How to enhance employability of an aspiring IT professionals

These are the excerpts from my interaction with DailyHunt on how aspiring IT professionals can enhance their employability. This interaction was recorded on the launch of BLACKbox Academy while assessing its impact on the IT industry. BLACKbox Academy was established by Synersoft Technologies to address the growing need for professionals with expertise in installing, configuring, operating, and maintaining BLACKbox, a comprehensive IT solution for Indian MSMEs. In this interview, Mr. Shah will shed light on the objectives of the BLACKbox Certified Program, its unique features, the collaboration between Synersoft and BLACKbox Certified Security Experts, the curriculum offered at the academy, and the career opportunities available to certified students.

The Idea of Certification Program and Launching Academy

Synersoft conceived and developed?BLACKbox for the Indian MSMEs.?BLACKbox is overwhelmingly adopted by thousands of MSMEs in India. It created a requirement for professionals who can install, configure, operate, and maintain?BLACKbox to help MSMEs achieve the objectives of IT Compliance, Data Protection and Information Security as mandated by their customers, ensuring their business continuity and avoiding any possible competitive exploitation. It has given rise to the requirement of on-ground availability of professionals with a thorough knowledge of?BLACKbox. It prompted Synersoft to launch a full-fledged academy that provides excellent training on?BLACKbox and grooms IT professionals by enhancing their employability and creating entrepreneurial opportunities. That is how we developed a four-level certification program for?BLACKbox.

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Objective of Certification Program and Points of Differentiations

Traditionally available certification programs focus on a single function or product of IT about cybersecurity, networking, hardware maintenance, backup, firewall, server configuration, endpoint controls etc. An MSME cannot afford to engage individual professionals for each function of IT. BLACKbox is an "IT in a Box" product that serves as a single hardware and single software for multiple functions of IT. So, this program touches upon every function of IT that is necessary for an MSME to achieve the objectives of IT Compliance, Data Protection, and Information Security. It sets a clear objective for?BLACKbox Certification Program, and that is to meet an MSME's requirement of an IT professional who can install, configure, and maintain?BLACKbox that serves as a single solution for multiple requirements of Data Centralization, Remote Access, Data Loss Prevention, Data Leakage Prevention, VPN, Backup, Disaster Response, and Productivity Monitoring.

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Collaboration between Synersoft and BLACKbox Certified Professionals

Indian MSMEs are spread across the country, and they exist in millions. The MSME sector's demand for IT Compliance, Data Protection, and Information Security Solutions is exponentially growing. Synersoft, with its limited resources, cannot serve the MSMEs spread across the country. It requires an ecosystem to install and support?BLACKbox. It calls for collaboration between Synersoft and IT career aspirants. By transferring knowledge about the product, sharing use cases, presenting customer success, and giving hands-on training on?BLACKbox, Synersoft can create the desired ecosystem. Such an ecosystem intensifies the penetration of?BLACKbox in the MSME sector, gives a sense of assurance to?BLACKbox customers, provides employment, and creates entrepreneurial opportunities.

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Levels of Certification

BCSP courses are conducted at four levels. Students can scale one level after a level. They are defined as levels 1, 2, 3, and Blackbelt. Level 1 is the longest in terms of the number of sessions and provides in-depth and hands-on training on BLACKbox as a solution. Level 2 is a short program focusing on pre-installation customer interfacing and documentation while understanding requirements and configuring the BLACKbox accordingly. Level 3 focuses on post-installation support, commonly known issues, and troubleshooting. BlackBelt (Level 4) is about the on-site installation of?the BLACKbox. The student is deputed to a customer site and involved in the hands-on installation of the?BLACKbox with an experience?BLACKbox Certified Professional.

Methodology and Pedagogy

The training is conducted on a state-of-the-art virtual platform provided by Zoom. Upon enrollment, students are given LMS (Learning Management System) credentials, which provide session-wise breakup, course material, exercises, use cases, and e-learning modules. The training is conducted live by an experienced faculty. The students are provided with remote access to BLACKbox Console, and the agent is also installed on the student's computer system to get a feel of the product. It also includes an online assessment for the students to complete the certification. At the end of the training, the successful students are felicitated on social media with certification and?a BLACKbox kit.

Job Opportunities after Certification

There are ample job opportunities for?BLACKbox Certified Professionals. The successful?BCSP?can get a lucrative job in the MSME setup that has invested in?BLACKbox. Synersoft also requires?BLACKbox Certified Professionals in its customer support call centres regularly. Not only that but also, a successful BCSP can become an entrepreneur to support?BLACKbox customers as a consultant. Synersoft also outsources installation and configuration services from BCSPs for its new installation sites.

Response of IT Industry to Certification Program

Since we launched the?BLACKbox Certified Program, we have received an overwhelming response from IT Students, Fresher IT Graduates, and experienced IT professionals. Many customers of?BLACKbox have nominated their employees for the course. These BCSP aspirants enrol for the program to enhance their employability and claim entrepreneurial opportunities to serve Synersoft's customers for new installations. They also explore taking independent maintenance contracts from?BLACKbox customers for better earning opportunities.

Synchronization with Product Development and Courseware

This curriculum is closely woven with the version release of?BLACKbox products. The version teams coordinate the new features and enhancement of the features with the academy team, which in turn, updates the curriculum and course material. Our customer support team also updates the curriculum team with new use cases, common problems, solutions, and operating system updates. They incorporate this information in the courseware and e-learning modules.

Impact of MSME-IT Oriented Certifications

MSMEs are the most significant contributor to GDP, exports, employment creation, and tax revenue. They are the backbone of the Indian economy. They compete on global standards, which mandate technology adoption and digitalization. They are subject to stringent compliance requirements by their large customers and overseas customers pertaining to information security and data protection. Traditional solutions to achieve IT Compliance, Data Protection, and Information Security objectives require highly talented IT professionals. MSMEs can neither afford highly talented IT professionals, nor they can retain them. On the contrary, high talented IT professionals do not aspire to work with MSMEs. It justifies the requirement of developing simple and cost-effective products for MSMEs that do not require expensive IT talent.?BLACKbox is a single hardware - single software product which is simple to use and affordable. It is a plug-and-play product that makes MSMEs instantly compliant and achieves the objectives of data protection and information security. It allows MSME owners to focus on their business instead of worrying about IT compliance and cybersecurity.

The full interview can be accessed on