 EA 37 Certification, Government Accreditation, Cisco Learning Partner, Check Point Authorized Training Center, Alibaba Cloud ATC, Microsoft Learning Partner, Vmware Academy, CompTIA Academy, Microsoft Imagine Academy, Microsoft Learning Partner, Huawei Academy, VUE, Prometric , PSI, Kryterion etc.

Check if the training path chosen is effective for taking the certification exam. At the end of the training course it is essential that the student takes the certification exams. The exams can only be taken at authorized test centers or directly with the online Vendor. Those who offer IT training must guarantee tools and methodologies that prepare the student for the certification exam in a specific and rigorous manner. Ask how many students at the end of the course take the certification exam, and how many of them pass it, finding this information in the feedbacks that can be found online.

Check the real number of training hours with the real-time presence of a trainer. Whether it is a classroom or remote course, make sure of the real total number of training hours. Very often the total duration of the course is distorted by the addition of individual study hours outside the lessons. The value of the course must be assessed according to the number of hours with the synchronous presence of the trainer to whom to question and request clarification in real time. Another important parameter is the total number of hours of access to laboratory equipment.

Check if the training center guarantees practical laboratory activity directly or through its partners with whom it is accredited. Proposing an exclusively theoretical course cannot respond to the current needs of specialized IT training which must necessarily prepare the student for real activities in production. Many training institutions, unable to buy laboratory equipment or rent them for the duration of the course, and not being able to have full-time internal staff, do not propose any alternative to a totally theoretical course. Many IT courses rule out any possibility of a training center having its own labs due to the high cost of software and hardware. In this case, very advanced and expensive laboratories are provided directly by international companies (Cisco, Microsoft, Check Point, VMware, Huawei, CompTIA, Fortinet, Palo Alto, Alibaba Cloud). This is the prerogative of accredited training centers only.

Check if the training center has an internal team available full-time. Too often who offer IT courses on the market are empty boxes. It all depends on the trainer, left alone to preside over all the training phases such as the setup of the remote labs, lab monitoring and troubleshooting, support students for exam certification … etc. All these tasks cannot be handled by a single person.

Check the maximum number of participants for a single course. It is not possible that a single trainer can manage more than 14 students at the same time. Especially in laboratory activities where each student should have exclusive equipment.

Check what the network says about the courses given by the training center you are choosing for your training. Before concluding the choice, check online what are the opinions about the work of the training center in which you wish to attend the course and personally contact those who have already attended the courses.