Most Cloud projects fail to meet their stated objectives. This begs the question: are we approaching Cloud adoption with the right mindset?
The answer lies not in the technology itself, but in the people who wield it. We need to shift the focus from viewing the Cloud as merely a technological utility to recognising it as a platform for human innovation. Only by looking at Cloud computing through a human-centric lens will businesses truly harness the power of the Cloud.
From utility to innovation platform
In the aftermath of the dot-com crash, businesses faced a monumental challenge: how to provision and manage the vast IT infrastructure needed to move their operations online. With venture capital drying up and hardware costs remaining prohibitively high, a significant IT infrastructure bottleneck emerged.
Enter Amazon. In a bid to solve their own IT challenges, they devised a network of remote servers hosted on the internet that could store, manage, and process data. Recognising the value of this solution for other online businesses, Amazon rolled out Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has since become, by market share, one of the world’s largest Cloud networks.
What Amazon initially conceived as a utility, akin to drawing electricity from a grid, quickly evolved into something far more potent. As software increasingly migrated to the Cloud (now known as Software-as-a-Service or SaaS), programmers gained the ability to rapidly combine world-class IT infrastructure with Cloud software to develop, test, and deploy new ideas.
Not just infrastructure
Despite its potential, many companies still view the Cloud primarily as a utility from which they can draw computing power. This misconception often leads to disappointment when the expected transformation fails to materialise.
The true value of the Cloud lies not in its infrastructure, but in its capacity to foster innovation. It provides a playground where programmers can experiment with ideas and rapidly deploy successful ones. If you see the Cloud merely as a new way to provision IT infrastructure, you’re likely to experience business as usual, with little of the anticipated transformation.
Remember, it’s people who drive innovation, not technology. AWS exists because the people at Amazon created it to solve a problem. With this in mind, let’s explore the human-centric questions every business should ask before embracing the Cloud.
At the heart of successful Cloud adoption lies a fundamental principle: technology should serve people, not vice versa.
Relegating IT staff to merely managing Cloud infrastructure is a waste of their potential. It would be akin to hiring accomplished writers to type out meeting minutes. While they might excel at the task, it would hardly tap into their true capabilities.
Programming, like writing, is a creative process that requires freedom and latitude. A certain amount of experimentation and false starts are necessary to uncover the best ideas. By fostering an environment where your tech talent can explore and innovate, you’re more likely to unlock the true potential of the Cloud.
To get the best out of your team requires striking a delicate balance between discipline and freedom. A bunch of “computer nerds” might not produce much value if left completely to their own devices. But they also won’t be innovative if not given freedom to explore and mess around with ideas.
When building your Cloud team, look beyond technical skills. Seek individuals who are curious, adaptable, and collaborative. These traits are crucial for navigating the ever-changing landscape of Cloud technology and fostering an environment of continuous innovation.
Culture plays a pivotal role in successful Cloud adoption. To develop the right culture for Cloud innovation, start by clearly defining and communicating your company’s values and goals. You should also work to foster an environment that encourages calculated risk-taking and learning from failures as well as promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing across teams. Finally, make sure to incentivise your culture by recognising and rewarding innovation, not just successful outcomes.
Having a well-defined culture is just the first step. To truly harness the power of your talent, you need to embed your definition of talent into every aspect of your company’s processes.
To do this you will need to align your hiring practices with your cultural values and innovation goals to ensure you are onboarding the right people. It can also help to implement ongoing training programmes that foster both technical skills and soft skills like creativity and collaboration to get the best out of your team.
You should also develop performance evaluation metrics that reward innovation and collaboration, not just individual achievements, to ensure that your team works cohesively despite potential competition. And create mechanisms for continuous feedback and improvement so that people know what they are doing right and where they can improve.
The role of leadership in successful Cloud adoption cannot be overstated. Leaders must not only understand the potential of the Cloud but also create an environment where innovation can thrive.
This means that the culture and processes you’ve developed must apply to everyone – including management. Leaders should be working towards the same goals as their teams, fostering innovation rather than holding it back. If managers don’t fit into the culture or are impeding progress, it may be necessary to make changes at the leadership level.
To ensure your leadership is fostering innovation, leaders need to understand the technology they are working with. That means training on Cloud technologies and their potential applications and encouraging leaders to participate in innovation initiatives alongside their teams.
There should also be clear and achievable rewards for leaders who successfully foster innovation and drive Cloud adoption, while being prepared to make difficult decisions if leaders are hindering progress.
Investing in the technologists of today for the technology of tomorrow
Successful Cloud adoption is not just about implementing new technology – it’s about creating an environment where people can innovate using that technology. By focusing on these human-centric questions, businesses can avoid the pitfalls that have led to the failure of so many Cloud projects.
Remember, the Cloud is not a magic solution to all your problems. It’s a powerful tool that, when wielded by the right people in the right environment, can drive unprecedented innovation and growth. As you embark on your Cloud journey, keep these questions at the forefront of your strategy:
The human-centric approach to Cloud adoption isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s essential for success in the digital age. By putting people at the centre of your Cloud strategy, you’re not just adopting new technology; you’re fostering a culture of innovation that can propel your business into the future. So, before you dive into the technical aspects of Cloud adoption, take the time to address these human-centric questions.
Jamie Dobson is the founder of Container Solutions, and has been helping companies, across industries, move to cloud native ways of working for over ten years.
References:
[1] https://hbr.org/2022/09/3-stages-of-a-successful-digital-transformation
