Principal Consultant Hybrid Cloud Review

As a senior consultant on the hybrid cloud team, my responsibilities include customer engagement (globally), and technical excellence in the design and implementation of IT hybrid cloud solutions. As a global role, I interact with consultants from countries worldwide, predominantly those based in the EMEA and Americas regions. Key projects include workload migrations for large retailers and FS&I companies.

Not only have I learnt new skills, but I have also relearnt existing skills! The apprenticeship challenged my established thinking of common concepts like "average - mean, median and mode!?", pie-charts, and "presenting Excel sheets is poor choice". I've always been comfortable with code, however, I've never actually programmed, so learning Python and its practical application of it and its many data analysis libraries was a revelation.

The programme was billed as a gentle introduction to data analytics, I was under no false impression that it would be a challenge to do alongside my work commitments but was confident I would enjoy it. I can say now that I have enjoyed the learning experience from the learning provider, but I have also enjoyed the challenges the programmes has presented.

The programme is exceptionally well structured with core skills and knowledge taught initially and then reused in later modules. Some of the taught sessions whilst short (3hrs per session) were arranged 3 in a row in a week, as a result, this occasionally conflicted with work commitments. Whilst not ideal, I suspect this may be an isolated case for me.

My employer is very supportive of my apprenticeship. Recognition that on occasion the 20% OTJ is not quite enough to accomplish the activities and learning required. They have provided dedicated channels for collaboration, along with tools, software licenses, data sources and most importantly assistance from data analysts and data engineering specialists.

The support and facilities the training provider gives me are unparalleled and exceptional. Obviously, one-to-one sessions with a coach, but also openness to engage with other coaches. The training provider has an extensive library of on-demand material e.g. videos, reports, guides etc. to complement the on-demand material, there is also a thriving community of other learners to engage and learn from as well.

The practical applicability of the data analysis skills I will gain through achieving the qualification is extremely high. As a consultant, I make decisions or facilitate decision-making with customers. Qualification and justification of those decisions using a data-first approach is essential to ensure credibility and that the decision is not just a "gut-thinking" guesstimate.

Yes

HPE has a heritage of appreciating and developing its staff. They understand the need to adopt new technologies, amend processes and procedures and pivot the strategy according to industry movements. They have been exceptionally supportive of my endeavours to 'stretch' myself, learn new skills, and gain valuable and relevant experiences.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is a large global enterprise. Expect and be prepared to engage with an organisation that naturally, given its size will appear daunting and complex. However, approach HPE with an open mind. With enterprise scale and a global footprint will come a multitude of opportunities and options.