EDUCATION: Classes   >   Our Philosophy

• Class Schedule Course Details Case Study Education Philosophy

  Superior educational content is a top priority for FE.  To that end, we structure our courses to help students attain maximum absorption of valuable insight in a short timeframe.

• Death by Powerpoint is not our approach. Tedious exploration of the minutiae of a single tool or technology is not what we’re about.

• Rather, we are about the business of giving students an integrated understanding of several disciplines that can be combined for superior enterprise ROI.  "Integration" is the key word. We aim for students to achieve integrated awareness to produce integrated content that enables integrated organizational action. Our goal is not for students to come away as an ABC expert, or data warehousing expert, per se, but as competent, confident, balanced practitioners armed with the tools and know-how to pull these disciplines together and lead the charge back home on the job, where true mastery happens.

• Because of our aims, our classes are different. Instructor presentation time is kept to a minimum – only as much as is required to get an important point across.  Lessons are more heavily geared to hands-on problem solving and group discussion and Q&A, for we believe most people learn best by doing and participating, not hearing. Learning takes place in the context of a real-world case study for which students must ultimately present findings and analysis at the end of the course, culled from the very system they themselves build!

• Days are long. Classes officially wrap up at 5 each day, but to gain the most from the experience, enrollees should plan to work into the evening.  Instructors are generally present and available after hours for assistance.  We won’t go to bed until you do!

• For whom are our classes geared? Most students have some background in either Finance or IT (specifically data warehousing or BI). Those who will get the most out of the class are those most willing to dabble and take risks in potentially unfamiliar territory. In one week we sweep across topics ranging from ABC allocation mechanics to Dimensional Design to basic SQL and MDX coding to Data Visualization to Financial Analysis. Can a student hope to master all of these areas in one week? Probably not. (Although it is recommended that participants have some background in at least some of these areas). But we will cover enough content to build a system together to address key decisions confronting a hypothetical distribution business.

• We hope you will join us and we look forward to your attendance!