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Businesses today are under constant pressure to adapt, innovate, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. But navigating the complexities of cloud transformation is a challenge many face.
To help you accelerate your cloud journey, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mattew Collins, Chief Commercial Operations Officer at Calix. Matt has played a pivotal role in Calix’s remarkable transformation from a hardware-centric company to a cloud solutions powerhouse.
With over 30 years of experience in the tech industry, including leadership roles at IBM and Dun & Bradstreet, Matt brings a wealth of knowledge and practical insights to the table.
In this article, we’ll unpack Matt’s key takeaways on how to successfully navigate a cloud transformation, drawing on his firsthand experience at Calix. We’ll explore the importance of a bold vision, agile methodologies, a collaborative culture, and, above all, a relentless focus on the customer experience.
Defining a Bold Vision
Matt’s first impression at Calix was, “Wow, we have a lot to get done!” They were not making a profit at the time and needed to transform rapidly. The key? A crystal-clear vision.
“We had a very clear vision that said everything we do is driven towards the goal of democratizing data and helping our customers use the techniques of a Google or an Amazon or Facebook,” Matt explained, “but to drive a better, more operationally effective broadband service provider.”
For Calix, this meant empowering even smaller broadband providers with the tools and insights to leverage data like industry giants and reimagine how their business works to provide value-add and deliver a superior experience. Thanks to this clarity in vision, Calix was able to transform from a hardware company to a cloud solutions company.
That’s the power of a bold vision for cloud transformation.
Defining your bold vision begins with asking some fundamental questions:
- Why are you taking on this challenge?
- How can you bring your customers along for the journey?
- What is your purpose? What drives you?
A truly inspiring vision should push you beyond your comfort zone, excite your team about the possibilities, and convert customers into fans.
Fostering a Culture of Collaboration and Transparency
A bold vision is essential, but it’s only the starting point. To bring that vision to life, you need a team that’s aligned, empowered, and working together seamlessly. Matt shared that a culture of collaboration and transparency was crucial to Calix’s successful transformation.
“Calix is an incredibly collaborative organization, almost to the point of discomfort,” Matt laughed. “The point is there isn’t an important decision that we make that isn’t made collaboratively.”
He described a system where every new product idea, deal with a customer, and even marketing campaign is reviewed by the entire leadership team and relevant team members. This level of transparency and open dialogue might seem daunting, but it’s essential for moving fast and ensuring everyone is on the same page.
Think about how you can foster a similar environment within your own organization:
- Break down silos: Use communication tools that encourage cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing.
- Lead by example: As a leader, be transparent about your decision-making process and encourage open discussion and debate.
- Create a safe space for feedback: Ensure your team feels comfortable sharing ideas, challenges, and even dissenting opinions.
Matt also highlighted the importance of what he called “dynamic tension,” or the ability to have honest debates and challenge ideas constructively. This might feel uncomfortable at first, but it’s essential for pushing your team to think critically and come up with the best possible solutions.
A culture of collaboration and transparency isn’t built overnight. It takes time, effort, and a commitment from leadership to create an environment where everyone feels valued, heard, and empowered to contribute.
Embracing Agile Methodologies
In the cloud technology field, traditional waterfall development methods can feel like trying to navigate a speedboat with a giant ship’s rudder. You need to be nimble, adaptable, and responsive to change. That’s where agile methodologies come in.
Matt described how Calix made a decisive shift from a lengthy, waterfall approach to a more iterative and collaborative agile innovation model.
“We completely flipped our innovation cycle to what we call our agile innovation method, which is very much a scrum model,” Matt explained. “You know, develop an MVP, put it in market, get early adopters, and then build the product out.”
This shift to agile enabled Calix to accelerate their development cycles, get feedback from customers more quickly, and continuously improve their offerings.
Some key principles of agile methodologies that you can apply to your own cloud transformation include:
- Iterative development: Don’t be afraid to fail. Failure is part of the process and a learning opportunity.
- Continuous improvement: Embrace a mindset of continuous learning and improvement, using feedback from customers and your team to refine your solutions.
- Collaboration and communication: Foster close collaboration within the company to ensure everyone is aligned and working towards a common goal.
Transitioning to agile might require a significant cultural shift within your organization. Be patient, persistent, and provide your team with the training and support they need to succeed. The rewards of increased speed, flexibility, and customer focus will be well worth the effort.
Focusing on the Customer Experience
Imagine a world where your customers rave about your services, a world where they see you as a partner who understands their needs and helps them succeed. That’s the power of putting customer experience at the heart of your cloud transformation.
Matt strongly emphasized this point, saying, “Don’t just be the dumb pipe.” He shared Calix’s commitment to helping broadband providers move beyond simply delivering connectivity and become true experience providers.
“We really focused on, ‘Hey, you have to have persona-based offerings and you have to have value-based offerings,'” Matt explained. “The reason is, if you look at what happened during the pandemic, people actually started to define themselves with how they’re using broadband.”
Your customers aren’t just buying a product or service. They’re buying an experience.
Matt suggested some key actions you can take to prioritize customer experience in your cloud transformation:
- Create detailed profiles of your ideal customers, understanding their needs, motivations, and pain points.
- Understand the end customer. Calix not only focused on broadband companies but also their subscribers. As Matt puts it, “If you really want to understand what’s happening in your market, you have to understand what’s happening with the end customer, in this case the subscriber, as well as your customer, and why is it happening.”
- Use technologies like AI to improve customer experience. Matt discusses how chatbots can reduce customer waiting time and lead to faster resolution, which enhances customer satisfaction.
By focusing on delivering a seamless, valuable, and even delightful customer experience, you can turn your cloud transformation into a powerful engine for growth, loyalty, and brand advocacy.
Takeaway
Transforming your business for the cloud era is a journey that requires a bold vision, a collaborative spirit, a willingness to embrace agile methodologies, and an unwavering focus on the customer experience. But with the right strategy, you can unlock incredible opportunities for growth, innovation, and customer delight.
If you found these insights valuable, be sure to tune into the full episode of Behind the Growth for a conversation with Matt Collins you don’t want to miss! You’ll gain even deeper insights into Calix’s transformation journey and learn how their experiences can help you navigate your own cloud evolution.
Link to podcast:
The Transformational Journey of a Cloud Services Leader
You can also tune in on your favourite channel:
