Article How to Drive Cultural Change for your SP Business
By Insight UK / 20 Jun 2022
By Insight UK / 20 Jun 2022
The wind of change is blowing through the world of IT Service Providers. Many SPs trade in their data centres for the flexibility of the cloud to be more equipped for the volatility and complexity of today's business. This transformation means the SP doesn't need to invest any longer in expensive infrastructure but rather in knowledge and people. The employees are the principal capital of a cloud-based SP. Therefore it is vital to create an open culture in which they can thrive and grow. The question is: how are you going to make this change?
Creating a new working culture is an enormous challenge for established SPs who want to migrate to the cloud. They usually come from a risk-averse culture with a strong focus on continuity, safety, and compliance. A traditional environment where staff works according to strict guidelines and management still has a tight grip on the organization.
A cloud-based SP requires a different approach that focuses less on avoiding risks and more on the people, the customers, and open communication. Such change doesn't just happen by chance; it requires a new mindset, a cultural transformation that changes how people think and act. As Einstein would say: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
Adopting new processes, tools, and techniques is one thing. Transforming your company's culture is another. It is about the unwritten practices and beliefs on the work floor. It is about people's intrinsic motivation and the implicit values they share. Because all these rules are not clearly defined, it is a big challenge to migrate from a top-down risk-driven organizational model to a more agile approach.
As long as your employees are convinced it is better to strictly follow the rules without asking questions, they will be hesitant to show initiative and share knowledge. How can you establish an open culture of learning, collaboration, and entrepreneurship in such an environment? Hanging posters in the canteen urging people to become more pro-active, positive, collaborative, or engaged won't do the trick. Video games, hammocks, and good coffee are great perks but won't change the mindset of your people. To change the organizational culture, you first have to develop a shared vision throughout the organization about the common purpose of your business and how to achieve it. Explain to your employees what cultural change you want to achieve, why and how. Then start to make it happen.
Cultural change is serious stuff. Numerous books, plans, and reports are written about it, but don't fall into the trap of over-complicating things. Make it simple and practice what you preach. If you want to establish a modern, open culture, take an agile approach and start learning by doing. Look for low-hanging opportunities and get the ball rolling. Facilitate changes, support them and celebrate your first successes. This way, you pave the way for more long-term ambitions.
At Insight, we help Service Providers build their value proposition and realize their business ambitions in a multi-cloud world. As a multi-vendor software licensing, workload, and cloud platform specialist, we can guide you through all stages of your strategic cloud journey. We help you accelerate your business and find new ways forward. Contact one of our cloud specialists for a talk.
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