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Plan Effective .NET Training
Careful planning can mean the difference between a smooth transition to .NET and wasting training money.
by Ron Davis

Sometimes, we only learn the hard way. When Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) deployed its first campus-wide client/server application—a payroll/human-resources system—the university's training ambitions started out modestly and typically: A handful of developers learned to wield a client/server development tool. However, training developers this way was like showing a new carpenter how to use an electric drill and expecting him to build a house. CMU's developers grew frustrated quickly, confused users swamped the help desk, and the training program was nearly a bust. In response to the chaos, CMU's Administrative Computing and Information Services group expanded the training program to teach nearly everyone who came in contact with the application, including developers and nontechnical application users, how the client/server model works.

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Likewise, to implement .NET technologies in your organization, your developers must learn and master new skills that might range from simple syntax knowledge to the more-advanced skills, such as object-oriented analysis and design and design patterns. In this article, I'll outline a time-tested, multiphase plan I use to help my clients design training programs to smooth the transition to using .NET technologies. This plan's structure might be familiar, because it uses logic similar to the Microsoft Solution Framework.

The Microsoft Solution Framework process model is a phase-based and milestone-driven approach to effective software application development. It emphasizes customer-focused projects and user-centric design, which result in satisfied customers. It also encourages proactive risk management to mitigate the probability of project failure, and a milestone-based project lifecycle, which enables better project control.

The process model can be as formal or as informal as your situation and corporate environment dictate. I lean toward a more formal approach, having spent four years in the U.S. Marines. I believe a formal approach makes it easier to analyze what went well and what went astray, so I can improve on processes. A formal training roadmap process takes the form of accurate and complete documentation. Accurate documentation of the training-design process yields all the benefits of a well-documented software-development process. The documentation of the training program development and implementation is useful for the current training roadmap, because it keeps you pointed toward your goals while allowing flexibility. It's also valuable for future training projects, because you can learn from your successes and failures.

You should divide the training roadmap process into phases, with clear start and end points. However, you might want to include an overlap period when a preceding phase is finishing and a new phase is commencing. Each phase builds on the previous phase (see the sidebar, "Set the Phase Design Criteria").

The procedural steps that comprise each phase of the training-program development process have traceability built in. This enables you to see the origins and thought process involved in each phase, along with the business reasons or requirements for specific training areas.