Chapter 3 Section 4
Technology Transfer Related Risks

Education and training can take many forms, including formal courses, computer and video training, and books and articles. Acquiring and distributing technology transfer materials will be a key part of a manager's risk management strategy.

To provide training, managers must ensure that:

1. Training is available from suppliers, and

2. Training is made available within each PEO's and PM's organization.

Ada 95 training differs from Ada 83 training. Ada 83 training was focused on learning the entire language, and courses were usually one to four weeks long. Ada 95 training focuses on incremental approaches to the language. Typically, so far, vendors are offering more specialized courses that are tailored to the audience's specific needs. Ada 83 prerequisites are, of course, essential to these shorter, specialized courses. Training for non-Ada programmers generally stresses a direct move to Ada 95 - teaching an integrated set of features both "old and new".

• When acquiring software via a contractor, choose a contractor who has already adopted Ada 95 (no need to train);

• Acquire training from an outside vendor for the development staff or contractor just in time to support the project;

• Develop and present training using an in-house staff (only cost effective for large PEOs or projects);

• Train staff using self-paced training (this is usually a higher risk unless it is used to supplement classroom training only); and

• Provide mentors to work along with the project staff.

• DOD Ada Trainers and Defense Colleges - Many organizations within the DOD provide Ada 83 training to their service's students and to other DOD organizations and are upgrading their courses to Ada 95. These include the Air Force's Ada training at Keesler AFB and the service academies, such as the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, among others.

• Local Colleges and Universities - Nearly 300 colleges and universities in the United States teach Ada at some point in their undergraduate curricula. In addition to producing graduates who are already proficient in Ada, many of these schools offer courses that can help train current workers in Ada. For the past three years, the Ada 95 Project Office has been working with these universities to produce Ada 95 curricula for colleges, ensuring the early availability of Ada 95 training.

• Tutorials at Conferences - Often the best source for introductory training. The first Ada 95 training was presented at the many Ada-specific and general software-oriented conferences. The tutorial reprints are typically available for a fee through conference organizers.

• Industry Training Organizations and Consultants - A number of organizations provide commercial training courses in Ada 95 and other software engineering topics. Among the most experienced are those that have been providing Ada 83 instruction over the past decade.

• Basic Training Materials on the Internet - One new and very positive aspect of the Ada 95 effort is the large amount of free, publicly available material stored on the Internet. Already several kinds of Ada 95 training material have been created and made available. These materials can form the nucleus for an in-house training group's efforts. Much of this same material has been archived on CD-ROM by the AdaIC.

It is essential that PEOs and PMs assess technology insertion and technology transfer as part their initial examination of Ada 95 adoption risks. Although training is a risk to be assessed, it can also be a risk mitigation tool to be employed. If at all possible, the PEO and PM need to look for and make use of a contractor with previous Ada 95 experience. However, at the beginning of the Ada 95 adoption effort this may be difficult. Therefore, it should be expected that both the Government and the contractor will need to acquire Ada 95 training as a part of the adoption process - and should do so jointly if possible. The PEO and PM Offices should plan and budget for Ada 95 training as part of their adoption process. PEOs and PMs should remember that Ada 83 experience is available and may be almost all that is needed.

• The cost of each class - This cost seems to be well within the typical range of prices charged for training in Ada 83 or languages such as C++ or Smalltalk.

• The total number of classes needed - Based on the currently available courses, Ada 95 training is more extensive than that needed for a language such as assembly or FORTRAN, but composed of the same number or fewer training days than a language such as C++ requires.