>> Narrator: Live from Las Vegas, it's theCUBE, covering Dell Technologies World 2018. Brought to you by Dell EMC, and its ecosystem partners. >> Welcome to theCUBE, we are live on day one of Dell Technologies World. I'm Lisa Martin with Keith Townsend. This is a huge event, the biggest they've ever had, 14,000 live attendees expected, and an additional 35,000 expected to engage with the live streaming in the on demand video experiences, amazing. We're excited to welcome, from Dell Education Services, Sophie Barratt, Senior Director, and Charles Atkins, VP of Education Services. Guys, welcome to theCUBE. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good to be here. >> Thank you for having us. >> Lisa: Absolutely, our pleasure. So this morning in Michael Dell's keynote, he talked about, and we're going to hear a lot over the three days, of digital transformation, IT transformation, security transformation. There's a fourth transformative element that companies need to apply to be successful, and that's workforce transformation. Chuck, Charles, sorry, I'm giving you a new name, Chuck. We already have a Chuck. You're Chuck for the day. >> We're all friends already. >> We're already old friends. >> Exactly, we go way back. Charles, talk to us about workforce transformation, from a thought leadership perspective, what does it mean? >> Well it's key when you think about digital transformation, that large, at the end of the day it's all about people. I mean you can have a common digital vision for your company, for your infrastructure, but at the end of the day you got to have the workforce to make that real. So, us in Education Services, I mean we talk to our customers on a daily basis, we look at, you know, a nauseating level of research, and there's a huge skillset gap, that continues to grow, expodentiously. And when you look at the level of automation that's been introduced, in all across the workforce, the gap is continuing to grow. So in education, we're taking a long hard look at, okay, what are the skillsets of the future that are needed today? When you think about machine learning, you know, artificial intelligence, data data data, you know, years ago big data was, you know, all the rage. Now we have all of that data. Now that data's becoming more intelligent. Now we need to educate our workforce, to live and work in a digital age, right along with robotics and everything else. So pretty exciting time. >> Well Charles, I would love to hear both you guys are veterans of education, veterans of the IT industry, it has changed tremendously over the past five years, versus when I cut my teeth 20 years ago in IT. It was very step ladder, you know, I got a vendor certification, I learn the product, I was able to get into the industry, how has machine learning, digital transformation, how has that changed your jobs, and your approach to how you educate your customers? >> So great question, and I too come up in that age, right? So back in the day when you needed a Microsoft certification or a storage level certification, having that kind of siloed view, all of that has changed. And when we think about skillsets needed today, it's across multi-Cloud environments, security infrastructure, the in-user devices are as smart as the data center solutions that are driving the Clouds on the backend. So now you have to have a broad range of skillset, so obviously, times have changed, skillset development has changed, and that's a big reason why we in Education Services are hyper focused on that fourth tower, workforce transformation, to enable that digital realization. >> You wrote a blog recently on skills transformation, can you kind of break it down, some of the transformation certifications that Dell EMC's enabling? >> Absolutely, so we just launched four net new transformational certifications, super excited about this, and when you think about, again, the history, you think about product level certifications. You know, individuals go out, and they get trained and educated on how to use that specific product. But as those silos start to go away, and the technology starts to become across multiple platforms, we had to take a step back and say, "Okay, education today needs to change". Both in how learners learn, how they have need personalized education services, 365, 24 by seven across the globe, but also, they need to be less product centric. So we launched four new certifications in the security realm, converged infrastructure, multi-Cloud, enterprise architecture, big one. So think along the line of an enterprise architect, building an end to end, company to company solution, that is a multi-Cloud environment, security architecture on the backend, product level, that's a completely different skillset than we had 10, 15 years ago. So, you know, that is the workforce of the future, is having those individuals, really multi-facet, multi-skilled, all across not only Dell EMC products and technology, but also all the strategic aligned businesses. So we have you know, co-skilled, co-badged, certifications available today, with VMWare and Dell EMC, starts to broaden that range of the true skillset that's needed for today and definitely for the future. >> So I would love to hear from you Sophie, about the CI0, CTO story, what is the ask? Because, there's a combination of University, there's the combination of vendor training, What's the ask from the CIO, (mumbles), on the services that they're expecting from Dell when it comes to education? >> So they're expecting us, just as Charles had articulated, to go well beyond product level training, right? They want their people to understand the context to that they're operating in, and they want them to be able to see themselves as service providers, right? They're managing now a portfolio of IT services, and they need to think about how they deliver that portfolio to their customers. That could be other departments within IT, or onto the end customer, which is a very different way of thinking about IT, right? That when you're just sort of operating, you know, a product, or a suite of products. So that's something we hear from CIOs pretty often. And the other thing I would say is, you know, sort of in return, we have an ask for CIOs, right? Which is to understand that, it's really not just about, sort of training, and making sure that people are trained on, you know, particular solutions, whatever the flavor of the day happens to be, but making sure that as they're thinking about digital transformation, IT transformation, that they're underpinning it with a focus on continuous learning. Because the technology has morphed incredibly quickly, the expectations of IT are morphing incredibly quickly, and if learning doesn't happen continuously, you know, individuals and COs themselves are not going to be able to keep up. So we're trying to enable them with a suite of, you know, sort of point solutions, as well as that continuous learning environment, and sort of cultural affinity, that can help them be successful and make IT really a competitive differentiator. >> In the spirit of continuous development, talk to us about some of the research that you've done recently to understand, and really kind of shape the direction of the new Education Services, that Dell EMC is delivering. >> Sure, well actually you know, one of the really fascinating findings, and I sort of started to elude to it just then, was the importance of sort of the commitment from the CIO level down, as well as the individuals up. And that sort of reciprocity between a person, like an IT professional's commitment to learning, and their own development, as well as the management team creating that environment, where it's okay to learn, right? And it's okay to admit that, you know, you don't know something, or that you have an appetite to develop yourself. So we just did some research that showed that where individuals are the most transformation ready, themselves, is actually in IT departments that have a very strong commitment to learning. And that inverse is also true. >> When we look at IT transformation, as Michael Dell even said this morning, as the opportunity for IT to become a profit center, IT transformation has so much potential to enable every part of the business, to use data and apply it multiple times, to combine it, re-combine it, identify how customers are using that, how can IT, as you were saying, seems like it's much more of a cultural propensity to learn, how can IT help influence other parts of the business, to have this appetite to continuously learn? >> Sure, let me start with that, and then Charles you can add your perspective, but, you know, interestingly we have a customer advisory panel, here at Dell Technologies World every year, and we'll probably talk about it when we have this year's event tomorrow, but last year this was actually a topic that came up, and IT professionals struggle with that, frankly, right. How they can better partner with the business, to talk the same language as the business is talking, and translate the business requirements back into a technology solution, and architecture that makes sense for that digital future. And actually that was one of the main drivers behind our new multi-enterprise architect certification that Charles eluded to a minute ago, so there's a lot there in that, you know, there's a big journey for IT departments to travel, but we're doing our best between helping with those continuous learning environments, the training and certifications that can really sort of bridge the gap right between the business and IT. >> I think most IT organizations are in that transformation, or at the cusp of it, and it really goes back to having that digital vision, and really that digital thought of saying, "Okay, where do we want to go? And how do we get there?". Workforce transformation's a big piece of it, obviously all of the IT architecture software development aspect on the backend is huge. But you got to come up with that vision first, and you really need to think about the future of the IT organization, as really expected customer outcomes. So the customers that they service whether they're internal or external customers, they're expecting an outcome, so really truly becoming an IT customer service organization. And you know, some are struggling, some are at the onset, some are deep into that transformation, and I would like to echo one of the things that Sophie said, when I looked at all of the research, 61% employees surveyed said they're not digitally ready. 61% of companies said, "We don't have a clear digital strategy". So, you know, the emphasis really is upfront, now's a good, opportunistic time for companies to take a step back, and say, "Okay, what does that digital future really look like?". >> Keith: 'Cause we're not-- >> If you look over, sorry, when I look over the next five years or so, look at the advancement in machine learning, artificial intelligence, get too far behind that digital evolution, some companies might not be here. >> So I had a really engaging conversation with one of the leaders in open source, serverless, and he was, he debated that enterprises are absolutely ready for this transformation. Me, maybe not so much. How do you help to do that heavy lifting? We talked about enterprise IT inspiring other organizations, but Sophie, you eluded to that this is a two way conversation. This is not just about Dell EMC Education going out and producing materials, IT professionals have to feel motivated to actually consume that data, and move forward, so that they can embrace the digital transformation, and help educate. Help talk to me about the boots on the ground. How are you guys hoping to inspire regular enterprise IT folks, the legacy DNS administrator who's sitting at his desk. I've been doing DNS for 10 years, I know how to do DNS, now we're asking him to engage and maybe not do machine learning, but embrace DevOps for example. >> Sophie: So there's a few tools that we have at our disposal, actually, speaking of AI and ML and sort of, you know, advanced ways of doing business, we're also trying to incorporate some of those technologies in the way that we create learning experiences. So we're also trying to make the learning experiences themselves more compelling to the people. But that aside, in terms of the content itself, we actually recently did a MOOC, a Massive Open Online Course, around DevOps, so there are a ton of resources for IT professionals who want to get started, and just kind of immerse themselves in this space, and learn, sort of incrementally, like sort of be exposed to it, and then once they decide that they want to take that step and get certified, or whatever it is, we have those more formal tracks for them as well. >> I'm wondering to even how much, in our personal lives, we have everything in our pockets, we expect that, and how many people have our home assistants and are actually using or part of the machine learning user experience at home, and not really thinking about that. How much do you think culturally that's actually going to help the IT folks become more able to make workforce transformation real, at the spirit of the event, by what's happening in their personal lives? Do you think that's going to be a big influence? >> Charles: I think it's going to be huge. I mean, look at the automobile industry, and the transformation that's gone throughout, just the last decade alone. And apply that to our everyday life. I mean, again, if you look at it as a core edge solution, the edge solution, I mean, the amount of data that is transacted on a daily basis just from me driving my vehicle, everything from health and vehicle reports, when it's time to change the oil, et cetera, I mean it's going to be a consumer driven motivator. And it's going to force companies to really kind of think through, okay how do we get more intelligent with our data, because the customer expectations have now increased 10X. And it's going to create smarter devices. I mean, whether it's our mobile phones and, I'm old enough to remember when that got introduced, I don't know if that's a positive or negative, but in looking how much that one device has changed my life, and now the level of intelligence that I see just in the software apps that are on the phones. I mean, it's going to be a key motivator. One of the things I would like to touch on, that Sophie briefly touched on, you said, "Boots on the ground". So we have something called skillset analysis, Learning Needs Assessment's what we're going to name it, but really it's an opportunity for individuals to go out and really go through and define what their level of technical expertise is. I think it's something that, you know, when I look at learning and development worldwide, even for myself, I need an area I can go out and, kind of test my skills, to your point about the DNS person, right? And I talk to these individuals on a daily basis, being an old engineer myself, already know all of that. But getting those individuals to go out there and really do an assessment of what is their true skillset, in this net new world of technology and digitalization, helps create at least a profile that tells Charles, "Hey I'm not really that good in this this and this". So maybe there is an opportunity to improve my skillset development in those areas. I think having that personalized level of learning interaction, and it allows the individual to be honest with where their skillset is, and take a step back and say, "Okay maybe I do need to go learn X Y and Z". And that'll help propel it. >> Lisa: And I'm wondering too, with Imposter Syndrome being something that is so publicized, I didn't even know what it was and I had it, until I saw it being talked about and I thought, I know, it made me feel a little bit better, but I'm wondering, on the personalization front, you know, we expect our lives and all of the digital assistance that we have, in our cars or our home or whatnot, to give us a personally, help us through life. How are you encouraging participants to take this assessment and go, you know what, maybe I've been in this for 20 years but there are things that I don't know. Maybe that's more of a psychological thing, but how do you encourage people to kind of identify, I have Imposter Syndrome, but I want to actually get better. What's the cultural education component to that? >> Charles: Alright, you have to take a a personalized social approach. How many surveys have you done that have randomly popped up in one of your apps on your phone? Or whatever the case may be. Now, obviously we're starting as a little bit more internal, really looking on our internal skillset and capability but, as this, you know, user interface goes live around the world, I expect both customers and employees internally to go out there and just be curious. Where do you fall? And whether you've done an IQ test online, or hey what are your 10 favorite movies, getting that social action, our interaction I think will be a key enabler in driving that. And that's really going to create the stickiness 'cause I would much rather not have a conversation between individuals saying, "Well Charles, you're really not that good at X". I would like to go out and do an assessment so, wow, I was right, I'm really not that good at X. Okay now what do I need to do to drive my own career advancement, my own education advancement, and that really puts, you know, learning in the hands of the end user, because I want to be responsible for my career, yes I want to do great things for the company, but I'm also trying to figure out, okay where does my career go from here? And this allows that user to be in control of that. >> I think it comes back also that reciprocity right, between sort of the environment in which you're working and creating that safe space or learning culture where you are empowered to take ownership of your own development in your own career, and that you have the toolkit, such as this Learning Needs Assessment, you know, that we can provide, as well as many other things, to be proactive and to take those first steps, and then to have sort of air cover if you will, from your organization to do that. >> Last question, how many people are you expecting to go through certification trainings, initiated at Dell Technologies World? >> Several hundred for sure. We have many people who pre-registered to take exams, and there's a continuous flow down through the professional center, you all should come on down and check it out, downstairs, Casanova 501, so we are running exam prep sessions, exams sort of continuously from morning till night, all three and a half days of the show, so we expect probably several hundred new certifications to come out of it. >> It's a tremendous opportunity, I'm afraid if I go down there and take, I'm going to fail all the assessments. I might need your help. >> It's okay 'cause the first failure's free, at least you get an assessment of how (mumbles) you are or not. >> Oh it's my lucky day, I'm going to go gamble. >> I at least understand the questions on there. >> Maybe you could help me cheat? Okay, so Sophie and Charles, or Chuck, as we're now calling you, thank you guys so much for stopping by, and sharing with us the continued learning opportunities that Dell EMC has provided us with. >> Thanks for having us. >> Absolutely, thanks for having us. >> And for my co host, Keith Townsend, I'm Lisa Martin, you're watching theCUBE live from day one of Dell Technologies World, in Las Vegas. Stick around, we'll be right back after a short break. (electronic music)