IBM launches IT courses in Scotland

IBM has revealed it will be collaborating with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to provide IT courses at universities and colleges north of the border.

The classes will teach qualifications in UNIX and Mainframe skills, including Power and System z, with the combined goal of making the students more employable and providing local Scottish businesses with an expanded pool of qualified experts to recruit.

IBM claims mainframe technology is instrumental at all levels of industry and infrastructure across multiple sectors and said there was a big demand for qualified technical staff from banks, Government agencies, airlines and retailers.

Big Blue will be providing software, teaching material and practical lab exercises for free to participating colleges and universities, whilst the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) has been chosen as the centre of the programme.

Patrick Afchain, business development manager at the School of Computing within UWS, said: "We are delighted to be the lead centre for this initiative and welcome the opportunity to work with IBM and SQA to enhance the skills and qualifications of current and future IT professionals."

Students can become employed whilst still studying on the courses and can upload their CVs to an online course database for IBM clients and business partners to review. The courses will also be accessible to postgraduate students or those currently employed elsewhere, if they're looking for a skills update or career swap.

The development comes after IBM System i courses were successfully introduced at 43 colleges across Scotland in 2007, with the new qualifications and resources provided by IBM building on that foundation.