Excom shuts its doors

By Brett Winterford on Aug 25, 2010 11:50 AM
Filed under Training & Development

Sudden closure leaves IT students without courses.

IT education provider Excom Education has closed its doors.

Vendor partners have reported that they were contacted this morning to be told the company planned to appoint external administrators.

Excom staff have told iTnews they have been told the company would appoint external administrators at 4pm today and that their wages and entitlements would be paid in full.

Sign on the door at Excom's Sydney office (photo: Brett Winterford).

Calls to the company's Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane offices were being switched to voicemail, while calls to its Melbourne office rang out.

The phone numbers for internal marketing staff were cut off. The founder of the company is yet to respond to our reporters' phone calls. Excom's Operations Manager refused to comment.

The Excom website appeared to be shut down around 2.30pm Sydney time.

Related

Readers emailed iTnews today after Excom staff told them courses were cancelled.

Rival Dimension Data Learning Solutions has already offered to place students impacted by Excom's financial woes free of charge.

Long history

Excom has provided IT training courses in Australia for some 15 years, with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland and Singapore.

The company was founded by IT trainers Paul Koukounaras and Graeme Newey.

The company offered vendor certification around the technologies of Cisco Systems, Citrix, Microsoft, Novell and VMware, as well as courses on Linux, ITIL processes, service desk, IT security and PRINCE2 project methodology. It recently introduced courses on Green IT.

The company was best known for its Express IT program, which offered a 100 percent guarantee of placing IT graduates in some form of work within four months

33 comments in this discussion

"The owners of this company should be waiting in line at a soup kitchen by the end of the month. But they won't... they would have squirreled enough away to stay affluent. Business' fail and ..."

By Tinrib

Tags

excom, training, recruitment, administration, liquidation, certification, microsoft, vmware, red hat, itil, ccne, cne, mcse, koukouranis

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Comments: 33

Digger11 Aug 25, 2010 1:43 PM	All of the Indian students will be very very upset.
BrettWinterford Aug 25, 2010 3:11 PM	@Digger11 - can you clarify what you mean from that comment please? I'm not sure I understand your point?
mercury888 Aug 25, 2010 3:35 PM	@brett, obvious troll. Ignore him.
peterhau Aug 25, 2010 4:02 PM	@Digger11, as will the people like me who used excom for industry training.
Bazwalt Aug 25, 2010 4:18 PM	When isn't Digger11 trolling? lol
mercury888 Aug 25, 2010 4:30 PM	yeh typical Abott supporter (read his previous comments). Racist too. This guy should be banned.
itonlinelearning Aug 25, 2010 4:43 PM	Being in the Online IT training industry, it might just be that digger is referring to the large number of students from various Asian backgrounds who are currently becoming IT certified. Our records show that on average 60 to 70% of our IT students are from Asian backgrounds.
itonlinelearning Aug 25, 2010 4:44 PM	Apart from the above, spare a thought for all the staff at Excom who now face a somewhat uncertain future.
mercury888 Aug 25, 2010 4:58 PM	@itonlinelearning - i dont think he was referring to that at all. Have a look at his comment history and read. Particularly about how aussies are dumb. His intentions are obviously malicious. Typical.
AdvancedTraining Aug 25, 2010 5:14 PM	I actually feel for the paid up students and Excom staff. In fact we're (Advanced Training- Melbourne) are also prepared to offer the Express IT students Free* training. If you're a current Express IT student and you still need training contact on of our Training Consultants. - Frank Hill ADVANCED TRAINING Conditions Apply - Microsoft training in Melbourne only - You must have proof of payment - You must bring in your current Microsoft training manual - No lunches provided - No job guarantee [EDITED - SORRY FRANK, THIS IS A COMMENTS WINDOW, NOT A PLACE TO ADVERTISE]. Edited by BrettWinterford: 25/8/2010 05:21:05 PM*
jfriend-syd Aug 25, 2010 5:20 PM	@itonlinelearning - I work as an IT recruiter in Sydney, and yes there are a high proportion of people with Asian backgrounds in the IT field, but I agree with @mercury888, thats not what he meant at all. @Digger11, As an IT recruitment consultant I have the priviledge of knowing a lot of the people that you refer to, and as far as I am concerned a lot of the time they have better work ethics and knowledge and they generall work harder then their Australian counterparts because of people like you they need to be "a cut above" to get noticed and get a job.
Digger11 Aug 25, 2010 6:23 PM	Why when I post the truth do uninformed people just post TROLL TROLL TROLL ??? Anyone involved with educatino in this country knows that it is set-up to predominately serve overseas people mainly Indians. Have you ever put an advert. in for a control data graduate ???? Over 50% of your replies will be from Indians. I can discuss the quality of these programmers - but as this is an IT forum you probably already know how it goes. This is not racist - just factual.
joplan Aug 25, 2010 6:56 PM	anyone here know where can i take my mcp 70-270 exam done all my modules in excom but didnt take my exam yet plus the guarantee job course!
sum1 Aug 25, 2010 7:49 PM	@jfriend-syd- I have just completed the Excom course and have obtained the MCP certification and the A+ certification.Although I'm looking for work on my own I depended on Excom job guarantee!I payed a lot of money( was lot for me) and devoted a lot of time for this course, now I am having a hard time on my own, is it possible if you could give me an opportunity to work for you company, I am ready to do voluntary work for work experience, If you can do that I would be grateful towards you.Please advice me on how can I contact you! @joplan - why don't you call prometric and find out.
nox Aug 25, 2010 8:43 PM	I got this news from Prometrics, they moved my test for MCP to another place this Friday. It was a surprise because I just finished a test there two weeks ago, and I found that they replaced those very old CRT with some 17' LCDs very recently. I always think this kind business should be very profitable, shouldn't it? I mean the tuitions are ridiculously high compared to TAFE course. And I don't think they need to employee a lot people like TAFE.
AdvancedTraining Aug 25, 2010 8:47 PM	@joplan - Give us a call and we will help you with booking your exam Frank Hill ADVANCED TRAINING
davidco Aug 25, 2010 9:30 PM	Being one of eight students on the current Windows 2008 Server course being conducted at the Brisbane Office of XCOM, turning up for the continuation of the course that commenced on Monday 23 Aug 10 and was due to conclude on Friday 27 Aug 10 I was met our instructor to be advised of the Liquidation. we were advised by our instructor that he had received notification of the liquidation on Tuesday Night and that he was out of a Job. He had then made the decision to make an effort to try and arrange alternate arrangements for us students to complete the course we had started and contacted alternative Training Institutes within Brisbane CBD, in a attempt to arrange training facilities. Thanks to his efforts and the generosity of IT Training Solutions we were able to relocate the entire, course students and all, to their Spring Hill Offices. On arrival the staff at ITTS were both sympathetic and welcoming to our un-scheduled arrival and provided us with access to all their facilities. We where directed to a Training Room that they had setup with equipment to facilitate both the students and instructor from Excon who had decided to complete the course for us in his own time and without pay due to the liquidation. I would like to congratulate ITTS on their generosity in providing us with access to all their facilities. I would especially like to thank Excom Brisbane Staff for not only their dedication but also their sympathy to the students currently under instruction at the time of the liquidation in ensuring that the training was completed. Well Done Excom and ITTS
Sams Aug 25, 2010 10:24 PM	digger11: "Why when I post the truth do uninformed people just post TROLL TROLL TROLL ??? Anyone involved with educatino in this country knows that it is set-up to predominately serve overseas people mainly Indians." We say you are a troll because you are obviously not involved in education, and you clearly are uninformed, and you are, as usual, just making vaguely racist hints in a childish attempt to get attention. As a past lecturer in IT I'd have to say that your statements are bizarrely out of touch with reality.
btone Aug 26, 2010 2:14 AM	diggre 111 spels gud two, may bee it need sum eddyukayshun?
himagain Aug 26, 2010 5:20 AM	While I'm very sympathetic to the students - especially the Asian - predominantly Indian, as many of their families have gone into extreme debt for them, my amazement at how such lucrative businesses can go broke knows no bounds. When ABC Centres went under I was stunned - how could it happen? A fantastically safe, growing industry. Customers desperately pleading for places..... It turned out to be management's playing with money outside. I'd like to hear from an insider here - what could make a similar business go broke? FINALLY - kudos to the competitors for the continuity offers - hopefully without too many strings.
jfriend-syd Aug 26, 2010 5:19 PM	@sum1 - apologies for the lateness of this, I hope you are still looking at this thread. I specialise in high level IT people, to be quite honest with you I hardly ever get graduate IT roles. The only advice I can offer you is to register with specialist graduate recruitment firms - not sure who is still around after the GFC though :). These types of firms have agreements with various companies specifically for grad roles, while a lot of other recruiters will work with experienced people. Hope that helped.
Metro Aug 27, 2010 11:22 AM	Frank - your a crack up! I met you the week you were all sacked from your previous employer and just as you decided to create Advanced Training. It seems with offices all over Australia you guys are absolutely booming! It's a shame though, that these courses are very little value when compared to a real uni degree with actual qualifications. Or should I say, it's a shame a) corporations send staff to training courses for a BS bootcamp in a product which had little difference from the last release, and b) that poor un educated IT wonna be workers pay thousands of dollars for thinsg they can learn at home! Everyone the KNOWLEDGE is free, and the EXAMS are usually a few hundred to qualify! The thousands you say at any private training centre is a complete waste! Frank - it's a shame to see you are still [the same] as you were a decade ago! Do you also participate in the off sure volunteer work, some of your fellow colleagues take part in!? [EDITED - PLEASE REFRAIN FROM PERSONAL INSULTS] Edited by brettwinterford: 2/9/2010 09:02:40 AM
Yanar Sep 1, 2010 4:55 PM	I have not started yet with excom, the course will start at 6th Sept. But I already paid $1000, is there anyone can tell what to do get my money back?
S18Sesa Sep 1, 2010 9:03 PM	A big thank you to Excom and staff you pack of rip off's.
S18Sesa Sep 1, 2010 9:04 PM	25K down the drain and I bet i will not see one cent back
rycrozier Sep 2, 2010 3:48 PM	Just a general warning to anyone who uses this forum to advertise training services - your comments will be deleted and you will be banned. That is all.
peterhau Sep 2, 2010 5:10 PM	might I suggest a contact point created by the editorial staff for people genuinely interested in helping displaced students in the recent excom unpleasantness? many of the students paid a lot of money for the courses, it would be a shame to not be able to help them.
nate.cochrane Sep 3, 2010 4:25 PM	Hi Peter, news coming soon.
phdeckhui Sep 3, 2010 9:08 PM	DAMN!!!!
TheAdvisor Jan 8, 2011 2:58 AM	I would like to say a warm welcome to the former staff from the pulteney street building. Hells burning well muhahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !!!!
TheAdvisor Jan 8, 2011 3:23 AM	Pity customers were never contacted. Would it kill the new owners to have the domain redirected to a temp site etc. No customers were contacted unless attending at the time. The media let this one slip through. Also prior stereo types about Indian students was wrong in my time at Adelaide Excom. It was mainly cacausions? just every day ozzies in a lot of cases it was people on minimum wage or students or whatever wanting to work and study to have a better quality of life.
TheAdvisor Jan 8, 2011 3:32 AM	Oh unless you ment that excoms closure would allegedly messup dodgey students wraughting govt benefits who were driving taxis whilst claiming to be students and of course not having a work visa TFN etc etc? Surely trolls don't say such herecy :P HereYe! please note the above mentioned stereotypes and views expressed are not necessarily those of ? anyone seen here to be depositing text herewith.
Tinrib Mar 29, 2011 9:24 AM	The owners of this company should be waiting in line at a soup kitchen by the end of the month. But they won't... they would have squirreled enough away to stay affluent. Business' fail and customer's lose out but it should only be after the owners assets have been 100% sold...every last item.