IBM enhances the learning experience on its Skills Gateway

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IBM has always believed that if you love what you do, and you have the skills to do it, you can change the way the world works. By developing revolutionary concepts in learning, IBM is challenging the status quo in how an organization can develop its workforce to win in the market.

As 2020 unfolds, the company is delivering on the promise to create an even stronger platform for learning with its Skills Gateway. The user experience has been enhanced with enhanced search capabilities, subscription pages, improved opt in functionality and improved page designs.

Connecting Credentials

IBM is improving the connection between skills development and digital credentials to show clear paths of progression and meaningful acknowledgements of your investment in further knowledge.

A user experience based on a solid foundation

With roadmaps and learning journeys to build careers and marketable skills, the IBM Skills Gateway is IBM’s essential place for building skills that matter, hosting the collective strength of IBM Solutions.

• The IBM Digital Learning Platform hosts digital learning content, and its lab platform hosts hands-on labs and product sandboxes.
• Global Training Providers provide a robust schedule of IBM training offerings in nearly every country in the world.
• Career fit assessments help match you to careers you will love.
• IBM Certifications focus on emerging job roles, and digital badges help you broadcast your achievements. And certificate programs provide end-to-end alternative credentials for many of the hottest roles that do not require a college degree.

At the heart of our human-centered mission is a passion to solve the world’s problems by building the IT skills our customers need most. Join us.

IBM is democratizing IT with its skills programs

By focusing on skills over degrees and geography, IBM wants to shift mindsets in the IT industry and make tech more diverse and inclusive. We want to bring in people with non-traditional backgrounds who build skills through coding camps, community colleges or modern career education programs like our P-TECH model or apprenticeship program. We want to attract people re-entering the workforce or relaunching their careers, and we want to create more jobs for people in parts of the world where tech jobs are scarce. This is about creating tech career opportunities outside the traditional areas. The big picture: IBM has a program for anyone seeking a role in IT.

IBM has developed a broad strategy to rapidly build skills through multiple channels:

• IBM Skills Gateway: Hosts one of the largest IT training programs in the world and a network of Global Training Providers who provide skills development programs at every level.
• IBM Skills: Thousands of online courses, free training programs and custom enterprise offerings.
• SkillsBuild: Provides jobseekers, including those with long-term unemployment, refugees, asylum seekers and veterans, with assessments, training, personalized coaching and the experiential learning they need to re-enter the workforce.
• Coursera: Certificate Programs, like the IBM Customer Engagement Program, develop skills fast to land a good-paying job.
• P-TECH: Extends the typical four-year high school to create a seamless six-year academic experience to earn an industry-recognized, two-year post-secondary degree, as well as a high school diploma.
• IBM Skills Academy: Provides IT training through a network of higher education institutions.
• IBM Apprenticeships: Allows candidates to develop skills and make real-world contributions – all while earning a paycheck.

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David Leaser is the senior executive of strategic growth initiatives for IBM’s Training & Skills program. Leaser developed IBM’s first cloud-based embedded learning solution and is the founder of the IBM Digital Badge program. He is a Fellow at Northeastern University and a member of the IMS Global Consortium Board advisory group for digital credentials. David has provided guidance to the US Department of Labor and the US Department of Education as an employer subject matter expert. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Pepperdine University and a Master’s Degree from USC’s Annenberg School. Connect with David on LinkedIn and on Twitter.  The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of IBM.