If you would like to order MMTAS, please click here Are travel restrictions limiting your training options? We can help you stay current while you stay put! The Multimedia Technical Awareness Series (MMTAS) computer-based training (CBT) will equip the learner to deal more effectively and more confidently with the technical diversity and breadth of technology used in the enterprise computing environment. The training is designed for newcomers to IT, as well as established IT professionals wanting to reinforce or expand their base. The goal is to help someone understand the purpose of a given technology or component, understand the context in which it is used, and build their vocabulary and confidence when participating in technology discussions with co-workers and vendors. Since CBT instruction is self-paced, it can be taken anytime, anywhere. Expect 6 to 10 hours to complete the training, depending on one's experience. MMTAS is for those who are tired and frustrated with technology mumbo-jumbo and unintelligible alphabet soup when talking with technologists and technology vendors! MMTAS is geared toward a person working in a large or emerging enterprise where multiple technology platforms have been deployed, such as S/390 or zSeries, Windows NT or Windows 2000, UNIX or Linux, AS/400 or HP 3000. The course is an excellent training tool for managers, executives, or for new and existing employees (including sales personnel) that need background into technology, enterprise systems, and data-center management issues. MMTAS provides meaningful and easy-to-understand insights into a broad cross-section of technology areas and the Information Technology (IT) industry in general. This training investment is only $99 per-person! For an additional $50 ACTS will administer over the Internet at our secured testing center, a 90 minute pre-course test where we measure and document which sections of the course are relevant to each student (they merely skip any modules they don't need). Once the course is completed, we give the same test as a post-course test to measure and document the student's mastery of the material. Finallly, there is an easy way to measure the effectiveness of training, while reinforcing the courses main concepts! In addition to testing staff members, you may want to use this 90 minute comprehensive exam to screen job applicants to see how much they actually know about IT, or to measure their ability to learn about IT. For both the CBT and the testing service, we guarantee 100% satisfaction or your money back. If you are faced with the challenge of providing basic and relevant technology training for yourself or your colleagues, MMTAS is both an entertaining and effective tool for communicating technical background information in terms learners can understand. To order, just click here. If you have any questions, please call 434-385-1397 or send e-mail to infowww@actscorp.com. Throughout ACTS Multimedia Technical Awareness Series, students are presented with an engaging mix of text to read, instructor audio clips, music and sound effects to listen to, charts, graphics, photographs to study, and interactive quiz questions right on-screen. Content is divided into short, digestible sections to allow quick and easy assimilation. Training directors have the option to collect academic data from students to monitor progress and comprehension. Topics available on MMTAS: Tutorial and Introduction Learners are guided through a quick course overview as they interact with important course features. Once completed, learners are ready to take full advantage of the instructional strategies in the course. Laying a Foundation The computer industry is vast and multifaceted. This learning module is designed to acquaint learners with the big picture. Learners are introduced to hardware, software, the four broad categories of computer systems in use today, and how computers enhance business productivity. The more advanced topics in this module includes sections on semiconductor technology, multiprocessing, and virtual storage. Computers, automation, and business productivity Capabilities of and distinctions between PCs, Workstations, Mid-range servers, and Mainframes Component highlights, processors, program execution, multi-tasking, different types of memory, data flow, caching concepts, memory chips, volatile vs non-volatile storage Semi-conductor technology overview: silicon wafers, photolithography, density and performance, 20 year Intel processor snapshot, silicon-on-insulator, AMD vs. Intel, breakthroughs in molecular computing (quantum mirage effect) Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP), Parallel Processing, Processor Clustering, Performance tradeoffs, fail-over protection, Windows 2000 Network load balancing Understanding virtual storage, its benefits, and how it works Computer Languages and Programs As learners begin this module, they will learn about the different types of programming languages, and some of their strengths and weaknesses. Actual program samples are provided as students are introduced to different languages. Then students are introduced to popular software applications for PCs, midrange and mainframe computers. The UNIX shell is also introduced. The more advanced topics explain how computers use various numbering systems, what machine language is, and a little bit on how machine instructions work. Software categories: Operating Systems, Device drivers, Applications, Applications Utilities, System Utilities, viruses Popular PC applications: word processing, spreadsheet, financial, publishing, database, office suites, entertainment Software for Unix Systems - The UNIX environment, the UNIX development philosophy, the scheduler, the file system, UNIX commands, popular command shells, shell scripts, the X-Window system, transaction processing, ERPs, database Software for Midrange and Mainframes - terminal emulation, AS/400 and iSeries applications, 5250 terminals, S/390 and zSeries software, 3270 terminals, TSO and ISPF, Job Control Language, batch processing, DB2, IMS/DB, IMS/TM, QMF, CICS Bits and bytes, overview of binary, octal, and hexadecimal numbering systems ASCII and EBCDIC character and control codes, ASCII file format Low level vs high level languages, business vs. scientific computing, machine language, assembly language, defining interpretive, 4GL, CASE, and OOP A brief overview of many popular programming languages including Assembly, COBOL, REXX, C, FORTAN, PL/1, BASIC, Pascal, Modula-2, Ada, Object-Oriented Programming, C++, Java, ActiveX, C# and Microsoft.NET. Operating Systems During this learning module, students get acquainted with the functions of an operating system, many of the different operating systems in use today, then take a closer look at UNIX (including Linux) and IBM's operating systems for midrange and mainframe operating systems. The module concludes with an overview of Microsoft's Windows 2000. The operating systems role in resource management, prioritization, pre-emptive multi-tasking, serialization, and maintaining high availability (advanced error recovery) Overview of supervisory services Where operating systems differ Where and Why viruses exist Contrasting 32-bit and 64-bit computing UNIX versions and consortiums, Linux Overview, IBM's Linux strategy The UNIX kernel and command shells, 3 categories of a process Overview of other operating systems from HP, Compaq, and IBM (Introduction to OpenVMS, MPE/ix, OS/400, OS/390, zOS, VSE/ESA, VM/ESA, zVM, Linux for S/390 and zSeries, and TPF) Microsoft and Windows 2000 (W2K) - pedigree (95, 98, Me, XP vs NT and W2K), when to use W2K Server vs. W2K Advanced Server vs. W2K Datacenter Server Windows 2000 areas of improvement Windows 2000 as a network server Overview of W2K's Active Directory Brief overview of W2Ks Global Catalog, Intellimirror, multi-master replication, Kerberos, and group policy Scalability concerns for NT and W2K Comparing the size of popular operating systems Database Technology and Business Intelligence Learners begin this module by distinguishing the different types of databases in use today and exploring the ways databases work. Then, it is on to an overview of Structured Query Language and an introduction to data warehousing. Students are introduced to several ways businesses can leverage data warehouses to gain competitive advantages. Database history and introduction, files and programs, redundant data Understanding how databases work, storing and viewing information Indexes, tables, records, files, and views Overview of relational and hierarchical databases SQL overview SQL Server How business intelligence is used Data warehouses and data marts, gathering data, cleaning data, inconsistent syntax and semantics Data mining Analysis Applications, OLAP and multidimensional analysis The political side of BI solutions How Wal-Mart uses data warehouses The Internet: Issues and Answers The first few lessons of this module are for those who are new to the information superhighway or want to learn about the web's history and foundational Internet technologies including an overview of HTML. Then the attention shifts to more advanced topics including Java, the emergence of dHTML, e-business, intranets, and advanced web servers. How the Internet evolved, 10 important milestones over 40 years The emergence of the WWW Overview of foundational Internet technologies - backbone, browsers, web pages, web sites, web servers Navigation, URLs, domain names, hyper links and hypertext, search engines (directory based, indexed), portals Basic Internet programming, HTML, graphics (GIFs, JPEGs, animation) Advanced Internet Programming, Java, ActiveX, Streaming media, Dynamic HTML, XML, wireless (WML), XHTML, XSL. Internet growing pains, bandwidth options, DSL, cable modems, IDSN, expanded IP addressing (IPv4 and IPv6) e-business and e-commerce, the dot.com fiascoes, levels of e-commerce intranets advanced web servers, the mainframe as a web server, Linux virtual servers Middleware Overview For those who are beginning to understand the complexities of systems, applications, networking architectures and the struggles IT workers experience with incompatibilities, this module enables learners to understand how middleware provides connectivity in heterogeneous environments. After an overview establishes the need for middleware, five important categories of are surveyed including database middleware, transaction processing middleware, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) middleware, Object Request Brokers (ORBs), and Message-Oriented-Middleware (MOM). Connectivity issues in heterogeneous environments Interprocess communication primitives, messages, self-describing messages, data translation Database replication, push technology, network protocols, multi-protocol support and context bridging Naming services and concurrency services Portability and standards issues, OMG's CORBA, Microsoft's COM/OLE Asynchronous behavior, callbacks, thread-safe operation High-end middleware vs. low-end middleware (e.g. ODBC) Interface definition language (IDL) Database middleware, database gateways Remote procedure call (RPC) middleware, strengths and limitations of RPC design Transaction processing monitors (TPMs) as middleware, popular OLTP software Four ways to web-enable a CICS program Object request broker (ORB) middleware, ORB-based TPMs, dynamic connections, where ORB's work best Message-oriented middleware (MOM), Enterprise Message Technology (EMT) Message queuing (pull technology) vs. message passing (publish/subscribe) MQSeries For more information please send us an email, or call us at 1-915-388-3525.