Open Query In-House and Custom Training

In addition to our public training, Open Query also delivers in-house & custom training courses. This is the most economical option when considering a larger number of course participants from a single organisation, and it is also very suitable if an organisation has specific needs in terms of content, scheduling or location, or wishes to discuss additional confidential aspects of its operating environment or dataset. We can operate under an NDA, if desired.

Content

In a nutshell, with an Open Query in-house course, our trainer is dedicated to only your organisation for one or more days, and can cover any topic you want. Since our trainers are experts in the field, it can even be left up to the participants on the day to decide which topics can be skimmed over rapidly, and which merit an extra deep dive — all to be perfectly in line with your particular requirements.

Pricing

In-house training by Open Query on-site is charged at AUD 3000 + GST per day (max. 6-8 hours), plus travel and accommodation expenses if applicable. The latter can be quoted at a fixed price when a training engagement is agreed on, so that your organisation will know beforehand what the costs will be.

On-line custom training is charged at AUD 895 + GST per three-hour session (one or two in a day), using our own Online Interactive Training environment.

On-Site Requirements

Commonly, training facilities for an in-house course are provided by the organisation. However, if you don’t have internal facilities at your disposal, it is an option that Open Query make arrangements for this also. We have, through our public course schedule and prior engagements, active relationships with a number of facilities providers. Our highly interactive training days work best with at least five students, and a maximum of 10 or 12 for on-site (vs 6 for on-line). Barring exceptional circumstances, we will not teach a bigger class as that would deliver a lesser outcome. We can teach using a projector, although a “centre monitor” is often more suitable when looking at code or live example. A centre monitor is a regular screen generally located between each two students, displaying a copy of the teacher’s screen. A whiteboard is an absolute requirement. For our open training days, we make arrangements for morning and afternoon tea, and lunchtime catering. We recommend this is also done for in-house courses, as it allows the attendees to not have to worry about other things during the day.

Scheduling

We recommend to have at least two adjacent training days, and a maximum of three to four. A single day is often not long enough to cover the necessary topics and establish the optimal group dynamics, and we would not want to skim over exercises which are not just a nice extra but actually key to adult learning (hearing, seeing, doing). Longer courses (such as full weeks) are also less effective, given the intensity of the teaching method. Students simply need time to absorb the newly learnt information and skills, and also to utilise it in their normal work, before exploring even more new territory. Multiple blocks of 2-3 days each, spread across multiple months, can provide a perfect arrangement in terms of skills acquisition for your staff, as well as for budgeting. We have a broad range of materials ready for use, which can be rearranged for your custom training, but we are also happy to explore other topics. Naturally, this will require additional lead time, as well as potentially incur costs.

Consulting

In some cases, custom training is followed-up on with on-site or remote consulting, to further assist with aspects of a project. Or, for instance, you have in-house developers, but no DBA, system or network administrators. Again, we can provide.

Deliver!

Please contact us for further details and booking requests. Last minute requests are common, but cannot always be accommodated. Also, for on-site training, last minute bookings of travel, accommodation and training facilities tends to be more costly or at least time consuming to arrange. If you are able to engage us at an early stage of your planning process, we can work with you all the way and ensure we have training resources available when you need them. And finally… while we express strong opinions on how to run our classes, we do appreciate that each customer is unique and we are open to discussing your particular needs without excluding any option in advance.