10 SharePoint Training Vendor Questions

In a recent Blog post we discussed the "Top Ten Questions to ask when Looking for SharePoint Training". Here's how SharePoint Academy would answer those questions.

1. Are your trainers SharePoint Consultants or just trainers?
   All of our trainers are SharePoint Consultants that, when not training, spend there time working on SharePoint projects. Our Director of Training, Mike McManus, is a Microsoft Certified as both a MCT and MCITP and works as a SharePoint Architect and Developer when he's not developing or delivering SharePoint training.
2. What curriculum do you use?
   For SharePoint 2010, SharePoint Academy has developed its own curriculum pulling from our vast SharePoint experience that has resulted in over 100 SharePoint site launches. Our curriculum and covers everything from Power User to Developer, Designer and Administrator as well as specialized classes for Business Intelligence and No Code Solutions.
3. How often is your curriculum updated?
   Our SharePoint curriculum is updated at minimum twice per year and are always improving our courseware based on student feedback and coinciding with new SharePoint updates.
4. Can you guarantee I will be satisfied with the training I receive?
   Absolutely! We provide a Money Back Guarantee if you are not satisfied with our instructor, materials or overall education experience.
5. How much of the class is hands on?
   Our curriculum is designed to have you in and using SharePoint hands-on with in the first few hours of the class. Each topic in a class contains a portion of lecture followed by in-depth hands-on labs.
6. Will I receive my own SharePoint environment to use for the duration of the class?
   Yes. We utilize virtualization technology from CloudShare and provide each student with their own dedicated SharePoint environment for use for the duration of the course.
7. Do you offer special pricing for (i.e. Multi Student Discounts, Government Discounts, etc.)?
   Yes. We typically offer Group Discounts for groups of 3 or more, provide Government Discounts (as part of GSA) and occasionally run promotions and other special offers.
8. Is your website running SharePoint?
   Yes. We have been running SusQtech.com on SharePoint 2010 since it was released in BETA.
9. Do you measure attendee satisfaction?
   At the conclusions of each class we provide surveys to each student to provide feedback on all aspects of the training experience from the instructor, to the courseware to the training environment itself. We use this feedback to provide continual improvements to the quality of training that we offer.
10. Do you limit how many students can attend the class?
    Yes. Our classes typically range anywhere from 5-12 students and we limit our registration for a given course to 20 students (per instructor). In the case of a larger class size we will provide an additional instructor or consultant to assist in the class.