Video: 10 Minute IT Jams - The latest update from Lumify

Lumify Group wants to help people keep up with technological change.

As Australasia's undisputed leader in ICT training, the company has upskilled thousands of teams and businesses, working alongside some of the world's top technology vendors. John Lang, CEO of Lumify Group, spoke with Tim & It Jams to explain how the business is adapting to an ever-evolving digital landscape - and why its recent rebrand signals a bold, new chapter.

"We really are the leaders in digital skills training across the entire APAC region," John Lang began. "In terms of numbers, we're training approximately 30,000 students every year, across a wide range of technologies and different vendors."

Lang pointed out that Lumify Group, previously known as DDLS, is hardly a newcomer. "Surprisingly, for a lot of people, we've been around for well over three decades... helping organisations master the digital skills side of things, which a lot of businesses have faced with the current digital skills gap," he said.

The scope is vast, both geographically and technically. "We're fortunate enough to be a preferred training provider with most of the world's leading technology vendors, and we're really well-known for our best in class authorised learning experience for both students and customers," Lang explained.

That learning takes place through Lumify's four core brands: Lumify Learn, Lumify Work, Lumify People, and Nexaq. "Lumify Learn provides globally recognised certifications and vendor certification boot camps for new entrants, particularly individuals in an online environment," Lang said. "Lumify Work offers businesses the best in class, vendor-certified IT training by industry-accredited trainers through our classroom environment."

Lumify People supplies tailored IT learning solutions, technical advice, and strategic consulting, while Nexaq, their latest acquisition, delivers instructor-led Microsoft app training across the company's ten campuses in Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

"That gives a bit of insight for those that don't know us," Lang added cheerfully.

The company's recent rebrand from DDLS to Lumify Group was prompted by soaring growth and a shift in identity. "We've been around for over 30 years, and DDLS has significantly expanded its services into new industries and regions, including New Zealand," Lang said.

This expansion included launching an online learning business and acquiring New Zealand's largest ICT training provider, previously known as Auldhouse, and subsequently Nexaq. Lumify also opened a campus in the Philippines, which marked a major geographical leap for the company. "All these moves resulted in several separate business divisions, now consolidated under one roof - Lumify Group," Lang said.

The old DDLS brand, Lang conceded, was simply not fit for purpose anymore. "It didn't do justice to the progressive, modern organisation we've become. While it had equity with our existing customer base, the name itself had no connection to what we do as a business. So to move forward and continue to dominate the ICT training market, we needed to move our brands under one umbrella," he said.

"For us, this rebrand is an important milestone and reflects our ongoing commitment to closing the digital skills gap across not only Australia but New Zealand and the Philippines," Lang explained. "In Australia alone, around 286,000 people will need to enter technology jobs over the next four years just to keep pace with growth. Lumify Group's ultimate mission is to really meet that demand by giving people and businesses the skills they need to flourish in a future where technology rules."

The pace of change in technology is relentless, and Lumify is determined to keep pace. Lang flagged cyber security and cloud computing as their biggest areas of growth. "No surprises there… we're the only authorised learning provider across the three major cloud solutions of Microsoft, AWS, and Google," he explained.

Their product development teams are tasked with staying ahead of the curve. "They're super busy keeping up because things keep changing," Lang said. "We're making sure we've got the latest cyber security offerings - we're fortunate now to have the largest offering in that space. Our cloud computing courses are continually growing too. Those are absolutely the trends we're seeing."

But it's not just about what students learn, it's about how they learn. "We're also seeing demand from customers not just on the courses and products, but how they consume them. We now have a really big digital product offering, building out bespoke custom offerings for our customers. That's becoming hugely popular," Lang said.

That flexibility extends to delivery, which has become a major focus. "Not everyone learns the same. A key part of learning and upskilling is investment of your time. People are extremely busy with their lives, so we want to make sure we've got a delivery model that suits individual needs," he added.

To serve its large and varied customer base, Lumify boasts significant infrastructure. "We've actually got just over 10 campuses across Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines," Lang said. "They're our campuses with nearly 100 classrooms - over half of them are telepresence enabled for a leading virtual classroom experience. That's not just a little Logitech camera - that's high-end telepresence technology, microphones, and all fully kitted out."

Each year, the group delivers over 5,000 classes and employs more than 100 expert trainers, which Lang says is the largest number of full-time technical trainers in the ICT training space regionally. "These trainers are cross-skilled in many different technologies... much like our customers, who are across multiple technologies. I'd probably flag those as our biggest components," he said.

For enterprise customers wanting to get involved with Lumify, the process is designed to be accessible and supportive. "We've got about 40 course advisors spread out, covering multiple time zones, located in either Australia, New Zealand or up in the Philippines," Lang said. "They're product experts, because it's a complicated landscape, ICT training. I'd strongly suggest picking up the phone or speaking to someone to make sure we're supporting and providing the right details for you and your business."

As demand for digital skills intensifies, Lang is clear about Lumify's vision. "Our ultimate mission is to meet that demand by giving people and businesses the skills they need to flourish in a future where technology rules," he concluded.