How to win over developers with agile learning for secure code

Embedded, agile learning is the future 

In a previous blog we introduced the concept of agile learning and how Secure Code Warrior’s platform for secure code exemplifies several agile principles.  In this second of a three-part blog series, we continue exploring how an agile learning platform for secure code can replace the traditional compliance-oriented security training most organizations are used to.

The traditional compliance-oriented approach to secure code learning is a static, point-in-time training enforced on a quarterly or annual basis. The problem with this format is that it creates no incentive for developers to learn about secure coding nor does it help them acquire new skills and use them in their jobs. No one likes to spend hours cramming in a compliance training when it takes you away from valuable work, leaving you to catch up on hours of lost productivity. 

According to Gartner, the agile learning approach recognizes that people learn the most at the moment of need, and when training occurs in small units called microbursts, embedded within everyday work activities.¹

Secure Code Warrior is the only agile learning platform that combines multiple microburst learning formats so developers can learn, test, and apply their knowledge quickly, in the context of real work they are already doing in the format of their choice. Agile learning for secure code not only preserves hours of productivity, but it provides developers a path to easily go from learning to doing.   

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¹ Source: The Agile Learning Manifesto Gartner

Flow of value delivery and learning to earning

Agile learning systems are effective because they weave learning opportunities inside the flow of value delivery, where they can see direct impact in their jobs, and tie learning to earning (as Gartner puts it). Point-in-time compliance training doesn’t stick with developers over time and doesn’t build skills - nor does it create an incentive for them to learn as a part of their job. Agile learning makes learning part of the job, not time away from the job.  

Secure Code Warrior’s platform delivers just-in-time microburst content into the developer’s daily workflow, eliminating context-switching and making it convenient for them inside the dev tools they use every day, such as GitLab, GitHub, AzureBoards, and Jira. This keeps them connected to their job, while learning at the same time. 

‍Social amplification and community compounding

Developers have a strong sense of community - we see this in spaces such as GitHub where knowledge is shared and consumed by millions of developers across the globe. Agile learning principles recognize that people learn more within a group rather than on their own. Social communities are a useful means to reinforce new skills and compound the benefits of teaching secure code through social amplification. 

Because Secure Code Warrior’s security content is easily accessed and consumable with social amplification baked-in via tournaments and an internal points system, SCW’s platform acts as a motivation multiplier that builds the confidence of individual developers and makes them want to learn.  Tournaments raise the profile of secure coding skills publicly in the enterprise and provide a powerful incentive for developers to build secure coding skills.

‍Make the switch from training to agile learning

Shifting your approach from security training to agile learning for secure code is a powerful way to enable your developer workforce, recapture wasted developer hours, and apply that time to more productive projects.  Start your journey with a learning solution built on agile principles. The SCW Agile Learning Platform is the most effective learning solution for secure code because it gives developers choices over how they build new skills. Incorporating agile learning methods vastly improves the developer’s ability to pick up new skills, internalize them, and apply in their jobs. Over 600 enterprises trust Secure Code Warrior to implement agile learning security programs, deliver secure software rapidly, and create a culture of developer-driven security.  Ready to see an agile learning platform in action? Request a demo.