SANS prices unreasonable?

binarysoul

Some 'online' SANS courses cost $5,350 and I just wonder if that's unreasonable.

For in-class courses it's understandable, but for online, not sure. They must be teaching some 'secrets'!

emerald_octane

I'm taking one right now ,employer paid, but I self paid for one before. It's not unreasonable especially if you get one of their 10% off deals or free iPad deals. The stuff you learn is bleeding edge and could save an organization a lot of $$$, well beyond the price of admission.

The material is the same. Printed set of books and the course CD which are typically updated every couple of months. The web interface gives you access to everything you could get in the presentation (Except seeing the instructor of course). Infact the onDemand courses are easier (imo) because you don't have to pay for travel as well. Not only that, but you also get access to the SANS subject matter experts for the duration of your course, so if you have any questions you can ping them.

the_Grinch

I use to think that until I found out that it's basically an training industry standard to charge the same in person or onDemand/Online. Technically you save money if they don't hold classes near where you live. As a case in point, I took a Hadoop course that was $2500 which is the same price charged if you did it online instead. But a hotel, meals, and fuel had to be covered as well so that made the total cost around $3300.