Cloud geek factor, vendor funding other partner talents | Cloud Core Automotive 🚗

👋,

We have been on both sides of table – over our career, we’ve worked in in-house tech teams and for partners. So we’ve been thinking…

…Beyond rigid RFP questions – how do you choose the right partner (we’re talking about the right cultural fit as well as having the tech abilities)?

There are a few considerations here:

☁️ Traditional system integrator vs cloud-native

They have different approaches in areas like automation, operating models/governance and managed services, and this article does a nice job of comparing them.

🍴Appetite for challenge

I like this quote from the CIO at EVBox, which does EV charging infrastructure:

“We needed to find someone eager to look beyond the complexities, risks and challenges – a partner who would help us realise what we were told was an impossible vision….There was real synergy in that everyone was hungry to make this seemingly impossible SAP migration a success.” 

🚀 True flexibility and understanding of how projects evolve

You can’t have your head in the sand over scope creep! The EVBox CIO summed this up nicely, too:

“We knew from the start that there would be scope creep. They needed a flexible partner who could adapt and still deliver on time.”

🤓 Cloud geek factor

The last quote from EVBox’s CIO – about working with true cloud nerds:

“You need deep expertise at different times – you need that expert who knows exactly where to click to solve the problem or get the result.” 

🗣️ Honesty

This time, a quote from the CTO of an R&D company about what makes a good partner relationship:

“We have candid conversations that makes my job really easy. This is so valuable because I’m so busy with everything else.”

📚 Hyperscaler knowledge, particularly around funding

There’s so much funding available for cloud projects, but often hyperscaler contacts don’t even know about all the programmes. You need a partner with the inside track, as the Head of Infra & Cybersecurity at Finnair explained:

“An exceptional thing was the way they worked with AWS and clearly presented the vendor funding options. They were the only prospective partner that put funding on the table for us in that way.”

🤩 What we’ve been reading and talking about

🚗 Accelerating code to road with cloud workflows and Automotive OS (AWS)

🧑‍🏫 Running in cloud: Insight from tech leaders (Nordcloud)

🩺When your cloud adoption is flat-lining, how should you resuscitate it? (Nordcloud)

🧑‍🔧 Reimagining automotive report (Microsoft Azure)

Thanks for reading (bonus points for clicking) ⭐️.