Academy to train functional personnel.

Smart IT Odoo ERP Academy to tackle growing skills gap in the Enterprise Resource Planning market with initial intake of ten at Kirkham Head Office and its Vancouver, Canada operation.

Smart IT has today announced that it is launching a new training Academy,  a facility which will provide specialist tuition focussed on the implementation, use and maintenance of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in a commercial environment.

Open to everybody including school leavers, graduates and people looking for a change of career, it has been designed to meet the demand for skilled ERP practitioners specifically in the Odoo product arena where Smart IT is the UK’s largest and most successful Odoo gold partner and the fastest  
growing Odoo gold partner in Canada.

According to Gartner there are significant signs of revival and an increase in investment in renovating and replacing ERP[1]. 2022 promises to be a growth year. Barry Bullen, Smart IT explains: 

“We have never experienced such unprecedented demand for our Odoo ERP services.   However, Odoo, particularly, in the UK suffers from a shortage of qualified resources. The dearth of adequately experienced functional personnel is an ongoing issue; an issue which could hamper the growth of Smart IT. We are continually asking ourselves how can we internally farm IT talent and how can we transition existing staff members into differentiating ERP roles?     Our response to the skills shortage is the Smart IT Odoo ERP Academy.”

The curriculum covers all operational and functional aspects of Odoo from installation through configuration to practical operation in a business environment. 

The Smart IT Odoo ERP Academy programme pathways have the flexibility to meet the learners’ individual needs and ensure progress is maintained and to keep candidates on track. They provide an immersive e-learning experience with online modular learning resources for candidates to discover at their own pace. Mentoring forms a key part of each pathway.   Learning is consolidated with a formal examination at the end of each course.

This programme enables Smart IT to provide employment to a wider, less experienced community whilst offering them the opportunity for a progressive career in the ERP sector.

“We are providing career pathways for people with and without degrees. This is an excellent means for young people to train on the job with excellent career prospects in a growth sector,”  explains Barry Bullen.

The career pathways will see candidates serve periods in the following roles:

·         Help Desk Assistant

·         Help Desk Customer Representative

·         Junior Functional Consultant

·         Functional Consultant

·         Senior Functional Consultant

Thereafter, they may elect to continue as a functional consultant or, alternatively, move into project management or sales position. 

"The original intention is for our own use, to provide a steady stream of professionally qualified employees who can support our aggressive growth. We are looking to recruit 10 candidates onto the programme in the next year. However, opening the Academy up to Smart IT clients and indeed other Odoo partners is planned for phase two of our launch. We’ve had enquiries from clients already.”

The programme is open to applications now.

 

[1] Gartner: How to Model Your Cloud ERP Support Team | 12 April 2021 | Published: 17 December 2019 | ID: G00450553