Product Training
Training sized to the number of people who need it
A team taken through Argos over several days, one or two people brought up to speed quickly, or the free on-demand library the moment somebody is stuck. Each is sized to the people who need it, taught on your objects.
Running Argos at public universities, community colleges, private institutions, and systems
The situation
The capability is already licensed. The knowledge is the gap.
Institutions rarely stop using reporting software because it cannot do the thing. They stop because the two people who knew how have other jobs now, and everyone else learned only the part they were shown once.
The EDUCAUSE Top 10 IT Issues list puts decision-maker data literacy tenth, and the gap it names is the one training closes. People with access but no training export the data and stop there.
01
Nobody has time to learn what they already own
Features that would save a day a week go unused because learning them costs three days nobody has this term.
02
One person needs training and the course is built for twenty
The new analyst needs a week of grounding. Booking a multi-day course for a single seat is not a proportionate answer.
03
The question arrives at four o'clock on a Tuesday
Somebody is stuck now. The next scheduled session is in six weeks, and by then they will have found a workaround and kept it.
04
Generic training teaches the interface, not the institution
Learning what the buttons do is not the same as learning why your census object is built the way it is, or what breaks if you change it.
Group training
A team taken through it properly, over several days
Built for a larger group and run across multiple days, in person or remote. It is a deep pass through the features and functionality instead of an overview, and it is hands-on throughout.
Four pre-designed Argos courses cover the usual ground, from a first select statement to advanced modules. If what you need is not one of them, we build one.
- Multiple days, sized for a department or a cross-functional group
- Delivered on campus or remotely, whichever suits the calendar
- Hands-on rather than demonstrated, so people leave having done it
- Four pre-designed Argos and SQL courses, or a custom course built to your scope
“They gave our statistical office some direction and from there on, we were self-sufficient.”
Luis E. González · AVP of Information Systems · Ana G. Mendez University System
Individual training
When it is one or two people, not a department
A new analyst, a colleague absorbing a departed colleague's work, or one person who needs a specific skill. Individual training is the low-cost, low-scheduling option for exactly that, and it keeps the hands-on part that makes training stick.
Booking a multi-day group course for a single seat is how training budgets get spent without anyone learning much.
- Sized and priced for one or two people
- Convenient to schedule against a working week
- Still hands-on, not a walkthrough
- Useful immediately after a hire or a departure
On-demand
Free recorded training, available the moment somebody is stuck
Short recorded sessions designed to be watched in one sitting, produced by the Evisions Support team and available in the Evisions Community at no cost.
This is the answer to the four o'clock Tuesday problem. Nobody schedules anything, nobody waits for the next cohort, and the person who needed it gets unstuck the same afternoon.
- Free, and already included with your license
- Watch at your own pace, on your own schedule
- Produced by the Support team who answer the tickets
- Available in the Evisions Community, searchable under On Demand
“We have had many end users take advantage of the no additional charge web-based training and we love the CO-OP for sharing of DataBlocks.”
Bryan Blackwell · Programmer / Analyst · Point Loma Nazarene University
Custom courses
Taught against your objects instead of a demo environment
The pre-designed courses cover the product. A custom course covers your institution: your DataBlocks, your definitions, your naming, and the processes your team runs.
Tell our Professional Services team what your people need to be able to do afterwards and they will build a course to reach that, whether or not it resembles anything on the list.
- Built around your own reporting rather than sample data
- Scoped to what your team must be able to do without help afterwards
- Administrators, report writers, and functional staff trained separately
- Combines with a Professional Services engagement where the build and the training belong together
Pre-designed courses
Four courses that cover most of what teams ask for
Each runs as an in-depth group course, in person or remote. If none of them is the right fit, we will build one that is.
Foundation
SQL for Argos
Three days of Oracle SQL for people who have completed DataBlock Designer training but do not yet write SQL. Joins, subqueries, dashboards, charts, and OLAP cubes.
- Select statements from first principles, with no assumed prior SQL
- OLAP cubes and what they are good for
- Charts, and how to make a result readable rather than merely correct
Advanced
SQL Advanced Techniques
For people who already write SQL. Custom functions and tables, inserts, updates and deletes, PL/SQL, tuning, and explain plans. Does not cover SELECT, FROM, or WHERE.
- Techniques beyond the select statement, for queries that have outgrown it
- Inserts and updates, and where write operations are and are not appropriate
- Creating functions, so logic is defined once rather than repeated
Argos, 3 days
3-Day Argos Training
An introduction to the basics of DataBlocks and report building, for teams starting out or standardizing how they build.
- What a DataBlock is and how to build one that others can rely on
- Report building on top of it, including parameters and formatting
- Enough grounding to maintain what your institution already has
Argos, two 3-day sessions
6-Day Argos Training
Deeper work on developing DataBlocks and writing reports, extending into OLAP, Charts, and the API, with facilitated workshops. Runs as two 3-day sessions a week or more apart.
- DataBlock development in depth, including the decisions that age well
- OLAP and Charts for analysis that does not end at a table
- The Argos API, for reporting that has to feed something else
Tell us who needs to be able to do what
Tell us what your team cannot do yet and we will show you the session that fixes it, taught on your objects.
In their words
What teams say after the sessions
These institutions build and maintain their own reporting. Training them, rather than doing it for them, is what made that possible.
Outcome
A senior programmer went from knowing nothing about Argos to building complex reports in a couple of weeks, from the recorded online training sessions.
Outcome
More than 70 DataBlock designers, 156 report writers and 1,000 faculty and staff viewers trained, with the university's own classes running alongside Evisions' live and recorded training.
Outcome
New staff were trained on designing DataBlocks and writing reports while Professional Services made the state-mandated reporting changes.
Outcome
Up and running in one week, including three days of training, with Professional Services delivering training and report development in person and online.
Related
Depending on what you are trying to fix
You need the work done, not the skill
Scoping, migration, conversion, and development by people who have done it before.
You are onboarding onto Argos
The free on-demand library in the Evisions Community, and the 3-Day course for the people who will build.
A departure left a gap
Consulting to restore what was lost, or someone to do the work meanwhile.
You own the environment
Administration, configuration, permissions, and troubleshooting.
How it fits
Three formats, and how institutions choose between them
A team, over days
Group training when several people need the same grounding and the institution wants a shared way of building. In person or remote.
One or two people, soon
Individual training when a single hire or a single skill is the gap. Lower cost, easier to schedule, same hands-on approach.
Anyone, right now, free
On-demand recordings in the Evisions Community for the person who is stuck today and cannot wait for a cohort.
Trust and security
The practical questions before you book
The Trust Center is published and the HECVAT is available on request, so a reviewer can start before anyone schedules a call.
Training runs in a safe environment
Hands-on work happens where mistakes do not reach production.
Your permissions are not bypassed
Sessions run inside the MAPS permission model rather than around it.
Materials stay with you
What your team is taught is theirs to keep and to teach the next person.
Accessibility
Remote delivery accommodates the access needs your institution already supports. Tell us what is required and we will confirm what we can meet.
On-demand is included
The recorded library costs nothing and is available to any licensed institution through the Community.
Documentation
HECVAT on request and a Trust Center, so procurement can start without a call.
Frequently asked questions
Questions we get asked first
Who teaches these?
Trainers who have done the job. Our consultants and support staff came from campus IT and institutional reporting before they worked here, because higher education is the only sector we build for. The same team answers your tickets afterwards, in-house, with no outsourced agents.
What are the four pre-designed courses?
SQL for Argos, SQL Advanced Techniques, 3-Day Argos Training, and 6-Day Argos Training. Each has an online brochure with the full outline.
What if none of them fits?
Tell us and our Professional Services team will build a course around what your people need to be able to do afterwards.
Can training be delivered remotely?
Yes. In-depth group courses run in person or remote, whichever suits your calendar and budget.
We only need one person trained. Is there an option for that?
Yes. Individual training is built for one or two people, at lower cost and with less scheduling, and it keeps the hands-on element.
Is any training free?
Yes. On-demand recorded sessions are produced by the Evisions Support team and available at no cost in the Evisions Community. Search On Demand once you are logged in.
Do we need SQL knowledge to start?
No. SQL for Argos assumes none. SQL Advanced Techniques assumes you already write it.
Can you train on our own reports rather than sample data?
Yes, and it is usually the better purchase. A custom course runs against your DataBlocks, your definitions, and your naming.
Should administrators and report writers train together?
No. They need different things, and combining them means both groups sit through material that is not for them.
How is training priced?
Group courses are quoted per course, individual training is priced per seat, and on-demand is free with your license. All of it sits outside your product license except the recorded library.
How far ahead do we need to book?
It depends on format and time of year, so it varies. Tell us your window and we will be straight about what is realistic.
Can we combine training with a project?
Yes, and it is common. Where we are building something for you, training your team to maintain it is usually part of the same engagement.
Next step
Describe the person, not the course
Tell us who needs training, what they need to be able to do, and how soon. We free on-demand library covers a fair amount of it, so that is often the first question.
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