YOUR IBM i TRAINING SOURCE

Manta Technologies Inc. - Why Manta?

As a potential customer, you may be wondering why you should select Manta for your training needs rather than attending a class or using other training materials. We offer the following list based on conversations with existing Manta customers.

Because Manta is the premier company in the IBM i training and education business.

Since its founding in 1994, Manta has trained tens of thousands of IBM i students in over 5000 organizations around the world. Our customer list includes organizations of all sizes, from major companies (including IBM) down to one-person consulting organizations. If you need IBM i training, Manta is the first vendor most often recommended.

Because you want quality training for less.

Manta's consistently low price has always been a major attraction. For example, a typical company can train its entire IT organization for less than the price of sending a couple operators to a class.

Because Manta has the only "Flight Simulator" for i.

Would you like flying with a pilot whose training consisted of reading the manuals and scoring 75% on a multiple-choice exam? How about a pilot who was hired yesterday and is learning on the job? So why do you use the same methods for your staff?

Manta's exclusive IBM i simulator is built into our training software. Learn by performing system tasks in an accurately simulated environment BEFORE you try them on your production system. All you need is a PC and a browser. Some of our happiest customers are those who trained their staffs before their Power Systems arrived.

Because you need a full-time mentor, not a part-time teacher.

Manta's customers not only take courses when they need to learn a new topic; they also use Manta's IBM i Training Library as an online reference once they are back on the job. Such access is possible thanks to two features that are built into the Manta training software.

First, all Manta menus are dynamically expandable. Users can easily drill down from the main menu or a custom student menu to any specific topic. Because the menus are built on-the-fly, they always reflect the current contents of the Manta library.

Second, our search feature lets a student search the complete training library for all occurrences of a specified topic. Because the links map to topics within Manta's IBM i Training Library, every student has fingertip access to tutorials that include complete examples and practice exercises. As a result, it's more than an online reference; it's an online mentor.

Because you need training now!

Have you ever hired a new IBM i operator, only to learn that the next available class is four months away? Have you waited four months, only to have a class canceled at the last minute?

Such problems don't exist with online training from Manta. You can browse through our course catalog, pick the topic you need, and begin training the same day. From basic operations to setting up a new server, we have the course you need. Train today and do the job tomorrow.

Because you have other things to do.

Can't get away from the office for training? Are you forced to learn new skills on your own time? Manta's online courses are just what you need.

The Manta IBM i curriculum was designed for today's busy adult learners. All courses take two to four hours to complete, depending on the student. That let's you fit them into your schedule. Set aside a morning or afternoon. If you get interrupted, set a bookmark and return later. Take courses at home. There's no excuse to not continue your education now!

Because an old course can be worse than no course.

When a new release of IBM i is announced, does your current training vendor let your staff retake every course they have ever attended? If not, you should switch to Manta.

When Manta updates an existing course, all changes become available immediately to all customers with a current license. There are no extra charges or hidden fees. This also applies when we add a course to an existing product (such as when we added Configuring an HTTP Server to the System Administration Combo Pack). Why pay more for poorer service? Manta delivers what you need now.

Because results matter.

A major part of managing any training program is keeping track of attendance. Who took what? When? Did they actually finish the lessons they were assigned? How did they score on the final exams?

If you entrust your staff's education to Manta, the answers to all of these questions are at your fingertips. Manta's Student Administration functions are a click away. Over 20 reports let you target the information you need. Copy the reports into a spreadsheet or store them in PDF format. And the best part? Student Administration is free with every Manta course.

Because life is not a multiple-choice question.

Suppose that you send a new employee through a week-long IBM i operations class. How can you tell whether the employee is ready to run your production system? Would you be satisfied if he or she passed a 32-question, multiple-choice exam? Neither would we.

Every Manta course has a corresponding Competency Exam that tests the published course objectives. The exams are built around realistic, on-the-job situations in which the student must enter commands, select menu options, write code, and perform other system-related tasks using Manta's exclusive IBM i simulator. At the end of the exam, the student is directed to remedial training, if needed, and the results are logged for reporting via our built-in Student Administration function.

Because not everyone is a system administrator.

Nobody needs to learn everything. Manta offers so many courses on IBM i topics that new customers often ask for help in deciding where to begin. If you are not yet a customer, you should check out our Curriculum Planner during your visit today. It provides recommended curriculum paths for operators, programmers, managers, end users, and system administrators.

For customers, these recommendations are available as menu templates that you can use as is or as starting points for your own customized menus. Using the free Student Administration facility, you can create custom menus for individuals or for audience groups such as your RPG programmers.

Because you need skills, not talking points.

One of our pet peeves are books that read more like reference manuals than training products. If you take Manta's RPG Programming series, for example, we assume that your goal is to learn how to write an RPG program. You don't particularly care about the history of RPG, and it's not likely that your future job will require that you answer multiple-choice questions about built-in functions or subfiles.

At Manta, we design every course by first looking at the tasks that the student will need to perform on the job. You'll see objectives that begin with "Code a program to" or "Enter the command to." These are tested in exams that require the student to demonstrate the same skills they will use on the job. Why settle for less than the best?

Because one size does not fit all.

Manta's customers range from individuals who need training on a single topic to Fortune 500 companies with IT staffs numbering in the hundreds. Manta's flexible licensing plans let everyone get the training they need at the best possible price.

A single-user, one-year license for any Manta course is only $120. Because the license is based on concurrent users, the only limit to the number of students that you can send through a course is your own scheduling ability. If time is a constraint, you can upgrade to a 5-user license for 1.5 times the single-user price. Discounts are built in for multiple-course packages and multi-year licenses.

How cheap does it get? We can train your entire staff for $750/person. (This is based on 10 students sharing a single-user, one-year license for the entire library. Even with the more technical jobs requiring up to 50 courses, everyone can complete training in a year.) Why pay more for less?

Because self study does not mean self taught.

In this day of global Internet access and immediate information availability, some "experts" predict the demise of formal education, which they define to include not only schools and lecture-based seminars, but also structured programs such as the courses in the Manta IBM i Training Library. We know better, and so do you. Quality education is not a do-it-yourself project.

Those of us in the IBM i world have always been blessed with excellent documentation from IBM. What started as about ten feet of free manuals is now the online IBM i Knowledge Center. It's a fantastic resource, but it was never intended as a training medium. For that, you need experienced instructors who can maximize the learning experience by selecting, organizing, and clarifying the material to be presented. In other words, you need Manta.

Because time is money.

When you compare topic to topic, one look at our web site should convince you that IBM i training from Manta is cheaper than that from any other source. You may not know that we can also save you time.

It's a well documented fact that computer-based training (CBT) typically takes students half the time as a lecture-based class covering the same objectives. Manta's experience agrees with this 2:1 ratio. How is this possible? First, traditional classes have tons of down time, from extended breaks to unprepared students who slow the class to their speed. With CBT, each student proceeds at his or her own pace. You can skip what you already know and take as much time as you need for the material you find difficult. With substantially more exercises and practice sessions, good CBT reinforces learning and helps the student determine where more work is needed.

Because size matters.

When you are shopping for a training vendor, the size of their library is important. Only Manta has over 120 courses on IBM i topics. We cover everything from basic concepts for end users to performance tuning for system administrators.

You like acronyms? How about AJS, IFS, ILE, HTTP, HTML, SQL, CL, RPG, DB2, Ajax, RDi, RSE, iNav, and LPAR? Not only do we cover them all, we were the first IBM i training company to offer courses on many of these topics, and that includes IBM. You need it? We have it.

Because people learn by doing, not by watching.

Many people are content attending typical lecture-based classes. But without practice and reinforcement, new skills don't stick. That is why better classes include tests and lab problems.

Manta designs every course with the belief that people learn by doing. A typical course starts with the presentation of concepts. Graphics and animations are used where needed. The course shows how to accomplish a task using actual screens captured from an IBM i system. Then, the student gets to practice every skill that was taught using Manta's exclusive IBM i simulator. Success here means that the student can immediately transfer the skills that were learned to a live system.

Because you need training everywhere, all the time.

Modern organizations run 24/7/365. They have employees around the world who work in offices, factories, and at home. So why depend on a class that may or may not be held two months from Monday in Atlanta?

Manta's courses are all web based. They can be delivered wherever you are. At home or work. All day, every day. All you need is a PC or tablet with a browser. Since bookmarks are stored on our server, you can start a course at work and finish at home or on the road. Training where you are, ready when you need it. That's Manta.

Because you plan to be here for the next release.

You expect - and we agree - that training should provide the skills that you can apply to your job, regardless of what release of IBM i your shop is currently using. Because of this, we do not peg our courses to particular releases.

When we update a course for a new release, we clearly identify when a new feature was added, and make it easy to bypass the material if your shop is not yet there. The bottom line is that every Manta course teaches you the skills you need to perform your job.

Because we listen to you.

Manta has been offering you the best in IBM i self-study education since 1994. A major reason why our products have continued to improve has been the importance we place on comments from our loyal customers. They were the ones who suggested Student Reference Guides, a built-in Learning Management System, automatic updates, and our online Reference Library.

Do you have training need? Let us know and we'll do our best to fill it, whether that means selling you an existing Manta product, developing a new one, or recommending a product from another vendor. This is why Manta is the number one source for IBM i education.

Because training is cheaper than ignorance.

In today's harsh economic climate, organizations are attempting to save money wherever they can. Smart companies understand that training is one area in which cutting corners will only lead to future trouble. Why? We can think of three reasons:

Good employees stay with organizations that make an investment in their future.
The lack of proper training is a leading cause of errors and poor performance.
Your competitors are not standing still. Future opportunities will go to those organizations that have been trained to take advantage of them.

Quality training from Manta is the smart way to stay current.

Because it is better to train an employee who might leave than it is to not train an employee who stays.

One of the worst excuses we have heard for not training employees is that, by improving their skills, you make them more valuable to other employers. This false logic ignores the following facts:

Training employees makes them more valuable to YOU!
Good employees understand that their own success relies on ongoing training. They will switch jobs to get it.
Poor employees will stay because they cannot get jobs elsewhere. Their errors and inability to modernize applications are going to cost you much more in the long term.

What more can we say? If you have not yet drilled down to the detailed course descriptions that you can find on this web site, please notice that you can take the first session of every course for free. Try us. We believe that, like 5000 customers before you, you'll like what you see and keep coming back.