Spotlight on Educational Services
The success of any system is closely linked to the flexibility it provides – ensuring users and administrators the ability to support and manage the system as business requirements evolve. Training plays a key role in this equation. Robert Haydock, Director, Global Educational Services, explains Charles River Development’s approach to training and the specific offerings for the Charles River Investment Management System (Charles River IMS) Version 9.1.
Tell us about your background and role at Charles River?
I have 25 years of programming, project management, and consulting expertise in financial services. Since I started at Charles River 10 years ago as an implementation manager, I’ve served in many different roles. I created and managed a technical writing group, now part of Development, and built the US Expert Services consulting group – which has since been combined with the Professional Services Team. Today, I lead the Educational Services Group.
Why does training play such a central part in Charles River’s overall client offering?
Trained users and competent administrators who can manage and modify a system as user’ requirements evolve, are integral to long-term success. Training is critical before and during the implementation stage – even if Charles River is providing the majority of the installation. Clients who are closely involved in the configuration decisions help ensure a smooth transition from implementation to production support. Training is also known to increase staff retention, which results in cost savings over the long run.
How does your team support clients?
Our global Educational Services Team of six trainers develops and delivers training courses for Charles River clients and employees. The team offers more than a dozen courses in locations worldwide. I still like to present courses, which allows me to stay in close touch with our clients and evaluate the effectiveness of our courses.
We certify business users and system administrators in six subject areas: boot camp; Charles River Compliance; Charles River Trader Blotter; Charles River Manager Workbench; system administration; and middle tier. All courses emphasize a best-practice approach, and include hands-on, realistic examples. We also offer clients individual training plans.
What are specific features in training for V9.1?
First, there is a course specifically addressing upgrade requirements – technical as well as end-user. We focus on a “like-to-like” upgrade scenario – isolating upgrade features from the perspective of what is new and comparing them with the prior system. Our goal is to get users up and operating in V9.1 as efficiently as possible.
Second, we have a set of courses on the new V9.1 features which allow clients to clearly differentiate new capabilities when they upgrade. Charles River Performance, our new performance measurement, attribution and performance risk module, is a good example.
Please log onto the Client Portal for Course Descriptions and training Calendar. For more information, please contact your Relationship Manager.
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