I am sure Doug will have a lot to say on training given his background

I have been on a couple of courses for system management, PI ProcessBook/Datalink/SDK all in the UK at Capula many years ago. Everything else I have got from experience, I have a knack for understanding things by reading the cover of a manual. What does help is I have an extensive programming background in web & client technologies, so anything PI related is always based on Microsoft latest technologies so the learning curve isn't very steep.

Have watched endless hours of webinars but I have always found hands on the best approach to understand the basics quickly - for some people though this can be a dangerous approach.

I have dabbled with training clients in PI which is good fun but it is always a better session when the client has some exposure to PI before the training.

There a few companies in the UK that offer all sorts of training, usually the best training is to get a custom course that meets your requirements.

Well there are a few sides to PI users in my opinion.

There are the "read only" PI users that will only ever look at PI-DataLink/RtReports style reports or look at some Processbook displays.
Then there are the users that will actually create their own reports, displays and probably write some code (VBA).
You also get the system manager type people that look after 1 or more PI systems and deal with tag creation, interface setup etc.
The other PI user is an all round type of person a combination of the above plus can write their own interfaces etc

Wouldn't say you need a programming background, it helps for products like PI-AF (think object orientated programming). I have met many PI users that are extremenly knowledgable and don't have a programming background.

Hi guys,

indeed Rhys I have lots to add!

I used to be the caretaker and one of the main trainers on System Manager I and II, as well as PI Client Tools (DataLink and ProcessBook) when I worked at OSIsoft.

These days I still offer the training using the most up-to-date version of those same OSI materials that we wrote. Because I always look for ways to make the material come alive by solving real-world problems, I have very good success in training.

It helps that I was also a field service engineer and a tech support guy at OSIsoft all at the same time! I also came from industry, I was a process engineer before, and a mix of experience between the technical and the business is always a plus in my opinion. Just like any company, not all OSI trainers are created equal.

Obviously in terms of cost, there can be significant savings in getting a third party to do the training, but it's important to choose someone that has really excellent relationships with OSI. Of course even when someone uses standard OSIsoft material the course can be tailored to the individual client's needs and time limitations/budget.

Personally I don't thing CBT training is the way to go. Think about learning Excel from a CD...you have to play with it. It's just that a good trainer will key in on the things that are most important to start (or continue) playing with, depending on the level of his or her audience. Also to have the time to "screw up" on a training machine is a comforting prospect to those who may be a little more uncomfortable at the helm.

My favourite exercise in the Sys Manager training is setting up an interface from scratch (usually I use OPC since you can download free OPC servers with test tags). This comes after the technical training on setting up an interface and points, so the exercise is around the afternoon of the second day and we take the time to do it end-to-end. Then it's a race to see who can get their tag displaying on a processbook trend on the projector first. Always fun, and always a challenge to work out the kinks. Try doing that from a CBT!

If anyone would like a quote for any PI training in the UK or Europe or anywhere else, just get in touch.
Doug