Training and certification of professionals for the revitalization of the ICT sector in Galicia

In the digital age, technology is an essential lever in business development. Any business strategy depends on a good technological base to succeed in markets that are constantly changing, highly competitive and marked by uncertainty. But, technologies alone are not enough. Businesses also need people who know how to use systems and software optimally. Without the right people it is impossible for companies to extract the full innovative potential of their technology investments.

According to a study conducted by the consulting firm IDC and sponsored by Red Hat, training IT teams increases both individual capacity and the business value that the technology they support can provide. Red Hat-trained professionals are better able to work more efficiently and effectively, onboard faster and are considered more productive employees.

Red Hat Training and Certification

This study shows that with Red Hat Training and Certification companies can expect to increase the productivity of  teams by more than 45% (depending on the technology in which they have been trained), and achieve a 4x increase in skills. In addition, the study shows a 59% increase in the speed of deployment of new IT resources, which in turn implies a reduction of at least 21% in IT infrastructure costs.

Public-private collaboration to align training needs

The Center for New Technologies of Galicia (CNTG), part of the Ministry of Employment Promotion and Equality of the Xunta de Galicia, has been able to verify the advantages of working with Red Hat Training. Since 2010, CNTG has completed 23 Red Hat Training courses, with the aim of improving the competitiveness of the Galician ICT ecosystem.

"Given that Galicia has a mature ICT ecosystem, with a very relevant weight in the Galician economy and a strong presence at the national level, the training and certification of highly qualified professionals is of greater importance," explains Carlos Vázquez, director of the CNTG.

For Vázquez, CNTG and Red Hat share a vision for the importance of training when it comes to providing value to the products and services used by CNTG itself as well as the regional administration, the ICT ecosystem, and Galician professionals.

“Our alignment in vision, along with the intrinsic value of Red Hat products, has led to a success story that has been sustained for almost 15 years,” he adds.

To continue promoting the training of new technologies, the Ministry and CNTG maintain a close dialogue and continuous collaboration with the Galician ICT ecosystem.

“This dialogue allows us to have an updated vision of the training needs of workers in the ICT sector, which is complemented by the training needs of the unemployed and the reskilling of other professionals. We anticipate the training demand and we provide an offer aligned with this demand,” points out Vázquez.

In a competitive climate, training is a matter of survival

Many of the professionals who have trained at CNTG are working in companies that provide services to the Agency for Technological Modernization of Galicia (AMTEGA). For Adrián Lence Paz, director of the Infrastructure and Security area at AMTEGA, training for Red Hat technologies provides greater efficiency in platform management.

“This training increases the productivity in the performance of the functions of the professionals. The levels of response and confidence provided by the workers who participated in these training sessions have a positive impact on the reduction of incidents and service losses,” Lence points out.

For his part, Miguel Ares, Altia's project manager, believes that training in the ICT sector is no longer a matter of improving competitiveness, but rather a real need for survival.

“Day to day, the exponential growth of the sector, the enormous variety of projects, the digital transformation of society and the very dynamics of the ICT world make the effort to carry out training within organizations a sometimes difficult workhorse. Training must be accounted for within the plans and operational strategies of companies,” he comments.

Professionals also value Red Hat Training. Jesús Fernández, who works as a system administrator, RHCE, at Minsait, an Indra company, trained in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Advanced Administration course at CNTG in 2020. Fernández recalls that the quality of the training provided by certified Red Hat experts was excellent, as was the provision of virtual media for the training to take place.

“The training received was updated to the latest available version of the product and provided students with knowledge and practice on one of the main GNU/Linux distributions on the market, as well as the Ansible Automation software that is increasingly used by our clients. It has given us the opportunity to access the recognized professional certifications RHCSA and RHCE for free, and take the corresponding tests from Santiago,” he says.

Red Hat sees training as part of its responsibility to society

As part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, Red Hat conducts various training initiatives. Since 2020, Red Hat has delivered more than 200.000 free technical courses as part of its online training catalog.

In parallel, it offers a free corporate program for the academic world, Red Hat Academy (RHA). Through this program, Red Hat provides universities and vocational training centers the possibility to enable students in the Red Hat topics that are part of the pillars of any current IT strategy. Red Hat Academy is present in more than 500 centers throughout  Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, with Spain being a benchmark in this regard with more than 100 centers working with the program.

Additionally, Red Hat develops the Workforce Development Program (WDP) that is aimed at professionals who are not working or those who need to reorient their professional career. Under the umbrella of the WDP program, Red Hat works both at the state level and in different autonomous communities on employment training plans, such as the one being carried out at the CNTG in Galicia. Since their inception, these programs have been taught without interruption and free of charge, with the aim of providing professional skills and specific technological knowledge to respond to the digital transformation needs of companies and society in general.