The first post
Welcome to the blog
The purpose of this blog is to detail the inner workings of the Build Cloud Skills lab platform, which we like to call the Cloud Skills Dojo, as well as keep you abreast of what direction we are going in, changes we are making and anything useful or interesting regarding the technical or business aspects of the journey. Getting the lab platform to a state where it can launch labs reliably by clicking a button and then clean up those labs automatically ready for the next launch was a huge journey - far more complicated than I realised. I want to document here what went into that journey. Mostly that is making assumptions about a certain process being simple and then having that assumption destroyed. That is a major theme.
What to expect from the blog
So expect to find here a pretty detailed breakdown of how the lab platform works in the back end, some interesting technical details as well as just notes on why things work a certain way and how we intend to improve things going forward.
Welcome to the dojo
Since this is the first blog post I want to tell you why Build Cloud Skills exists. It seems like if you want to learn cloud computing, you either need to bear through a torturously long video series or heed that age-old advice found ubiquitously in IT forums, “just make a lab and start breaking things”. OK thanks, that’s super helpful. It’s hard to find a structured approach to learning the cloud that is lab and practical-learning heavy and which doesn’t inundate you with hours of video or reading. It feels like there should be a middle-ground between the two where you can learn the technology in detail, but focus on practical learning. This website is the beginning of an attempt to find that.
What is the dojo?
At the moment, it exists as more of a reference guide for Azure technology that provides a lab for the Azure solution you may be studying. But, the intention is to create a fully developed, engaging lab platform that provides a practical approach to learning cloud technology. Instead of a 40 hour PowerPoint presentation, here’s all the labs you need to understand how this thing works. That’s the idea. So stay tuned and watch this space. There is a lot more coming and we want to be as receptive as possible so that we evolve with the needs of like minded learners - so please send over your suggestions, critiques, etc. and don’t hold back. We want to hear it all so we can make this a great learning platform.