Hi Viswanathan...
I apologize for the delay- work has been overwhelming lately.
In my previous email, I was giving you a hypothetical quote based upon my estimate of what a company in my country would have to pay for the type of training and consulting you need. In my understanding, India has a strong user base for PTC products. It's very likely there are consulting firms in India that could help you for much less than you could hire a consultant from the United States or Europe.
In my original email, I wasn't actually considering coming to India! But then I spoke to my wife and she thought it was a great idea. So then let's discuss what you actually need...
The PTC training classes are good at giving you a basic overview of the software. For example, if you take a class on piping, you will learn most of the piping functions. You'll learn the most common applications for the piping package and how it works in conjunction with other PTC software (like Creo Schematics). You'll also do several exercises that get you acquainted with the software in such a way that you can continue learning on your own once you return to work. If you want anything deeper than that, you won't get it from the standard PTC classes.There's just not enough time in a standard class to offer that level of depth.
PTC (or another consulting firm) would be very happy to provide you with additional consulting services. After you pay for training, they'll be glad to send you a consultant with experience in piping to get you up and running. The consultant will help you with any configurations while answering questions along the way. All of this comes with a fee. The more you're willing to pay, the more they're willing to help. This is not really cost effective. If you have tons of money, you'll do fine. If you're on a tight budget, you'll get some basic assistance and the rest is up to you to figure out.
When I perform consulting work for companies, I take a different approach. When I offer piping or cabling training, I start by offering the same type of "basic" training PTC gives. Then I go beyond the basics and try to give in depth, detailed training on using the software in the 'real world' using your own company's models. Finally, I help set up and configure your environment so you can sit down and use the software right away. This is a very customized approach to training. Many times the training materials are completely customized for your company. This gives you a much deeper, richer training. Plus, before I leave the site, everything is set up so you can begin work right away.
The trade-off is that this level of support takes a great deal of time. I have to put in significant work to develop the custom class materials and documentation for your particular configuration. Thus, this approach is more expensive. Yet, if you were to compare the cost of having PTC perform this same kind of custom work, you'd spend much more. Other consulting firms do offer this kind of service. Maybe others are cheaper... but maybe they don't offer the same quality. Then again, perhaps a consulting firm in India may be willing to do the same level of work with very high quality for much less! The only way to know is to do your homework and investigate what PTC and other consultants are willing to offer.
If you really wanted to pursue the type of comprehensive training you're requesting, we'd need to have a much longer discussion of the details. Using your original email as a guide, you seem to need the full range of training, consulting, and configuration services. Without a doubt, I can teach you and your colleagues how to use the latest PTC software starting from scratch. I can teach you all about piping and schematics. And I can help you configure your spec-driven piping library (and document it). This is truly a mountain of work and would likely take several weeks to perform. I'd have to spend at least 3 weeks in India working some very long hours to get everything done in time. I'd also need many weeks to prepare the course materials and develop a profile of your company so I understand the requirements and your specific needs.
There are likely alternative ways to offer this kind of training. For example, we could perform some of the basic training online without incurring travel costs. Once you've accomplished the basics, we could start working on advanced training. If we went with this approach, maybe only 7-10 days of travel would be required to complete the configuration work onsite.
There are many, many possibilities for achieving your training and configuration goals. Although there are benefits to having the instructor right there in the room with you, it's probably not necessary to hire a consultant to travel to India for a month for training. Or- you could take the PTC classes to give you the basics then hire an outside consultant to handle the advanced training and configuration. There are too many possibilities to cover them all in one email. But if you're seriously considering a full, comprehensive training anc configuration package... I can submit a formal quote.
I just want to make sure you (and everyone else) reading this to know I'm not trying to push you into this course of action. Although I tend to be very inexpensive compared to other consultants, this is still a large project. There are plenty of other capable firms out there who'd love to quote this. And there are plenty of approaches to this project that don't require as much travel. I don't want anyone to have the impression that I'm attempting to take advantage of you because that's not in my nature. In fact, if it weren't for the insistance of my wife, I'd probably not even consider tackling such a huge project.
Let me know how you'd like to proceed. I'll quote the project if you wish, help you sort through the quotes of other qualified consultants, or simply lend advice. Whatever you need, I'll be happy to help.
Thanks and best regards,
-Brian
