Captaining and navigating the entrepreneurial ship of Upside Cloud Technologies (UCT) through the stormy waters of ever-changing times, Rajesh Dubey, the Founder-Director, always knew in his heart that the path he chose would be the future. His heart was right. Today, he reflects in his mind, ten to twelve years back, he says the top six questions any business owner or IT admin used to ask then were,
- “Which is the best server company I should buy my servers from?”
- “Which is the most suitable model for my business?”
- Is it very expensive to invest in such a model? “How would I justify the cost to my company and my budget? Its ROI?”
- “Should I purchase it locally, online, or directly from the company?”
- “Will I get good post-installation support at my premise?”
- “What if, in the next two to three years, my business demands an expansion of server capacity? Will it scale up? How can I utilize it 100% if I invest in high-capacity large size upfront?”
Riding the Transition
Parallelly, Rajesh saw the trend in the IT industry during the same period, say the last ten to twelve years. He noticed that most companies adopt a subscription model for their products and services. For example, giants like Microsoft, Adobe, or ERP systems have migrated towards a subscription model. It is much easier for the product owner and the end customer to avoid local installations, upgrades and support than an on-cloud or subscription model. The backbone of this product is a strong and dynamic cloud platform that supports hosting such robust and powerful products on the cloud and provides access to their customers anytime, anywhere and from anywhere. The physical location of servers, data centres and support centres is no longer a dependency.
The thing or fact that attracted Rajesh (to the cloud tech) was that the industry now focuses on the ‘business solution’ rather than infra. Business owners, entrepreneurs, practitioners and consultants no longer need to worry about planning and investing time and money in deciding and setting up their IT infrastructure with the latest models and their availabilities and post-implementation services. Cloud setup minimizes their fear or the risk of investing in wrong or inappropriate hardware, the compliance and compatibility of various hardware among each other, their upgrades, local service and the cost fluctuation.
Cloud computing emerged as a trusted partner to all small or big businesses.
The impact of cloud computing is incredibly empowering, benefiting both large enterprises and startups alike. Enthusiasts, technophiles, and innovators now enjoy the freedom to experiment with their ideas through cloud computing, where infrastructure, resources, services, and technology are accessible via subscription models. This eliminates the need for substantial or permanent investments. Entrepreneurs can devise comprehensive business strategies or solutions, initiating their ventures with small-scale endeavours and adjusting their offerings following evolving business needs and demands. Moreover, the flexibility of cloud computing allows entrepreneurs to overhaul their setups entirely and embark on a fresh start should they decide to pivot their ideas in a different direction.
Surfing on the Waves of Change
Of course, dealing with change is not easy. When envisioning the future, it is critical to have the ability to differentiate between superficial distractions and authentic trends. It requires the ability to adapt, ready to shift direction if what was once a specialized area transforms into mainstream technology.
Upon his return to India from the United States, Rajesh found himself at a career crossroads. In 2007, there were numerous buzzwords gaining traction, such as Digital Marketing/SEO, Business Intelligence BI, Enterprise Applications ERP, Mobile Apps (Business apps), Big Data, Cloud Computing, Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency, e-commerce b2b/b2c, Internet of Things IoT, Virtual Reality VR, Augmented Reality AR, Blockchain, and more. Coincidentally, he joined a company that excelled in Real Estate ERP and had started building and had a high vision for a world-class business intelligence (BI) for Real Estate. Over the course of a decade with them, Rajesh had the opportunity to delve into several of these technologies. “With hands-on experience in the ERP implementation right from scratch, it was a great experience for me to learn and work on various technologies, network strategies, server capacity planning, distributed and failover architecture. This helped me choose Cloud Computing, IoT, and Mobile Apps as my strengths that I predicted would rise and sustain the turbulence of international growth.”
Upside Cloud Technologies is thus formed with a strong vision to grow alongside these three pillar strengths and help its customers be their trusted IT partners in their business growth.
Client-Centric Clouds
Today, UCT has emerged as one of India’s most innovative cloud consulting companies. Sharing their guiding philosophy, Rajesh says that any organisation’s cloud consulting success often relies on a combination of factors and guiding principles. “We always say and believe that the same cloud strategy may not suit all our customers and their different business models with different needs.”
Their customer-centric approach involves prioritizing a deep understanding of their clients’ unique needs and challenges. “We customize solutions to align with their business objectives and offer personalized support throughout the consulting and execution process.”
A strong partnership with leading cloud service providers such as AWS, Azure or IBM helps UCT proceed in the right direction, with its credibility and access to resources, enabling it to deliver comprehensive solutions to clients. Led by Rajesh, the team does proper analysis and assessments to assist their clients in scaling their cloud infrastructure efficiently and optimising costs. This involves ensuring clients have the right resources at the right cost, aligning with their current needs and future growth plans. UCT has a culture of continuous improvement. “We gather feedback, analyze past projects, and listen to our customer’s changing business needs to refine our methodologies, ensuring that each new project or engagement benefits from previous experiences.”
Besides these, UCT focuses on a few other key factors, including
- Security and Compliances that will safeguard client operations and infra.
- Hybrid-cloud solution to benefit from all or multi-providers.
- Adopting continuous learning that keeps the team up-to-date with the latest technologies and methodologies.
- Provide proper guidance, training and knowledge sharing to its users and client management that helps plan and deploy solutions together.
Showers of Innovations
In the ever-evolving cloud landscape, UCT remains adaptable and ahead of industry trends, providing innovative solutions to its clients. Sharing about the same, Rajesh says, “Do not execute or suggest changes in existing setup just because a newer version or model is available. This policy brings stability and confidence to our existing client’s business.”
However, every new client or new setup allows them to evaluate and learn the latest in the market. In the fast-changing landscape of cloud consulting, their commitment lies in staying adaptable and ahead of industry trends by nurturing a culture of continuous learning and innovation within the company.
“Our team members are encouraged to stay updated with the latest developments, acquire new skills, and obtain certifications in emerging technologies.”
Major players such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure Cloud, and Google Cloud (GCP) all keep their knowledge portal frequently updated, providing various forms of adapting knowledge based on UCT’s conveniences and suitable options, such as Webinars, Text content with graphical illustrations, recorded videos, organizing workshops, group meetings and so forth.
“Certain magazines in print or digital format, such as Insight Success, also bring expert opinions and opportunities to learn, challenge and test our abilities from various sectors. By remaining agile and proactive, we consistently provide innovative and cutting-edge solutions to our clients, ensuring their businesses thrive in the dynamic world of cloud technology,” adds Rajesh.
Cultivating Transformational Leadership
Recognized as the driving force behind UCT’s success, Rajesh believes that leadership can be in many areas or, rather, in all areas of work. Leader in technology, leader in sales, leader in client management and so forth. “We usually focus on adapting a collaborative and empowering environment that helps cultivate a leadership style that values open communication, active listening, and mentorship. We encourage every team member to try their ideas and express their concerns as we promote a culture of innovation and creativity.”
Some might fail or not work as expected, but there is always learning and adaptability in all situations.
In addition, Rajesh encourages continuous skill development and training programs, ensuring that his team members are equipped with the latest knowledge and expertise. “Recognizing individual strengths and encouraging diverse perspectives, we create a cohesive team that thrives on mutual respect and support.”
Striking the Chord
The essence of cloud consultancy lies in seamless operations and enhancing the cloud ecosystem and digital efficiency. This is where UCT strikes a balance between operational proficiency and client expectations. Sharing a real incident, Rajesh cites an example of one of their existing clients, who has been using Amazon Web Services (AWS) for over five years. “We have engaged with them for over a year as their IT partner and have performed various upgrades and enhancements to their cloud infra as per their business needs. Keeping view of their growing number of concurrent users, new modules, volume of data and expansion of new business units, we implemented a hybrid cloud environment with applications residing on Microsoft Azure cloud while huge data and data files still being on AWS cloud and S3 bucket that brings stability and performance.”
Similarly, one of their SaaS and micro-services-based healthcare CRM solutions, UC-health, a complete suite with nine modules for healthcare, is designed and developed with a cloud-agnostic architecture. “That helps us implement the same solution to any cloud provider based on various assessments or, at times, based on the client’s existing infra setup.”
As mentioned earlier, continuous monitoring and evaluation is a must rather than continuous upgrades because a newer or latest version is available for any software or hardware. “Striking a delicate balance between operational excellence and meeting client expectations is at the core of our approach to cloud consultancy.”
The Linking Synergy
Rajesh and his team begin by thoroughly understanding their clients’ needs and aspirations. By establishing clear lines of communication, they keep clients informed about UCT’s operational processes and potential challenges, fostering transparency and trust. Tailoring their services to deliver customized solutions, they work closely with clients to set realistic and achievable goals. “We believe in a continuous improvement mindset, regularly refining our operational strategies to adapt to evolving client expectations.”
Proactive problem-solving and an open feedback loop with clients are integral to UCT methodology. Its employees, trained in technical skills and interpersonal communication, are empowered to understand and exceed client expectations, ensuring seamless operations and enhanced client satisfaction.
In cloud consultancy, Rajesh believes that the crux in ensuring smooth operations and maintaining the digital efficiency of the cloud ecosystem is their strategy that revolves around understanding each client’s unique requirements, encouraging open dialogue, and delivering personalized solutions.
Futuristic Raining
“We encourage clear communication, setting achievable goals, and proactively addressing potential challenges. By continuously refining our approaches, we adapt to the dynamic nature of client expectations. Empowering our employees with the skills and knowledge to navigate complex client needs, we create a synergy between operational proficiency and exceeding client expectations, paving the way for enduring client satisfaction and successful project outcomes.”
Looking ahead, divulging his vision for the future, Rajesh says it is to stay tuned with the latest technologies and grow upwards. Upside Cloud Technologies ensures that it first partners and collaborates with global and local cloud service providers that can provide reliable and efficient services with cost-effective pricing plans. Then, it focuses on the client business in the present day and future growth in the upcoming 2-3-5 years. The software systems, tools and technologies currently used and their feasibility in the near future. “Combining that, we assess cloud solutions for our clients. We are based in Bangalore and plan to expand to multiple locations within India, including Pune, Coimbatore, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat and Kolkata. We prefer to partner with local and well-established companies that carry forward our ideology and mission to reach out to our clients to provide good service in their own area, language and known working cultures,” concludes Rajesh.
For more information, please click https://upsidecloudtechnologies.com/.
