SITA plans program on motivation

South
Gujarat IT Association (SITA) has planned a motivational event
titled-'Change before it is too late'-for partners of the local
community. The speaker for the event would be Aslam Chanasia, a
prominent motivational trainer based out of Surat. Chanasia is the
author of the book 'Retail Mahayuddh' and has been trained by
motivational trainer Santosh Nair. The event is tentatively scheduled
for 14th February, and is open for both SITA members as well as
non-members. Asked why SITA has planned this kind of a program, Unnat
Mehta, President, SITA said, “Considering the present business
scenario wherein unhealthy competition on the price front especially
by large format retailers like Croma, Next and others, has affected
us badly, partners here fear the worst and do not see a bright future
ahead. Very few potential partners think of entering this business
and the existing ones are wondering if they should continue. To
counter this situation and to help partners deal with the
frustration, we have organized this program. We are bearing the cost
of the program so it will be free for all who wish to participate.
This is because we want the maximum number of partners to benefit
from it. Hopefully this initiative will inspire the much required
confidence that IT partners need in south Gujarat.” The association
plans to publicize the event through e-mail, SMS as well as
advertising in a local newspaper.

SITA
has also planned a training session for its members called 'Hands on
Linux' scheduled to be held in March. It will be conducted in
association with Enjay ThinClient, a Linux-based thin client company
based out from Bhilad. The event will showcase sessions on everything
from installation to implementation and is meant for the partner's
technical staff working in the end customer market segment. “The
Government of Gujarat has included Linux in the syllabus for students
of the 11th and 12th grade for the subject Computer Science.
Consequently, it becomes essential for channel community to train
their engineers for the purpose of installation and implementation of
Linux systems at educational institutions,” shares Mehta.

size="3">Chaitanya
Parekh, Director, Linux Initiative, Enjay ThinClient says, “A lot
of corporates are opting for Linux solutions now because of the cost
advantage. There are several open source solutions available but we
feel that most partners do not know which is the right one to choose
and also how to implement the same. This is where we think that
providing them hand-on training would help.” Some partners have
already geared up to meet the demand for Linux. PR Praveen of
Creative Infotech says, “We have already trained our technical
staff on Linux as per our requirement and we do not see a need to
train more at the moment. We are seeing an increased demand from
customers for open source, especially those using Web-based ERP
solutions and client server systems, so we are ready for the same.”
On the other hand, there are those like Manhar SK of Compucare
Systems who believes that his staff will benefit from training
programs like the one planned by SITA. “We do not have any staff
who are trained on Linux and with the demands coming in, I want my
staff to be prepared to service our customers. I would definitely
like to get them trained,” signs off Manhar.