With 2020 firmly behind us, now is an exciting time to look forward and consider what is on the horizon. Despite the challenges faced — and overcome — by so many this past year, the digital economy continues to thrive, and the time is now for skilled workers and businesses alike to prepare for further advancements in global digitization.
Digital transformation was one of the few business trends that was perhaps unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic; in fact, one could argue that the health guidelines requiring social isolation of global workforces actually accelerated the speed at which digital transformation is now taking place. Businesses who had been on the fence or undecided about the steps they would take to further digitize their business to meet the needs of the global economy were faced with a challenge: digitize, or fall behind those who already have.
The future is clear: the digital economy is growing at an unprecedented rate, and organizations must align their operations and business models to meet consumer needs. Those businesses who can build teams that leverage the most effective and state-of-the-art technologies will move the needle, and that starts by ensuring the right skills are possessed by the right people. At Simplilearn, our mission remains the same: transforming lives by empowering individuals and teams with the digital skills needed to succeed.
Rising to the Challenge
As the world’s #1 online bootcamp and one of the leading certification training providers, Simplilearn was in a unique and fortunate position to continue operating seamlessly despite the challenges brought on by COVID-19. In fact, we achieved some amazing milestones in the past year that make us extremely excited for what’s to come. Those milestones include:
- Surpassing 1.5M learners worldwide — After surpassing one million learners not very long ago, we quickly accelerated both our consumer and enterprise businesses to onboard the next 500K. Two million learners is now within our reach!
- Staffing-up to more than 1,300 full-time employees — Despite the pandemic, Simplilearn was in a position to add more than 300 full-time employees to our team in 2020, expanding our support for global customers.
- More than 50,000 corporate learners upskilled in just six months — This significant milestone achieved by our enterprise business spanned at least 12 countries, with corporate customers from the IT Services, Higher Education/University, and Telecommunications sectors having the most significant share of learners.
- Achieving more than 60% of revenue from overseas markets — We have roughly 70,000 learners actively learning at any given time, spread throughout 150+ countries. We are very proud of the global reach we’ve achieved, and look forward to continued success on the global market.
Key Partnerships Driving Success
Simplilearn has always placed significant value in cultivating lasting relationships with our partners, and it comes as no surprise that strategic partnerships developed in the past 12+ months are having a particularly positive impact on our business.
We are now in partnership with, or collaborating with, some of the world’s leading universities, including Purdue University, Caltech CTME, MIT, and UMass Amherst, with more on the way. These partnerships have collectively led to some of our most popular postgraduate programs available, including Data Science, Full Stack Development, Cyber Security, Agile, and DevOps, to name a few.
We also recently announced a new collaboration with Facebook. As a part of this collaboration, Simplilearn will now offer the Facebook Blueprint Digital Marketing Associate Certification integrated into existing Simplilearn digital marketing programs. Simplilearn courses will feature masterclasses conducted by Facebook trainers, and learners will receive a free voucher for the Facebook Blueprint certification exam upon course completion. Facebook is one of the most sought-after digital marketing platform certifications available to marketers, so this is indeed a big step.
We have also onboarded a number of new corporate distribution partners in various corners of the world this year, allowing us to penetrate local markets and expand our global reach.
2021 Is the Year of Acceleration
Before 2020 came to a close, Simplilearn announced the hiring of a new Chief Financial Officer, Karandeep Singh. Karandeep joins us after building a successful career with companies like Flipkart and Tesco, and we are very excited to bring him on board to help Simplilearn accelerate our agenda of profitable revenue growth. We have also hired a number of key senior leaders in the Design, Program, and Business functions, all of which set us up for continued growth in the new fiscal year.
As the COVID-19 vaccine is distributed and the world returns to normal, it is a certainty that many aspects of the global economy will remain remote and/or digital. The pandemic has accelerated what was already transpiring. Digital skills will become more important than ever, not only for individuals looking to carve their future career path, but also for the businesses who will rely on these skills and technologies to meet their goals and remain relevant in the post-COVID economy.
Simplilearn will continue to do what we do best, which is to provide a best-in-class learning experience for individuals and organizations as they venture to grow their digital skills to meet and align with the demands of the modern world. We continue to press forward to ensure that we offer the most relevant learning paths, masters programs, and individual skill courses on the market.
