Allianz

How QA provided managed training services to Allianz Cornhill, with a preferred-supplier agreement to deliver a comprehensive range of standard and tailored training courses.

The solution

Like many organisations, when it comes to acquiring new IT skills, Allianz turns to QA. In a relationship that has lasted around seven years, Allianz has depended upon QA to deliver a broad range of training courses and services. QA’s track record has resulted in achieving and maintaining preferred supplier status for the last four years.

Much of the training provided to Allianz has been through QA’s extensive public schedule of training courses – as this provides the convenience of being able to take courses at the most suitable date and location for each delegate. The technical IT training taken includes CompTIA A+, Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle.

Allianz has welcomed QA’s expansion into the soft skills arena. There are now rolling programmes in place to provide PRINCE2 project management training and ITIL service management courses, which are both key courses for the company.

The relationship has grown beyond the provision of standard courses. Where these courses don’t meet Allianz’s requirements, QA creates tailored courses. This approach is especially beneficial for supporting specific projects – for example, when Allianz was upgrading around two and half thousand desktops to Microsoft Windows XP, the company wanted to ensure that its support team had exactly the right skills in place – so QA created and delivered a tailored five-day course which met the team’s specific needs.

Allianz places great emphasis on developing people’s skills. The company holds an induction day each quarter for new recruits - designed to familiarise them with the company’s different departments and processes. During this day, QA provides the presentation about training – and the different types of training available to each employee.

QA also provides Allianz with a managed training service - sourcing and managing many different types of training, even when these are not provided by QA  itself. This simplifies Allianz’s training administration and enables the company to make the most of both QA’s experience and its network of partners.