AWS UK boss: 'Half of business leaders say they'll stop transforming post-pandemic - that's a concern'
Darren Hardman says businesses that are just reacting to the pandemic will fall behind
Business leaders that have said they will stop transforming post pandemic are at risk of falling behind as a result, according to AWS' UK boss Darren Hardman.
Hardman talked CRN through findings from a new report by AWS which surveyed 10,000 senior business and IT decision makers across Europe.
He said that one of the most distressing findings from the report was that half of business leaders were planning to put a halt on transforming their business with IT beyond the pandemic.
He stressed that businesses that have been purely reactive in the face of the pandemic are at risk of falling behind as new "digital native" companies enter the fray.
"Half of this group is saying that their transformation efforts were purely reactive and just a response to solving the short-term problems of the pandemic.
"This should be a concern, because what we've also seen is this huge rise of new entrants and disruptors into these legacy markets that are applying pressure on traditional business models. So if you're just reacting to the pandemic, we know that you're going to fall behind," he said.
"It's important that businesses understand that the greatest danger to them is not actually change; it's the status quo. You've got to use the cloud and this opportunity to continue to constantly reinvent yourself, and to consistently serve your customers in a different way."
Despite the findings, Hardman said that he is optimistic about the future of business in the UK post pandemic.
He pointed to a Bank of England report which said the UK economy would enjoy its fastest growth in more than 70 years in 2021 once Covid restrictions lift.
He added that the survey shows organisations have emerged from the pandemic as "more agile, more nimble and confident" despite the challenges they faced in 2020. Some 89 per cent of decision makers expect their business to grow in the next year, the report finds, with revenues set to grow by 21 per cent on average.
Some 40 per cent of business leaders said they used cloud for the first time during the pandemic, with 54 per cent claiming their business now depends on cloud.
And cloud adoption is set to continue even as the UK exits the pandemic, claims Hardman, with 64 per cent of survey respondents claiming they will use cloud beyond the Covid crisis.
Hardman quoted former AWS CEO Andy Jassy in claiming that fighting cloud computing is comparable to fighting gravity, and customers as well as channel partners are seeing cloud as an essential component to their business.
A previous AWS report found that its partners grew revenues with the cloud vendor by between 21 and 50 per cent in the last three years.
The AWS boss said that VARs including Bytes and Softcat have been ramping up their business with AWS and invited other partners to do the same.
"I think there's an opportunity for all the traditional VARs and partners that are out there and, frankly, I think they're seeing that. Of course there's still a vibrant market in that traditional software and hardware resale space, but you just have to see the tremendous growth in cloud to understand that those organisations are probably thinking about how they diversify their business and have a cloud point of view and a cloud go to market."
Partners will play a key role in expanding cloud adoption across all reaches of the UK beyond the capital, said Hardman.
Another AWS report quotes that, if cloud usage in North East of England reached London's levels it would help boost wages by 2.6 per cent in the region - the equivalent of three years' worth of pay rises.
"To thrive as an economy, we need that northern powerhouse and we need all regions of the country to have an impact," he said.
"Only partners can help make this happen; it's a matter of GDP impact and a massive, massive creation of wealth for the country for those businesses, and for those partners as well."