Upskilling teams in critical cloud technologies

Who is Quipu

Quipu, part of the ProCredit Group, is an IT consultancy and software development company that provides comprehensive end-to-end solutions, from electronic payments and software systems to hybrid cloud hosting and operations, for banks and financial institutions. By combining global expertise with knowledge of local requirements, Quipu plays a central role in enabling its customers to be competitive and efficient and to successfully respond to the evolving demands of their industry, markets, and regulators.

The challenge

Developing Azure skills to move to the cloud

The banking industry is constantly changing and adapting to new client requirements and mobility aims, with financial institutions having to accommodate regulatory demands alongside digital transformation processes. Helping customers implement coherent and efficient digital solutions—often the first in their market—and set themselves apart from the competition is at the forefront of everything Quipu does. To accomplish this, Quipu needed to further strengthen the technical teams’ capabilities, ensuring they’re always ahead of technology’s pace of change.

“We work across a very diversified set of challenging projects, which puts our teams in constant interaction with the latest technology. We assess, and then use, the solutions that respond best to the needs of our partner banks, both in development and on the side of integration,” said Michael Gumanovsky, Managing Director.

“We integrate Microsoft products and services into a majority of our projects and internal operations. The company has been our partner for a long time, and one of our biggest undertakings over recent years has been the migration to the cloud through Microsoft Azure with the aim to provide robust infrastructure for our clients.”

Cost optimisation, scalability, innovation opportunities—the benefits of transitioning to the cloud are numerous, but it comes with its fair share of challenges. Quipu identified that they needed to offer the technology and quickly build skills in Microsoft Azure to ensure successful implementation.

With the help of Pluralsight Skills, Quipu successfully upskilled its employees in the Microsoft technologies needed to transition to the cloud. The efficiency of Pluralsight’s tech skills platform has allowed team members to learn at a rapid pace when needed (not always possible in offline training), enabling them to become more productive faster.

Along with learning immediately needed skills, employees can engage in other courses at a pace suited to them and take advantage of tailored learning paths and certification courses. In fact, Quipu notes a 25% engagement due to access to online classes at any time.

According to Francisco Cortes, Training and Development Coordinator, “There aren’t many technology skills platforms that are continuously updated in the way that Pluralsight Skills is. This is incredibly invaluable to us—it means we can adapt according to our business requirements at any given time.”

With a training platform like this, our employees are able to widen their areas of expertise.

Michael Gumanovsky

Managing Director

The solution

Expediting project timeframes thanks to upskilling

The European Commission’s Payment Service Directive (PSD2) introduced in 2018 was a game-changer for the financial services industry. Banks that operate in the EU are now obliged to provide open access to accounts via application programming interfaces (APIs).

Quipu was prepared to support its customers through the transition, manufacturing its own solution based on Microsoft API Management. However, this was new territory for many employees. With Skills on hand, they were able to gain the relevant insight to complete the product build within two days, increasing overall productivity and profitability.

“With a training platform like this, our employees are able to widen their areas of expertise. Without it, they would most likely repeat what they know, with fewer opportunities to build on the foundations of their knowledge. This provides new possibilities for them and us. The workforce remains motivated and the business benefits from this overall productivity,” said Michael.

Continuous learning is key for talent retention, and Quipu employees have grown their skills by 25% on average, contributing significantly to their professional development.

Maintaining consistency through a global pandemic

COVID-19 created a new set of challenges for businesses, such as the need to pivot to remote working almost overnight. Suddenly, in-person, instructor-led training was no longer a viable option, forcing companies to implement new engagement strategies around learning and skill development.

Francisco highlights that Pluralsight’s Skill IQ function played an incremental role in employee engagement. “It offers opportunities for self-development, allowing them to jump to new technologies as needed. And there is the flexibility for employees to decide when, where, and how they are going to learn.

We have definitely seen an increase in the number of employees using the platform to learn, measure themselves, and get certified on specific technologies. And they always look forward to receiving recommendations for specific courses.”

Employee uptake hasn’t been the only benefit. The switch to online learning has generated a 25% cost savings for the business when compared to in-person training for its most in-demand courses.

The results

Cultivating a culture of learning

Since its adoption throughout the organisation, Skills has become part and parcel of the onboarding process for many departments—a testament to its success.

As Michael summarises, “At Quipu, we place a lot of emphasis on the personal and professional development of our employees, and Pluralsight Skills equips them with the confidence to try something new.”