Life as an IBM Hybrid Cloud Consultant

We recently sat down with three members of our IBM Consulting team in Europe – Tim, Lorraine, and Armando – who discussed their roles as hybrid cloud consultants at IBM Consulting, the projects they’re most proud of, and what they look for in a teammate. We also posted some videos on our Life@IBM Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube channels of our consultants speaking more about being a hybrid cloud consultant at IBM, and why they enjoy it so much.

Tell us about your role as a hybrid cloud consultant at IBM

Armando – IBM Consulting, Public Cloud CTO & Red Hat Alliance – I am the Chief Technology Officer for Hybrid Cloud Consulting covering all the providers – AWS, Azure, IBM Cloud, and Google Cloud. I’m also acting as the Red Hat Alliances manager for our Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, as well as a partner on the cloud sales team.

Lorraine – IBM Consulting, Microsoft Sales Lead Financial Services – In my role, I uncover selling opportunities in our financial services accounts. Large banks and insurers typically look at multi-cloud offerings due to the regulatory environments they work in that require the use of multi-cloud. It’s an exciting area to work in!

Tim – IBM Consulting, UKI Azure CTO – I’m part of a solutions, architecture, and pre-sales team where I help grow our providers’ consulting business within the IBM Consulting unit. Right now, I’m leading a team of architects, with many focused on technology within specific areas, for example, app development, infrastructure, and security. I also manage several architects aligned to specific industries and looking after functions like distribution, public sector, industrials, and others.

What surprised you most about IBM after you joined the Consulting team?

Lorraine: The sheer volume of knowledge in the organization, and the fact I have access to that information, as well as the partners and technical experts across the company that are, in my opinion, the best in the market. Clients stay with IBM Consulting for years and years, but so do employees! I truly feel like I’m working for a trusted organization.

Tell us about an IBM Consulting project you’ve worked on that was high-impact for the business and client

Tim: We’ve been working with a UK based retailer that wanted to bring in an independent advisor to review their commerce platform and ensure they were ready for their peak events (such as popular shopping days near major holidays.)

As their consultants, we interviewed various people in the organisation and worked across the entire landscape to try to effectively resolve or de-risk some of their challenges. I love working on high-impact projects like this. When you can make a big impact that’s visible to the public, it puts us in a great place to support them in the present, as well as modernize and optimize the solution even further for the future.

What are your top priorities in your career?

Lorraine: In previous roles, often, you’re dealing with several customer service issues as an account lead. But in IBM Consulting, there’s a lot less, because the professionalism is admired both inside of IBM and with our clients. That’s an absolute priority for me; to work for an organization with that kind of a reputation.

What do you think differentiates the IBM Hybrid Cloud Consulting team from others you’ve worked with in the past?

Armando: It’s very different from what I’ve done before because I used to be on the client side. I think IBM Consulting has a unique view of what hybrid cloud means. It’s not only that the company can start with the cloud and define what the methodology is, or what the steps are on the path to the cloud, but it’s also about getting the best value for each Euro that the client is investing. It’s always the value for the client that stays at the front of any proposal or project we work on.

Tim: The industry depth within IBM Consulting is phenomenal. We’re really at the business end and have a person in every room of the house within their business – from business process outsourcing to technology transformation. What makes IBM Consulting so unique is that we not only have industry depth, but also a software technology business. There’s no other system integrator out there that has a technology business this size, and with consulting, that can bring it all together.

We also have an entire IBM Research team, and when you add that to some of the patents we hold, we can create some pretty incredible innovations for our clients.

Tell us about a time you collaborated with IBM Consulting clients and the kind of rituals, attitudes, and values you brought to the project

Armando: I’ve recently been collaborating with clients on the journey to cloud. The client was stuck on the formal and traditional mindset that there was no way they could get on the cloud. We gave them a new vision and a special approach (a very pragmatic approach), that changed their mind. It’s work like this why I love being on the IBM Consulting team.

Tim: One of our unique, deliverable methodologies is called IBM Garage. It’s a kind of methodology where our consultants and subject matter experts engage with clients and rapidly prototype with them to accelerate the effort to get to the root of the value. It’s very similar to an agile deliverable model. This works well when we bring industry focus and subject matter experts and generalists, while embedding the client into the journey.

In every solution and process I’m working on, with either my team or our accounts, we embed the client into everything we do. It’s the best way to take them on the journey and create innovative solutions together.

Any closing thoughts on your time so far on the IBM Consulting team?

Armando: I’ve never seen so many skilled and diverse people at a company with such a rich history and countless cutting-edge technologies. I’m able to propose almost anything and have it converted into an offering, idea, or new technology approach.

Tim: I think IBM is a very friendly and inclusive organisation. There’s a real commitment to look after everybody and make everyone feel like they belong, more so than I’ve experienced in other large organisations I’ve worked at. You tend to get the feeling here, as you would with a smaller organisation. There’s a real commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Overall, it’s been a great place to start the next chapter of my career and I’m really looking forward to the next ten years of my career as an IBMer!

Further Your Career in IBM Consulting

If you’re interested in learning more about hybrid cloud consultant opportunities at IBM and want to become a trusted advisor to our clients, please visit our careers website.

If you don’t see a role that aligns with your skills and interests at the moment, consider joining our Talent Network to stay up to date on the latest IBM news and career opportunities.