The true cost of a failed VMware training lab

What are the true costs of a failed VMware training lab? Explore 7 costs – and find out how we can help you avoid them.

If your business relies on VMware software, you don't just need to invest in proficient staff – you also need to invest in training.

This is partly because cloud computing is such a changeable landscape. Being a cloud engineer involves its fair share of hairpin bends, and these are much easier to navigate with support from high-quality training.

And if you're a course provider, you'll know the importance of reliable infrastructure. Without this foundation, training can quickly become bitty, glitchy and disrupted.

No one likes a bitty, glitchy or disrupted training session. But the costs go far beyond inconvenience.

The true costs of a failed VMware training lab are many-sided. Together, they make a powerful argument for working with a company that provides reliable, secure lab hosting services.

Don't believe us? Here are seven costs of a failed VMware training lab.

1. Instructor downtime

When we talk about poor training experiences, the focus is naturally on learner dissatisfaction. But just as important is the way it stops instructors from doing their jobs properly.

Instructors need continuity as much as learners. This is partly so they can teach to the best of their abilities without being knocked off their stride.

It's also because such a huge part of teaching is about paying attention – in particular, paying attention to how learners learn and the challenges they face.

And if a training course gets derailed, the instructor may receive negative feedback that's not always deserved. This can be demoralising and, over time, negatively impact training quality.

2. Lost learner time

This is the big one. If a training lab fails, learners are frustrated, disengaged and, in some cases, likely to pack up and leave.

Many VMware training labs are building towards skill acquisition and certification. This can only happen if objectives are seen through and exercises repeated to the learner's – and instructor's – satisfaction.

When a course is blighted by technical issues, there are two likely outcomes. The learner will either complete the course in a bad mood and with inferior marks or they'll decide it's better just to quit.

This directly ties into the question of ROI. Most employers are willing to invest in training as long as it gets results. If learners are dropping like flies or finishing the course with half-baked skills, that longed-for ROI remains painfully out of reach.

3. Rescheduling

Ask a course provider why their courses are worth paying for, and they're bound to use the magic word "flexibility".

Online training is flexible, right? You can weave it into the working day, with learners learning at their own pace and merrily balancing work, life and other problems.

It starts to lose its flexible shine, however, when the course is postponed and must be rescheduled. Yes, the virtual nature of the training makes this possible – but it pushes certification down the road, kills momentum and disengages learners.

4. Refunds

So, the course failed. Who's going to pay for it? Certainly not the students.

When a training lab fails, learners must be reimbursed. This means you're losing money in two directions:

1. The money wasted on a course that never ran to its conclusion
2. The money lost to the learners whose time has been ill-spent
   
   

This is a key financial incentive for ensuring that labs run smoothly. Making this happen relies on the instructor, of course – but it's also impossible without lab hosting services working hard in the background and troubleshooting when necessary.



5. Reputational damage

If you provide VMware training courses, you know that learner satisfaction directly correlates to your reputation.

When a course fails, you're likely to receive poor learner feedback and negative reviews. Over time, these can lead to a dip in enrolment rates.

Taking steps to ensure that courses run smoothly, however, means the opposite: happy learners leaving positive feedback and spreading the word without you having to lift a finger.

6. Staff time spent firefighting

Unless you're at the top of the corporate food chain, it's unlikely that you or any of your colleagues are getting easy money for minimal effort. These cushy, well-paid jobs have largely gone the way of the dinosaurs.

As you know, this means pretty much everyone is working at full capacity, hacking through the jungle of their to-do list like a slightly weary Indiana Jones.

Given this all-too-common situation, no one wants to spend their precious time putting out fires caused by failed VMware training labs.

That's another reason working with high-quality lab hosts reaps rewards. They will swiftly deal with any gremlins in the infrastructure, ensuring high levels of reliability that directly correlate to learner satisfaction.

7. Lost opportunities

It's a cruel fact of life that doing one thing means you can't do another – at least for most people, most of the time.

This means that if you're fixing failed labs or addressing learner or instructor problems, you're not developing new courses, fine-tuning your existing courses or incubating long-term strategy.

In short, you're wasting time right now that could be better spent on your future.

Why do training labs fail?

Sometimes, training labs fail because of course design – poorly tested lab exercises, protracted setup procedures and compatibility issues. Scaling, too, can cause issues, especially if you see a sudden spike in enrolment.

But perhaps the biggest reason is unstable underlying cloud infrastructure. This is why it's so important to work with someone like us – someone who provides highly reliable and highly secure lab hosting services around the clock, all backed up with real-time troubleshooting.

So, if you're looking for lab hosting services for VEDP courses, don't hesitate to get in touch with Ascend Cloud Solutions. Our global clients rely on us for highly secure, highly reliable lab infrastructure – and we can do the same for you.