Introducing DA Academy

Speaker A: Welcome to the Authority on um, a podcast brought to you by Device Authority.

Speaker B: Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of the Authority on a podcast brought to you by Device Authority. I'm Louise Jose, Senior Marketing Manager here at Device Authority and today I am joined by Steve Humer, VP of Customer Success and John Hynes, Director of Customer Success. Hi guys. Welcome. How are you?

Speaker C: Hey Luis. Great, thanks for having us.

Speaker B: Steve, would you like to give us a little bit of an intro about you?

Speaker C: Yeah, sure, sure, absolutely. So, um, as you mentioned, VP of Customer Success here at Device Authority been um, in the role for almost a year here. So um, you know, it's been a great ride so far. Um, the primary objectives of my role is to ensure the customer experience um, of our customers at Device Authority are great, essentially making sure um, we're emphasizing time to value, we're getting things deployed and integrated and um, spun up at the right time and making sure we're continuously driving value um, with our customers. That's one of the reasons why we're excited to come on today and talk a little bit about the new DA Academy.

Speaker B: That's brilliant. And you John.

Speaker D: Yeah, thanks Luis. Uh, I'm John Hines, Director of Customer Success uh, for North America. Although I do work with the broader global team here and uh, you know, much like Steve said, uh, the goal in customer success is uh, self defining term. We're all about their success. We want to make sure that all facets of their journey with Device Authority are successful for them. Ah, in a meaningful way that you know, goes not just beyond ROI and which there is, but making sure that they're, they're comfortable with the solution, they're comfortable with the technology terminology because that's everywhere, right?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker D: And we just want to make sure that their ability to um, you know, work with and be, feel supported and get all the information that they need in order to have a successful journey is, you know, a predominant part of the role.

Speaker B: As Steve alluded to. That's part of the reason we're here today is to talk about DA Academy which you guys have been working really hard to create. And we've now got the foundation, um, course available as well. So can you tell me a bit more about DA Academy and its primary objectives?

Speaker C: Yeah, sure. And I think to kind of kick it off. We've always had a formal onboarding process for um, customers as they come on board with us. And a big part of onboarding is obviously getting familiar, um, not only with our products and services and how to use them, um, but Also IOT security in general. Right. Concepts, frameworks. So that's always been a big part of our onboarding with customers, um, or maybe just maturing customers as we um, move on in our partnership with them. But what we really wanted to do was build an actual formal curriculum that uh, all customers and, and prospects and anyone really in that IoT security space or um, someone who is looking to get into that space could, could benefit from. So that's how we came up with the DA Academy. And its primary objectives are really to um, equip professionals so end users or partners with the knowledge and skills to effectively deploy, manage and optimize Keyscaler, um, in real world security environments and IoT networks. Um, so again it's not just for customers, it's for, um, you know, students. We work with many universities and students actually take this course. We've worked with our partners, MSPs and MSSPs, you, uh, name it. So it's really covering the whole realm of everyone we partner with and helping in IoT security foundations. Um, selfishly for us and customer success, we like to make sure it emphasizes time to value for our customers. The more, you know, our buttonology, if you will, and our products and our services and how things work, um, your time to value and deploying and onboarding and leveraging, um, the solution is going to be greater. Right. So that's something that we include with every new customer now and existing customers we make sure are a big part of that academy.

Speaker B: Yeah. So that's amazing. So as part of, you know, now it's part of the onboarding journey to help those customers get well acquainted with, with keyscaler before they even start using it. But then it's open to everyone, which is amazing. So um, it is available on the website as well. You can head straight over there and click a button and join the academy and do that accreditation. But I just think it's brilliant that it's open to everyone, anyone who's interested in learning more about keyscaler itself as well. So what are the key topics that are covered in the associate level? Accreditation? John, that might be one for you.

Speaker D: Yeah, so the associate level just provides a foundation and like you just said, it provides knowledge and information. Ah, I would say more at the basic level obviously compared to our advanced level. Um, it's an understanding of keyscaler, which is our platform, um, and what we run on the device to help facilitate that, um, security posture. Uh, Credential manager is our agent. Then we have a library that we load that's dynamic device key generator we just called DDKG. Um, the topics include IoT security fundamentals. So we go over uh, credentials and data encryption, secure, uh, data, uh, at rest in transit, so on and so forth and talk uh, about best practices for deployment, which is kind of interesting. Depending on the industry we'll touch on that a little bit too. Uh, it's definitely designed for technical and non technical audiences and I really want to stress the non technical. It's people that should understand keyscaler at a high level. So it's not just techs. Um, this could be project managers. This should be the managers who maybe own the team that's supporting the implementation of keyscaler. Right. Uh, program managers, people who could possibly see this in use, have an understanding of the functionality and what we can provide um, to help them better manage their team. Maybe look at this as a solution for other parts in the company which we see quite often will you know, land in one particular function and then other people say hey you know, I could use this over here. So that type of knowledge I think is helpful to the companies to get a better understanding of, you know, just what it is that they have and what can it do for them.

Speaker B: My personal experience having helped build the actual functionality of the, of the test itself, I can very happily say that I have benefited from taking the accreditation myself and I am very non technical being in marketing. So it's definitely expanded my knowledge.

Speaker D: You said there is a test. I just want to let folks know at the foundational level it's open book. Uh, we just want to help you assure yourself that you know the information that was provided, um, it's all there in the material. So it's kind of a checkbox versus something that's really critical.

Speaker B: How does the master level course build upon that foundational knowledge provided in the associate level?

Speaker D: The master level is definitely advanced. It's a hands on course, ah, installation configuration, API integration, uh, troubleshooting and definitely we get into advanced security automation. So the participants gain practical real world, uh, hands on working in a real keyscaler, uh deployment, um, we pull logs, we read logs, we do troubleshooting and all of this helping them to optimize the security workflow. Uh, unlike the foundational course, this is designed for security architects, solution engineers, technical implementers and the people that will be supporting the keyscaler platform within the organization. Um, I would definitely recommend they have a um or familiarity with security and um, some of the basic um, tools needed to implement that type of architecture.

Speaker B: Who should consider Enrolling in courses. Are there specific roles or industries that you think would benefit most?

Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. I mean customers definitely. Um, we want to be um, proficient in KeyScaler, but also other IoT security and OT security concepts. So um, we work a lot with security engineers and solution architects and IT admins who really are the ones championing and administrating um, keyscaler. Um, to the point around partners and msps and mssps. Uh, it's very important that our partners are enabled to enable their end users. So um, we have a little bit of a different flavor for the foundations course, um, and masters when it comes to uh, an MSP or mssp. Right. So we kind of tailor it based on those needs. Um, the other big thing is even executives and project managers, product managers, those are the folks that are really involved in the IoT security planning, um, across their organizations and the decision making. So the concepts of this academy really help them and enable them to do their job and understand what's going on at a deeper level.

Speaker B: What advantages do participants gain from completing these certifications?

Speaker C: Well first and foremost there's um, a certification. Right. So it's established credibility, um, again not just for Keyscaler, but in IoT security. So um, like you mentioned, we've all taken it, we've all gone through the test and that that's how you achieve your certification which we issue out once you do complete um, each course. Yeah, so that's great. The career growth aspect has been huge with a lot of the universities that we've been invited to lecture in and actually do some hands on training with. Um, so just career growth and development is a big vertical for this. But really the confidence in deployment, um, and running Keyscaler in your production IoT environment is the outcome, the desired outcome that we're after. The more successful our customers are, the more successful we are and that's really what we keep in the back of our minds when we design these. Not just the content for the foundations, um, but also the labs and the hands on work John was mentioning for that master section which is obviously a lot more technical, um, and a lot deeper of a dive from um, a uh, hands on perspective, talking about, you

Speaker B: know, expect and the advantages, et cetera. But how does that knowledge actually translate from the course into practical applications in IoT security management?

Speaker D: Yeah, so this is real world hands on experience. Uh, yes, we have a deck that goes along with it but um, we want people to on their own be able to you know, get in, manage the platform, do the processes that they need to do in order to automate their environment. So rather than just saying I've read the book, it's an I did and I can do. When you come out of the course, I can do this. And that can be applied immediately to their IoT security environment. So you'll hear this word a lot at Device Authority about automation. And this is about learning how to do automated credential management. So we want to help you have a really good understanding of that, how to do it with your hands, as Steve said, know all the buttonology. Right. Um, and this definitely would reduce security risk associated with manual device authentication. By far.

Speaker B: Amazing. You mentioned like that hands on practical learning as well. Can you elaborate a bit more on the interactive elements of the courses and how they enhance that learning experience?

Speaker D: Yeah, the courses include. Well, one of the nice things I like is these are instructor led. Right. So we have real world discussions, open Q and A while we're doing hands on with the keyscaler deployment. Right. And it's totally interactive for, you know, when you're troubleshooting, you're not on your own trying to figure things out. You've got the class there, you've got, you know, people asking questions sometimes. Oh, I hadn't thought about that. That's a great question. And you know, what's maybe a follow on from that? So there's a lot of peer collaboration in that sense. Um, we try to do a lot of Q and A throughout the course as well to make sure that people are understanding and grasping. The courses are built kind of hierarchically so one thing will build on the next. And it's really important that people feel a continuity, you know, um, going through that with their peers and that they do come out, like I said, with that hands on capability, um, and knowledge. And Steve, you mentioned MSPs, MSS, SPS, um, you know, this is like a scenario based role playing opportunity. It helps them develop the knowledge and the capabilities of how to position keyscalers and how to speak to this when they, when they understand and they go in and they talk to the customer about their workflows and their problems. You know, that knowledge that they have would immediately help them identify key areas where they can help that particular customer.

Speaker B: So good to, to know that you're not just going to, you know, download some course materials and be left to your own devices. You're actually going to have that interaction as well, which I think is all part of the learning process. Otherwise it gets a bit, gets a bit tough doing it all on your own, doesn't it? So what is the process for enrolling in da, uh, Academy courses?

Speaker A: Sure.

Speaker C: So the most uh, frequent is a new customer joins us and this is included right. In the licensing with keyscaler on PREM or on sas. Right. Um, so it's something that from day one, when we're managing the onboarding journey and the timeline of deliverables that we're responsible for for a customer or partner, um, the Academy's in there. Right. So we have um, a lot of customers that the first month or two that they want to dive into the Academy or maybe the third or fourth month after they do some initial production deployment because that's their priority. So that's, that's kind of the, the most common scenario. That being said, it's all available on our, our website. So we actually have a landing area for the Academy. It's its own separate portal. Um, and that's where you will get your credentials if you are a signed up Academy user. Um, and within those credentials, uh, you have access to course material. So to John's point, we pride ourselves on it being instructor led today. Um, and it will be especially for the Master's section forever. Right. That's very hands on, lab driven. For the foundations piece that content's available, you can go through it um, in the appropriate order after kind of going through it with the hands on session with your instructor on the customer success team. Um, and what's really cool is when you're ready, you can take the test on our site as well. We have an interactive bot that um, tees up the questions. I think there's 35 or so on the foundations course. And yeah, um, it's super interactive as well. So it's not just ah, you got this wrong or you got this right. It actually, if you do get a question incorrect, it'll point you back to the specific articles and pieces of content that that section was covered. So you have the ability to kind of go and revisit and maybe figure out where you might have missed the question and again, uh, take it again. But um, it's primarily through our website and then scheduled with an instructor based on your customer's timeline.

Speaker B: Yeah, so I mean that's the thing, isn't it? Like you, like you guys mentioned before, it's open book test. So and it does instruct you as to, to where you're going to find the, you know, the answers and be able to get that, that right in the next, you know, the next attempt. But that's the great Thing about it I think is because instead of it just going, yeah, you're wrong. Yeah, I found it so useful being able to go back and, and look at uh, look at that, you know, look at those answers within the text provided as well. So from my own experience I found it useful. But um, I know how much effort you guys put into, to building out the test and um, and you know, making that as interesting as possible as well. That's the thing. It's not, it's not one of those tests where you sit there and you're thinking, oh my God, you know, it's a test. You're sitting there thinking, oh, actually yeah, I do know that that's amazing. And oh, uh, you know, I'm not too sure about that, but I can go back and check it and it's still, you know, a fun thing to do as well. It's just a nice little test of your knowledge, isn't m it?

Speaker C: Yeah, it's worth calling out too, is this is very integrated into our 247 global support portal and operation as well as our knowledge base for customers. Our knowledge base portal, um, you know, a lot of support tickets sometimes are that simple. Q and A. Right. And we're fine answering those. Our support organizations, great. But we can learn a lot from what our customers are asking and what our uh, partners are asking and channels are asking and obviously iterate on the training for one. But also help build a more extensive knowledge base on those maybe generic areas where people need to spend a little bit more time or need a little bit more information around that specific subject. So that's another big part of it is we do tie it together with our knowledge base and our support organization.

Speaker B: We've sort of already covered this before, but it's always worth reiterating. Can you uh, run through what the prerequisites or knowledge, previous knowledge you might need? Uh, you know, taking these associate and master level patients.

Speaker D: Sure. The uh, well, the associate, well actually for both, uh, desire is really what's needed especially for the foundation, the associate level. Um, but there's no really prior knowledge. You don't have to, you know, no CISO level stuff about, you know, security or even IoT for that matter. Um, it's ideal, the associate's ideal for technical and non technical professionals. The master's level is a little bit different. Uh, we definitely recommend at least a basic understanding of IoT security concepts and there are concepts covered in the associates. So you know, if you took the associates and you felt comfortable with that information and you wanted to take the advance. I would say, you know that that's probably a reasonable step to take but you know that understanding of IoT concepts, familiarity with Keyscaler which you would get in the associates as well. Um, we would recommend um, having a working knowledge of Linux, um, you know, the basis of our platform and being able to understand. But I wouldn't say if you're not proficient in Linux, um, you know, we can work with you on that. That's not a game stopper. So uh, you know, IoT security concepts, knowledge of Keyscaler, you're probably going to be pretty good to go.

Speaker B: Amazing. So have you had any feedback from participants who have already completed the courses and can you share any feedback? These are examples of how the certification has impacted them.

Speaker C: Yeah. So last year is when we launched the DA Academy and um, we've had quite a few new customers come on board with those D.A. academy seats, um, being a big part of their license, um, alongside working with some partners and universities like I keep referring to, um, I think the largest piece of feedback just generally speaking is um, the time to value. It really helps them get things operational and in production uh, at a faster pace. When you're talking subscription and having this case as for key scaler for a year, maybe two, three years, the faster you can get it off the ground and do your job the way you're supposed to, um, the more successful you're going to be and we're going to be with you. That's, that's been the biggest piece of feedback is they can get off the ground and get running faster which is extremely important to us. Um, so I'd say that kind of sticks out as the big one.

Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's, it's so important though, isn't it? Because like by the time a lot of our customers have come to us they just, they literally, that's all they want to do is hit the ground running. They want to get this done. They see it as a huge part of expanding their security posture and making themselves more airtight to, to attack. And that's the thing, isn't it? They want the ground running. So we're actually giving them this, you know, invaluable knowledge for them to be able to do that um, and really help them on their journey with, with keyscaler. That's the thing, isn't it?

Speaker C: And every customer has a dedicated customer success manager here at Device Authority as well as access to uh, our support portal and global support team. And that's another big piece of feedback is, hey, we, we have you all for what we need, but we feel like we can do a lot more without having to reach out and maybe ask a quick question to support or to my designated csm, because I've already covered those foundations, I've already done the hands on labs, I don't need to lean on that team as much. Um, which is great because we can focus on the bigger picture with that.

Speaker B: That's the thing to know that you've got the support there from the team like you said, but knowing that you might not have to raise that ticket because you've got that knowledge internally, that's, that's another benefit. And, and it's, it speeds up the process as well, doesn't it? So, yeah, that's awesome. So um, what new topics or advanced courses can um, participants be looking forward to?

Speaker D: So we definitely plan to expand the courses. Uh, we want to include specialized training for API integrations. Again automation is huge here. So what we can do, not just in our workflow, but how can we enable your workflows to be more automated, more predictable, more repeatable. Um, just lends itself to a better IoT overall security architecture. M a deeper dive into zero trust architectures and zero trust blueprints for the life cycle of the device from production to the customer, maybe even decommissioning and recommissioning. There's a lot that can go on there. Um, and advanced key scaler automation. So we're coming out with uh, a lot of features in the product to again enhance automation, increase that IOT security footprint. Um, future courses we're looking at including specific verticals, um, because they all have their nuances. Healthcare, automotive, critical infrastructure, um, they're not within those verticals, they're not terribly dissimilar which is interesting. And understanding that footprint, uh, would definitely be uh, I think a benefit for anybody taking these courses.

Speaker B: Thank you so much for joining me and talking through all of this. It's definitely been um, an interesting topic. But I just wondered whether there was anything else that you'd like to share about DA Academy or any advice for those considering enrolling.

Speaker C: Uh, you know, I think it obvious in today's landscape in cybersecurity and IoT that security training is essential for staying ahead in today's threat landscape, especially from an IoT and OT perspective. So a, uh, lot of folks really understand the value of this and really want to be a part of it, which is great. Um, future looking um, for DA Academy, obviously we're not a single use Case we have customers in multiple verticals. Um, we're answering a lot of complex, different use cases based on the core use cases customers, um, partner with us for. So that being said, I think that's where the evolution will be is the hands on masters lab courses being more focused around use case outcomes specific for what that customer partner, um, has partnered with us for is going to be critical. So I think we have a lot more to build on here and this is just the beginning.

Speaker D: Yeah, I'd add on to that. This isn't just about learning or getting your certificate. You can put on LinkedIn, which is always great. You know, I love seeing folks, uh, put those up there. But the output of these courses is skill and credibility. You know, we want you to be able to do the things that we taught you, understand the concepts that we taught you. Right. Um, I think there's a huge issue with security in the world right now. IoT is, you know, we're seeing a lot of issues in the IoT world because of the multiplication factor of how many more IoT devices there are than PCs or just servers. Right. So we want to make sure that people have that skill and that credibility to really make an impact within the IoT security world.

Speaker B: Guys, it's been such a pleasure to talk to you about everything today. And, um, if you are interested in, um, you know, joining us over at DA Academy and you know, doing those accreditations yourself, um, then please do check out the link that I've put into the show notes here, um, as well, that will take you straight to DA Academy over on our website, um, and you'll be able to get started with us straight away.

Speaker D: Thanks, Louis.

Speaker C: Thanks, guys. Appreciate your time. Thanks for having us.

Speaker A: Thank you for listening to this episode of the Authority on a podcast brought to you by Device Authority. If you have any questions about the subject matter in this podcast, please head to the Device Authority website, deviceauthority.com See you next time.