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The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), driven by the US Department of Defense (DoD), presents us with a “major shift” training opportunity that I have likened to the rollout of Windows from way back when. It really is THAT BIG and in this issue of Logically Speaking, we share a wealth of information that will help you get started quickly and correctly.
Jim Gabalski
VP, Sales and Marketing
CMMC Readiness Checklist
by Jon O'Keefe, Technology Education Jedi
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 The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) training is finally here! Logical Operations, a Licensed Partner Publisher (LPP) with the CMMC Accreditation Body (CMMC-AB), has submitted our courseware for final approval, which means that Licensed Training Providers (LTPs) will soon be able to offer official Certified CMMC Professional (CCP) training. This has been an event over 2 years in the making, so today we want to make sure you’re ready to capitalize on the CMMC training market.
What Is CMMC?
The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification is the evolution of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) strategy to safeguard the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) from cyber threats, both foreign and domestic. There are over 350,000 organizations who are part of the DIB, who participate in bidding on and winning contracts from the DoD. By FY 2026 (September 2025), all 350,000 DIB organizations plus subcontractors will have to switch from a very loose “self-attestation” model on their cybersecurity practices, to a much more formal third-party assessment. This is going to require massive amounts of training, both authorized and unauthorized, for hundreds of thousands of IT departments. Training for these companies will range from understanding what CMMC is, to official CMMC Certification training, to training on IT practices to make sure they are prepared for CMMC. In short, this is a massive shift in the way the DIB organizations are managing their cybersecurity, and one of the only solutions is training.
How Can You Get Started?
Here is your CMMC readiness checklist:
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Check out https://cmmclpp.com to see the different training options available to all training organizations, including our 1-day CMMC Kickstart class and our 5-day CMMC CP Boot Camp. You can also learn more about CMMC there.
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Check out some of the other links around CMMC:If you decide you’d like to offer CMMC training, check out our CMMC Kickstart Marketing Kit. This kit contains social media posts, website banners, marketing emails, and scoping guides for classes like CyberSec First Responder™ and Cyber Secure Coder. This kit will make it easy for you to get the CMMC Kickstart class up and available on your website and on your social media.
- https://cmmcab.org/ - CMMC-AB Website
- https://www.acq.osd.mil/cmmc/draft.html - OUSD A&S Approved and Baseline CMMC Documents and Supplemental Material
- https://cmmcinfo.org/ CMMC Information Institute
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Request copies of the CMMC Kickstart and CMMC CP Boot Camp materials for your instructors. Just send an email to jedijon@logicaloperations.com and we will make sure you get what you need!
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Schedule a consultation to determine whether you want to become an official Licensed Training Provider through the CMMC-AB or just an official CMMC Kickstart/Boot Camp trainer. We will be glad to take you through what the process will look like and help you make the best decision for your business.
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Schedule a customer-facing CMMC webinar with Jedi Jon, CMMC Product Manager. If you want to get your customers excited about this training, this is one of the fastest ways to make that happen.
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Profit.
Whether you decide to become an official LTP, or you want to offer unofficial but still incredibly necessary CMMC Kickstart and Boot Camp classes, Logical Operations is your partner in all things CMMC. There are billions of dollars in training currently waiting to be filled by organizations just like you.
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How to Sell CMMC? Find Your Local OSC!
by Jim Gabalski, VP, Sales and Marketing
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There are over 350,000 contractors in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), and they are located all over the world. All contractors must be in compliance with CMMC prior to new contract award, contract renewal, and/or not later than September 30, 2025. Each contractor and every subcontractor is an Organization Seeking Certification (OSC). And there is likely one or more in your area.
 Selling CMMC training is pretty straightforward. Once you identify an OSC, you know that they need to create a compliance program and eventually be assessed for compliance by a Certified Assessor. To effectively deploy a program, an OSC needs compliance program managers and implementers who understand the CMMC Model. The best way to get that skill on staff is to send those program managers and implementers for Certified CMMC Professional Training or CCP. This 5-day course provides a thorough understanding of the model and what requirements an organization will be assessed against depending on the certification level that they are seeking --- there are 5 levels in the CMMC Model that get more challenging as you progress, and the level required depends on the type of service the OSC provides to the Department of Defense (DoD). In addition to that, most organizations will want general awareness training on CMMC, and the 1-day CMMC Kickstart class is perfect for that purpose.
So, the key to selling CMMC is to ask your customers if they do business with the Department of Defense. If they do, then they are an OSC, and you should then ask who is the person leading the CMMC compliance program. That’s the person you need to talk to about CCP and Kickstart training.
If you need any help getting started, don’t hesitate to get in contact with us at JediJon@Logicaloperations.com.
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Certified CMMC Professional Exam Blueprint Approved, Curriculum on Its Way
by Nancy Curtis, VP, Content
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 Now that the Department of Defense has approved the official blueprint for the Certified CMMC Professional (CCP) exam, Logical Operations’ accredited curriculum won’t be far behind! As required by the CMMC Accreditation Body (CMMC-AB), we’ve aligned our courseware to the final blueprint and submitted it for approval by ProCert Labs. It should be available to our Licensed Training Provider (LTP) customers in a few short weeks.
But you don’t have to wait for the final course release to get a look at the Logical Operations’ CCP materials! We’ve created a pre-release sampler pack to give LTPs and prospective instructors early insight into the structure, approach, and coverage of the CCP curriculum. Jedi Jon will be happy to send you a copy of the sampler, just ask!
You’ll see that we’ve taken a creative approach to the curriculum design, both in CCP and the upcoming Certified CMMC Assessor Level 1 (CCA-1). To reflect the dynamic and evolving nature of the CMMC process and standards, LO’s CMMC curriculum puts the focus on presentation materials, student engagement, and instructor support, while minimizing static instructional text. The courseware manual features searchable replicas of all the presentation slides, scripted interactive activities, and a complete Glossary and Index, along with ample space for student notetaking. The accompanying instructor slide decks provide you with detailed delivery suggestions and presentation support.
The CMMC-AB expects to make the CCP blueprint public in early October. LO is eager to help you plan to meet the surge of demand for accredited training that we know will follow. And we’ll continue to support your needs for general and awareness-level CMMC education with our non-accredited CMMC Boot Camp and CMMC Kickstart titles. We cordially invite you to include our full CMMC curriculum portfolio in your training offerings.
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CMMC Kickstart Training Launched by Logical Operations
by Jon O'Keefe, Technology Education Jedi
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Logical Operations is excited to announce the release of “CMMC Kickstart: A Practical Guide to Getting Ready for CMMC”. Course materials are now available to training providers for a 1-day CMMC overview class that focuses on preparing organizations impacted by CMMC to get started on their way to compliance.
CMMC, or Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and consists of cybersecurity processes and practices designed to safeguard Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) within the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). The DIB is made up of over 350,000 organizations within the DoD vendor supply chain. CMMC is a landmark cybersecurity initiative that ensures sensitive information is protected wherever it goes in the vendor base.
Logical Operations is a CMMC-AB Licensed Partner Publisher (LPP), offering CMMC Licensed Training Providers (LTPs) training materials designed to help Organizations Seeking Certification (OSCs) design and deploy compliance programs. Being a member of the CMMC ecosystem and getting to work with the LTPs and OSCs to protect controlled information is an awesome responsibility that will help assist U.S. national security.
CMMC Kickstart was designed to satisfy growing demand for baseline training for organizations across the globe. One of the biggest challenges DIB organizations face when preparing to get assessed for CMMC compliance is full team readiness. CMMC Kickstart training teaches what life will be like under CMMC. Throughout all levels of an organization, including the Executive Team, this training will make preparing for CMMC much easier.
Jim Gabalski, VP of Logical Operations, believes that CMMC Kickstart is where OSCs will start their CMMC preparation strategy. “We’ve created the Kickstart training to help companies understand the scope and impact of CMMC,” said Gabalski, adding “Within one day, students will gain an understanding of the regulations, the CMMC Model, what an assessment entails, and where to go to get help.”
Training organizations that are interested in offering CMMC Kickstart can find it available on https://cmmclpp.com.
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| Latest Product Highlights |
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Content Revisions
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Logical Operations revises student and instructor materials based on technical changes, customer feedback, and our own assessment of necessary changes. The revision notes for the most recent updates are below as well as posted on the new Content Revisions page. Use this page as a resource to quickly access and view all revision details for any of our recent course updates.
Have you missed ITIL® Awareness?
Logical Operations has re-launched this popular curriculum in a new, condensed, 90-minute “express” edition designed to conform with Axelos and PeopleCert parameters for awareness-level training. You’ll get all the advantages of the high-quality Logical Operations instructional design approach, plus the benefits of the CHOICE platform, in a new, streamlined format. Among the CHOICE value-adds is a digital version of Logical Operations’ convenient ITIL® 4 LogicalGUIDE, which provides learners with supplemental content as well as post-class quick reference. All the course material is drawn from our original full-day ITIL® 4 Awareness 1.0, so instructors will need minimal preparation to successfully deliver the seminar-length version. Add ITIL® 4 Awareness 2.0 to your delivery schedule today!
Reminder: When viewing a product on the store, check the Revision Information tab to see the summary description of the most recent revision for that product at any time.
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September 2021 Instructor Excellence Award: Benjamin Franklin
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Benjamin FranklinITIL Instructor andChief Technology OfficerBluescreenIT Ltd. |
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Benjamin Franklin is the Chief Technology Officer at BluescreenIT Ltd. where he continues to practice his passions for adopting emerging Information Technology/IT standards and instruction.
Benjamin is an armed forces veteran who completed 24 years of service within the Royal Signals, British Army. He joined at the age of 16 and during his time, Benjamin covered a wide variety of IT and Digital roles including: Level 1 IT Support, IT Training, Service Delivery Management, and IT Leadership roles that involved coaching and mentoring IT professionals. Benjamin has traveled the globe, but now lives in Bridport, Dorset with his wife Alison and children Maisy, 11, and Brandon, 19. Benjamin has served as the Chief Technology Officer at BluescreenIT for the past 3 years, putting a strategic focus on new products and services that they provide to their stakeholders. Benjamin also volunteers at his local primary school to deliver IT and Cyber education classes to children.
Benjamin has been teaching ITIL for the past 2 years, since V4 was released. “It sounds strange…but I love Service Management. I believe that time is the most precious commodity we have. We can recover life to a point, not me…I’m not a doctor, but we cannot recover time,” noted Franklin. To Benjamin, being excellent at Service Management means IT teams use resources in the most efficient way possible whilst still achieving the required and all-important outcomes.
When it comes to teaching, Benjamin loves being able to pass on advice, guidance, and knowledge to help his delegates learn something new. Like many other instructors, Benjamin has moved to a virtual approach to continue training delivery overcoming perceived limitations to a virtual approach. “For me this was something new, but I completed the Logical Operations MCCT course which really helped, and I was able to use that information to shape how I could deliver a fully immersive online experience.” Benjamin believes that having a passion for the subject helps with virtual delivery and keeping students engaged in the class is an absolute must. And that passion shows up in the evaluation scores and feedback from students as well as his repeat attendees.
Looking forward, Benjamin is excited to be delivering a range of bootcamps to help those who want to make a move into the world of IT and Cybersecurity from industries that may have been affected by COVID-19. “This is super exciting, being able to support new professionals into the digital sector.” Benjamin can’t wait to get back to classroom delivery and socializing with students!
Congratulations, Benjamin, on being recognized as Logical Operations’ September 2021 “Instructor Excellence” award winner!
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September 2021 Instructor Excellence Award: Vinzanna Leysath
Vinzanna Leysath, Office Expert at Training on Wheels, is originally from The Bahamas but came over to the United States for undergraduate studies. Vinzanna met her husband in English 101, and like they say, “The rest is history,” and now has two kids Jonathan and Kalise.
Professionally, Vinzanna began her career in Accounting and fell in love with Excel. “I was truly fascinated that this system that I’ve grown to love had the possibility of doing so much. Although my passion was no longer Accounting, I got an opportunity to teach technology and haven’t turned back since.” For the past 15 years, Vinzanna has taken her love for teaching and transformed it into a thriving business! In 2017, she opened Training on Wheels to provide application training support to her community and has never turned back.
Vinzanna teaches Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and loves every part of it. When asked what her favorite part of teaching is, she said, “I love the aha moments that come along with teaching. I love the ability to take concepts and show my students how they can be used in the real world.” Training and preparing students for professional success is personally rewarding for Vinzanna as she sees it as her way of “giving back to society”.
As for teaching virtually, Vinzanna says making the switch has allowed her the opportunity to serve professionals all over the world, “Through the powers of technology, the impact of education has superseded the four walls of my office space. So, I truly do love teaching virtually.”
Although Vinzanna is enjoying where she’s at in her career now, she looks forward to what is ahead for her and Training on Wheels. Vinzanna is exploring expanding her offerings to include support of recruiting and hiring, in addition to training. Based on her assessment of market data, there are quickly emerging job fields that are opening up and many jobs going unfilled. Training on Wheels’ focus is to find individuals who want to work, give them the basic technical skills to get the job done, and then put them in front of the hiring companies.”
Quoting Vinzanna, “You can’t teach character, but you can teach skill. I am excited and can’t wait to help those looking to improve their professional development skills!”
Congratulations, Vinzanna, on being recognized as Logical Operations’ September 2021 “Instructor Excellence” award winner!
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Submit Your Instructor Nominations for October
 We're recognizing instructors who have reached key milestones and made a meaningful impact in the training world. Do you want to nominate an instructor who you feel deserves to be recognized in the next Logically Speaking? Visit the Instructor Spotlight page to get more insight into what the Instructor Spotlight is all about.
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Lynn Fisher
PresidentApplied Technology Academy
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Applied Technology Academy (ATA) Leads the Charge with CMMC Training
We recently spoke with Lynn Fisher, President, Applied Technology Academy (ATA), about how her company sees the opportunity for CMMC training and what they're doing to position themselves as a leading CMMC training provider.
1. What about the CMMC opportunity has you so excited? As a federal contractor ourselves, we have walked in our clients' shoes. We have an amazing team of 5 instructors with extensive NIST/NICE and DFARS experience, and auditing and compliance is their second nature. We live this every day as a small business and we are purposing to break down the barriers to success for small and medium-size businesses. We can easily serve large businesses, but our passion is to make sure that small and medium-size businesses do not suffer as a result of this mission critical DoD initiative.
2. How do you see CMMC training fitting in with your larger business? CMMC is the world we live in. We know and deal with DoD compliance daily, training globally on DoD8570/8140 certifications. We will quickly rise to #1 in the country when it comes to DoD CMMC compliance and execution. Our mission is to make sure that every SMB is equipped to effectively compete for Federal business in their area of expertise.
3. What have been the biggest obstacles to getting ready to offer CMMC training? Frankly, the DoD, with good reason. As our country has encountered increasing threats and breaches, the DoD has continued to refine and shore up the CMMC requirements - rightfully so. As a result, they have delayed course content approval in order to make sure that all Contractors and Assessors are properly equipped to protect against and battle our adversaries, and the threats that our country faces.
4. What are your biggest wins with CMMC? 95% of our clientele are DoD-related entities, and we are very proud of the instructor team we have built, coupled with our selection of the highest quality CMMC-AB courseware offerings from Logical Operations. Our instructors have combined experience of over 50 years of auditing, assessment, DFARS, NIST/NICE, and cybersecurity standards implementation for the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). As a defense contractor ourselves, ATA is uniquely positioned to bring the most talented industry practitioners and real-world experience to your Authorized CMMC-AB training cohorts. Best of all, we are equipping a large number of veteran-owned businesses to be prepared for their own CMMC-AB assessments, making sure our veteran businesses can compete at the best and highest level in a very competitive landscape! Join us at our Florida-based classrooms, onsite at your location, or via our Online Live instructor-led training offerings to engage in our leading edge Authorized CMMC-AB cohorts. Learn more about ATA at https://appliedtechnologyacademy.com/.
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Need an Instructor to Teach Your First CCP Class?
by Jim Gabalski, VP, Sales and Marketing
If you are a Licensed Training Provider (LTP) or applying to become one, you know that you need to (1) be an LTP, (2) teach with CATM content provisioned from a Licensed Partner Publisher (LPP), and (3) use a Certified Instructor in the delivery of any classes where students will be pursuing certification after taking the class. The first two are within your control, but finding a Certified Instructor is a little more challenging. What do you do?
 The CMMC-AB’s website (https://cmmcab.org/) does not currently have any information regarding the process for certifying or licensing an instructor. But the CMMC-AB did create a pool of Provisional Instructors that you can leverage to get started. The easiest place to locate an instructor that you can contract is on the CMMC-AB Marketplace (https://cmmcab.org/marketplace/). Use the search box and select Provisional Instructor from the Category selection. While at the time of this article’s writing there were no entries, it was expected that the results would be available by mid-September. If for some reason you still can’t find an instructor you are comfortable with, get in touch with us through jedijon@logicaloperations.com and we will connect you with an instructor.
While contracting is a good short-term solution, you will likely want to have your own dedicated instructor. Those requirements are still unclear, so check back at the CMMC-AB’s website often for more direction. We will do the same. If you are an LTP and need more direction from the CMMC-AB on certifying an instructor, you can always send an email to cmmcsupport@cmmcab.org.
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Customize Our CMMC Curriculum to Fit Your Needs
by Andrea Montanarella, Manager, Custom Production
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Did you know that Logical Operations offers general-purpose CMMC curriculum? Because these course offerings are not part of the accredited CMMC curriculum track, they are available for you to customize!
Are you an instructor who wants to change the order in which you deliver your CMMC material? Do you want to change the cover or add your own logo or personalization? These are all available through our customization process.
Our two featured books this month are:
We know our customers and students appreciate the design and layout of the Logical Operations content. However, did you know that you can re-sequence and re-group your content to complement your teaching style and learning style of your students?
For a quick review of customization, click the YouTube link https://youtu.be/BR20TCkY4sg.
There are endless options for customization, and it is oftentimes much more cost effective than you may think!
Andrea Montanarella
Manager, Custom Production
custom@logicaloperations.com
1-800-456-4677—Option 4 | Direct: 585-350-7014
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 Laurie PerrySenior Instructional DesignerLogical Operations |
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Meet the Team Behind LO's CMMC Courseware
Logical Operations' CMMC content was created by a combined effort among three of our instructional designers and our cybersecurity product manager. The LO "CMMC dream team" gives us some unique insight into their experience here.
Working on the LO CMMC courseware has truly been a team effort. As one of the instructional designers, my role included communicating and collaborating with our team of subject matter experts. Through a series of working sessions and meetings, I was involved in collecting content, organizing it, and transforming it into the components of an LO ILT course.
It’s exciting to see how each team member’s unique talents and approaches to courseware development came together to produce the LO CMMC courseware. There was never a doubt that my fellow instructional designers were good at their craft, and this experience was further proof of that. Just as exciting was the opportunity to continue being a lifelong learner, and when it comes to CMMC, there is much to learn. I’m hopeful that these CMMC courses will help others as they start their CMMC Certification journeys.
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Tamara HagenInstructional Designer Logical Operations |
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As one of the instructional designers, my role was to collaborate with our subject matter experts and colleagues to “translate“ expert knowledge into a set of clear and organized slides designed to guide an audience with basic knowledge of cybersecurity to be confident in their understanding of CMMC and its impact on the Defense Industrial Base (DIB).
The most exciting part was actually being on a team and learning from everyone involved. As instructional designers, we often work on courses alone, so this was a great opportunity to learn from my colleagues. And the world of cybersecurity assessments/audits is a brand new one for me, so there was a lot to learn from our experts.
Working on CMMC course development has provided an interesting glimpse into the complex world of government regulations.
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Brian Wilson
Senior Instructional DesignerLogical Operations |
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I was one of the instructional designers who organized and reworked the content provided by our subject matter experts to get it into a format ready for publication. My focus was primarily on developing slides and illustrations.
I usually work as a solo course developer, writing about topics I’m already familiar with and researching subject matter that is new to me. So, working with a team of other instructional designers and subject matter experts was a nice change of pace. And though I’ve had some experience working as a DoD contractor, the subject matter in this course was largely new to me. The working meetings with our subject matter experts were fascinating, as they explained how security auditing processes have worked in the past and how things will be done differently as the CMMC program rolls out.
I’m looking forward to seeing organizations get onboard with CMMC certification!
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Jon O'Keefe
Technology Education JediLogical Operations |
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As the product manager for our cybersecurity portfolio, CMMC has been on my radar for several years now. It isn’t every day that you get a cybersecurity mandate from the Department of Defense that will impact over 350,000 organizations, so this was an opportunity that Logical Operations had to jump on. My major role in the development of the curriculum was in the ideation of the CMMC Kickstart program, a 1-day training that can help organizations prepare for life under CMMC. While many organizations will choose to use Logical Operations courseware to help them prepare for the CMMC certifications, we determined that a non-certification class that explained the basics would be incredibly beneficial.
The majority of training products I work with have commercial and intellectual applications, but CMMC adds another layer to that: protecting our country. The people that I have met inside the CMMC ecosystem who are helping to build the CMMC framework are true patriots, and they care about the safety of our nation’s cybersecurity infrastructure. Getting to be part of an organization that is one of only a handful producing content for CMMC is truly awe-inspiring.
It's also been amazing working with Tamara, Laurie, and Brian. I can’t say enough about how thorough and dedicated they have been in making sure we have the best courseware to go to market with. It’s been an awesome process to witness, and the teamwork here at Logical Operations is top notch!
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Join the 
