Since its beginning in 1903 as the Detroit Edison Co. (Detroit, Michigan, U.S.), DTE Energy has aggressively pursued its mission to be a full-service energy and energy technology company that provides solutions to meet the needs of its customers. Today, DTE is a leader in that market, with two principal subsidiaries serving more than three million customers, several energy-related businesses and affiliates, and assets of more than US$17 billion.

After merging with MCN Energy and MichCon in 2002, DTE Energy took a hard look to determine where improvements could be made in its infrastructure. One area of focus was the newly streamlined information technologies (IT) department. As Lynne Ellyn, DTE Energy CIO, described it, “We looked at the challenges facing the business, and there was clearly a gap between the IT skills we had and those we needed.” With that in mind, the search began for a resource that could provide the training that would enable DTE Energy to realize its goals. The search led them to Learning Tree International (Reston, Virginia, U.S.). “We found that Learning Tree could provide a framework for a program of comprehensive training that we could implement together,” said Ellyn.

The Knowledge Builder program was crafted by Learning Tree and DTE Energy's Subject Matter Experts (SME) with the goal of providing everyone in the IT area with a “base line” of skills and knowledge. Once this common level was established, individuals could then take further training and gain additional skills to meet future needs.

Six courses were created for the program: An Introductory Overview; Architecture; Telecommunications and Networking; Application Development; Web and Internet Technologies; and the Test Zone, where the skills and knowledge acquired from the previous courses would be applied to an energy-related case study. The entire curriculum totaled 22 days, but, to give the participants an opportunity to use their new skills after taking a course, the program was extended over seven months.

Participants, in groups of 24, attend all six courses and graduate together in a “Fast Track.” To promote the cross-fertilization of ideas, it was decided that each Fast Track would include individuals from every IT area, so a typical mix would include a combination of database and LAN administrators, technicians, operators, analysts, programmers, supervisors and managers. A variety of departments were represented, drawing from areas as diverse as operations, cellular paging and field service.

In developing the courses, “Both Learning Tree and DTE Energy were very flexible,” said Steve Ambrose, SME and manager of software engineering, methods and staffing.

“Learning Tree had the basic course material in all these subject areas, and the alliance helped us craft it into precisely what we needed,” Ambrose said. Once the courses were developed and pilot sessions run, the program was rolled out with overlapping Fast Tracks scheduled throughout the year.

With the program in full swing, DTE Energy continues to provide the classroom facilities while Learning Tree provides everything else: instructors, course hardware and software and course materials. With more than 300 graduates so far, Ellyn described the feedback from attendees as extraordinarily positive: “…participants feel much more connected as a team, sharing a common knowledge of IT and how it's implemented within the organization.”

As for Learning Tree, Ellyn stated, “They have been, and continue to be, a very good partner. They've worked closely with our people to make sure the content was what we needed, and provided very effective coaching and training. They've also proven themselves to be critical enablers in executing the strategy of the Knowledge Builder program.”
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