In Wake of Training Scam, Oracle Says Buyers Should Beware - ' Scams Cast Doubt on ' (
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Legitimate Educational Alternatives">
There is a wide range of Oracle training—training that ranges from "Oracle for Dummies" books sold in corner bookstores to non-Oracle University instructor-led classes that can cost about half that of Oracle University classes. Many, if not most, of these non-Oracle University choices are completely reputable, according to Cushing Anderson, an analyst with IDC, in Framingham, Mass.
But the activities of one such as Haskins throws such legitimate, moderately-priced training venues into disrepute, Bobrowski said. "He has essentially tarnished small, independent training providers who are trying to be out there and provide alternatives for something they otherwise couldnt obtain," he said. "Thats a huge disservice to us."
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In one case, DBDomain was contacted by an individual who had been burned by OraKnowledge. The individual asked that DBDomain provide references as well as assurances that the outfit knew what they were doing and had quality material.
DBDomain was happy to provide all that, Bobrowski said, since the companys "not going anywhere."
"Were happy to stand by our product and do right by our customers," Bobrowski said. "But there are obviously others out there who arent going to do that."
Haskins himself would likely agree with that assessment, having told eWEEK.com that he shed the OraKnowledge branding and set up a fictional security expert named Robert Allen because his own name became too much of a negative burden.
Whereas the DBDomain customer learned the hard way what questions he or she should have asked before purchasing Oracle training from OraKnowledge, others should learn the questions before losing the money, Bobrowski said.
To that end, DBDomains site offers a three-page, downloadable list of 20 questions to ask training vendors. Here is a sampling from that list:
Who developed your Oracle training? (Dont settle for vague statements here, get names.)
What are the credentials of that person, or those people? (Ask about technical and teaching credentials; get URL if published on Web.)
If courses were developed "with" Oracle Corp., what exactly does that mean? (Did the company get Oracles class notes and rewrite them into CD or online training; if so, who exactly rewrote the training notes?)
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