Who we are
We are a small Australian software company based in Melbourne. Our work is education software, the learning platforms and student systems that training organisations and schools run their courses on. We exist because good teaching deserves good tools, and because too much education software is built far away from the people who actually teach.
LabPilot is our product for hands-on labs. It brings live virtual machines and real networks to the classroom, so teachers can set practical work that mirrors industry rather than a scripted imitation of it. Everything we build, we build for how Australian classes really run.
Where LabPilot comes from
Our developers have been building education software for over ten years, from the learning platforms and student systems that run courses to the tools that track enrolments and support how teachers actually teach. Hands-on labs began as a capability inside that work, used by real classes to give students live machines to work on rather than screenshots and simulations.
Some of our clients were already comfortable with their own LMS but wanted the labs platform on its own. So we built LabPilot as a standalone product. It now lets any RTO or school run cloud teaching labs on their own Microsoft Azure, whether or not they use anything else we build.
Who we build for
We build for Australian RTOs and schools, and for the teachers inside them who run practical, technical courses. Modern programs ask a lot more of a lab than a single simple virtual machine, and increasingly they blend large language model use directly into the coursework, so the lab environment has to carry more.
Students are designing and running enterprise networks, standing up virtualised deployments, and hosting or connecting to LLM based services and cybersecurity designs inside those environments. LabPilot is built to handle that heavier workload. It supports the kinds of teaching our customers rely on today:
- cybersecurity and offensive security, in isolated lab networks;
- networking and network management, including enterprise style topologies;
- data science and artificial intelligence, with LLM based services running inside the lab;
- application development and virtualised, multi machine deployments.
What we believe
Real machines, not simulations
Students learn on live virtual machines and real networks, the same tools they will use in industry, not a scripted imitation of them.
Teachers stay in control
Teachers design the exercises, set the schedules and quotas, and decide what each class can do. The software serves the teaching, not the other way around.
Institutions own their cloud and data
Everything runs in the institution's own Azure subscription, in the region it chooses. The data stays with the institution, and so does the control over it.
Built in Australia for local institutions
We build here, for Australian RTOs and schools, and keep lab data in the Australian Azure regions our institutions rely on.
How we work
The way we build follows from what we believe. A few principles shape how LabPilot runs day to day:
- Labs run on your own Azure. There is no new datacentre and no reselling. Compute stays in the customer's own subscription, so it sits in the cloud account they already manage and control.
- Your data stays onshore. Labs run in the region you choose, so student and course data stays in the Australian Azure regions our customers rely on.
- No lock in. LabPilot works alongside whatever else you use, and the machines, templates and data belong to you. If you ever move on, your environment goes with you.
- Honest pricing. You pay Microsoft for the Azure you use, at Azure's own rates. We do not mark up your cloud bill or resell compute back to you.
Where we are
We are a Melbourne based team, and we support Australian training organisations and schools around the country.
Talk to us
Whether you are moving off Azure Lab Services, setting up your first class, or planning how your programs will use cloud labs, we are happy to help you work it out. Send us a note through the contact form and we will get back to you.