Introduction

The world is changing for telcos, it’s not a new thing anymore, and countless telco operators have been moving to the cloud to stay relevant and competitive.

However, a transition to Telco Cloud takes more than partnering with cloud specialists or buying cloud expertise. It also takes a competent, upskilled team of engineers who are ready for the change.

Yet, another thing about this industry (other than the moving to the cloud part), is that gaining practical knowledge in Telco Cloud technologies is rarely accessible.

And remember what I just said about the cruciality of upskilled teams? Well, no team can acquire the necessary skills without putting what they learn into practice. Because as humans, that’s just how we learn best!

Whether you’re a student, an engineer, a manager, or an executive, understanding the importance of practice when learning Telco Cloud will help you take the right steps in your journey no matter what your current position is.

In this article, I’ll show you some of the various ways that adding practice to the mix can improve your experience.

And don’t worry, I’m not making you read the entire thing, you can scroll down to read the part that’s more relevant to your situation.

For Students:

It makes learning a more enjoyable experience: if sitting for long periods of time to receive loads of theoretical information bores you to death, then congratulations, you’re a normal human being!

One of the proven ways to fix that is inserting practice into the process. That will make you more engaged and involved in what you learn, ultimately enriching your learning experience and taking the boredom out of it.

It helps you make sense of what you’re learning: seeing the knowledge you gained being put into use will help you have a clearer idea of how you’ll use it, later on, to solve problems and execute ideas. In a way, practice blurs the line between what you’re being taught and what you end up doing in a job, a line that takes most of us so much time and learning to cross.

It pushes you to appreciate the impact of what you’re learning: being told about the importance of what you’re studying is one thing, but seeing the real-life impact of that knowledge is a whole other thing! Catching a glimpse of what you can create with your skills makes you value what you’re learning, and consequently, develop more curiosity and interest in it.

It Makes you stand out in job interviews: being familiar with the practices and applications of your skills will drastically boost your confidence in your future job interviews. In addition to that, for your potential employers, your practical experience means that you’ll be easier to work with, faster to blend into the team, and overall better at your job.

All of that means, well, naturally, that choosing you over the rest of the candidates will be the logical decision.

For Engineers:

It gets you ready for your company’s transition to Telco Cloud: being in the tech industry has both its positive and negative sides. And one of the challenges it presents is the constant need to upskill and keep up with all the new technologies that are emerging.

And what I talked about earlier (in the introduction) is a relevant example, the Telco Cloud concept is irreversibly changing what it means to be a telecom operator, and inevitably, it’s bringing with it new skills and subjects that engineers need to rapidly be familiarized with. Gaining practical knowledge of Telco Cloud technologies will prepare you for your company’s bound-to-happen growth.

It keeps your skills relevant in an ever-changing industry: as I just mentioned in the previous point, one drawback of being in the tech industry is that your skills become outdated pretty quickly. This makes being a lifelong learner the only way you can enjoy being a part of this world.

It grants you new opportunities if you’re looking for a change: whether it’s a promotion, a new position, or a dream company… your most guaranteed way of getting there is by gaining more knowledge. Knowledge is power and the more of it you have, the higher you’ll climb up the ladder.

For Managers:

It makes the upskilling process faster and more effective: as the company grows and your visions become more ambitious, upskilling becomes indispensable. One of your responsibilities as a manager is to help your team gain the skills they need to keep up with the industry’s changes.

And if you are investing time and resources into that process, making sure the team gains practical and useful knowledge instead of mere theoretical one is the only way to make your investment worth it.

It makes working with your team easy and effortless: working with a team of people who know what to do and, most importantly how to do it is going to make your work hours (and theirs, of course) less stressful and more productive.

It helps you move projects quickly and efficiently: my last two points logically lead to this one. If you work with a team of engineers with relevant, up-to-date skills who benefited from the right training and gained practical experience… then working on projects that require them to put their new knowledge into use will be a fresh, productive, and fruitful experience instead of a slow, inefficient, and disorganized one.

For Executives:

It makes you confident with the reliability of your teams: being in your position means many responsibilities, very little time, and a lot to check up on. Knowing that you have a team of competent people who are familiar with the technology at their hands and who can make wonders with it will set your mind at peace and help your company go forward at a faster rate.

It helps you move the organization’s vision and strategy forward: goes without saying now, that a reliable, upskilled, and ready-for-change team will work together to lead a successful transition to the cloud.

Conclusion

The telco universe is changing, but the education and training around it barely do, which makes practicing the skills learned so far from reach.

Recognizing that flaw was the reason we started LabLabee, to make learning and practicing Telco Cloud accessible, affordable, and attainable.

If you want to learn more about how we do that, you can check out our hands-on hardware-free labs here.

Other than that, I’ll see you next time!

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