When Towngas migrated a legacy system a few years ago, the company hired an outsourcing firm to help give its staff a chance to learn the latest technology.

Lee said training programs often align with new projects and implementations, allowing a more flexible budget for training, as well as more opportunities for staff to apply the newly acquired knowledge in a real scenario.

Training is also an essential part at OOCL's 750-people IT shop, which has staff in five locations: Hong Kong, San Jose, Manila, Shanghai and Zhuhai. Chih said each center has their own expertise, and cross-training among these teams is encouraged.

"We encourage internal training and have sent staff from Hong Kong for technical training in the San Jose center, where the most experienced developers and architects are located," he said.

The company supports training graduates and promoting them internally. Since the company is based in Hong Kong, Chih noted the IT operation here plays a business and strategic role. It not only houses the datacenter and hosts the core operation systems, but also manages major enterprise-wide projects.