An interview with Mr Parthasarathy Ravikumar, Chief, Digiterati, Chennai

What prompted you to set up an educational institution for networking?

A number of institutes were springing up at every nook and corner of the country promising to take IT to the masses. While some of the institutes promised excellent software skills, they only concentrated on the current trends in the market. I wanted to look at a course that would have a long-term employability value. Hence I chose the networking domain since it requires in depth knowledge. Few students however, understand the sustained need for systems administrators or "computer doctors" as I call them.

What does Digiterati offer to its students?

Digiterati focuses on networking essentials, intricacies of the operating systems and other skills that are useful in executing system administration duties. These consist of all the skills that are certified by various product and service providers. Our strength is that we have managed to bring global competitors like Sun and Microsoft under our roof.

Our specialty is education and we do not conduct exams. Exams for certification by vendors such as Microsoft, Novell, and Sun Microsystems; are conducted by other organisations who go in for exam certification.

We do not want to dangle the commercial carrot before the students. And in the long run this policy has proven beneficial to us, since some international product giants have discovered that certain exam centres were guilty of fraudulent practices. Now there is stricter control and lesser faith in these institutions as far as exam credentials go.

We also do not promise job placements to candidates, we just promise them state - of- the- art teaching facilities and up to date syllabus. Our students can examine our past record of placements and decide for themselves.

How do you select your teachers?

We try to choose candidates who are teachers in the true sense. Their priority should be to impart knowledge. They are selected only after grueling interviews. We give them complete technical training before they start their teaching classes.

Has the IT slowdown affected you in anyway?

No, this year in fact has been very good for us. All the students who came without any sponsors are placed now.

Why do you feel that system's administration is a good career option for women?

Women clearly seem intellectually cut out for a career in information technology. The way they think-- in a structured manner is another reason why they can excel in this field.

In the past one year, we picked 40 women from poor families and trained them in system administration. Of these 36 are employed and three run their own businesses.

MALINI SURYANARAYANAN

maalini.mds@cnkonline.com