We’re delighted to announce that as a leading Microsoft Cloud partner, we have signed up to the Partner Pledge. The Partner Pledge will help us share our vision and passion for helping the UK prepare for the challenges of the future.

Explore the changes we’re making to prepare the UK workforce for the technology of tomorrow.

Closing the digital skills gap

We’re working alongside Microsoft to develop the digital skills needed that will help the UK prepare for the challenges of the future. The UK is currently facing a skills crisis, and we don’t have enough people entering the workforce with the technical and digital skills needed. New technologies are evolving and becoming a part of everyday business, and we need to prepare for the changes.

How? We’re launching a Technical Apprenticeship Academy to help the talent of tomorrow become the talent of today.

Technical Apprenticeship Academy

To ensure we are closing the digital skills gap, we have taken on several apprentices over the years and have taught them the technical skills as well as soft skills. Many of them have moved up the career ladder and have become Technical Engineers and Software Developers. This year, we have decided to put more focus on Technical apprenticeships as we know that certain technical skills are hard to come by these days. Therefore, we’ve launched a dedicated Technical Academy to support young people to develop the skills they need to prepare for the future. We’re partnering up with UTC and Firebrand who will be teaching our apprentices the Microsoft and Cloud skills they need for the real world.

To succeed, we’re looking for people who are determined to learn, grow and willing to take any challenge they may face. We’re looking to share our knowledge and expertise with a generation ready to learn. And will transform them from the aspiring talent of today into the industry leaders of tomorrow.

Say goodbye to the IT gender gap

The IT sector has always struggled to be diverse. Why? Many people think it’s because companies don’t want to employ females in tech. Wrong. It’s because there aren’t enough women signing up to these roles. Over 25% of women say at a young age they’ve been put off a career in tech as it’s too male-dominated. But it doesn’t have to be.

We’re working hard to encourage more women to follow their dreams and pursue their career in technology. We are shaking things up to bring out the brightest female talent within the tech industry by writing more appealing job adverts, working with technical colleges and presenting at local schools/colleges.

We’re trying to make a difference. We’ve now got the right partnerships in place to make the changes needed to the UK workforce. All we’re looking for now are people who want to grow with us on this journey. Take a look at our job openings today.

Cloud Direct are proud to have achieved G-cloud status for the seventh year, with all services submitted and accepted across all three cloud categories – hosting, software and support.

The 11th iteration of the UK government’s Digital Marketplace went live this week to continue to drive digital transformation in the public sector. This cloud procurement framework has been established to prove best practice and accredited suppliers, to give customers confidence in developing their public cloud adoption.

With almost a decade of experience as one of the earliest adopters of G-cloud, our 21 technologies, consultancy and support services have been expertly designed to support local and regional governments.

Organisations that benefit from G-Cloud 11 include central and local government, health services, education services, devolved administrations, emergency services, defence and not-for-profit organisations. They can now buy the following cloud services from Cloud Direct, under our legal name On Direct Business Services Limited:

Brett Raynes, CEO of Cloud Direct, says:

“We work with several government organisations who enjoy the increased level of security and accreditation G-Cloud 11 awards us. Our business and the services we provide are all about enabling transformation and as we expect to grow, we plan to increase our customer base amongst public sector organisations. The stringent G-Cloud framework shows our continued commitment to provide first class service and support to our clients.”

Cloud Direct is proud to be recognised as a Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Service Provider (MSP) for the second year running. Cloud Direct has not only passed its second annual audit but is one of the first Azure Experts to successfully re-audit.

The Azure Expert MSP programme was set up in 2018 by Microsoft to promote only the most capable and experienced partners. Among the 30,000 partners delivering Microsoft solutions worldwide fewer than 50 have achieved this standard. So being one of them is a huge achievement. In fact, it puts us in the top 0.07% of Microsoft partners globally.

Brett Raynes, Cloud Direct Chief Executive Officer, says:

“The Microsoft Azure Expert MSP program is one we are immensely proud to be part of. For our customers, it provides the confidence that Microsoft has done the due-diligence for them. By working with a Microsoft Azure Expert MSP, that is independently audited and accredited by Microsoft, they know they are working with a partner that provides the security, governance and optimisation required for a successful Azure project.”

In June, the Cloud Direct team spent time with an external auditor as part of the vigorous annual audit. This is a chance for Cloud Direct to show how it’s meeting the ongoing requirements to keep up with the ever-evolving technology standards. But it didn’t stop there. Cloud Direct had to demonstrate their skills, customer successes and the ability to deliver Microsoft Azure managed service offerings at scale. This includes skills to migrate and support infrastructure, data and applications in Microsoft Azure.

But what does being an Azure Expert MSP mean for our customers?

We’ve always been about empowering businesses to achieve ‘Fearless Growth’. We want to help ambitious organisations adopt the cloud and reap all its benefits. As an Azure Expert MSP, we can do so much more for you.

Better service. It’s simple, really: when you work with an expert, you get expert-level service. Microsoft has made it easier to verify the best partners by awarding this rigorous accreditation to a select few top performing partners. Every service that we offer, every customer interaction, is held to a higher standard. We love raising the bar because it makes us up our game and hop right over it.
Broader offerings. Whatever your business needs, we can deliver it. Keen on IaaS, PaaS or SaaS? We can advise you. Ready to adopt mobile working or the Internet of Things? We know all about it. Need help with app migration, security or compliance? We have experts in all areas.
Closer partnerships. Being one of the few Azure Expert MSPs in the UK brings us much closer to Microsoft. Our already close partnership is now much stronger, and all the benefits that come our way get passed directly on to you, our customers. Picture this: Microsoft’s capabilities and software paired with our expertise and skills, all working to better your business. The possibilities are endless.

Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner at Microsoft Corp, says:

“We are pleased to recognize Cloud Direct as an Azure Expert MSP. This new recognition offers our customers certainty that an organization provides excellent services on Azure.”

Cloud Direct is focused on helping businesses achieve their growth goals through the adoption and optimisation of the Microsoft Cloud. Leading the industry as one of the first Azure Expert MSPs to pass the annual audit for the second year running. This is key to helping our customers have the confidence that they can achieve their business objectives with us.

If you want to know more about how Microsoft Azure can help your business innovate get in contact with one of our experts.

The UK is considered to be the European hub for tech. Venture capitalist investment is three times higher than any of our European counterparts over the last two years (approximately £5 billion). We are in an unprecedented fourth revolution and STEM is the most in-demand skillset for the British workforce owing to the digital transformation that most businesses are undertaking.

And yet, the UK has reached a shocking shortfall of 173,000 workers, costing the UK economy £1.5 billion a year. How long can Britain maintain its top spot as a tech giant with the skills gap growing larger every year?

According to Microsoft, 65% of students today will end up working in jobs that don’t currently exist. With this exciting future ahead, why is there such a large coding skills gap in the UK?

1. Gender

The gender gap is a massive contributor to the skills shortage. So, what’s causing this issue?

‘Pinkification’

Gender stereotyping from birth can be largely held to blame for the lack of women showing an interest in coding from an early age. From toys and clothes to job roles and career possibilities, historically we have hardwired the female gender to cast aside maths, science and technology because of their ‘boyish’ connotations.

This is not new news. In fact, Dr Hannah Dee, previously named the ninth most influential woman in UK IT, is pioneering an annual event encouraging women to enter the IT industry.

Education

At GCSElevel, girls are outstripping the boys across the board. However, it’s the boys who outnumber the girls 8 to 2 in Computer Science classes at university level. Young women aren’t being encouraged into a career in STEM subjects – at least not as much as young men. At such a vital development stage, educational institutions need to do more. Not just to broaden the general uptake of STEM subjects, but to encourage women into them, too.

The good news is we’re starting to see more of this. The government has introduced a drastic shake up of the traditional ICT lessons in schools for children as young as 5. Instead, the focus is on a ‘computing’ curriculum with a big emphasis on coding. Putting this time and energy into the coding topic with children at such an early age should start to make an impact on the subjects they choose further down the line.

Alongside the governments’ rigorous curriculum change are pioneers like Kano who are encouraging exploration in the world of coding with toys, games and online activities. Whether it’s in the classroom or at home, children can embrace the world of coding from a fun and engaging perspective, regardless of their gender.

2. Diversity

There appears to be a certain ‘stereotype’ of your typical UK coder; fresh, young (likely male) university graduates who invariably come from a white, British background. They demonstrate those ‘geeky’ skills that make them an excellent candidate for sitting at their desk, doing 14-hour days.

As a result, unconscious (and even sometimes conscious) bias means managers tend to hirepeople who are culturally similar to themselves. So, it stands to reason that a white, British male is more likely to recruit other white, British males when hiring for a tech role.

Sadly, even if someone from a different gender, culture or race gets the coveted job, they often experience an overwhelming sense of not belonging due to the lack of representation. And even the big organisations are failing when you see that Blacks and Hispanics only make up:

1%of Twitter’s engineering leadership
2% of Google’s team
2%of the techies at Facebook

It’s not good enough and companies need to start actively doing more to promote diversity instead of just paying it lip service.

3. Brexit

Although schools are trying to address the growing coding skills gap, there is concern that this development isn’t filtering through into the job market quickly enough. Since the UK’s decision to leave the EU, half of UK employers say the skills gap will worsen. That means the pressure is on to fill the void.

‘At a time when wage growth is so important to families in the UK, we must act fast to improve our home-grown digital skills if the UK is to stay at the forefront of the global digital economy post-Brexit,’ said Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays UK.

So how can we bridge the coding skills gap?

The government and many prominent businesses are already making big commitments and great strides to address the skills gap in the UK. These include:

Education: By opening up a broader spectrum of STEM subjects at primary school level, we will ensure that more children go on to pursue a career in the specialist topics this country needs in the workplace – regardless of gender.
Discussion: Talking about and addressing the skills gap at major conferences will also help businesses focus on the problem and collectively find solutions. Find a front row seat at one of Cloud Direct’s latest talks or events here.
Mentorship:The Institute of Coding is a £40 million initiative backed by the government, 60 universities, industry experts and businesses to deliver practical skills and mentorship to students and those already in relevant job roles.
The cloud:Cloud technology has made the world a smaller place, for the better. It’s enabled individuals from different background and circumstances to enter the job marketplace and secure work they previously would have been excluded from. Not only can remote work be possible for anyone now, but remote training and development has never been easier to deliver.

Encouraging children to start their STEM journey early is the most effective and economic way to bridge the skills gaps long term. Whatever their race, gender, culture or socio-economic upbringing, we have a generation of future technology experts just waiting to be given an opportunity. So, are you onboard?

Bring your workplace into the future, today.

We are proud to announce Cloud Direct is now a Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Service Provider (MSP), one of only a handful of UK partners to achieve this new recognition of excellence.

The Azure Expert MSP program is a new global initiative from Microsoft to highlight and promote only the most capable partners and to make their services and expertise discoverable.

“We are delighted to be one of the first Microsoft Gold Platform partners globally to receive this recognition. It’s a stunning endorsement of what we offer our customers and means they can have the confidence to make more use of the cloud technologies that will help them grow.” – Brett Raynes, CEO at Cloud Direct

What is an Azure Expert MSP?

For starters, there are just 32 globally. Becoming an Azure Expert MSP is no easy feat. The requirements are the most stringent of any Microsoft program. Partners need to validate their skills, their customer success, an ability to scale and a commitment to providing next-generation managed service offerings.

Put simply, it’s a lot of hoops to jump through.

But jump we did. And while it’s taken us a lot of hard work, patience and dedication to achieve, we know it’s going to be worth it. For us this is more than a title. It’s so that we can do the best for our customers.

“For our business to realise the benefits of Microsoft Azure, we needed the security of a supplier who can guide us along our cloud journey. Cloud Direct’s Azure managed services have allowed us to focus on delivering outcomes for the business, not managing infrastructure.” – Jason Moon, Head of IT at Simarco International Ltd

What does being an Azure Expert MSP mean for our customers?

Better service. It’s simple, really: when you work with an expert, you get expert-level service. Microsoft has made it easier to verify the best partners by awarding this rigorous accreditation to a select few top performing partners. Every service that we offer, every customer interaction, is held to a higher standard. We love raising the bar because it makes us up our game and hop right over it.
Broader offerings. Whatever your business needs, we can deliver it. Keen on IaaS, PaaS or SaaS? We can advise you. Ready to adopt mobile working or the Internet of Things? We know all about it. Need help with app migration, security or compliance? We have experts in all areas.
Closer partnerships. Being one of the few Azure Expert MSPs in the UK brings us much closer to Microsoft. Our already close partnership is now much stronger, and all the benefits that come our way get passed directly on to you, our customers. Picture this: Microsoft’s capabilities and software paired with our expertise and skills, all working to better your business. The possibilities are endless.

“We are pleased to recognize Cloud Direct as an Azure Expert MSP. This new recognition offers our customers certainty that an organization provides excellent services on Azure.” – Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner at Microsoft Corp

We couldn’t do it without you

We are nothing without our customers. And we certainly wouldn’t have reached Azure Expert MSP status without our customers pushing us to deliver ‘Fearless Growth’. This has been an incredible journey for all of us at Cloud Direct, but it’s only the beginning. We want you to come with us for the rest of the ride.

Keep pushing us. Keep demanding more. Keep reaching for the next goal. It’s what has made us great, and what will make you great, too.

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