Practice Labs, the IT competency hub, has now provided more than half-a-million people with the means to improve their hands-on digital and IT skills.

The company delivers cloud-based access to live virtual computers and devices where people can practice their fundamental digital skills - whether just for personal use in the workplace or to try their hand at mastering core IT-specific tasks.

Ricky Doyle, CEO of Practice Labs said: "In 2018 we defined our company vision: ‘To help 1,000,000 users improve their hands-on IT skills by 2023'. We're excited to already be half-way there after just two years."

"The demand for remote experiential learning continues to grow. Whatever type of skill you're trying to master, practice makes perfect. But when it comes to digital skills, it isn't always possible to access the software and systems you need to achieve that hands-on experience. Most businesses can't risk allowing their employees to experiment on live business-critical systems and schools and colleges often lack the time, resources and funding required to build and maintain their own live-lab environments for students to use."

"The digital skills gap is widening, but the talent pool is shrinking. If we want to address this global shortage we need to give people an opportunity to gain the work-ready digital skills employers want - and help companies grow their own IT talent; providing them with a way to identify, upskill and reskill existing employees who may have a hidden aptitude for IT".

The Practice Labs solution consists of live (not simulated) IT Practice Labs and Exam Preps aligned with content from leading vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco, VMware and CompTIA. The Practice Lab Environment (PLE) can be integrated with leading Learning Management Systems (LMSs) via Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) or accessed 24/7 through the Practice Labs Private Cloud via web-browser.

Topics covered by Practice Labs include: cybersecurity awareness, digital literacy and IT fundamentals, plus IT-specific areas such as networking, operating systems, programming, ethical hacking, computer forensics and database management.

UK schools, colleges, local enterprise partnerships and other public sector organisations in the UK can find Practice Labs on the G-Cloud Digital Marketplace here: https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/g-cloud/supplier/716027

A short video explaining what live, virtual Practice Labs are and how they work, can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/MVFDiCTEnkQ

Learning and development professionals and team leaders wanting to try Practice Labs out for themselves can arrange complimentary evaluation access via this link: https://practice-labs.com/request-evaluation-access