Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) has set up an internal ‘academy’ to train and certify staff in cloud skills and ultimately unlock potential from its cloud-based environment.
The company, which offers an electronic alternative to paper conveyancing, wasn't "born in the cloud" but has “spent significant time uplifting our core platform into the AWS ecosystem,” general manager of technology John Natsioulas told iTnews.
“This work continues to evolve every day as we iterate on our core platform,” Natsioulas said.
“We would like to see our product teams more knowledgeable about AWS in general and have the ability to self-service to a much higher level, working with our cloud engineering team to ultimately improve the speed to customer value.”
PEXA already had a strong internal capability in the cloud engineering team that directly oversaw its operating environment.
“The team works very closely with our delivery teams and AWS partners to solve challenges, and we have had a lot of success so far,” Natsioulas said.
The company is now looking to build cloud skills outside of IT.
“As our product teams grow, we are finding that we want a lot more to exist in the cloud,” Natsioulas said.
“We believe that bringing everyone along a certification journey will not only equip them for future success but allow for greater ideation on how we can best utilise the Cloud for what the technology team want to do to support business objectives.”
Though PEXA began exploring the establishment of a cloud academy “a while ago”, go-live wound up coinciding with the escalation of the COVID-19 crisis.
“With all of us working from home, the cloud academy became an essential tool to keep the team motivated,” Natsioulas said.
“Not only does it allow for virtual learning, but teams also get an opportunity to break up their day.”
PEXA will put all 100 of its broader technology team through the academy, along with other staff from across the business, where Natsioulas said there had been “lots of interest” in the program.
“Ideally, we would like 100 percent of the technology team certified by the cloud academy,” he said.
“This includes those who may not be ‘on the tools’ day to day.
“While a majority of our employees will receive baseline Practitioner certification, many individual tech engineers will achieve higher levels or focus on specialities, receiving Associate, Professional and Specialist level certification.”
Raising the base level of cloud fluency across the organisation is anticipated to help teams “zero in on the right technology and products to focus on.”
PEXA anticipates being able to “make decisions faster; [and] discuss, develop and unleash new product ideas by unlocking possibilities, all with better outcomes for our members and the citizens of Australia.”
The company joins others such as NAB and IAG in setting up internal cloud academies to upskill staff and expand their use of cloud into all aspects of the business.
