Alan Rodrigues - My Head Is Constantly Floating With Ideas, And Its My Passion To Implement Those Ideas That Keeps Me Moving Ahead (Founder Of CloudXeus, UAE)

 

 You can’t teach something if you don’t know about it yourself. And I always loved learning. Hence, I trained myself with self-learning every day.

1. Tell us more about your company and your journey.

We at CloudXeus Technology Services started our journey in 2017. We deal in a variety of services that range from IT Consultancy to providing Internet Content for sites. For the first few years , we were looking at first setting a base for ourselves. We had initially carried out work for a couple of clients and worked hard to deliver quality in our work.

Along the way, I looked towards how I could combine my passion for teaching and the service we provided. Hence, we started churning out content for various online training courses. 

Side-by-Side we started creating content when it came to training for Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. We chose the Udemy platform to host our courses. This helped us focus more on delivering quality content and not worry about the hosting platform.

The journey to date has been filled with joy, surprises, anguish, and setbacks. As with any venture it does take time to get a right footing in the market. 

And especially with already established players in the market like ‘A Cloud Guru’ and ‘Linux Academy’ , it becomes a challenge to push in front. But we have managed to survive the test of times. 

We now look towards more horizons awaiting to conquer more frontiers. We want to be the best at what we do and deliver our best to our customers.

2. How did you come up with this idea and go about executing it?

I have always had a passion for teaching. From an early age I also played a lot with video and audio editing. So, I thought why not use my passion where it would make a difference. I also had my company in place. So, I decided to merge both my venture and my passion.

Initially my first aim was to learn myself. You can’t teach something if you don’t know about it yourself. And I always loved learning. Hence, I trained myself with self-learning every day.

Next was delivering my content. I invested in a lot of audio and video equipment over the years. My goal every time was how to deliver the best training to my learners. And slowly and steadily I started delivering my online courses. 

And with each milestone reached, I focused on how to innovate even further. For me there is no constant. It always about pushing the boundaries.

3. What has been your biggest challenge that you faced and how did you overcome that?

The biggest challenge as with any company is how to stay ahead and relevant. In fact, this is the biggest challenge that everybody faces practically every day. The world is not the same as it was probably around 10-15 years ago. Times have changed and we must innovate all the time just to stay ahead.

My first great challenge was on how to make people take my courses when they were already big players in the market at the time. No one would be wiling to take your courses if you were not somebody known.

I decided that the best way to make a mark was to be different. Different in my teaching style. Different in the way I present my content. I initially took a lot of risks. I invested time in learning first for myself. I invested in equipment to deliver the content. I tried different teaching techniques that were not so widely practiced at that time. It was a very difficult journey. 

But in the end, it all paid off , because I do receive tons of messages admiring my teaching style and how its helped my learners to understand the concept with ease. And that has given the base to try even more innovative strategies when it comes to teaching.

4. Who is your favourite creator and why?

Frankly speaking I don’t have a favourite creator as such. But I do enjoy watching videos of Scott Hanselman on Youtube when it comes to delivering video content Microsoft-based products. He just does everything with ease, and it just comes naturally in the way he delivers content.

I try not to benchmark myself with other creators. Because its then we you start to limit yourself. Because you then start baselining your work against others. I just try to be myself and implement my ideas. My head is constantly floating with ideas. And its my passion to implement those ideas that keeps me moving ahead.

5. How and where do you find inspiration to churn out content?

My passion of learning is my inspiration. I love to learn. I don’t think there has ever been a day when I have not learnt something. And I never constraint myself when it comes to learning. Whether it be learning about systems. Or whether it be development or data engineering. I just love consuming knowledge.

And that’s where my content comes from. From all that I learn. I love to share my knowledge with everyone. In the same way I don’t constraint myself from learning, I don’t want to have any constraints in the knowledge I dispense my learners.

6. What is your idea of success or your mantra in life?

Success is when you can pursue your passion. No matter what that is. And no matter if it gives any monetary value in the end. Because there is really no end monetary value that can ever give you the final feel of success or happiness.

My mantra in life has always been to help the people around me. Even with my courses, when a person takes my course, I want them to know that I am working hard to give them the best. I don’t want to do something just for the sake of doing. I want to make a difference. I want to make a difference in people’s lives.

7. Which is your favourite book and why?

Ha, this is a difficult one. I’ve never been much of a book reader myself. It’s always been IT content along the way. But the book that I am currently reading is definitely a great read. And that’s “Becoming Michelle Obama”. Against the down to earth nature and simplicity of Michelle Obama is what gets me hooked to read the book.

- Alan Rodrigues

- Interviewed By Kusum Jha