Bespoke Training’s 7th Anniversary: A Message from our CEO

As of October this year, Bespoke Training has been operating for 7 years. To celebrate this milestone Bespoke Training CEO, Trent Rosenthal, looks back on 7 years of providing world-class cloud training.

7 years.

Wow.

It’s incredible to think Bespoke has been around that long.

I find myself reflecting on the fact that 60% of businesses fail in the first 3 years. Out of the businesses that make it past this threshold, only 55% survive more than 5 years.

Knowing this makes me even prouder that Bespoke is still around today. At this point I think it’s safe to say we’re not going anywhere. However, there’s still so much left to do.

I want to express how incredibly grateful I am to everyone who has supported us over the last 7 years. You’ve helped turn me running some qwikLAB education sessions at AWS events into a thriving business that’s enabled tens of thousands of students across APAC.

 

Firstly, to my current and former employees:

Each of you cares so deeply about this company. It shows everyday in what you do.

You’re a team of talented, dedicated individuals and it’s truly humbling to be surrounded by people who are as invested in Bespoke as I am.

Over the years we’ve had to adapt and grow rapidly in order to keep pace with AWS. We haven’t always got it perfect, but we have always got it done.

 

 

To our customers:

Not only do you see the value in training, you see the value in training with us. Thank you.

During our time training we’ve had over 27,500 enrolments. We are so honoured to have you be part of that.

 

Finally, to our friends and colleagues at AWS:

Our partnership with you is the cornerstone of our business. From day one you’ve supported us, challenged us and trusted us with the huge task of enabling existing and potential new customers with cloud skills.

It’s been a true delight working with you all.

 

 

I remember when I first got involved with AWS…

…It was 2013 and AWS was starting to get traction in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. AWS was this new, game changing technology and it was thrilling to get in on the ground floor.

In May of 2013, Bespoke Training debuted at the first ever AWS Sydney Summit.

At the time AWS Sydney Summit was a small event, bringing in roughly 800 people at the Hilton Hotel. It was a far cry from the 18,500+ people who attended last year. Oh what we would do right now to be back at the International Convention Centre in Sydney and in front of the AWS community!

For the duration of the 2013 AWS Summit Bespoke ran qwikLABS workshops. Every hour 50 eager students would come through and get hands on experience with AWS.

These workshops were insanely popular and it wasn’t long before we had people lining up through the venue’s corridors. Armed with food trays from the catering station I was serving nibbles to our students as they patiently waited. The line was so large that it played havoc with security and the venue manager!

All up, we managed to get over 400 people trained during the course of the event.

Then we did it all again in Singapore.

Following the “AWS’ Think Big’ mantra, we had 100 workstations… as we say, build it and they will come!

We enabled over 1000 labs in 8 hours.

 

 

Shortly after the AWS Summits we began offering instructor-led courses for AWS, becoming their Certified Training Partner of choice in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

Much like the first ever Sydney Summit, the selection of AWS training courses was much smaller back then: just 4 instructor-led course courses. Now there’s over 20.

This rapid growth has defined both us and AWS. Much like our customers, we have had to adapt and learn new skills.

Early on, AWS recognised that regardless of how powerful their technology is, the driving force will always be people. Organisations and individuals will innovate with the technology as long as they understand their role in this new digital age. Enabling skills will equip their customers with the capabilities to drive innovation.

This has only become more true as AWS evolves, becoming simultaneously more powerful and more complex.

Last I checked, there were 175 AWS products. To try and use them without the proper training would be to stumble in the dark. Our courses illuminate AWS’ technologies, turning them into powerful solutions.

It’s for this reason that I am still so passionate about offering in-depth, instructor-led training for AWS and its associated technologies. I love enabling people to reach their true potential. It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. Bespoke is the vehicle through which I do it. Everyday I get to transform ordinary people into cloud superheroes.

 

 

Now, I need to address the elephant in the room…

…to say this year posed some ‘unique challenges’ would be an understatement.

Overnight we all became trapped at home, unable to travel interstate or even into the office. As a business that exclusively provided in-person training the pandemic could have been a death sentence. Fortunately, challenge also leads to innovation.

And so, we evolved.

I am beyond proud of how my team pivoted to turn our in-person classes into a training solution that can be accessed from anywhere.

Within 48 hours we converted our courses into Virtual Instructor Led Training (vILT). This ensured our customer’s safety while also making sure they received their mission-critical cloud training.

 

 

Looking toward 2021, I’m excited for the new opportunities it presents now the world is shifting into economic recovery from covid. Although I have no doubt there will be challenges and uncertainty, I know me and my team can handle it.

Something that isn’t uncertain is that the number of training courses we offer will continue to grow with the AWS platform. Not only that, we want to equip IT professionals with the tools to make the most of all the opportunities this exciting technology presents. So, watch this space!

Much like our partner Amazon, everyday is ‘Day One’ here at Bespoke. I’m continually looking to move forward and challenge how we do things.

Sure, sometimes I get ahead of myself and I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes, but this is how we learn.

This is how we grow.

This is how we better serve our customers.

Thanks for being part of our story over the last 7 years. Here’s to many more!

– Trent Rosenthal

CEO