Cloud Cultures, Part 3: The pursuit of excellence in the United Kingdom

The swift progression of technological innovation is truly captivating. However, for me, what holds an even greater fascination is the intricate interplay of people, narratives, and life encounters that shape how technology is used every day. The outcomes of cloud adoption are shaped dramatically by the people and their culture. These stories show firsthand how technology and tradition combine to form cloud cultures.

In our first two episodes, Poland and Sweden, we explored how the people in these countries have taken important leaps in delivering new innovative technologies, and the underlying culture that helped them get there in uniquely different ways. In Poland, there is a sense of fearlessness when it comes time to act. They are a dynamic country embracing change, reinventing themselves, and creating new innovative opportunities. For Sweden, success knows no borders. Despite being one of the largest countries in Europe by landmass, it’s one of the smallest in population, which forces Sweden’s ambitious entrepreneurs to adopt a global-first mindset from day one. Now it’s our turn to explore cloud culture in the United Kingdom. 

United Kingdom: Pursuit of excellence 

Our two data center regions in the United Kingdom have been live for nearly a decade and built to help support the exploding growth of the cloud in the United Kingdom and Europe. With the evolution of new cloud services, such as generative AI, we are on the precipice of another leap in cloud-powered innovation. My time in the United Kingdom helped me see how the innovations coming from this country and their pursuit of excellence are impacting this growth. 

In my visit to the United Kingdom, I saw how towering aspirations fuel an unwavering commitment to producing premium results and have set a global standard for greatness. Excellence is an ideal we all strive for. It drives our decision-making, fuels innovation, and propels us to exceed not only our own expectations but also the demands of an ever-evolving industry. 

The cloud culture here has shown me that excellence is more than just an outcome—it’s a mindset that permeates every aspect of our work. And while achieving it is always desirable, it’s the pursuit that matters most. 

Our conversations with customers and partners helped me see how the powerful winds of innovation that have converged with local customs, values, and ways of living, helped create something unique. 

How are United Kingdom customers using the cloud? 

These conversations helped uncover how high standards are more than just a commitment—it’s a way of life. Below are just a few of the United Kingdom customers who are transforming their businesses to adapt to the growing needs of their customers in the United Kingdom, and beyond: 

• Rolls Royce Engines has delivered excellence through its engines for over 100 years. As a broad-based power and propulsion provider, they operate in some of the most complex, critical systems at the heart of global society. With each engine producing about half a gigabyte of data per flight, doing so for the next 100 years will require a transition to new ways of working. 
• London Stock Exchange Group is one of the world’s leading providers of financial markets infrastructure delivering financial data, analytics, news, and index products to more than 40 thousand customers in 190 countries. Clients rely on their expertise and innovative technologies to navigate the unpredictable currents of the financial markets. And in an industry where even the slightest edge can lead to substantial margins, they’ve found theirs using the cloud to deliver insights and cutting-edge solutions at speed. 
• VCreate is an innovative business operating in the sphere of healthcare. It develops secure video technology that connects patients, families, and clinical teams for improved diagnostic management and enhanced family-focused care. 
• KX is a global provider of vector database technology for time-series, real-time, and embedded data that provides context and insights at the speed of thought. Its software powers generative AI applications in banking, life sciences, semiconductors, telecommunications, and manufacturing. Enabling the processing and analysis of time series and historical data at speed and scale, KX gives developers, data scientists, and engineers the tools to build high-performance data-driven applications that uncover deeper insights and drive transformative business innovation.

Data is the key 

Talking to these customers, I started to pick up on a common thread. Data is the key to unlocking this excellence. These companies process vast amounts of data in order to provide quality products or services to their customers. The cloud opens opportunities to analyze this data faster for more effective decision making, by drawing deeper insights from analytics.  

“There is a lot of focus on how to improve efficiency. You should focus more on doing the right things. It’s not about doing more for less; it’s doing the right things in the first place. It’s effectiveness, not efficiency.”—Ashok Reddy, Chief Executive Officer of KX. 

There is an important distinction between efficiency and effectiveness. Operating efficiently is undeniably important, but it doesn’t guarantee exceptional results. However, aligning our actions with meaningful outcomes can definitely be a differentiating factor. 

Learn more  

Technology is a powerful tool, not on its own but because of the people and cultures that shape it. As we move into this next era of digital transformation, with AI at the forefront, our mission has never been more important—to empower every person on the planet to achieve more. Everyone has a role to play in creating a better world and at Microsoft we simply want to provide the tools and resources to do so. 

Watch the Cloud Cultures: United Kingdom episode today.  

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