Considering transitioning to the cloud? Why trust is key…
Business leaders across the UK and beyond are putting their heads together (virtually of course) to decide what the ‘new normal’ will look like for their organisation. How to get there is a key element of the decision-making process and moving systems and data to the cloud is a big part of those discussions for many. If you are considering transitioning to the cloud, it’s important to consider how trust – or lack of it – can impact the various parties involved and affect outcomes going forward.
Re-evaluating your entire infrastructure; asking fundamental questions about processes before the pandemic which have since proved problematic; rewriting longer term IT plans: there’s plenty to consider now that the world of work is changing completely. Navigating through this unsettling time and preparing for a future that looks very different from all our expectations is stressful and complex. That means it’s all the more important to feel confidence in those you are working with.
If you are considering moving some or all of your business systems to the cloud over the coming weeks, trust is imperative for many reasons. Consider the following relationships:
The senior management team and the IT function
These two groups have sometimes struggled to really understand each other, notably because the skill sets are so very different and probably because the complexity and associated technical language needed to explain what is needed and why can be hard to understand for non-tech leaders.
Trust is vital for this relationship to flourish and successfully make the right decisions for the whole business, especially when under significant pressure. Non-technical senior managers must move on from attitudes and opinions that may have held weight in the past but cause bottlenecks now as swift and forward-thinking decisions need to be made. And IT professionals must take care to really explore what can and can’t be done, not just from a technical perspective but also from a wider business viewpoint too. Digging deeper and understanding more about the detail from both sides will help build trust and encourage more confident and positive decision-making.
Business leaders, their IT teams and their cloud provider
This three-way relationship needs to be collaborative and built on trust and transparency in order to avoid disappointment or a ‘blame game’ scenario further down the line. Over the next few months as businesses continue to adapt, flexibility and clarity will be vital to creating positive relationships. Cloud providers and IT teams must clearly agree capabilities and the associated costs involved. Genuine flexibility is a prerequisite and needs to be covered in the scoping phase; it shouldn’t be an excuse to surprise the client and automatically charge more at some later point. It is a given that circumstances will be changeable over the coming months and need to be prepared for. And in these turbulent times where all parties are facing economic challenges – trusting in the stability and longevity of both partners is vital too.
Business managers and their staff
It is important not to underestimate how different working practices – especially long-term remote working – really depends on strong working relationships between managers and their staff. When considering how to make remote working possible via new cloud infrastructure and applications, some thought should be spared for whether it will prove preferable or productive for the individuals involved – especially if it is envisaged as a long-term solution. Some managers will struggle without being able to see exactly what their team is up to and will require tools to help them manage remotely. They’ll also require a healthy dose of trust in their people to get their jobs done.
Individual employees and the business
It may be an uncomfortable question to consider – but just how much do your employees trust the business? If a move to the cloud is also likely to involve some employees using personal devices to work from home, there are trust implications here too. In order for the IT to maintain an acceptable level of security, they will inevitably be able to see some of what happens on a personal device. Not every employee will worry about this, and some will prefer to use a company laptop just for work and keep their home devices separate. But in reality, the ability to completely isolate what every employee uses can be difficult and expensive – and may not be possible in every case.
Join us on Tuesday 16th June 2020 at 10am for a webinar discussing the challenges facing businesses in the aftermath of Covid-19, and the role of IT in underpinning a resilient business continuity plan.
Register here.
