g-company next step event oktober 2018
One thing is for sure: everything goes to the cloud. But the journey is different for everyone. One organization takes small steps at its own pace; the other comes in a giant leap. One starts with some online applications and the other lifts its complete IT and puts it integral in the cloud.
Everything goes and nothing is obligatory. That was the main theme in the fifth edition of our annual ‘g-company next step event’. Last week the event took place in Utrecht, and this week it was held in Mechelen, Belgium.
The attendees were offered a wide choice of practical examples, best practices and deep dives for transforming their organization; not only by replacing the technology, but also by improving processes and helping people to work smarter.
API economy
We showed that there is absolutely no need to follow an ‘all or nothing’ cloud strategy. Existing assets and provisions can perfectly be integrated into a hybrid environment. For example, Windows applications that previously had to run on-premise can be transferred to Google Cloud containers to become available as a web application. The user then has access through the browser. And it does not matter whether that browser runs on a Windows workstation or on a laptop.
The ‘API Economy’ in which we now live, with its open-standard applications, provides unprecedented flexibility. Does an application no longer matches your needs? Away with it, just choose a better application, install some APIs and off you go. This approach prevents you from being confined to a specific supplier (vendor lock-in). Google lives this principle from its start. That is why I am a fan of Google and its continuous innovation.
Groundbreaking applications
This diversity of possibilities and applications was mirrored by the variety of visitors and branches during the Next Step Event. Some examples: a home care services provider has equipped its entire team of thousands of care providers with Chromebooks for doing their work effectively and efficiently on the go – fully GDPR compliant. Or an international charity that came to orientate itself on the possibilities of the cloud. And a crowdfunding platform that wants to do more with G Suite and Analytics. Also a European market leader in the food industry that is doing a groundbreaking pilot in the field of Big Data, IoT, image recognition and analytics. They run very large numbers (millions of records per day) that are all analyzed with Google BigQuery.
New at g-company: LumApps and Google Hire
I think we have succeeded in launching a program in which the various possibilities of cloud technology came into their own. Not just from Google but also from our other partners, such as Freshworks, monday.com and Salesforce. Moreover, we have announced a new partnership: with LumApps. LumApps provides a social intranet for the Google environment, within one single space everything you need for work: personalized content, business applications, social communities and more. LumApps is the only digital workplace that is officially recommended by Google for G Suite. We also have started new services around Google Hire. This is a product that helps small and medium-sized companies to streamline the recruitment of new employees, including scheduling interviews and following their candidates. Hire is fully integrated with G Suite. We use Google Hire ourselves and we are very enthusiastic about it.
The program offered five tracks with three sessions each: collaboration, infrastructure, data analytics & machine learning, ecosystem and hardware. We have recorded all presentations on video, which are available in separate blogposts on our website.
Google as innovation machine
Rookhuijzen emphasized that standstill is deterioration. Not just because the technology is rapidly advancing. Organizations that follow the innovation pace of the cloud are simply faster than their competitors at lower costs for their IT. But also from a security point of view: a moving target is harder to hit.
Curious about the meaning of Google innovations for your company? Sign up for the Google Cloud Summit on November 28th in Zaandam.
As mentioned, every organization makes its own journey to the cloud. Yet there are obvious first steps. For example, entering Single Sign-On and Identity & Access Management. Or the introduction of Gmail and Calendar. Terminating the fileserver and switching to Drive could be a first step; a perfect occasion for the cleaning up of your data household and setting up of data management. Another, often-made first step is transferring data from various sources to the cloud and using BI and Analytics to become data-driven. Or transferring monolithic, troublesome Windows business applications to the cloud. Did you know that any Windows application can work from the Google cloud? A fine example of a sound first step is bringing the infrastructure to the cloud and then automating the management of computing power, storage, security and networking. Or how about using Jamboard for effective brainstorming?
Possibilities and choices galore. We will be happy to talk to you about your needs and options.
What steps will you take on your journey to the cloud? Contact us for advice and support.
