Re: Total oracle newbie

Hi Howard,

Comments embedded

"Howard J. Rogers" <howardjr2000_at_yahoo.com.au> wrote in message news:pan.2003.02.09.19.40.49.573513_at_yahoo.com.au...
> On Sun, 09 Feb 2003 23:01:23 +1000, Richard Foote wrote:
>
> > "Howard J. Rogers" <howardjr2000_at_yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
> > news:pan.2003.02.08.21.03.42.499159_at_yahoo.com.au...
> >> On Fri, 07 Feb 2003 13:17:03 +0000, Anthony wrote:
> >>
> >> For the record, and speaking most definitely NOT as a salesman, the DBA
> >> Fundamentals courses (I and II) are about $2,800 each (and each lasts 5
> >> days, so you're paying about $560 per day). The Performance Tuning
Course
> >> costs about $3,200 (another 5 days). And the SQL Course (which I don't
> >> teach) is probably another $2,500+, making a grand total of about
$12,000.
> >>
> >
> > Hi Howard,
> >
> > I think when talking about training and the related costings and if it's
> > "For the record", it's important to be accurate. As I've said in the
past,
> > generally speaking Oracle training is excellent but the pricing
structure in
> > my teeny weeny opinion is simply set too high.
> >
> > Straight out of the Australian Oracle University website, the costs for
> > these courses including GST are in fact (in AU$):
> >
> > - Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL $3,234.00 ($646.80 / day)
> > - Oracle 9i DBA Fundamentals I $3,234.00 ($646.80 / day)
> > - Oracle 9i DBA Fundamentals II $4,042.50 ($808.50 / day)
> > - Oracle 9i Performance Tuning $4,042.50 ($808.50 / day)
>
> Well, straight out of the website it may be, and thanks for the details,
> but I wasn't actually trying to flog the stuff to him, assuming as I did
> that he's capable of getting the details for himself. The 'speaking not as
> a salesman' was intended as a hint, too, that this stuff was off the top
> of my head. My only point was that it doesn't cost $12,000 for "a" course.

No it's not $12,000 for a course but can you please keep it quite else you'll give the buggers some bad ideas !!

I just wanted to highlight that Oracle training is on the expensive side with some courses even more so than others.

>
> In any case, listed prices at Oracle are only the beginning of the story,
> as we both know well enough.

Actually, getting a discount on training these days is a bit like Elle MacPherson tapping you on the shoulder at the local supermarket, begging for a night of unbridled passion. ie. not that common (speaking personally, it's only happened to me 3 or 4 times).

>
> Interesting though that Fundamentals II is classed as an advanced course,
> which is pushing it a bit, I think.

I agree.

>
> I can tell you though that in 1990 I was selling (and delivering)
> two-day training courses for 525 pounds Sterling per day , which I think
> these days equates to getting on for AUD$1500. So the question as to
> whether Oracle courses are too expensive is open to interpretation, I
feel.

True.

I can interpret this as

1. The training you sold in 1990 was an absolute rip-off
2. The Aussie dollar has sunk so low that $10 AU currently is just enough to buy one baked bean in England
3. That prices are so expensive in England that the cost of hot water in one standard bath is approximately 20% of a standard salary hence why monthly bathing is so common.

I could go on ;)

>
> I could wish they would drop the prices a bit, and bump up the numbers
> accordingly; and I could also wish that the quality of most trainers would
> go up a bit. And I definitely wish that OCP would mean something
> sufficient to justify the cost.

Curious, how are instructor numbers and standards thereof at the moment. I sent a note in to Oracle Education seeing if I could be of "assistance" now that my 6 months are up and not a word in reply. You must obviously have enough quality on your books ?

>
> But it's not the *complete* rip-off some might think.

No, rip-off is not the right term. I prefer "a bit on the expensive side". Students would leave my classes a contented bunch with the Oracle (and David Bowie) knowledge they've gained but comments that they simply didn't have the funds to do more training was all too common. You take an organisation with a couple of newbies to train, multiply out the above costs and that's one significant investment.

Especially if the buggers leave after a year or two.

Cheers

Richard Received on Mon Feb 10 2003 - 05:47:32 CST