7 training companies primed to upskill your IT pros

It’s smart to invest in IT training — you can address skills gaps, inspire innovation and strengthen your department’s confidence. But you want to make sure employees get the most out of any corporate training program. Going with a third-party vendor can ensure your employees receive the best training for the price, while taking away some of the burden for the company.

These seven vendors offer a variety of IT training options — in-person courses, online classes and even customizable training apps designed to engage workers. If you’re interested in strengthening the skills on your IT team, look at any one of these seven IT training companies.

NexGenT

NexGenT was developed by two Air Force veterans, Terry Kim and Jacob Hess, to provide job-ready IT training that mixes project-based and in-person learning at an affordable rate. Kim and Hess spent years training network engineers for the U.S. Air Force, often training people without any experience in a few months. But in the civilian-world, they found most people thought becoming a network engineer takes years of education and training.

NexGenT combines an online program called Zero to Engineer with a 5-day in-person certification boot camp to help apply what students learn in a real-world setting. At the boot camp, each student can choose to get certified as a Full Stack Network Associate, giving students the confidence and skills to jump into an associate-level job.

Startup Institute

Startup Institute offers diverse courses and programs that are designed with innovation in mind. The company pushes the idea that we’re moving toward an “innovation economy” now that the modern workforce is rapidly changing, forcing employees to stay agile and innovative.

Startup Institute offers full-time and part-time courses in coding, design, marketing and sales. Individuals can attend the Startup Institute in-person either full-time or part-time, and there’s also an option for “career support,” which focuses on professional development. The curriculum changes with industry demand in web development, web design, digital marketing and account management. You can also opt for corporate training, with a variety of programs and formats to choose from.

Global Knowledge

Global Knowledge offers courses in data analytics, change management, application development, cloud computing, cybersecurity and networking. It’s been around since 1995 and now has over 1,500 employees worldwide with technology partners such as Amazon Web Services, Cisco, SAP, Red Hat, Microsoft and IBM.

It promises to offer the most “relevant and timely content” from the “best instructors” via customized private programs, public training, flexible formats and support for continuing education. Companies should contact Global Knowledge to get a quote, since each program can be customized to a business’ needs.

NovoEd

For businesses that want to train their entire organization in a more organized way, NovoEd offers a mobile app training platform. The company was founded by a Stanford University professor Amin Saberi and a PhD student Farnaz Ronaghi as an online resource that offers massive open online courses and small private online courses. And now they offer all of that in a convenient mobile software that is designed to be easy to use and engaging for workers.

NovoEd offers paid and free courses targeted at corporate training, executive education, skill development and leadership. Courses are taught through partners, including Princeton University, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Skillsoft

Skillsoft is one of the top IT training companies, according to Training Industry; it’s ranked in the top 20 on multiple Training Industry lists since 2008. It offers over 165,000 courses, videos and books in 160 countries and 29 languages — all accessible in the cloud. You’ll find multiple options for training and learning, including Percipio, a “learning experience platform” that brings training right to your mobile device.

There are over 450 learning paths that are regularly updated, analytic reports for managers to track and the app gives managers the ability to doll out assignments. Besides Percipio, there are plenty of other products from Skillsoft that will help companies train, certify and grow the skillsets of IT workers.

Pluralsight

Pluralsight focuses on helping businesses stay agile as technology evolves using a mobile platform that allows employers to “evaluate the technical abilities of your teams, align learning to key business objectives and close skills gaps in critical areas like cloud, mobile, security, design and data.”

Courses are offered across multiple disciplines and industries, with a wide selection of IT operations courses that address a variety of IT skillsets. That includes servers, networking, security, virtualization and cloud computing — just to name a few. You can try it out for free for 10 days or 210 hours, whichever comes first; subscriptions start at $29 per month for individuals and businesses can receive a quote upon request.

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn owns Lynda.com, a popular website where users can teach themselves new skills, and it’s leveraged that resource to offer LinkedIn Learning. It’s an affordable way to build new skills and further your career and an easy way for employers to train multiple employees at once. Tech topics include data science, IT infrastructure, information management, software development and more.

If you want to train five or more people, you can reach out to a sales specialist to get a quote. Individual users can try out the service free for one month, and subscriptions start at $24.99 per month after the trial ends.

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