What is SAP recruitment?

SAP S/4HANA is an intelligent enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. It makes use of machine learning to analyse business processes and data in real-time. December 31 2027 marks the expiration of SAP maintenance for previous ERP versions, making migration to SAP S/4HANA critical for businesses to ensure stability and compliance

SAP recruitment is a niche area focused on connecting businesses with certified SAP professionals who possess the skills necessary to manage and support SAP software environments. These recruitment services go beyond standard hiring practices, leveraging expertise in the SAP ecosystem to find candidates with specialised knowledge in modules such as S/4HANA, FICO, and SuccessFactors. This recruitment strategy is essential in supporting digital transformation and ensuring businesses have the talent required to stay competitive in a tech-driven landscape.

S/4HANA migration drives urgent talent needs

The SAP ecosystem is evolving rapidly, and as the 2027 S/4HANA migration deadline looms, organisations are under increasing pressure to secure talent with expertise in this next-generation platform. Studies indicate that nearly half of SAP users report a lack of qualified S/4HANA specialists, which has led to stalled projects and compromised timelines. This shortage poses a global financial risk, with an estimated $162 billion in lost revenues due to project delays and unfilled SAP roles.

Hiring certified migration specialists can bridge these gaps, yet finding individuals with the right expertise is challenging. The demand for S/4HANA talent is only expected to grow, so having a strategy in place now is critical for businesses aiming to stay on schedule and avoid costly setbacks.

Why traditional hiring methods fall short

For most organisations, traditional hiring approaches are proving inadequate in addressing SAP talent needs. Internal recruitment teams may lack the specialised knowledge required to evaluate SAP candidates effectively, and generic job boards often yield unsuitable applicants. Additionally, hiring for SAP roles typically takes significantly longer than the industry average, delaying projects and placing a strain on existing teams.

Generic hiring practices often fail to identify candidates with the nuanced technical skills or the specific SAP certifications required for complex roles. A specialised SAP recruitment partner, on the other hand, understands the technical demands and can quickly connect businesses with high-quality candidates, minimising time-to-hire and improving the calibre of hires.

How specialist recruiters deliver unique value

SAP recruitment specialists bring invaluable advantages to companies struggling with talent acquisition. Here’s how:

1. Pre-Vetted Talent Pools: SAP recruitment agencies maintain extensive networks of pre-screened professionals, ensuring clients have access to a pool of qualified, ready-to-hire candidates.
2. Deep Understanding of Certification Requirements: SAP specialists are well-versed in the certification and training requirements for S/4HANA and other SAP modules. They can identify candidates who possess the precise skills and certifications needed for a smooth project rollout.
3. Access to Passive Candidates: Many skilled SAP professionals are not actively seeking new positions, making it difficult for traditional methods to reach them. Specialist recruiters, however, often have established relationships with these passive candidates, creating an advantage in a tight job market.

Building effective SAP talent strategies

Creating a sustainable SAP talent strategy requires more than just filling immediate vacancies. An effective strategy should include:

• Competitive Compensation: Offering salaries aligned with market rates helps attract top-tier talent. SAP skills are in high demand, so companies that benchmark compensation effectively have a better chance of securing qualified candidates.
• Clear Career Progression: Highlighting growth opportunities within the organisation can make positions more attractive. Career development and training options can entice professionals to join and stay with the company.
• Mix of Permanent and Contract Solutions: Depending on project needs, a blend of full-time employees and contract specialists can provide flexibility and ensure skills are available when and where they’re needed.

Maximising ROI through strategic partnerships

Partnering with an SAP recruitment specialist can significantly boost the return on investment for businesses seeking SAP talent. Benefits include:

• Reduced Time-to-Hire: With access to pre-vetted candidates, specialist recruiters can dramatically shorten the hiring process, which is crucial in high-demand areas like SAP.
• Improved Retention Rates: Hiring the right fit from the start reduces turnover, leading to long-term savings in recruitment and training costs.
• Proactive Talent Pipeline Development: SAP recruiters can help businesses develop a talent pipeline, ensuring a steady flow of qualified candidates as the company’s SAP needs evolve. They also provide market insights that keep organisations informed about hiring trends and salary benchmarks, making it easier to plan for future talent demands.

Your next steps in SAP recruitment

The evolving SAP landscape requires businesses to rethink their talent acquisition strategies. By partnering with SAP recruitment specialists at La Fosse, companies gain access to the expertise and networks necessary to navigate today’s complex hiring environment. If your organisation is ready to overcome SAP hiring challenges, reach out to us to discover how La Fosse can help you secure the talent you need to stay competitive. With the right partnership, you can streamline your S/4HANA migration and build a future-ready SAP team.

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Poor data literacy 

Referring to a lack of understanding surrounding the role of data analytics across a business, poor data literacy is often a result of low visibility or engagement. Other teams are unclear about the work that data analytics teams put in, which can be difficult to demonstrate to those without a deep technical comprehension or a direct connection to the impact it has.  

Building successful infrastructure commonly goes unnoticed; it’s only when there’s a failing or weakness within that infrastructure that the wider team feels the absence of good data.  

“It’s the role of the data analysts to break down projects, present specific metrics, and connect the work they’re doing with individuals and teams across the business to bring a greater understanding and, therefore, appreciation for data professionals. They’ve got to be their own champions.”  

If the business isn’t digital-first, it can be hard to properly present the benefits of data analysis across the many different functions it serves. Begin with a statement of intent or direction: are we answering a specific question or solving a specific problem? Who will be affected by the outcome? Are we building something new or further exploring something that already exists?   

Utilising tools such as dashboards can help others to visualise objective data and why it’s such an important component, and demonstrating tangible outputs resonates more with colleagues who are less technically minded, with less understanding of the full data journey.   

Risk intervention takes an alternative approach, outlining the possible negative outcomes associated with unavailable data or insight. Whilst many would rather promote positive effects, scare tactics are effective in driving home the importance of good data.  

Simplifying concepts can be a great help when communicating value; something that may seem straightforward to the data team isn’t necessarily accessible to all. Using clear steps and outcomes allows others to recognise how data is having a measurable impact on their projects and the business as a whole.   

Stakeholder buy-in  

Support from stakeholders is key for any business function, but when it comes to elements like data science that are still considered ‘new’, it’s even more challenging to get buy-in.  

It’s important to have allies within the leadership team who not only understand the impact of the work, but also communicate this effectively to the wider team. These senior stakeholders want to see real economic value, so using metrics that demonstrate a cost or time saving, or result in increased efficiency and output, can be instrumental in getting the buy-in that the data team needs.  

“Whole business concepts are difficult to present – breaking down the data points into specific blocks and mapping projects using those blocks makes them easier to digest.” 

Case studies and storytelling are other tools that help stakeholders to visualise outcomes, demonstrating real-life examples of how and where data analysis has resulted in a success story.  

When it comes to the more senior stakeholders, putting a flagship product at the centre is often an easy win. Being able to pinpoint areas for improvement with the products that the business relies on generates interest, especially if there are tangible outcomes to the changes being made.  

It’s also important to actively promote the data team overall. Building relationships that instil a culture of collaboration, being present, open, and involved makes a big difference with attitudes towards the data function.  

Those relationships also establish trust with your stakeholders; facilitating conversations and mutual respect between the different parties means there’s a greater chance that everyone involved will feel they’re working towards a shared goal. Show flexibility with regard to others’ needs and ask for input.  

Skills gaps 

“Lots of people are technically great, but don’t have commercial understanding and awareness, can’t sit with stakeholders, or drive strategy and growth. Then, on the other hand, you find that most technical people want to stay technical, not be collaborative or client-facing.” 

Whilst the skills-gap piece is experienced across most sectors at some point, placing for roles within data can present a specific challenge as a result of the technical and soft skill solution requirement. Those with technical expertise are not always equipped or motivated to manage stakeholders and propose strategy, and those with more understanding of the business perspective can be lacking in technical know-how.  

Consider attracting candidates from alternative talent pools outside of data – those with different experiences, different passions, and different skills who can contribute to diversity of thought and approach to work. Those with a numerical mindset, but with the presence and confidence to communicate strategically with wider teams, often perform well.   

It’s also important to remember that teams are made up of individuals. There will still be a place for a singularly technical individual and a singularly strategic individual; it’s about ensuring the balance across the division is correct. Team members who want to stay on the individual contributor path provide stability and longevity that should be highly valued.   

“It’s about attitude over aptitude – you can teach technical skills, but you can’t teach curiosity, or how to think, or how to approach problems.”  

AI and the future of data 

AI is already widely considered the next innovation in tech, and its impact on the data landscape is unquestionably an important factor in that.  

Building, maintaining, and adapting foundational systems will be a key element of its usability and success; trust in data warehouses will be fundamental, as will understanding the layers of capability and the effect AI application will have on different platforms and functions.   

“AI tries to mimic humans, but humans are wrong all the time, so will it become normalised that AI is also wrong?” 

 The ability to map, analyse, and report on huge amounts of data at speed will potentially change the way these teams work. But as with any new technology, the capabilities and possible failures have not yet been fully applied or explored. Using AI alongside other analytics tools, creating a blended model, could give data analysts the best of both worlds.  

Thanks to our event facilitator Kelly Freeman, Head of Data at World of Books Group, special guest Leo Pape, Co-founder at Point Sigma, and to all our attendees. 

To find out more about La Fosse’s total talent solution, or for information on upcoming events, contact Kayla Usswald. 

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Panellists:

Hannah Prevett (Moderator) – Deputy Editor, The Times Enterprise Network

Simon La Fosse – Founder and Executive Chairman, La Fosse Associates

Saul Klein – Founding Partner, LocalGlobe

Chris Loake – Chief Technology & Operations Officer, C Hoare & Co.

Milena Nikolic – CTO, Trainline

Joysy John – CEO, 01 Founders

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Shifting priorities

The UK has always been a major player in the tech world. Now, nearly 3 million people in the UK work in tech, with 100,000s of job openings available each day. As Saul Klein notes, the UK tech economy is the “third-fastest growing and most important ecosystem globally”, sitting just behind the Bay Area and Beijing. As technology continues to weave its way across all sectors, demand for these roles is growing rapidly year on year.

Post-pandemic, however, people are rethinking what they want from work – as employers will be aware, flexible working has become a top priority. Despite the massive growth in the tech industry and jobs within the sector, demand still far outstrips supply; the ability and desire to work remotely has resulted in a highly competitive, candidate-led landscape. Consequently, many businesses are struggling to get the right people, with the right level of experience, at the right price for their budget. Because skills are in such high demand, larger companies are willing to pay much higher than average to secure the talent they need; even among people with one or two years of experience, salaries have inflated so much that it has become common for people to be offered double their pay grade.

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How can businesses change the way they hire?

The crux of all this is that it’s time for companies to change the way they hire. This event’s panel put forward four key approaches that employers should consider as part of any ongoing hiring plans.

1. Lead with flexibility

Being too prescriptive could jeopardise your ability to bring in top talent – in today’s competitive market, employers should empower and trust people to choose what works for them. As well as remote working having many obvious benefits to the employee, especially in terms of well-being and work-life balance, it also opens up lots of opportunities for employers – as candidates are no longer tied to a specific location, being flexible around remote working allows access to a much deeper, international talent pool. This “flexibility first” approach has already been adopted by companies like Trainline; CTO Milena Nikolic discusses how they are implementing hybrid working models and encourages businesses to “empower people to choose what works for their personal work-life balance”, something she believes will lead to a more successful business and provide better results.

2. Lead with purpose

As Milena Nikolic continues, “Coming out of the lockdowns, I think everyone had time to step back to rethink what’s important to them.” In a world where “hygiene aspects” like compensation are becoming less of a problem, “it’s now starting to be also about the purpose of the company and what the company is trying to achieve”. Simon La Fosse also notes that “we’re seeing an increasing need for people to feel connected to the organisation that they’re working with, and why shouldn’t they?” 

Businesses need to consider what else they’re offering to potential employees – how can they leverage their ethos and position themselves as somewhere employees can connect to and be fulfilled by?

​3. Lead with development

With the risk of paying well over market rate for senior roles, UK businesses would be prudent to shift their focus from the “knee-jerk reaction” of replacing senior talent to one led by developing and nurturing early-stage talent within the business. As Simon explains, “It’s just not about trying to replace experienced people. It’s about getting them in earlier, nurturing them, developing them, going through the effort that’s involved in that, and taking care with people. And that is […] what companies in the UK need to appreciate more than they have in the past.” Chris Loake also gives his view on the subject, noting the main challenge to hiring being that, “everybody wants to hire somebody with five years’ experience…but in the industry that I work in, that’s just not realistic”.

In short, investing in internal learning and development – putting mechanisms in place that allow junior hires to stay and develop effectively within the business – could be a much more programmatic answer to the issues we have today. As Saul Klein, Co-Founder of LocalGlobe argues, “If you don’t invest in your talent brand – in training, in learning, and development – and you’re not building your internal capacities, then you’re not going to be a talent leader.”

4. Look outside the box

In today’s age, technology is not a separate career path – every business is a tech business to some extent, and the majority of office workers are expected to use technology as an integral part of their role. As such, many businesses have started to look outside of their usual pools of STEM graduates to find people with transferrable skills and the right attitude and potential to be trained and upskilled.

According to Tech Nation, of the 2.9 million tech workers in the UK, nearly 1.1 million of these are made up of people working digital jobs outside of the tech sector itself. As most of these workers will likely not have come from a tech background, it also proves that skills are easily transferrable from one sector to another with tech as the lynchpin. This is a case of improving diversity in a different sense than what we’re used to – inclusive hiring is an invitation to, as Saul puts it, “stop thinking in silos” and put more value on soft skills and individual potential.

​Who is responsible for reshaping the UK tech workforce?

The government is already allocating spending to build out the economy, but there is only so much they can do when it comes to making change on a smaller scale. Tech is here to stay, and it is our communal responsibility (whether business leaders, employers, or educators) to address the skills gap and ensure that the tech of the future is built by people from all walks of life.

Fixing the skills shortage and democratising access to tech careers is something we’re passionate about at La Fosse; as a talent partner to many leading businesses, we have a responsibility to help them enact change and set standards for the wider industry. We are pioneering this change through our award-winning tech training company, futureproof. Since 2019, the academy has already launched the careers of over 100 future tech superstars from all backgrounds, training them in full-stack web development before placing them into junior roles within leading companies for two years, with full support from our team throughout.
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If you’re interested in learning more about how futureproof associates can benefit your tech teams, visit our website or book in a call with our Head of Commercial, Claudia Cohen.

No matter your hiring needs, our top-to-bottom talent services are here to help. View our services here or get in touch with your account manager today. 

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The conversation around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is not a new one. And yet, excessive time spent studying and talking about what the problems are only delays change and results in lost generations of opportunity. The time for action is now, and conversations across the board need to start moving from ‘how do you see the problem?’ to ‘what are we actively doing today to solve it?’

We brought together 25 DE&I leaders from organisations of all sizes to discuss their visions for the future, common stumbling blocks, and how we can support each other to make this vision of equality a reality.

​What DE&I initiatives can I implement in my business?

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for DE&I. Where large organisations may have large spending pots, for start-ups and scale-ups, competing budget priorities mean it’s often hard to implement large-scale projects. But regardless of size, so long as actionable steps are put in place at all levels and a percentage of the organisation’s budget is dedicated to ensuring this can be executed, true DE&I is an achievable goal.

Government legislation is also an effective way of driving change within larger organisations. One example of this is affirmative action planning, something which is mandated in the US for organisations who have over 50 employees and specified federal ties.

An affirmative action plan (AAP) is a written document which outlines an organisation’s specific plans and data on representation within the workplace, including information on how many colleagues are hired, how many leave, a target growth rate for improving DE&I and the plan to make this happen. Currently, the US law surrounding AAPs only measures three strands (female, Black and Hispanic employees) but the scope for expansion of this legislation is promising, and certainly something that other countries and organisations would do well to adopt in the near future.

To encourage buy-in past implementing formal policies and a DE&I officer, another initiative many organisations are setting up are employee networks (also known as affinity or employee resource groups). Usually run voluntarily by employees, these provide a safe space for their peers to openly discuss thoughts and experiences around DE&I, among other topics. Not only have networks been shown to increase employee retention rates and make organisations more desirable, with the right backing from HR and the executive board (such as rewards or incentives for those involved) they can provide highly beneficial insights in all areas, from D&I to business growth and customer relations.

​What has been done so far to improve DE&I?

Across the board, progress has been made towards improving demographic diversity (gender, race, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation, neurodiversity etc.) but there’s still a lot to be done. Here are some positive examples given by our panellists:

• Women in Finance Charter – over 330 financial firms across the world have pledged to promote gender diversity by committing to implement four key industry actions.
• After hitting its goal of achieving a minimum of 30% female representation on FTSE 100 boards, the 30% club has now expanded its 2023 targets to include there being “at least one person of colour on every FTSE 350 board […] with half these seats going to women”.
• In October 2020, Legal and General told FTSE 100 organisations that they will vote against those who fail to diversify their leadership teams by 2022. They will openly vote against re-election of chairman or head of nomination committee if this is not met.
• The Diversity VC Standard is an assessment and certification process that sets a benchmark for best practice within VC and sends a signal that a fund follows best DE&I practices to the rest of the ecosystem. With more funding, this could be extended to start-ups and scale-ups to better support D&I as they grow and give them more exposure.
• The Investor Leadership Network is currently building a dashboard that allows people to mentor and coach each other. This has a lot of promise for fund/project managers who aren’t ready for institutional capital and perhaps don’t yet have a board of directors but have a lot of potential. With the right attention, this project could help people to get to board level more quickly.
• The Private Equity Women Investor Network (PEWIN) has recently announced plans to expand its US-based Project Pinklight – an accelerator program designed to help women launch their own private equity funds – into London. The project helps female founders to give and receive assistance with upfront capital to get off the ground.
• Investment firms including KKR, TPG and Goldman Sachs have programs which involve office hours for advice and a ‘big sibling relationship’ where they take on an advisory role and lend their name for fundraising – some seed capital needs to be used, but this is not always easy to get in the first place, so smaller organisations could do with more support in this area.

Many organisations, including La Fosse, are also now including socio-economic factors in their D&I plans. Our coding academy was founded in 2018 to tackle the diversity issue within software engineering, and uses a free-for-students policy to provide equal opportunities and focus on applicants’ individual ability rather than their ability to pay.

​What are the hurdles faced when trying to achieve DE&I?

The consequences of not focusing on DE&I are clear: continued employee tribunals, continued BLM protests, and general injustice and imbalance across the world.

And yet, when budgets are tight, DE&I initiatives are often the first thing to come under scrutiny for being a ‘nice to have’ rather than an essential function. Even tech giant Google has recently been accused by employees of reducing their internal D&I training team, leaving vacancies unfilled, and cutting back or dropping some programmes completely.

1. D&I is not simply an HR/CEO/board-level responsibility – although they are responsible for setting tone, every employee is responsible for ensuring D&I. Approximately 50% of DE&I best practices are not directly related to diversity, but are practices desired by everyone, such as fair treatment and organizational flexibility.
2. Currently, there is no consistent measurement system for data regarding the D&I process. This makes it hard for judges to compare when one organisation has data and others don’t, and in most cases, the one with auditable data will win
3. Whether conscious or unconscious, bias exists everywhere. According to blind hiring organisation FairHire, 20% of 540 UK female BAME jobseekers surveyed altered their name in applications and almost all who changed their name reported a higher level of call-backs from potential employers – unconscious bias training can help us to eliminate this.
4. Differences in legislation (such as LGBT rights) between countries can make it difficult to implement a cohesive strategy.
5. There are a lot of barriers in the way for people from diverse backgrounds hoping to start a VC organisation or fund. Founders are expected to have tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds readily accessible, as well as the ability to relocate, which simply isn’t viable for a lot of people.

How can we close the DE&I gap?

Successful DE&I initiatives are not ‘pet projects’ to be put on the backburner, they are long-term, targeted campaigns which include every single leader and hold people personally accountable for meeting objectives. To see results, programs must be connected and aligned at all levels, and also require organisations to invest in doing it properly. D&I results require passion – individuals at all levels need to have the right mindset and be personally committed to achieving positives and contributing towards fighting injustice. As one of our panellists asserted, ‘diversity shouldn’t be a layer on top or a topic of the week, it should be baked into the DNA of the organisation’.

For the final part of the event, attendees were given a hypothetical scenario: with £100,000 and a 12-month window, what can we do to close the D&I gap?

• One of the difficulties in finding talent is that firms often seek highly experienced candidates who are well-established names within their industry. Expanding the pool of candidates to be considered doesn’t necessarily require capital, but instead is dependent on networking and open-mindedness on the part of employers. Organisations should be agile and willing to give opportunities to people without previous board experience, whether it be nurturing internal talent or looking for external candidates with an ambitious mindset.
• Create a database of corporate leaders willing to take board seats within VC-funded organisations. This could also be reversed, giving scale-up leaders the opportunity to sit in on board meetings and gain valuable experience.
• Develop a database of diverse corporate executives and match people from different backgrounds with people at scale-up/start-up businesses to help them develop with D&I in mind. Increased effectiveness could be achieved by pairing people by sectors or specialisms.
• Implement a reverse mentoring scheme whereby executives from diverse backgrounds mentor leadership teams on the benefits of having a diverse executive team. This could be executed within or across sectors.
• Establish the UK’s first DE&I talent investor, funding the program through corporate sponsorship and family capital. Corporates would make a commitment to contribute X% saved from postponing, cancelling or modifying graduate schemes (and the like), with family capital using the broader momentum behind impact investing to entice investment.

Rather than simply recruiting and promoting people in their own personal likeness, leaders should focus on competency-based hiring. Why do you want to hire someone diverse – what soft skills like growth mindset and innovation are we assessing, and what does ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ look like in these areas? Having data and a scoring mechanism could help shift the dial, but it’s up to business leaders to evangelise and bring everyone along on the journey.

​Final words from our event chairs

“D&I leadership and sponsorship has come a long way in the last few years. Today’s executive leaders need to do whatever they can to ensure that in 20 years we are not having the same conversation. We hope this event provided impetus and insights into how we can collectively work together to close the D&I gap.” – Sunil Jindal

“In order to create change we must be bold and decisive. We must stop talking about stats and the issues we have in our society and hold everyone accountable to create change now, not in 10 years’ time. It was a delight to work with our amazing speakers on this event and thank you to everyone who attended.” – Sean Kiff

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This event was facilitated by DEVYANI VAISHAMPAYAN, Managing Partner at HR Tech Partnership and career HR Director.

How is AI impacting the future of work?

Devyani opened with two key stats:

• 65% of the jobs that people will be doing in 10 years have not even been thought of yet.
• 91% of millennials expect to change jobs every three years, implying 15-20 employers over their career.

These projections have a huge impact on the work of HR departments, requiring a complete re-think with regard to training, retention and career development planning. However, technology does provide a range of benefits in areas such as employee experience, collaboration, augmentation of processes and much more.
As technology becomes more sophisticated and we move towards further automation of processes, it’s not just HR functions who will be affected. Workforce composition is also expected to change significantly, with many full-time positions being replaced by part-time, mobile and contracted roles. As a result of all the above changes, many organisations will be required to re-think their leadership culture and overalls structure, as well as their data privacy and ethics policies as more and more data becomes available.

What impact will AI have on jobs?

Machines ‘taking over jobs’ is an increasingly key concern for any organisation, but there is a silver lining – advances in technology can allow for positive substitution, of ‘physical, repeatable jobs’ that then enable workers to focus their time on more skilled tasks and strategy planning.
According to a PwC report, the impact of AI will come in three waves:

• Wave 1 – Algorithmic (now -> early 2020s)
  Simple computational tasks and analysis of structured data
• Wave 2 – Augmentation (early 2020s -> late 2020s)
  Dynamic interaction and robotic tasks in semi-controlled environments
• Wave 3 – Autonomous (late 2020s -> mid 2030s)
  Automation of physical labour and problem solving in dynamic, real-world situations

Effects also depend on individual countries’ education and development stages. Third-world countries will be affected quickest, followed by service economy areas such as the UK, US and Europe. Highly developed countries like Japan and South Korea are already highly automated, so will likely not see significant change until the 2030s.

Which skills will be in demand?

Among the list of skills due to become more in demand are, naturally, AI and digital skills – in the coming years, every job will have a digital element and all workers must embrace new technology, whether it augments their role or allows for deeper analysis and strategy. As more tasks are automated, empathy and other ‘human skills’ are likely to be more highly valued – making customers feel understood and maintaining company culture is key to the future of any business in a digital world.

What can we do to understand AI and digital?

According to research by KPMG, 70% of HR executives recognise the need for workforce transformation but just 37% feel ‘very confident’ about HR’s actual ability to transform and move them forward via key capabilities like analytics and AI.
Thankfully, there’s a lot that can be done to quell any fears and work towards a more digital future, and it all starts with mindset. It’s time to start moving away from the ‘headwind’ mindset of:
‘Digital is not for us, we’re not a tech company and we don’t have time to do anything more than is essential.’
to a tailwind mindset of:
‘We will lead on this transformation – digitisation is a great business opportunity and even if we don’t have the answers, we are willing to experiment!’
It’s also crucial that HR departments ensure everyone in the business gets familiar with AI and digital, identifying areas where it can be beneficial to business in terms of costs and efficiency. Particularly, it’s crucial that board and C-level staff are digitally savvy in order to drive change.
The world is changing, and if businesses don’t adapt, they will collapse.

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As an industry, there is undoubtedly a vast amount of hiring ahead of us that will require a huge number of people to fill the demand. As it currently stands, absolutely, there are not enough people to fill those roles, there is no denying that.

However – this problem doesn’t stem from lack of people. It’s from an overly risk-averse approach to hiring, and a narrow mindset around how we go about it.

For smaller organisations building their first ever security function, it’s somewhat understandable. They’re tackling a problem they haven’t encountered before, with zero knowledge of the subject; so they look to find someone from their direct competitor who can bring that knowledge to them. Understandable. Fear of the unknown, get someone who’s seen it all before. Fine. A bit like booking a wedding planner, best not to risk it.

But really, we know that’s not the case. ‘Been to one wedding, been to them all’. SMEs are facing the same cyber problems as the business upstairs and the company next door, regardless of the industry. They simply don’t know what they don’t know, and it’s down to the information industry to help educate them that it’s possible to solve the problem with people from all manner of sectors, not just their own.

The same can’t be said for ‘big business’ though. The larger organisations out there, who still consider their security problem to be entirely unique, and that no-one has seen anything else like it is, are perpetuating a fallacy. Yes, there may be certain procedures or operations that are unique in some aspects, but I don’t believe anyone is (to my knowledge) reinventing the wheel when approaching security. So why are we still so rigid in our hiring?

The answer stems from a risk-averse approach to hiring, which in turn stems from a risk-averse culture in general. We’ve all heard the various speakers at InfoSec events talk about a ‘fail-fast culture’, but I know from endless conversations with security professionals who I work with day in day out, that very few have cultures where it’s genuinely ok to get things wrong. It’s why organisations are looking for a hundred out of a hundred requirements to be fulfilled when going to market, and then find themselves wondering why they haven’t hired nine months later. Risk-averse cultures are perpetuating risk-averse hiring, and it’s holding the industry back.

Cyber is, for the first time in its existence, ‘in vogue’, forever in the media and now in the boardroom, but the barriers to entry are holding us back from riding the wave. Relying on perfect ten-out-of-ten hiring isn’t going to plug the gap. To the dozens of CISOs who have told me of their ties to Royal Holloway and their plans to draw talent from there, I’m afraid to say, given the number of you with the same plan, unless they have begun successfully farming graduates, it won’t plug the gap either!

There’s an abundance of network engineers and infrastructure analysts with an itch they’re ignoring around whether they should make a move into InfoSec. Then there are those who may not have that itch, but do have a negative view of security as a result of bad interactions in years gone by. Has there ever been a better time to change perceptions through a step change in behaviours and openness? Or, further afield again, to colleagues in Op Risk, Audit, or from elsewhere in the business, who see Cyber as an intriguing opportunity that’s close by but with no obvious channels through which to get involved or even begin to learn. Organisations need to take ownership of upskilling individuals who might not be the final product now, but can be turned into something close to the desired end state. There wasn’t anyone with three JD Edwards roll-outs under their belt when the first instance came to market, but the result was achieved with an understanding of the fundamentals and a mindset around solving the problem.

Let’s not also forget, if we continue to hire within sector, our diversity challenges will continue to loom. It’s no coincidence that all of the ‘UK Technology Fast 50’ see diversity & inclusion as a driving factor behind their success (1). A roughly 11% female population in information security will remain 11% if we only fish within the 11% (2). Perhaps the person who does reinvent the security wheel will come from an obscure background and bring a different way of viewing the problem. No one ever learnt anything listening to themselves.

Alternatively, we can continue to rely on our friends in the Big4 to plug the gap and provide an extra layer of risk-averse padding around the problem. They’re good at what they do, don’t get me wrong – but they help us all in kicking the can further down the road. They’re beginning to be spread as thin as the rest of the industry, and bring with them a culture that doesn’t necessarily align to your own. Their knowledge doesn’t stay at the end of the programme – it leaves, along with a significant chunk of your budget & emotional investment.

So why don’t we put a greater emphasis on using their staff to up-skill ours? Using the highly-skilled contractor workforce out there to train people internally? Both are guns-for-hire and will largely fire where you aim them – changing the onus from pure CapEx deliverables to a wider value-add in the people they interact with. I’m not suggesting this is the solution, but it brings us back to having to change our approach to education in the sector, barriers to entry, and our risk-averse culture when looking to solve the problem.

I’ll never get an Oscar nod if I don’t round this off with a quippy quote. So I’ll leave you with some Benjamin Franklin, the renowned cyber expert:

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

I think it’s fair to say there’s no shortage of people out there telling us about the cyber skills gap, and not a lot of learning ….

(1) https://www.deloitte.co.uk/fast50/assets/pdf/deloitte-uk-fast50-2018.pdf

(2) https://iamcybersafe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/WomensReport.pdf

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What is multi-cloud?

Multi-Cloud is the use of two or more cloud computing services. While a multi-cloud deployment can refer to any implementation of multiple Software as a Service (SaaS) or Platform as a Service (PaaS) cloud offerings, today, it generally refers to a mix of public Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) environments, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.

So, what are the challenges?

Security – If you buy a house and decide to add 8 additional windows and 2 additional doors, naturally you are increasing the amount of possible entry points for intruders. The same rings true if you opt for multiple cloud providers. Security should be at the forefront of any business’s mind when taking on more than one cloud vendor. Vendors will provide a level of security to combat this, but it is down to you to manage and implement a safe multi-cloud strategy and to minimise the risk of data loss/security breaches.

Cost Management – Many of us have an obscene amount of subscriptions billed to our personal accounts on a monthly basis. Netflix, Amazon, Headspace, UFC, Spotify, charity contributions… It’s hard to keep up if you’re not organised. When subscribing to multiple cloud providers you need to go through the financials with a fine-tooth comb to ensure costs are congruent with the business needs each month. Whilst cost flexibility is one of the main benefits of adopting multi-cloud, each platform has its own billing system, payment options and pricing model which can quickly get out of hand. It’s important to closely monitor your cloud spend and fine-tune it accordingly to ensure multi-cloud efficiency.

Skills Gap – Finding a skilled professional who can work across AWS, Azure & GCP is no small task. With Amazon owning the lion’s share of the market, you will naturally find a lot more professionals opting to specialise purely within AWS. But across all cloud providers you will struggle to find talent with expert knowledge on more than one platform. This can be combated with clever management and strategic investment.

Multi-cloud strategies require multi-faceted teams

A key client of mine recently approached me with a common challenge: they were having trouble sourcing Oracle Cloud specialists.

After a lengthy discussion around some of the similarities between Oracle Cloud and AWS, we concluded that the best option was to bring in an AWS Architect and allow him to upskill through collaboration with the Oracle expert already on site. This kind of management, along with the willingness to invest in up-and-coming talent by offering the appropriate training, is one way to ensure that you have a diverse, multi-faceted team with the ability to manage a complex multi-cloud environment.

For more information on the best way to build team’s for multi-cloud, call on 02079322773.

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