Trust as a Cloud Supplier

During my recent pilgrimage to the Microsoft Inspire conference in Las Vegas, I was struck by many thoughts following talks from various excellent speakers, but one has continued to nag away at me. It was a keynote speech by Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s lead guru, who, nestled in amongst a sea of amazing real-life case studies, talked about a formula for “Tech Intensity”. He was describing the importance of various factors that lead to an increase in this ethereal measurement that Microsoft, as a predominantly Cloud focussed company, was aiming for. Basically, it boiled down to three factors:

Tech intensity = (Tech adoption x Tech capability)^Trust

He was talking about this because it is forecast that by 2030 there will be 10% of GDP spent on technology, which is double the amount it is today at $14Tn globally. However, it is the other 90% where there is going to be the most opportunity as it is going to be digitally driven with embedded software. This infusion of digital cleverness is where things like IoT and Intelligent Cloud within basic manufacturing or other industrial sectors are going to make marginal gains in productivity in the next ten years. For Microsoft, it is the partners that it sees as being the key enablers of this rich technology opportunity. Getting to this figure by 2030 is going to take Tech intensity.

Trust

If I remember my GSCE maths correctly, Trust is the most important factor in the formula above. Satya was obviously referring to a number of aspects, including ensuring that data is securely stored and transported on the Cloud, with implications for 3^rd party access becoming front and centre of news headlines for other organisations such as Facebook/Cambridge Analytica recently. In fact, Microsoft have been tracking the level of trust in the big five Cloud providers and you see a marked downturn in Facebook’s trust level and interestingly an upswing in Microsoft!

It is now the most trusted Cloud provider and by some margin.

Microsoft have been working towards becoming the Cloud of choice through initiatives with every product offering thinking about security and simply doing the right thing at every turn. It’s a cultural thing that flows from the very top of the organisation.

So, how does this translate to my local level here at Intelogy?

It is a formula that I think translates well for providing services to our customers too. The rate of transformation that we can help clients undertake is determined by how well they can adopt the solutions and how capable the solutions are. However, trusting Intelogy + Microsoft as a combined force to move forwards with their investment and deliver measurable returns is key. We need to be able to advise appropriately, be listened to and be trusted to deliver.

Internally and externally, we have always regarded integrity and openness as being one of our key values. It is even scattered on our office walls as a reminder to all staff that it is something we must aspire to at all times.

Here at Intelogy, we supplement this trust in the technology with trust in our people and processes. We recently acquired the UK Government’s Cyber Essentials accreditation, we run background checks on all new starters and configure our systems so that everyone’s data, especially client’s data, is secure or not shared with any other parties. We try to build genuine and long-term relationships with our customers, so that we can be honest with our opinions and gain respect through our delivery.

Just like Microsoft, we have recognised trust as being the very essence of being a good partner.