Parity is making available to its delegates access to a unique learning support library across 178 of its top courses to provide unique added value learning support material from leading international authors and publishers. The Parity e-Books, which are powered by Books24X7, will give unique subscription access to five book shelves, covering 30 books per shelf to all delegates as part of their learning support material.

The Parity (http://www.parity.net/ ) subscription lasts one year and provides additional e-reference content across broader aspects of the subjects aimed at furthering development and understanding.

This will provide significant benefits to learners, in supporting further learning and reinforcement in the work place, and also for budget holders who will benefit from an added value learning package free of charge.

"This is a really exciting initiative which adds enormous value to learning", said Rick Firth, Managing Director of Parity Training. "At Parity we believe that attending an IT training course (http://www.parity.net/training ) is only a part of an overall effective learning process, and also given time is limited with what can be covered during accredited courses such as ITIL (http://www.parity.net/training/qualificationsandframeworks/itil/ ) PRINCE and PMI courses. It's only when delegates get back to the workplace and start to apply principles that true learning and understanding starts to happen. That is when people most need additional support. As a leading training provider we have a duty to ensure that delegates attending our courses get the most from the financial and time investment being made, Parity e-Books (http://www.parity.net/training/learningresources/parity_e-books/ ) are one of the ways in which we help learners and individuals achieve this."

The reference libraries mean that delegates can enhance their understanding of what they have learnt in the classroom with a selection of 30 e-books valued at £450. The books offered are all current editions and from leading publishers such as Harvard Business School, John Wiley, Kogan Page, Project Management Institute and AMACOM.

"We have seen a huge increase in demand over the past few years for IT business management training. Partly this is driven from government mandates and promotion in OGC methodologies and frameworks, but also driven by the real need to raise standards in business management. From a training perspective we often see employees literally being pushed through courses in the shortest time possible because that's what organisations and individuals are able to afford in terms of time investment, but its no good if they pass exams but don't have a real understanding of how to use what they have learnt in the work place", said Firth. "What we want to facilitate is real skill and competency improvements for individuals that can be applied and which can deliver organisational benefits, rather than being just another training provider who can get people through an examination", continued Firth.

Whilst Firth is critical of the effectiveness and limitation of much of the current training provision given pricing and time pressures, he remains optimistic that training providers and training buyers can make a difference in their approach to learning. "I am encouraged by the fact that we recently won a big public sector contract, under competitive tender, not for being the cheapest, but by being able to provide the greatest value when it comes to learning and this makes me even more convinced that providing better support and continuing education is worth it", says Firth.

Parity e-Books incorporating over 150 books are now available to all delegates on eligible courses.

About Parity Group plc
Parity a leading IT Business services organisation delivering technical, recruitment and training solutions to the UK and Irish markets.

They focus on the key areas of project, programme and IT service management. Parity's Training business educates client's own staff in these skill areas; their Resources business recruits highly skilled short term, interim and permanent staff; and their Solutions business (http://www.parity.net/businesssolutions/ ) takes total delivery responsibility for IT projects and programmes as well as the ongoing delivery of IT applications and business processes.

Parity has deep industry knowledge and expertise in Finance, Utilities, Telecoms and the Public Sector delivering people, skills and concepts for IT projects and programmes throughout the UK. Parity have provided these services to a range of notable clients, including Hewlett Packard, IBM, Ministry of Defence, Royal Bank of Scotland, Northern Ireland Electricity, Siemens and GlaxoSmithKline.

Contact details:
Gina Cannon
Parity Group plc
Wimbledon Bridge House
1 Hartfield Road
Wimbledon
London
SW19 3RU
0845 873 6945
http://www.parity.net/