D2iQ Launches Online Kubernetes Training Platform

D2iQ has made available an interactive platform dubbed Conductor that provides IT teams with access to both online course materials and hands-on training to enable IT professionals to learn how to master Kubernetes and other cloud-native technologies.

Company CTO Ben Hindman says since IT professionals currently can’t travel in-person to a training class, Conductor provides an interactive alternative that enables them to learn the skills necessary to advance their careers.

At the same time, IT teams that have larger portions of their IT teams working from home can take advantage of Conductor to further invest in their IT staff. IT leaders, via a Conductor Admin interface, can track learner proficiency as staff members complete Kubernetes training, adds Hindman. That’s critical because not all members of an IT team are likely to gain Kubernetes proficiency at the same rate. Using the interface, IT leaders can determine with greater confidence to what degree their teams are ready to manage Kubernetes clusters at scale.

Despite the downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for Kubernetes expertise continues to increase. The issue IT organizations need to come to terms with is the degree to which they will want to embrace best DevOps practices to manage Kubernetes.

Traditional IT administrators typically have limited programming skills; as such, they tend to favor IT management tools that have graphical user interfaces (GUIs). DevOps teams, however, rely more on application programming interfaces (APIs) and command-line interfaces (CLIs) to manage infrastructure as code. The average DevOps team can manage many more Kubernetes clusters than the average IT administrator, which tends to make DevOps teams a much more cost-effective alternative for cluster management. However, IT professionals with DevOps expertise are also more expensive to hire and retain than the average IT administrator.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, some organizations are moving faster to build and deploy cloud-native applications, while others may have reined in their ambitions. IT teams ideally would prefer to deploy modern cloud-native applications that are both more flexible and resilient. However, the level of expertise they have available in terms of being able to build microservices-based applications and then deploy and manage them on Kubernetes clusters is often constrained.

D2iQ’s Conductor helps IT teams close that gap. Of course, IT professionals who master Kubernetes should expect to command higher salaries. At a time when many organizations aren’t hiring IT professionals as aggressively as they once did, certified Kubernetes expertise enables IT professionals to stand out in a potentially large pool of job candidates.

Many IT professionals will be expected to manage Kubernetes clusters alongside legacy IT infrastructure. A Kubernetes training certification on a resume makes it clear to hiring managers that the job candidate being considered has kept their skills current.

Mike Vizard

Mike Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist with over 25 years of experience. He also contributed to IT Business Edge, Channel Insider, Baseline and a variety of other IT titles. Previously, Vizard was the editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise as well as Editor-in-Chief for CRN and InfoWorld.

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