Any interest in WebEx training/consulting sessions?

[solid7]

I have seen so much newbie interest in learning Catia V5, and yet so few people willing to pay for good training, it made me think today about offering WebEx training/consulting.

I would like to gather some initial feedback. Are there any of you out there that would be interested in seeing such a service?

I have 2 ideas for how this would work:

Idea #1 - You or your company sends us a specific list of compiled questions, based on an actual part. All training would be based on my analysis of how to construct such a part. This would be especially great for learning basic design in Catia from parts in a "legacy" system.

Idea #2 - a true "open" consulting session. Any question goes, within the prearranged context. (tell me what workbench/function you want to know about, and we thoroughly expound upon it)

My idea is that this is good for 2 reasons -

1) Costs are reduced by eliminating the "structured" class. Your questions are based upon your processes, and your specific needs. It's like not having to buy the whole chicken when all you want is the drumsticks....

2) Real practical advice from an advanced user - not a "trained" trainer. You would essentially be paying a consultant to teach you the "tricks of the trade." (not canned advice)

This would only work well if it were contingent upon an approved plan, put in place by a meeting of management and users, with items prioritized, and sent to the consultant with sufficient time to prepare. Time would, of necessity, be respected more in this sense, as the "tangent" topics would be minimized.

Meetings can be arranged on an hourly basis, via WebEx.

Any feedback?

We already offer this type of service, albeit only on a topical basis.

Thanks for your input.


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Professional and reliable CAD design engineering services - Specializing in Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.

 

[JacobL]

This sounds great. Since this would cost much less then a typical course.
The one I'm willing to pay for (to a logical sum) is for the composite workbench. However, no tutorial exists for it. NONE!
If you intend to do a composite workbench tutorial (and have the knowledge to), please contact me, and I'll check with my boss the possiblity.

 

[goatsrus]

Although project based training would be helpful, I think small shops that could really use the service usually cannot afford the additional leadtime penalty. Just my opinion based on our situation.

Our vendor just purchased a company to provide something along those lines. Currently r13/14. Anyhow, the link:

http://www.cadpo.com/home/elearning/about.asp

 

[solid7]

It completely depends on the type of arrangement you have. We are a small business, and our costs associated with this type of training are considerably less. There are no "lead time" penalties for us. I think you would be surprised how economically this can be done.

I have recently completed my first WebEx session, and it went quite well. My scope is limited more to supplemental training of newbies and answering specific questions about problematic parts, and/or design challenges - more in the realm of pure consulting, at this point. But we can tailor training on just about anything, so long (of course) as it falls within our areas of expertise. For the canned courses, it's still best to go with a Dassault Authorized Education Partner, as the costs associated with developing that type of training material is astronomical.

Unfortunately JacobL, I have not used the composite workbench on V5. I used to use composite function in V4, but I don't honestly think that I could be of any help to you in that case.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Keep it coming!




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Professional and reliable CAD design engineering services - Specializing in Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.

 

[JacobL]

Another note on the subject.
Do you mean to create customized tutorials for specific requests? or a general tutorial system to cover certain/all aspects of CATIA? A general system has a bigger overall market value, and you can re-use the solutions.
Customized tutorials might be more effective, but they wil cost more to the buyer as well as to the producer.

 

[solid7]

Customized goes more like this:

You send me a list of your issues. Give me a prearranged amount of time to address the scenario, based on your input, and any data you provide. I put together a quote.

The distinct advantage, is that paying for this hits all the topics, as needed, with nothing you don't. Paying in this manner also keeps things focused, both out of necessity, and by virtue of interest. (people tend to be uninterested in things when it's not inherently related to what they want to know - I yawned a lot in Catia training)

The problem with a general, or "canned" training system, is that it has already been done. This would be more of a niche. Besides that, the Dassault Education Partners all have access to the same training material, and they pay a fee to use it. The cost of using it is relative to the amount of use that they put it to. There is a yearly estimate of use, and upfront fee for useage of training materials, and a year-end reconcilliation, based on actual use. Most people probably can't make enough money to use the materials and pay their staff, and can't cost effectively reproduce it. (as with anything Dassault, there is a pretty hefty useage fee)

I come in, as an independent consultant, practical user, and trouble ticket champion. While we don't know everything, I get so may calls from my customers asking how to do this or that, that I figured I should just make a go of it. My philosophy is that if you need support, and you have to pay SOMEONE for it, why should you have to go through the nightmare that level 2 support entails? I once bought support, and didn't get my question even addressed for a week. It took another 4 days after that to get the resolution.


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Professional and reliable CAD design engineering services - Specializing in Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.

 

[Excalibur]

Just a thought : has any of you tried to use CATIA with Webex ? I have tried a couple of occasions, performances are really bad. Does anyone know how to get acceptable performance (at least 10 fps ?)

 

[solid7]

I think that it's just your connection. I have had sessions in various parts of the country, and my sessions have basically been real time.

I figured this out, because when I made a mistake on-screen, my customer could hear it at the same time. (they mentioned it)

High speed connections are definitely not created equal...


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Professional and reliable CAD design engineering services - Specializing in Catia V4, Catia V5, and CAD Translation. Catia V5 resources - CATBlog.