SimGym · Hands-on simulation lab
SimGym is where UnleashU engineers rehearse the work. Every simulation is a real-world scenario, assigned like a real ticket, built in a lab that’s safe to break, and reviewed by a peer on how the work gets done, not just whether it works.
SIM · VPN-MIG-01
Reviewed
Cisco ASA to Palo Alto Site-to-Site VPN Migration
Configure
Level 3 of 4
Assigned as a service ticket
Example peer review
Technical result
Excellent
Documentation
Excellent
Journaling
Acceptable
Expectations managed
Yes
Asset records updated
Yes
Rerun needed
No
Illustrative example of the review format. Individual results are never published.
227
simulations in the catalog
465
simulations assigned
464
peer reviews completed
96%
of reviewed work rated Acceptable or Excellent
Why a gym
Employers want people with experience but rarely offer a safe place to get it. SimGym is that place. Our engineers make their first attempt at a migration, an upgrade or a recovery in a lab, with a reviewer behind them, long before they do it for a client.
Labs run on real vendor images and can be reset. Mistakes become lessons instead of outages.
Scenarios come from the work our clients need done, and each one arrives as a service ticket with a due date.
A teammate scores both the result and the way it was delivered, then decides whether it needs another run.
What it gives our team
Engineers walk into a client engagement having already done the hard part once, with a reviewer in their corner.
Scored feedback on documentation, communication and records gives every engineer a clear, specific next step.
Each completed simulation adds to a history of what an engineer has actually done, not just what they’ve studied.
Every simulation keeps its guide and reference ticket, so what one engineer figures out becomes the next one’s starting point.
How it works
01
A simulation is chosen from the catalog to fit the engineer’s learning journey and the technologies our clients run.
02
It arrives as a service ticket with a due date, in the same system we use for client requests.
03
The engineer works in a virtual lab running real vendor images. Breaking things is allowed; labs reset.
04
Journal entries, status updates, asset records and clear expectations are part of the job, so they’re part of the simulation.
05
A reviewer scores the technical outcome and the craft. Anything not right yet is flagged for a rerun.
Every review shapes the next assignment, so each engineer’s path through the catalog builds on what they’ve already shown they can do.
How we grade
A working configuration is the minimum. Reviewers also score the habits that make engineers easy to work with: clear documentation, a running journal, honest expectations and up-to-date records.
54
Reviewers have flagged 54 simulations for a rerun, about one in eight reviews. A rerun isn’t a failure. It’s the reason a gym exists: the second attempt happens here too, not in front of a client.
The catalog
Each simulation is a scenario we’ve met in the field, with a guide, a reference ticket and a lab. Most ask engineers to configure something; others ask them to build, manage, fix or discover. Four difficulty levels run from first deployments to fabric builds and firewall migrations.
From the gym to the job
Before one of our engineers built a tool that pulls firewall configurations through an API and turns them into a plain-language migration report, they proved the approach in SimGym on a different vendor’s firewall, with no risk to production.
Read the story: Your IT Team Doesn’t Need a Hero →Firewall migration analysis
10 hrs → 2
from a manual review to an automated, plain-language report
Put SimGym to work
For IT leaders
Your engineers work through simulations matched to the technologies you run. You get a scorecard covering results and working habits, plus a plan to close the gaps.
Book an assessmentFor hiring managers
Bring on engineers trained in our methodology, each with a SimGym history you can review before they start.
Talk to us about staffingFor engineers
Want to grow this way? See our open roles and how a simulation can be your first step with us.
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