Top Benefits of Switching to Cloud-Based Lab Environments for Software Training

By: David Hand, VP of DevOps Sales at Orasi Software

Where did you train your students the last time you held software training? Likely in a conference room inside an office or an offsite location? Think of what’s happening now. Where are most of your employees working from now and into the future? Do not be surprised if the answer is not an office cubicle.

The likelihood of a home office or coffee shop becoming the preferred location to work from is quite strong. Upwork’s survey unlocked similar findings when it polled adults about their plans to work remotely post-pandemic. The most popular choice outside of working from home was a coffee shop, restaurant, or hotel. Another report from Upwork shows that 22 percent of those who plan to work remotely post-pandemic are planning to work away from home at least part of the time.

That means that to train users on software skills, the traditional approaches of software training may not hold. This paves the way for the emerging need to move to cloud-based virtual labs. These labs have emerged as efficient and cost-effective alternatives to traditional training models.

Why Virtual Training

Hands-on virtual labs often reduce the expenses of training. They are ideal for training people in other areas of the business and across time zones. So, travel time and expenses to attend training are almost nil. As the virtual training lab can be accessed in the cloud, trainers and students experience never before seen flexibility and cost savings.

Virtual labs really move the needle in the areas of learning impact and student engagement. Participants can learn to use the software, experiment, and make mistakes – without affecting the enterprises they work for productivity, customers’ experience, and uptime.

Also, apart from a broad scope of experimentation, these virtual labs empower the trainers with a new power of design and collaboration. Trainers can leverage the impressive templates and training features provided by virtual lab platforms to create immersive, fun, and interactive sessions. Although the students and trainers are not in the same room, virtual labs offer real-time feedback and chat features. They can also help students to master software training with real feelings of participation, connectedness, and empowerment.

What do enterprises gain by using cloud-based virtual training?

Cloud also provides scalability and elasticity for enterprises – that means software training programs can be conducted anytime and anywhere. These programs can also become parallel areas of employee networking, brainstorming, and feedback on a tool. It leads to real gains in efficiency, innovation, and agility for an enterprise.

So, no matter where the trainer or student is – the enhanced features offered by cloud-based training solutions increase students’ level of engagement with the technology, trainer, and fellow students. A student can attend training from anywhere without losing out on the intended goals of software training. With a cloud-based virtual training solution, training is exciting, fluid, and anywhere.