The future of IT training is virtual: here's why

More and more training programmes take place online. Explore 6 key benefits in our guide to 21st-century learning.



Telling the future is never easy. For every prediction Nostradamus got right, a hundred were wrong. But while we don't have a crystal ball, we're sure of one thing: the future of IT training is virtual.

It's a trend that's grown dramatically over the last couple of decades. Older readers will remember training with DVDs, PowerPoint presentations and paper hand-outs. Heck, some of you may still be training that way. But for companies across the world, online training is increasingly the norm.

It's not difficult to see why. Online training is more convenient, more cost-effective, more scalable and easier to update than its pen-and-paper or on-premises equivalents. It even creates new opportunities for increasing student engagement.

Here at Ascend Cloud Solutions, we're proud to play a part in this move towards online training. We're not educators ourselves. Instead, we provide essential backend to online course providers in the form of lab hosting.

We wouldn't do it if we weren't convinced of the value of the service we're providing. This is underpinned by our belief in the mind-expanding, cost-saving, barrier-busting potential of e-learning. Let's take a closer look at what this means for course providers and students.

1. Convenience

Today's businesses are more geographically scattered than ever. Cloud technology means that an engineer in Jakarta can collaborate on a design plan with a colleague in Cancun.

Hand in hand with this geographical diversity is a newfound mix of working styles. More and more companies split their personnel between the office and the home.

Both these trends open up huge possibilities for businesses – not least in recruiting the finest, not the nearest.

But they come with challenges, too. If you have an international team, how on Earth are you going to get them on the same page with training?

The answer, of course, is online training. It gives staff flexible, remote access, no matter where they are in the world. All you need is an internet connection – no travel or accommodation necessary.

2. Cost-effectiveness

Training is like good-quality socks. Everybody knows it improves your quality of life, but not everyone is prepared to fork out.

It's understandable. Pretty much every business is juggling the different bits of its budget with an expression of strained concentration on its face. Expenses need to be justified.

The board agrees that training would benefit the company. But can it really afford to spend all that money on trains, planes and automobiles this quarter? Is there really money in the coffers for venue hire, hotel rooms and per diems?

Virtual training isn't free. But it is significantly cheaper than in-person training. All your participants need is their laptops and a place to sit.

It's cost-effective in another way, too. Often, a training session in the centre of town means a day in the office with fewer staff. Online training, however, can fit into the course of a working day, reducing downtime as well as expense.

3. Scalability

In the not-so-recent past, IT courses were limited to a certain number of participants – a number largely determined by how many people you could fit into a room.

It goes without saying that there are limits to the number of participants in an online course. But there's a key difference: virtual training is scalable.

New office opening in Stuttgart? Your new staff can be enrolled in online training far more quickly than in a traditional, on-premises course.

And because the course provider is paying for online hosting, they shoulder the burden of scalability – not you. All you need to do is update the names and details of participating staff and the course provider will do the rest.

4. Opportunities for increased engagement

Online courses don't have to be a carbon copy of physical classrooms. Instead, they create new opportunities for engaging learners, improving knowledge retention and inspiring confidence.

In the context of cloud computing (our speciality), this is easily seen in the use of virtual labs in online training. These are replicas of cloud environments that can be used just like the real thing.

The difference is that if you make a mistake in a mock-up, it won't have real-world consequences. Learners get to learn the ropes without putting the network at risk.

But virtual labs are just one example. Online training introduces increased opportunities for gamification – and, in the case of virtual reality and augmented reality, ever more immersive training scenarios.

And guess what? As the tech progresses, the opportunities for learning will, too.

5. Ease of updating

The Age of the Textbook is giving way to the Age of the eBook. And one undersung advantage of this transitional period is how easily online course materials can be updated.

In the olden days, you'd have to wait at least a year for a new edition of a textbook with up-to-date information to come out.

Today, course materials can be updated immediately. This means students are never lagging behind the latest in IT. And at a time when it feels there are more updates than minutes in a day, this has never been more important. 

6. Innovation

The internet itself isn't the only innovation that makes e-learning possible. There are also developments such as AI and virtual labs.

AI is shaking things up with data-driven custom learning paths, chatbots and virtual tutors. Meanwhile, virtual labs allow IT learners to practise core tasks in a sandbox.

Looking ahead

Online IT training is developing all the time – and as it develops, new opportunities for learner engagement and knowledge retention open up.

We don't know exactly what the future holds for IT training. But as e-learning evolves, we'll be sure to keep you informed of the latest developments.

Ascend Cloud Solutions is a cloud consultancy and VMware lab hosting provider based in Cork, Ireland. For more guides and industry analysis, follow our blog.