Who: Learning Tree International is a skills training and professional development organization that aims to empower individuals and support organizational growth through an approach that holistically addresses the needs of the tech workforce.
What: Learning Tree International offers training on a variety of topics, from cybersecurity to cloud to project management. Their relationship with CompTIA goes back to 2008, when they first began offering training for CompTIA A+ to organizations.
Why: Learning Tree’s mission is to support organizations in their use of business practices by preparing employees at all levels with the in-demand skills needed in today’s tech workforce.
Learning Tree International is an award-winning global training provider, focused on hands-on IT training across many aspects of technology like web development, cloud, data analytics, cybersecurity, project management and more. Their mission is to empower individuals to support organizational growth.
Learning Tree International has a global reach, having served more than 3.5 million course participants
from over 65,000 organizations worldwide, in more than 125 different countries. They provide skills assessments, team training management support and tailored training solutions to help organizations advance their employees' skills, from entry to
advanced level.
“We are often brought into [an organization] to conduct a learning skill gap analysis to understand where employees stand. Then we help to develop a learning path for them so they can get to where they need to be,” said Magnus Nylund, chief operating officer, Learning Tree International.
Performing a skill gap analysis allows Learning Tree International to get a holistic view of the specific competencies they need to target to help organizations reach their goals. Learning Tree International is not new to the tech training world, and they understand that with the rapid pace of technological innovation comes the need to address workforce gaps through skilling, upskilling and reskilling. Providing scalable, consistent and flexible learning solutions that help support organizations’ use of technology is at the heart of what they do.
With 50 years of training experience, their customer-focused style, comprehensive library of instructor-led courses and unique approach to training ensure that organizations can trust them to enable their employees to keep up with the rapid pace of technological innovation.
In an industry that is constantly evolving at an unprecedented pace, organizations must ensure that their employees have the skills and competencies needed to keep up and drive digital transformation. Given this rapid evolution, naturally organizations face challenges in staying up to date with the latest changes and innovations.
“The market is in many ways moving so fast when it comes to technology. And so how do people keep up with new skills and new methodologies?” Nylund asked.
Whether an organization is looking to upskill project managers that are skilled in outdated technologies, upgrade their threat intelligence to keep up with the most recent cybersecurity threats or keep their staff up to date on the latest technologies, Learning Tree International offers both individualized and group training that can help an organization of any size bring employee skills current.
As a leading learning partner, Learning Tree's training approach is designed to support the integration of learning into the development process. Their pool of over 500+ instructors, who are required to have real world experience, strive to ensure that employees not only understand the concepts they’re learning but can also apply them immediately in their work.
But this is no easy task.
“We face challenges such as having to reskill folks that are perhaps working in outdated ways, and keeping up with cybersecurity threats is always a challenge. The threats change monthly and even weekly. It’s the benefit of having post-course coaching at your disposal.” Nylund said.
“The market is in many ways moving so fast when it comes to technology. And so how do people keep up with new skills and new methodologies?”
Magnus Nylund
Chief Operating Officer, Learning Tree International
Learning Tree International is a long-time member of CompTIA’s Authorized Partner Program (CAPP) and has worked closely with CompTIA for over 15 years to help unlock potential and deliver skilled tech talent to the global workforce. Over the years, this symbiotic, consultative relationship has naturally evolved and the portfolio of CompTIA certification training courses they offer has grown to include CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+), CompTIA PenTest+, CompTIA Linux+, CompTIA Cloud+ , CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) and CompTIA Data+.
Utilizing CompTIA’s CertMaster Suite of Learning Solutions, Learning Tree’s Certification Training Courses prepare employees with the skills they need to pass CompTIA certification exams, be successful in tech job roles and drive organizational performance.
“It’s a true partnership, where you have two very customer-centric organizations focusing on solving a problem for the customer together.
That is really important. And on top of that, what we get from the partnership is more than just courseware and exams,” Nylund said. “CompTIA also helps us keep our finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the market, what problems
are our joint customers trying to solve.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI), for example, has taken the world by storm, and according to Jackie Visnius, director of product at Learning Tree International, “we’re trying to be at the forefront of training at the foundational level as well as when it comes to more technical skills related to AI and cybersecurity.”
Skilling the tech workforce with the necessary competencies to drive business outcomes is an essential need for many organizations across the globe, and in some cases that includes skills validation through certification exams.
“Certification training is valuable to us, but it all comes down to the value we provide to the customer. And we clearly see that organizations value these certifications because they validate the individual and confirm their ability not only to work in certain roles, but also to excel in them,” Nylund said. “[Organizations] put a level of trust in that, and CompTIA has done a great job in the market to provide that trust.”
“What we get from the partnership is more than just courseware and exams. CompTIA also helps us keep our finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the market, what problems are our joint customers trying to solve.”
Magnus Nylund
Chief Operating Officer, Learning Tree International
Putting the customer first is one of Learning Tree International’s core values. “One of our main missions is to satisfy our customers and to ensure that they get the skills and the knowledge they need,” Visnius said.
Understanding that each organization has unique needs and goals, Learning Tree tailors its course offerings to meet each customer where they are at and help develop the technology workforce. In order to do so, it is important to prioritize customer feedback and use it to continuously improve their offerings. This focus on the customer has been instrumental in establishing Learning Tree International as a trusted and respected provider of tech training solutions.
Organizations worldwide, regardless of their geographic location, grapple with similar challenges and hurdles when it comes to tech training. As a global organization, Learning Tree International has a physical presence in the United States, Canada, the UK, Sweden and Japan, but the impact on their customers spans far beyond their brick-and-mortar locations.
“It’s all about developing others,” said Dana Leygraaf, product marketing manager at Learning Tree International. “We exist to provide individuals and organizations with the ability to learn new skills and technologies and to provide them with a growing career or individual growth.”
"You have to stay close to your customers,” Nylund said. “Learning Tree project managers that manage organizational training have a constant feedback loop with the stakeholders, because if the stakeholders aren’t seeing the impact from the training, then that means we need to adjust.”
“It’s all about developing others. We exist to provide individuals and organizations with the ability to learn new skills and technologies and to provide them with a growing career or individual growth.”
Dana Leygraaf
Product Marketing Manager, Learning Tree International
Across the globe, we are facing a significant shortage of skilled cybersecurity workers, posing a serious threat to organizations in all sectors. And as our reliance on digital technology grows, so does the risk of cyber-attacks.
In fact, according to CompTIA’s State of Cybersecurity 2022, there are currently 714,548 U.S. job openings requesting cybersecurity-related skills.
To provide holistic cybersecurity solutions to both commercial and government organizations of all sizes, Learning Tree International created its
Cybersecurity Foundations Professional Certificate Program. This program incorporates expert instructor-led training, hands-on labs and coaching to equip its participants with a strong understanding of cybersecurity fundamentals.
Designed for both individuals looking to kickstart their cyber career and those who are looking to grow their existing knowledge, this program offers something for professionals in a wide range of sectors and prepares participants with the skills and competencies needed to better protect against cyber threats. Graduates of this program earn a Learning Tree Cyber Foundations Professional Certificate, an ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity Entry-Level Certification and CompTIA Network+. Skills taught in this program include:
“Our target audience is what the cyber industry calls feeder roles. Individuals that go through this program may not have experience specifically in cybersecurity, they may be in IT admin, project management or be an ITIL practitioner. So, we’re targeting those individuals and providing them with cyber foundations,” Visnius said. “If they need to know networking, CompTIA Network+ is in the learning path. Through this program we are gradually building cybersecurity skills, and it’s not just training, there’s coaching and assessments throughout.”
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