Explore the technology behind better business operations.
Try interactive IT simulations, explore practical solutions and understand how better technology decisions can help your business work more securely and reliably.
Fictional data, run in your browser. It doesn’t connect to, scan or change any real system, and nothing you choose is sent to exQ.
Choose a challenge
Start from what’s getting in the way. Each challenge opens the simulation that explores it.
- IT issues are disrupting daily workOpens the IT operations control room
- We need to improve our cloud workspaceOpens the cloud workspace architect
- We want to strengthen our securityOpens the cybersecurity decision lab
- Our network needs improvementOpens the network architect
- Our website or online services are unreliableOpens the website reliability lab
- We need help planning an IT projectOpens the technology decision studio
Six simulations
Each one starts with a one-minute version: a fictional business, a few plain choices and what each one changes. Explore in more depth whenever you like.
IT operations control room
Work five fictional incidents from report to record.
- What you can do
- Set the priority, choose what to check, decide what caused it and whether to fix, work around or escalate.
- What you’ll learn
- Why priority isn’t complexity, a symptom isn’t a cause, and a closed ticket isn’t the same as a solved problem.
- Time
- About 5 minutes an incident
- Related service
- Managed IT & Support
Cloud workspace architect
Describe a fictional business and watch its digital workplace take shape.
- What you can do
- Set people, places, devices and requirements; inspect the architecture; step through a migration plan.
- What you’ll learn
- What a workspace is made of, what depends on what, and which questions decide the design.
- Time
- About 6 minutes
- Related service
- Cloud & Digital Workplace
Cybersecurity decision lab
Respond to five fictional security situations, one decision at a time.
- What you can do
- Read the evidence, choose the next action, and see what it contains, what it misses and what follows.
- What you’ll learn
- How containment, investigation and recovery fit together, and which controls reduce each risk.
- Time
- About 3 minutes a scenario
- Related service
- Cybersecurity
Network architect
Shape a fictional office network, then break it on purpose.
- What you can do
- Change size, Wi-Fi, segmentation and redundancy; fail a line, a firewall or a switch; inspect any component.
- What you’ll learn
- How traffic flows, where the single points of failure are, and what segmentation actually stops.
- Time
- About 6 minutes
- Related service
- Network & Infrastructure
Website reliability lab
Diagnose six fictional website outages along the request path.
- What you can do
- Pick an outage, run checks along the path from domain to database, and narrow the possible causes.
- What you’ll learn
- How domains, DNS, certificates, caching, hosting and applications differ, and what to monitor.
- Time
- About 4 minutes an outage
- Related service
- Web Infrastructure
Technology decision studio
Turn a fictional company’s priorities into a phased roadmap.
- What you can do
- Adjust the company’s profile, choose initiatives and what matters most, and inspect why each lands where it does.
- What you’ll learn
- How impact, risk, effort and dependencies decide the order, and what to confirm before committing.
- Time
- About 6 minutes
- Related service
- IT Consulting & Projects
How the Lab works
Pick a situation
Every simulation opens on a fictional business, with nothing to set up or sign up for.
Make a few choices
Three or four decisions, each with immediate feedback on what it changes.
See what it means
A short result in plain words, the reasons behind it, and a next step if it’s relevant to you.
What you take away
Not a verdict on your IT: a short simulation can’t replace a professional assessment. What you do get:
A clearer picture
How the pieces of your IT fit together, and what depends on what.
Clearer priorities
Which problems are urgent, which are important, and what order to tackle them in.
The trade-offs, out in the open
What each option costs in effort, disruption and risk, not just what it promises.
Better conversations with IT providers
The vocabulary and the questions that make a proposal easier to judge, ours included.
More informed decisions
A sense of what good looks like before you commit time or budget.
What the Lab is, and isn’t
Every scenario is illustrative. The Lab doesn’t access, scan or change your infrastructure, and nothing you choose leaves your browser.
Real solutions depend on your business requirements, existing systems, security needs, licensing and a professional assessment of your actual environment.
What is the Solutions Lab for?
It lets you explore common IT situations hands-on: work an incident, design a network, respond to a security event, plan a workspace, fix a website or build a roadmap. It explains the reasoning behind each choice, so you can judge your own situation better.
Does it connect to my systems?
No. Every simulation runs in your browser on fictional data. Nothing scans, tests or changes a real system, and nothing you choose is sent to exQ or anyone else.
Do I need a technical background?
No. Each simulation starts with a one-minute version in plain English, and the technical detail sits in the deeper version for those who want it.
Are the results formal recommendations?
No. They are illustrations from fictional scenarios. A real recommendation depends on your requirements, existing systems, security needs, licensing and an assessment of your actual environment.
Do I have to sign up or share my details?
No. Everything works without an account or a form. If you want to talk about your own situation afterwards, you can get in touch.
Have a similar challenge in your business?
Explore the possibilities here, then speak with exQ about your actual environment, requirements and priorities. We reply to every enquiry within one business day.