Several comments I’ve received in response to my “Knowledge or recipes” post were slightly resigned, leading me to the unfortunate conclusion that you all gave up and decided to live with the current state of the IT training business. But you can do something about it – go out and vote!

After every Cisco-certified training, you should be given the opportunity to evaluate the course, the trainer, the classroom and the lab equipment. If that doesn’t happen, complain! You’re entitled to voice your opinion. And don’t give high marks just because the trainer was a nice person; you’ve paid hard-earned money to increase your knowledge, not just to spend a pleasant week offsite. Quality-focused training companies will take your comments and suggestions very seriously; some make those results part of the bonus structure.

If your evaluation votes don’t help, vote with your feet (and your money) by changing vendors. Ask yourself a simple question: “Is it better to go to a low-cost course and get nothing in return, or to pay a bit more and learn something?“

Last but definitely not least, help others by blogging about the training. It costs you nothing, apart from a few minutes of your time. Document your experience. The CCIE-to-be community is full of active bloggers who evaluate the CCIE preparation courses they’ve attended. You should follow their example, regardless of whether you’re preparing for your CCNA exam or your fourth CCIE exam. With the explosion of Web 2.0 and “social technologies,” there’s no reason to let vendors (those that develop materials and those that deliver the courses) take the path of least resistance.