Certification Counts. But why iCert Global?

image courtesy: https://goo.gl/6FHucg

Before it sounds to be another sales pitch, let us be fair at the start with a clear disclaimer that facts must speak for itself, that in the face of evidence any vain claims can just fall flat.

Are you content ‘scratching the surface’ or wish to ‘dig deeper’. The well isn’t dry till you try, be it a person or professional.  Professional Certification proves to be in vogue as an important gradient to success not just adding another dimension but differentiates by its distinction. 

Given the changing patterns of commerce, information overload and plethora of choices available to the customer, the differentiation will be always be based on distinguished minds (Trainers) engaged in delivering the doctrine of intellectual quest.

We wanted to reach out to the customer regardless of the destination to door deliver technology, particularly to a global audience, and the internet revolutionized connectivity by making the world very small. It’s no longer four corners but more like next door neighbor. 

  

The combination of brilliance complemented with exemplary course material delivered to the delight of the participant – the ‘fantastic’ user experience is the underscoring criterion for success and so far we seldom struggled but always strived with long strides to better our peers in terms of pace. We operate in nearly 3 continents, and successfully trained more than 100,000 professionals.

iCert Global, most certainly and well deservedly, reserves its own place in this exclusive space.

iCert Global Awarded the Arch of Excellence by AIAC, 2016

iCert Global , the Startup from Houston, that stood top wining the ARCH of Excellence 2016 Award  from AIAC Excellence 2016 award  

Some make news. Some find themselves in the news. iCert Global, a US-based Startup offering professional certification training, made headlines when AIAC awarded the ‘Arch of Excellence’.  The company’s CEO Irfan Sharief’’, cited, “the key behind the success is our openness to ideas and innovations, especially with customer in the center stage. Expect the unexpected – be prepared always. Learn from the defense services – why is that the army does the drill day in and day out?  That’s preparedness.  Keep educating yourself. Reinventing – is learning new things and innovation is about iterations in ideas. Figure out your strength and try channeling in many ways – that’s what makes you versatile.

Training is our core competency but where we made headway in the competition is the delivery with a personalized touch. I always admire this quote and live by it as a decree that ‘if you don’t take care of your customer, someone else will’. Its true for any business. The only way to standout is to shine in customer care.”

Irfan further added, “First try to understand the customer’s requirements. Training is too broad, instead tailor it to every individual. It so happens that some individuals have common interest, it is to that collected group we conduct our workshops and boot camps. Yes, you can apply Stephen Covey’s principle of ‘Begin with the end in mind’, and so long you are committed to reskill and upskill every participant, you not only deliver but truly add value to their lives.

Your learning will be tested in its application, and that’s the reason why we engage trainers rich in experience and domain expertise.   The most fulfilling moment is when a participant calls or writes to us about the effectiveness of our services.

This Arch of Excellence award humbles us as an organization and motivates us to move forward in furthering our customer’s interest. Out start was simple, and managed to post a modest figure in our first year and then on there was looking back. Presently we registered, 400% as year and year growth. On behalf of iCert Global, I wish to thank AIAC for recognizing our potential and appreciate all those involved, especially the corporate and individual practitioners for having placed their faith confidently in our capabilities.” 

ICERT GLOBAL CEO: ‘THE NORM IS TO OUTPERFORM’.

There was something more assertive in the tone of the young entrepreneur who still in his twenties has nearly 8 years of work experience tucked under his belt. When posed how, he answered ‘well, I have been working since school days. I managed my own graduation and worked night shifts to support myself and the savings to seed fund my own company.”

Was it tough? “Yes, but it was an amazing learning experience that helped me realize the hardships as education can prove expensive. I could sense that struggle in some of my classmates. Looking back, the entrepreneurial streak sparked during the discussion with fellow mates airing grievances about affording good education. The ground work would begin few years later though but that spark was definitely at college.”

Irfan Sharief is the founder and CEO of iCert Global, a edutech startup with headquarters in Houston, Texas, United Sates and offers its services across the atlas, with prominent presence in 3 continents.

Besides, United States of America, they are very active in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, India, and United Arab Emirates. The company’s footprints gradually are all over the place. Initially the operations were limited to key geographical locations.

Maintaining a very low-profile and prefer to let the results speak, he adds, ‘every role performed by a professional here is something I have dirtied my hands-on. I have cut my teeth in the industry by slogging for some years, more for the apprenticeship to learn the industry well before taking off on my own. It helps to be hands-on. To stay relevant in this industry, you must realign and reskill.”

iCert Global  is  a Registered professional certification organization in the areas of Project Management [PMP^®, PRINCE2^®, MSP], Service management [ITIL Foundation, Intermediate, MALC and Expert Track], Quality Management [Six Sigma Green Belt & Lean Six Sigma Black Belt], Agile & Scrum [CSM, PMI-ACP^®, CSPO], Citrix, Cisco and Emerging Technologies. 

The Reason and rationale

Irfan Sharief founded iCert Global aiming at closing the competency gap by effectively using internet as a platform to provide quality education at affordable cost. Irfan countered “When internet sparked a revolution in ecommerce, why not education? In fact, the cost of education is significantly lower. If so, what stops them? What do you get in a college that would be missed in virtual classes? A certificate endorsing the education?  Fair enough. What about getting something similar online as well?  It was then the governing bodies stepped up and started issuing online certification.  If one cares to look around, the pace and ease with which customers took to the change by ‘going digital’ is by far the best in market response. Brick and mortar options for college system are limited in number to cater to the ever growing educational needs. The best alternative can be provided by internet.

The founding thoughts on iCert Global were primarily connecting the corners of the globe in imparting exceptional education at remarkably low-priced classes. When queried about the etymology or the reason choosing such a name for his company, Irfan came out candidly “ Many ask me, why name iCert Global? Well, that embodies and epitomizes our mission and vision statement. iCert means online certifications, and ‘Global’ represents ‘world-wide audience’. You just have to connect.”

Starting from scratch

Recalling the stint served in learning the ropes, Irfan accepts “Whatever earned during the stint as ‘apprentice’ was pooled as seed funding to start the company.” The concern was not capital but crew. The challenge right at the start was to enroll talent that can get behind him in steering ahead. “Admittedly, it was very difficult, and understandably, who would want to drop what they are doing to join me in a startup.” So known contacts that trusted his vision and versatility agreed to pitch in and joined aboard.

It was a start from scratch with few who followed the founder. Back in 2013, it wasn’t neither crowded by competition nor funded with so many investors. The pick-up was slow and the pace sluggish. The company took a year to establish and by the second started gaining steam mostly by word of mouth.

Was it prescient or path breaking?

“Neither” responded Irfan “as there was not much leveraging of the online experience towards education. We had great difficulty to accept the concept of college empowered by internet. This certainly was something I chewed on endlessly.”

When iCert Global became operational, the last two quarters reported on lead conversions and business was done. The first two were consumed with the typical activities in setting up, and bootstrapping. 

The need for skilled professionals led to the growth of the online. A professional feels incomplete without a ‘professional certification.’ So why not empower?

One look at the growing user base will be a good start to uncover the startling growth realized in the years. On a year on year basis, the sales pushed the needles and still at it. The company initially riding on the big wave of the courses and slowly emerged from its own shadow banking on its  strong word of mouth marketing, to outperform its own forecasts.

“When I hear newly coined vocations like ‘new collar’, it might sound prescient but I wouldn’t feign prediction. Projection is the word. One could see the gap widen between the supply and demand. We have resources but not quality resources who qualify to the needs. That’s how the gap gets widened. And if you look into the investments, notably the footfalls that walk in ready to invest, the private equity firms’ readiness to fund nearly $208 million into the education sector presents the incredible scope to scale higher.  And if you look into our offering, we have broadened in every category and the pipeline is lined up with the latest offerings ready to roll anytime.,” opined Irfan.

From modest start to 400%

Irfan isn’t taken in by surprise nor exudes overconfidence. “During our start, sales were in spurts. In fact even in those days of setting up office, calls started trickling in and I was quite sure and confident of creating an impact. The figures are for the record, but what really matters is the customer’s experience. Not one in the industry has a track record of 99% success rate, and this I state with humility. You may ask how? Once  a participant completes the training, its not end for us, rather credibility is earned during post-sales. We follow-up with our customer (read a participant), and those who couldn’t, for some reason, clear in the first attempt is offered revision session to brush up the basics to advance without any charge. Likewise, the examination fee charged is makes the eligible to appear for one exam. In case candidate fails, we make them reappear after prepping up without charging for the examination. This was done without any publicity or fanfare and soon the word spread around and we saw our sales spike, and witnessed unprecedented growth year after year. That’s how, aided by our client’s expectation and desire to exceed their expectation, we set the norm and outperform” concluded the founder sounding upbeat about the year’s achievement and remains very optimistic about the outcome. 

How iCert Global empowers the Professionals across the Globe

iCert Global is the fastest growing Education Industry, both as an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) and Accredited Examination Centre (AEC).

Recollection

It was a humble beginning in a 1 BHK flat. A simple flat for soaring ambition, is by itself too ambitious. The founder and CEO Irfan Sharief, recollects being very independent as a child, and quips “I guess it’s the self-reliance more than independence - the resolve to live on my own legs. That attitude perhaps strengthened my determination in the days to come. “

He funded his own education by moonlighting and also gained a first-hand experience of the financial hardship in educating oneself. “Surely, there has to be some other alternative to college.” That was a nagging thought that trailed him long since he successfully graduated and got to work in the education domain.

Life, in a way, is more comfortable if you are salaried because you are taken care, well-fed, sheltered and most of the needs attended. Hence this guaranteed life is a good deal for many who just settle down pushing paper and changing chairs.

On my own

Entrepreneurship is about getting out of the comfort zone and come to face those insecurities and uncertainties with grit and gumption. Irfan always wanted to go on his own, and that nagging thought turned out to be the idea incubation. He aimed at providing alternate to brick and Mortar College by enabling the internet as the medium for knowledge transfer so that education is affordable and accessible.

He decided to break free and took the plunge. Soon he checked into a 1BHK flat which would be office cum home for months. Finance was from friends and family – it was not a gamble but a tug on the back or call of the hour that he decided to pursue his passion of ‘empowerment through education.’

Vital Statistics and Vision statement

The HBR 2012 stated in their survey done globally of managers and leaders, a compelling 67% felt the need to update their middle level management programs. Alarming was the talent gap even at graduate level with only 15% of potential students emerging out successfully. What happened to the remaining? So brick and mortar colleges won’t suffice and education space offered good scope and space to grow and scale.

Present day’s statistics of the surplus funding seen in the education stream almost to $208 million dollars might appear to connect the dots but 3 years back it was sporadic, with investors hard to come by. So the first statement to be written was the vision ‘To become most preferred organization in training, consultancy.”

The target market being educated professionals, the mission was to ‘enrich education and empower professionals’. And the mission was not just to retain talent but reach out to the unemployed or fresh graduates and train them to bolster their confidence in employment pursuits. Complementing the physical classroom, online or virtual classrooms found traction and the demand for organizing classes started to grow in numbers – for primary reasons of cost and access because comparatively the cost was much lower and the flexibility to plan study was convenient.

Handful of employees and few thousands

Registered in 2013, operational by mid of 2013, with a handful of employees and few thousands in funding, the company today caters to the education needs of both corporate and individual, offering their services across 3 continents and 150 nations.

With headquarters in Houston, United States, the Company is primarily into online Professional Certification training programs and successfully trained and transformed the lives of more than 50,000 professionals.

Industry experts with years of experience and domain knowledge design and develop the course ware, ably delivered by our capable Trainers, who themselves are renowned and recognized in their sphere of work.

The most significant aspect in this business is to understand the context and customize the offering. To make the engagement more meaningful and not business-like. The takeaway of the customer should make them reconsider. That’s the bottom line.

iCert Global – a profile

iCert Global at its inception offered training on select certification courses. Today, it has an array of courses and attractive catalogue that should meet most of your needs.

modes of Learning

3 modes of learning, namely Classroom which will be a face-to-face instructor led sessions, Live Virtual Instructor-led Training for those with a disadvantage to travel, and finally the self-paced e-Learning which you can take up anywhere, anytime.

core Offerings

iCert Global has heavily invested in programs like Project Management, ITIL Practices, Quality Management, Cloud Computing, Agile & Scrum and Emerging Technologies like Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Marketing, SalesForce and so on.

Key features

Some of the key features include money back guarantee, free revision session on request, career counseling, Professional Development Units (PDU), comprehensive course ware, assistance and arrangement while filling exam application forms (many are misled by the notion it’s a breeze. If anything, it’s arduous and quite demanding. You sure need assistance and that where you will appreciate our assistance).

Accreditation

iCert Global as one of the fastest growing edTech brand is accredited by leading governing bodies and examination centres like Axelos, TÜV SÜD, IIBA, PeopleCert, Acquiros

Clientele include some of the fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, hp, Capegemini, Cognizant, Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, Infosys to name a few.

And yes, that 1 BHk proved too small to occupy 200+ workforce. The company has shifted its premise to a vantage point, known to be the hub of learning.

Different People, different Demands

Not everyone who walks in wants the same, and there were instances when a group enrolled for the same course. So, different people make different demand and the ability to rise up the ask calls for a kind of agility that sets one apart.

The market is ferocious, cut-throat and competitive. It’s the fighting spirit and survival instincts that enable to keep the head above the water. The endurance and perseverance in pursuit in excellence in any engagement is the differentiating factor. “The benchmark is set by the customer or consumers of our services and we find the yardstick rising, which in a way is healthy as it increases appetite and inspires to scale further. The world today has no boundary, and competition can crop from anywhere. We have seen some rough weather and sailed smooth. So those roaring waves and soothing water are nothing new to us. If anything, they grow in intensity and gear us to be more prepared,” remarked Irfan about the competition.

“Other names in the industry make us to acknowledge they too have a space to share but our uniqueness is underscored by our competency and capacity to deliver as testified by the success rate of 99% with more than 50,000 professionals from various industry verticals all across the receiving quality tutelage in clearing certification” acknowledged the founder, who is still in his late twenties and already rich in work experience with more than 8 active years to his credit.

Irfan is buoyant about the market performance and the company’s growth has been positive and quite steady at the rate of 15-20 percent and sales forecast has climbed in numbers with the coming months expected to pick up steam and move the needles.

‘think about them’

Every individually is talented and abled, and physical limitation is never a limitation to the one who can qualify on merits. And so far iCert Global has provided employment opportunities to those whose services have been on par and earned our appreciation and faith so that more such persons call follow their footprint. Hence, the most incredible and impressive aspect is the opportunities provided for the “Differently-abled’ people. We believe they are ‘special and significantly-abled’..