European Enterprise Award 2020

40 EU BUSINESS NEWS / 2020 European Enterprise Awards , Best SME Cloud Computing Services Company Based inHampshire, UKCloud is a trustedmulti-cloud provider to the public sector. Following its well-deserved success in the European Enterprise Awards 2020, we got in touchwith Ellie Robson-Frisby to find out more. Nov20634 Founded in 2012, UKCloud was created to do the right thing for the public sector by delivering better services for citizens and better value for taxpayers. To start, Ellie gives us a brief overview of the firm and offers more insight into its clientele. “A genuine multi-cloud platform commoditises and democratises flexible, secure and affordable cloud services which then enables our customers and partners to focus on their outcomes. Established to provide a secure, scalable, and cost-effective cloud platform, we continue to drive the digital transformation of public services in the UK. The platform is hosted entirely within the same secure facilities as Crown Hosting and is operated by security-cleared experts to provide a safe and trusted environment for government workloads. While bringing together previously disconnected datasets and systems, the UKCloud platform provides a foundation for more effective collaboration and greater use of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence.” Creating clear opportunities for the UK tech sector, UKCloud consists of more than 300 partners including the leading system integrators, managed service providers and independent software vendors. Specifically, the team delivers SaaS solutions to public sector communities like healthcare and defence. Focusing on doing the right thing by accelerating the shift from inflexible/inefficient legacy IT to digital public services in the UK, they make transformation happen cheaper, faster and safer. Rather than adopting a one- size-fits-all approach, the firm provide the choice and flexibility to deliver the right cloud solution for every environment, as Ellie explains further. “Instead of adopting a standard approach, we specialise in high assurances and secure connectivity so that public sector organisations do not have to compromise the security of their secure and sensitive solutions that aren’t designed to be public-facing. Recognising that organisations need help on their journey to cloud, we’ve built a team of local experts that can help at every stage of the programme from ideation, through to migration, ongoing management and support.” Despite growing from a core team of six to nearly 250 full-time employees, UKCloud remain an SME but this hasn’t hindered the firm’s capabilities, as Ellie goes on to explain. “As a young and dynamic company, we punch above our weight in offering innovative and responsive cloud solutions to the UK public sector. Operating a distinctive and ground breaking business model, we have a clear vision to revolutionise the way public services are delivered through the use of digital technology.” As public sector organisations begin to modernise their operations, a number of challenges are presented, as Ellie points out. “Firstly, it’s difficult to keep up with the skills requirement of transformation. Contracting in skilled resources is expensive and unsustainable for even the largest departments. Secondly, there is a drive towards better multi-agency solutions which combine the capabilities of different parts of the public sector. Finally, the cyber threats from nation states are at an all-time high, and regulation such as GDPR is heightening the public perception of the value of their data privacy. In this regard, compliance is key to managing risks and delivering digitally resilient services.” Finally, Ellie discusses the main benefits of the firm being based in Europe before outlining its goals for 2021 and beyond. “Here at UKCloud, our customers value our UK sovereign status and the fact that their data will never leave the UK or be subject to a foreign jurisdiction. This means that the legal and contractual aspects of cloud computing are simple and straightforward, and our presence in the market increases supply diversity and encourages competition to help reduce the risk of too much data concentrating on too few providers. “Additionally, growth has enabled us to create jobs and contribute to the UK’s digital skills pool through a range of apprenticeships and under-graduate programmes. In 2019, UKCloud announced a significant £25m investment from Digital Alpha Advisors, LLC, that will enable accelerated digital transformation of UK public services through its unique multi- cloud platform. Moving forward, we are now planning on achieving 3X growth over the next three years.” Company: UKCloud Contact: Ellie Robson-Frisby Website: www.ukcloud.com