Ready for the Cloud Culture?

According to Darwin’s Origin of Species, it is not the strongest of the species that survive, it is not the most intelligent that survives: it is the one that is the most adaptable to change that survives. Digital impacts the way companies work with their customers, how employees do their job, how IT delivers services and so on. This implies that companies that cannot keep up with the velocity of innovation are at risk. There are options and it is not only a matter of technology explains Daniel Sahler, Head of Multi-Cloud Services at Fujitsu Luxembourg.

Cloud is the future

To cope with the rapidly moving market, the right approach is needed. With the traditional resource acquisition, it may take several months until the newly ordered hardware gets delivered, installed and is ready for use. The whole value chain is very long and packed with many unpredictable risks. Cloud technologies enable entirely new possibilities in terms of flexibility and scalability, making it possible to respond more quickly to business needs. By just ticking a few check boxes on the cloud provider portal or by deploying code immediately via existing DevOps pipelines, the desired infrastructure can be accessible within hours, or even faster, depending on the level of automation or complexity.

Business and IT need to work more closely together. This implies rethinking some of the company’s IT organization and also by considering IT as a value generator instead of a cost center.

But Cloud is not self-sufficient

Cloud technologies are not creating new strategical innovations by themselves, but they are empowering companies to innovate faster and to translate ideas into products with much less effort and risk. It is about a culture of change, a culture of innovation: the cloud culture.

While technology does not compensate a missing culture, it is important to remember that culture is not replacing technology either. Both aspects are equally important when it comes down to the overall cloud adoption process and the achievement of the desired Cloud maturity level.

We should keep in mind that a cultural transformation is even harder than introducing new technology. There is a common belief that people naturally resist change. This statement is simply not true. As long as the change is beneficial, it will be adopted very quickly. People are open for change when they believe it is in their best interest to do so.

Building a Cloud-oriented culture

In order to establish a cultural transformation in the direction of a cloud culture, the approach has to first prove itself. The organization, so to speak the employees (the internal customers) need to be able to recognize the benefits and feasibility of the approach. They have to see and feel how the right use of Cloud technology makes it easier for them to correct mistakes or to implement updates faster, being able to scale up or down, in and out, in scenarios they never thought about before. Sharing experience is key in this process.

Keep in mind: «Culture always evolves, whether we want it or not. So we are better off to in drive it the way we want it to be».

To generate this right momentum in guiding people towards a cloud culture, a full commitment from management is needed. The leaders within the organization need to stand behind this move, to avoid uncertainty among the teams. The primary goal should be to concentrate on a few quick wins, rather than aiming for the big bang.

Fujitsu is experienced in the creation of showcase scenarios with clients and in demonstrating the benefits and feasibility of these projects. Over the last years, the Fujitsu Luxembourg team has specialized on value delivery with a very pragmatic methodology. The Multi-Cloud team can start identifying quick wins and help to build small, cross-functional teams, which may quickly become the motor of innovation inside the organization.

In doing so, internal success stories can be leveraged to spread the message across the wider organization. As initial wins get shared, more people become motivated to join the change. The focus of the success stories should not be limited to technical implementation. It has to show the business benefits. Which value does it generate for the company? Which business challenges can be solved? Which competitive advantages will it bring?

At the end of the day, the adoption of Cloud is not only about technology; it is a transformation journey that involves people, processes and technology.