People

Minimal Interaction with Cloud Providers: The relationship with cloud providers is transactional, brokered through a third party, and limited to accessing their services without any significant direct contact or support from their account or technical teams.

Basic Support Utilisation: Some basic support services from cloud providers are utilised, such as occasional technical assistance or access to standard documentation and resources.

Regular Interaction and Support: There is regular interaction with cloud provider account managers, including access to standard training and support services to assist in leveraging cloud capabilities.

Proactive Engagement and Tailored Support: The organisation engages proactively with cloud providers, receiving tailored support, training, and workshops that align with specific needs and goals.

Strategic Partnership with Comprehensive Support: Cloud providers are engaged as strategic partners, offering comprehensive support, including regular training, workshops, and active collaboration. This partnership is instrumental in realising strategic goals and includes opportunities for the organisation to showcase its work through the provider’s platforms.

No Formal Training Support: There is no formal support for certification or training, nor are any specific goals or targets defined for employee development in cloud skills.

Managerial Discretion on Training: Training and certifications are supported at the discretion of individual managers. Team-level training goals are set but not consistently monitored or reported.

Corporate-Level Training Support and Tracking: Training and certifications are strongly supported with allocated budgets and managerial encouragement. Team-level training goals are consistently defined, tracked, and reported at the corporate level.

Role-Based Training Recommendations and Self-Assessment: Relevant certifications are recommended based on specific roles and incorporated into personal development plans. Employees are encouraged to self-assess their progress against role-specific and team-level goals.

Incentivised and Assessed Training Programs: Employees completing certifications are rewarded with merit incentives and receive structured guidance and development plans. Periodic formal role-specific assessments are conducted, with achievements recognised through systems like GovUKCloudBadges.

No Specific Cloud Experience Requirement: Cloud experience is not a requirement in job postings; candidates are not specifically sought out for their cloud skills.

Selective Requirement for Cloud Experience: Some job postings, particularly those in relevant areas, require candidates to have prior cloud experience.

Mandatory Cloud Experience for Relevant Roles: All relevant job postings mandate cloud experience, aligning with the Digital, Data, and Technology (DDaT) role definitions.

Updated Role Requirements and Cloud-Focused Hiring: In addition to requiring cloud experience for new hires, existing roles have been reviewed and updated as necessary to reflect a cloud-first IT organisation.

Comprehensive Cloud Experience Requirement and Role Adaptation: All job postings require cloud experience, and every existing role within the organisation has been evaluated and updated where necessary to align with the needs of a cloud-first IT organisation.

Basic Qualification Based on Marketing and Framework Presence: Selection is based primarily on the supplier’s sales literature and their presence on commercial buying frameworks.

Initial Due Diligence and Basic Compliance Checks: Suppliers are chosen through basic due diligence, focusing on compliance with minimum standards and requirements.

Moderate Screening for Experience and Compliance: Partners are qualified based on their industry experience, compliance with relevant standards, and basic alignment with organisational needs.

Comprehensive Evaluation Including Technical and Ethical Alignment: Suppliers are thoroughly vetted for technical competence, ethical alignment with organisational values, and their ability to support specific cloud objectives.

Strategic Selection with Emphasis on Long-Term Value and Leadership Vision: Suppliers are selected based on a track record of excellence, recommendations from other departments, relevant certifications, demonstrable technical leadership, alignment with the civil service code, support for programs like apprenticeships, strong engagement with the leadership vision, clear articulation of risks, measurable KPIs, and long-term value for money.

No Specific Development Path: There is no special accommodation or development path for individuals with limited or no cloud experience.

Basic On-the-Job Training: Individuals with limited cloud experience are provided basic on-the-job training to help them adapt to cloud-related tasks.

Structured Training and Mentorship Programs: The organisation offers structured training programs, including mentorship and peer learning, to develop cloud skills among employees with limited cloud experience.

Integrated Learning and Development Initiatives: Comprehensive learning initiatives, such as in-house training courses or collaborations with external training providers, are in place to up-skill employees in cloud technologies.

Mature Apprenticeship/Bootcamp Program with Aftercare: A robust apprenticeship, bootcamp, or career change program exists for rapid skill development in cloud technologies. This program includes significant aftercare support to ensure long-term development and retention of the investment in these individuals.

Complete Reliance on Third Parties: Third parties are fully responsible for all cloud work, with unrestricted access to the entire cloud infrastructure.

Significant Third-Party Involvement: Third parties play a major role in delivering certain aspects of cloud work and have full access to cloud accounts.

Specialised Third-Party Support with Limited Access: Third-party providers contribute specialised knowledge and maintain ‘break glass’ (emergency) admin access only.

Specialised Knowledge without Privileged Access: Third parties provide specialised expertise but do not have any form of privileged access to cloud infrastructure.

Minimal or Augmentative Third-Party Role: Third parties are either not used at all or serve purely as staff augmentation, without any privileged access or holding exclusive knowledge.

No Defined Success Criteria: The cloud team operates without specific, defined criteria for measuring success.

Initial Achievements with Proofs of Concept: Success is measured by completing initial proofs of concept or developing a ‘minimum viable cloud/platform’.

Launching Workloads in Production: Success includes transitioning one or more workloads into a live production environment on the cloud.

Scaling Prototypes to Core Services: Success involves scaling initial prototypes to operate core technical services in the cloud, supporting business-critical applications.

Innovation and Value Creation Alignment: The organisation has established success criteria that not only focus on cloud-based innovation and experimentation but also on creating tangible value through transformation initiatives, all aligned with the organisation’s broader goals and strategy.

No Executive Sponsorship: There is no executive support for cloud adoption, indicating a lack of strategic prioritisation at the leadership level.

Senior Management Sponsorship: The initiative is sponsored by senior management, indicating some level of support but potentially lacking full executive influence.

C-Level Executive Sponsorship: One or more C-level executives sponsor the cloud adoption, demonstrating significant commitment at the highest levels of leadership.

Comprehensive C-Level Sponsorship with Roadmap: Full sponsorship from C-level executives, accompanied by a shared, strategic roadmap for cloud adoption and migration.

C-Level Sponsorship Driving Cloud-First Culture: Comprehensive C-level sponsorship not only provides strategic direction but also actively fosters a culture of cloud-first adoption, experimentation, and innovation throughout the organisation.