HP, ITE offer SMBs biz continuity service

SINGAPORE--The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and Hewlett-Packard have launched a technology center to provide business continuity planning (BCP) consultancy to small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and training to students in the field.

Announced during its launch here Tuesday, the center is equipped with HP technologies and also offers ITE students hands-on learning in storage networking and disaster recovery.

Under the agreement, HP and ITE will jointly develop the curriculum for two core modules--Storage Networking and Business Continuity Technologies--offered within the school's Higher National ITE Certificate (Nitec) in Network Security Technology.

Bruce Poh, director and CEO of ITE, said the center gives SMBs cost-efficient access to BCP services. "The center is set up specifically to address the BC needs of SMBs in Singapore, taking into consideration their limited resources," Poh said in a speech.

When queried on pricing details, Lum Pak Hoon, section head of network security technology at ITE College West, said a process spaning from analysis to proof of concept would take three weeks to two months to complete, costing S$40 (US$28) per manhour.

Students not an issue
Tan Yen Yen, vice president and managing director of HP Singapore, allayed concerns SMBs might have about the inclusion of students in the BCP consulting service.

Speaking at the launch, Tan said HP will provide technical specialists who will manage the technology transfer and be involved in project collaboration. These specialists will also provide ITE staff with the necessary training, which will include overseas stints, she said.

At least one SMB is open to the idea of involving students in the provision of BCP services.

Ryan Chioh, managing director of Singapore-based FarEastFlora.com, said: "If students come to my office without an experienced person, I won't allow them to handle my data. But, these students are led by professional lectures with a fair amount of experience in the industry."

"Besides, I won't know [either] if I engage another IT vendor and they send a 'freshie' [who's new to the company]," Chioh told ZDNet Asia, on the sidelines of the launch. The executive was an invited speaker at the event to relate FarEastFlora.com's experience of coping with its technology equipment that were damaged a series of floods in Singapore in 2006.

According to Poh, students gain an "authentic" learning experience from dealing with a real-life corporate environment.