Andy Fairbanks, Director, Cloud & Infrastructure at NTT Data
Andy Fairbanks: 'Our mission is to use information technology to create new paradigms and values that contribute to a more affluent and harmonious society'
Organisations are now using cloud computing technology more and more. Some have migrated to the cloud in order to maintain their digital competitiveness, while others did so in order to support the surge in remote work. The advantages are well known, and for those who have started their cloud migration journey, the advantages are noticeable.
Computing's Cloud Excellence Awards recognise the very best of the UK's cloud industry, from the most innovative and compelling products and vendors, through to the top use cases from end-user firms.
This year's winners will be announced at a live awards ceremony on Thursday 22 September at One Whitehall Place, London.
One of the finalists is NTT Data, who is in the running for the Best Cloud Finance Solution.
We caught up with Andy Fairbanks, Director, Cloud & Infrastructure at NTT Data, to find out what makes his company different from other technology firms.
Andy has years of extensive IT experience in a variety of market sectors. This experience has been a key contributor to his capability for providing unique insights when defining and delivering both strategic and tactical IT solutions for public cloud, hybrid cloud, private cloud and legacy on-premises environments.
Andy specialises in a number of different domains within cloud including strategy and adoption maturity, cloud cost optimisation, FinOps integration, cloud modernisation and migration.
Married, with three children, Andy is also a keen sailor and during his downtime can be found working on upgrading his boat and sailing the south coast of England.
Computing: Please provide some background on your company for our readers.
Andy Fairbanks: NTT DATA is a top-ten global consulting and IT services provider. Our mission is to use information technology to create new paradigms and values that contribute to a more affluent and harmonious society. We're proud of our role as guides, working alongside organisations to help navigate today's fast-moving landscape and create transformative new processes and models. With over 310,000 local experts based in over 88 countries and 85% of fortune Global 100 companies working with us, NTT DATA has the diversity and reach to tackle any challenge in any market.
What makes you different from other technology companies?
AF: Across our global operations, we always stay true to our Japanese heritage by focusing on enduring relationships, elegant solutions and a culture of innovation and improvement.
We are guided by shaping the world's most advanced technologies into elegant experiences - and these extend to our dedication to quality and excellence, and the respect and care we have for our clients.
What one company achievement in the last 12 months are you most proud of?
AF: The achievement I'm most proud of for NTT DATA UK is that our organisation has been recognised as a leader in Diversity in the Financial Times Diversity report 2022. We are ranked fourth in the UK IT services industry, having progressed five places compared to last year. I'm proud to work for an organisation that actively embraces inclusiveness and goes to great efforts to promote various aspects of gender, ethnicity, age, disability and sexual orientation. As someone who is mixed race, diversity is an important factor for me and one of many factors that make NTT DATA UK such a great place to work.
What are you working on this year?
AF: We have a myriad of cloud services as part of our cloud portfolio ranging from Strategy to Managed Cloud Services. With the variety of global challenges we are all facing, we are helping our clients by focusing on Cloud Strategy, Cloud Cost Optimisation, and Cloud Modernisation and Migration.
These three areas of cloud are pivotal as they are interrelated more closely than is generally perceived. Cloud Cost Optimisation in particular is more relevant than ever. The rising price of electricity will result in higher running costs for data centres that will be passed on to the consumers of their services, whether they are public or private cloud. NTT DATA is reaching out to our clients to ensure they are benefiting from our expertise in providing an optimal and cost-effective approach for their cloud services so we can help cushion the financial impact of the energy crisis to their business.
Why are events like the Cloud Excellence Awards important to the IT industry?
AF: In my opinion, events like Cloud Excellence Awards are vital as they shine a spotlight on the innovation that is occurring in a very fast-moving area of IT. The awards provide an insight into how our peers are adopting the new technology or even adapting existing process to provide hybrid solutions to fit the new challenges that businesses face. The awards provide the competition and the recognition of those that work in our remarkable industry.
The Cloud Excellence Awards will take place on 22nd September in London. Click here to view the shortlist and here to book your table.
