Pythian Partners with Willis College to develop new Open Source Database Advanced Diploma Program

New program will build talent pipeline of open source database professionals and offer employment opportunities for graduates.

OTTAWA, Aug. 9 , 2016 /CNW/ - Pythian, a 400-person global IT services company that helps companies adopt disruptive technologies to better compete, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Willis College for a one-year Open Source Database Advanced Diploma Program to train and create employment opportunities for open source database specialists.

The Open Source Database Certificate Program at Willis College will equip students with practical, highly sought-after IT skills in the fast-growing field of open source databases. The program will be designed in collaboration between curriculum design specialists at Willis College and Pythian's own open source database experts.

"Willis College is pleased to partner with Pythian on this exciting new program," said Rima Aristocrat, President and CEO of Willis College. "Together we're able to set our students up to succeed with the opportunity to learn critical IT skills that showcase their expertise, and then help them gain entry to the IT industry with access to employment opportunities. The Open Source Advanced Certificate Program will be our fourth IT program offering—as the need for trained IT professionals increases, we are looking to help fill this particular skills gap," added Aristocrat.

The development of the curriculum for the program will commence in September 2016, and classes are expected to begin in early 2017.

"The Open Source Database Certificate is a great opportunity for students at Willis College to focus their training on a role that is currently in very high demand," said Pythian's CEO Paul Vallée. "Pythian is proud to Partner with Willis College, a like-minded organization that supports education, skills training and development, and especially gender diversity in the technology sector."

Willis College and Pythian have both demonstrated a strong commitment to gender diversity with recent initiatives to position women for success in technology roles. Willis College's Jim Watson Women In Technology Scholarship is an important step forward in helping women to succeed in technology by creating opportunities for women to access training that will gain them entry into the IT industry. Pythian's CEO Paul Vallée is a trustee board member of this scholarship. With a similar goal of providing opportunities for women to advance in technology, Pythian announced the Pythia Program in 2015, a data-based, multi-levered initiative to encourage gender diversity in the workplace.

About Pythian
Founded in 1997, Pythian is a 400-person global IT services company that helps businesses compete by adopting disruptive technologies such as databases, big data, cloud, advanced analytics, infrastructure management, and DevOps to advance innovation and increase agility. Specializing in designing, implementing, and managing systems that directly contribute to revenue growth and business success, Pythian's highly skilled technical teams work as an integrated extension of our clients' organizations to deliver continuous transformation and uninterrupted operational excellence.

About Willis College
As Canada's longest standing private career college established in 1866, Willis College has been a leader in innovative skills training within the public, private sector, Aboriginal community including information technology, business and healthcare. Willis College is headquartered in the nation's capital, Ottawa. More information may be found at www.williscollege.com.

SOURCE The Pythian Group Inc

Media Contact: Lynda Partner, [email protected], 613-794-8474