Why Now’s the Real Start of the Transformation Age

Cloud transformation has inarguably fit hand-in-glove with innovation, creativity, and removing silos for years. But this last 12-18 months really emphasised the value of placing technology at the heart of operations, using it as an enabler and a springboard from which to build value, operate with agility, and deliver excellent customer experiences in extremely trying circumstances.

Although the regrettable events of the previous 12-18 months were foisted upon us, many business leaders, technologists, and decision-makers are, perhaps surprisingly, emerging from the pandemic with confidence. Not only did organisations successfully stand up complex digital infrastructure to make remote work a reality, they did so with minimal disruption to the day-to-day, and the most far-sighted enterprises helped future-proof themselves for disruptive macro events to come.

While none of this would have been possible a decade ago without the technology available to us now, it was shifting mindsets, values, and above all, people, that made this breakneck pivot to the realm of digital feasible. As society gradually leaves restrictions behind – and hopefully for good – the positives gleaned from the pandemic response will be brought into hybrid way of working, living, and being. Keeping a people-centric attitude front and centre is absolutely critical to organisations as they plough ahead.

In this podcast series in partnership with Accenture, we’ll delve deeper into the events of the last year and what they say about upcoming trends. In the four episodes embedded below, IDG has talked with experts at Accenture as well as Accenture customers such as Now and Nationwide to hear real-world examples of organisations that reflected enough to confidently build for the future.

Along the way, we’ve learned how cloud can help companies move faster, be more creative, and more integrated – provided they strike the right balance between people, process, and culture, too.

We’ll also discuss what it takes to become a platform company in the face of challenging conditions, how to ‘fail fast’, and lead teams remotely to achieve success.

And we’ll examine how customer expectations are set to change, with the emergence of genuine omni-channel experiences, and brands that will have to take into account customer demands and values like sustainability as well as direct-to-consumer convenience.

We’ve unpicked the evolving roles of leadership, and how at the most far-sighted enterprises, leaders from the CEO to CIO, CRFO, CMO and CTO will only collaborate even more in the years to come.

So join us to learn how the people in businesses have risen to meet exceptional challenges and prepare for the future, with digital at their core – this is the Cloud, Transformed.

Scroll down for all four episodes in our series, beginning with Episode One, ‘It’s Everyone’s Responsibility’, featuring Orla Baker from Accenture and Andrew Cole at Nationwide Building Society to hear about best practice in transformation, culture, people, and process, as well as the technology beneath it all – and their joint efforts on the ‘Cloud Centre of Excellence’ at the building society.

Culture, people, process, and technology – getting all these right is key to successful, ongoing transformation, say Accenture’s Orla Baker and Nationwide’s Andrew Cole.

Data unlocks ideas and makes them a reality. Hear from Sarah Moore at NOW and Andrew McCaffer at Accenture about improving data literacy, becoming platform companies, and where businesses can do more with their data.

How has the customer experience changed in this challenging last year, and how have CMOs risen to meet those challenges? Accenture’s Michele McGrath and Mark Curtis discuss the shifting customer expectations and values, and how they will shape the years to come.

Many business leaders have emerged from the pandemic with a sense of renewed confidence and purpose. Technology has been a key enabler. Equally as important, though, are humanising organisations and making them people-centric, explain Rachel Barton, Head of Accenture Strategy & Consulting, Accenture, and Nnenna Ilomechina, Managing Director, Strategy and Consulting.

And if you’d like to hear more no-nonsense views from the Accenture team about the power of cloud and business transformation, tune in to the Walk In The Cloud Podcast.