5 Fearless years: Together achieving the remarkable

Twenty second June is an auspicious day for LAB³ and marks five years since the business was established

The anniversary highlights just how much can be achieved in a short space of time, with inspired people working together. 

“There are three key qualities behind the success of LAB³ – our people, our culture and our technology innovation.” 

This is how David Boyes, LAB³ CEO explains the phenomenal growth of the business. These three key qualities are of course inextricably linked and are in essence all about people, working together to achieve remarkable outcomes at an unrivalled pace.  

From start up to established force, LAB³ has experienced exponential growth, year-in, year-out. Today, the business is one of the largest Azure engineering practices in Australasia with over 300 skilled team members. 

To highlight five standout achievements, over the last 12 months alone the crew at LAB³ have enabled the business to: 

• expand into New Zealand, with an office in Auckland; 
• attain world leading cyber security credentials with IRAP certification (on top of ISM ISO27001); 
• continue to partner deeper and across competency with enterprise and government clients, and with trust built over time, secure managed services partnerships;
• develop a growing catalogue of game changing IP to accelerate cloud transformation for even highly regulated clients, with automation and ready-made frameworks; and 
• emerge as a product leader globally, with the unique migration assessment tool LAB³ Dr Migrate, now adopted by Microsoft as a first party assessment tool globally.  

With no end to the success trajectory in sight, and to celebrate turning five, LAB³ has launched an Employee Share Ownership Plan, to share the success with their employees, and which is in keeping with their focus on people.  

“I wholeheartedly value the commitment and brilliance of the people at LAB³. It is not about systems or spreadsheets, but about people who allow us to achieve great things,” says Boyes. 

In case you missed it, LAB³ was founded in 2017 by Melbourne trio Chris Cook, Andy Lyons and Bob Cook. As a business it was always the goal to disrupt the Australian market and deliver exceptional client outcomes through local expertise and game changing cloud ready solutions powered by automation. 

From day one, the dream launched into reality. Skilled people jumped onboard, a strategic technology partnership was formed with Microsoft, and two significant clients from the Financial Services and Utilities industries felt confident with delivery. People were always central to the vision. 

“Business success cannot happen without inspired and supported people. Everything has been achieved together.”

Tanya Wilmore Chief Operating Officer, LAB³ shares the value Boyes places on people, and espouses the view – inclusiveness is key to innovation. “We strive to create a culture of inclusivity and belonging. It is not just about having a seat at the table but creating an environment where every person feels valued and welcome to actively contribute to our business and achieve their highest potential.” 

The original crew set the benchmark for the ambitious approach taken by LAB³, and their chosen catch cry Fear Less Achieve More continues to be relevant and influence the business today. As Wilmore explains,

“Fear less Achieve More drives our entrepreneurialism and impacts how we approach everything. Our values – be true, team up, stand out, and think ahead – bring this guiding principle to life by creating an exceptional experience for both our people and our clients.”

Recently, LAB³ achieved Great Place to Work certification in both Australia and New Zealand, with employees providing an overall satisfaction score at over 90%. 

Having been with LAB³ for over four years, Cloud Services Manager, Jaim Jones is one of the longest serving employees. There were less than fifteen people with the business when he joined. 

“I like the fact LAB³ is very ambitious and is always driven to do things better. There are new things happening all the time,” says Jones. “When I first joined there were no security or network practice areas. So, even though I have always worked in managed services, I have had the chance to learn new skills and challenge myself in a good way. I never get bored.” 

Another early days’ crew member David Plummer came back to LAB³ attracted by the emergence of the security practice. 

“I really liked the vision LAB³ had and only left to follow my interest in cyber security, which the business had not yet expanded into. So, when I had the opportunity to return to help design and run the Security Operations Centre I jumped at the chance,” says Plummer. “I knew I was being hired for my expertise and would be trusted and supported to achieve in my role, provided I could articulate my plan. It has been an amazing opportunity to grow and feel enabled in my career.” 

Reflecting on the growth of LAB³ in five short years, there is no doubt that together as an inspired and fearless team, the crew has achieved the remarkable…