Torque IT walks the VMware talk

A leader in ICT education and a wholly owned subsidiary of the JSE-listed Kelly Group, Torque IT was recently recognised with 31-year-old South African trainer, Envor Pillay, having been awarded with the EMEA VMware Certified Instructor (VCI) of the Quarter Award, for quarter one of 2013.

A first for the African continent

Says Sean Evans, VMware Business Unit Manager, Torque IT: "A senior VCI employed at Torque IT, Envor Pillay is our first ever winner from the African continent. Envor has been lecturing for only two years, and during this time, has consistently achieved high evaluation scores, in every class. Envor taught for 10 weeks out of 12, as per the past quarter, and we are exceptionally proud of his personal and phenomenal achievement."

More on the award

Presented four times during the course of the year, and across various countries in the EMEA region, the judging process is twofold. Firstly, by a panel of VMware theatre managers, and secondly, by the VCI's involvement in the VMware community, coupled with student satisfaction. The latter is specifically measured on the feedback evaluation, which delegates complete after each delivery.

A rich VMware heritage

Torque IT is a proudly South-African-owned, VMware Authorised Training Centre (VATC), and one that has been supplying authorised VMware training solutions to customers locally and onsite across Africa, for the past six years.

With four full-time VCIs, Torque IT maintains the majority share of the market, with the largest portfolio of authorised VMware courses to offer customers interested in advanced knowledge across data centre virtualisation, cloud, business continuity, desktop virtualisation and management. A fifth VCI will soon be joining the VMware team.

From humble beginnings

Pillay began his career in IT as a Web and graphic designer. He later developed an interest in IT infrastructure, which lead him to pursue his MSCE and MCITP, respectively.

Approximately five years ago, Pillay joined Torque IT as a trainer. He soon realised that virtualisation and cloud computing would be key in changing the IT landscape. During his time with the group, he has played a key role in the implementation of Torque IT's training data centre and contributed to a VMware Press publication on Horizon View v5.1. Pillay was one of the first VCIs to complete the VCP-Cloud certification.

To virtual infinity and beyond

Clearly, with a great passion for the field, Pillay was both surprised and honoured with the recognition. In terms of the future, he is keen to continue to strive for excellence in delivering VMware training to delegates across the African continent. Pillay also aims to enhance his current skill set in virtualisation, by becoming a specialist and VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX).

Torque IT / VMware developmental plans for the next three quarters

According to Sean Evans, Torque IT will remain highly competitive within the current landscape, and will continue to invest in technologically advanced equipment and lab infrastructure purposes, while steadily expanding on its portfolio of VMware authorised training courses across Africa.

Staying on top is harder than getting there

"The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) geo is incredibly vast, with literally hundreds of VATCs eager for recognition. The award achieved is testament to our focus on quality deliveries across all technologies, and consistently providing our clients with value for money. We monitor customer feedback on a daily basis and take customer feedback extremely seriously. With this in mind, even if the next quarter's award is not conferred to Torque IT, we will continue to provide world-class training to our customers, both locally and across Africa," concludes Evans.