Alan Walsh has engaged in global delivery management roles for big brands such Marks and Spencer, Channel 4 and lastminute.com before setting up Amido in 2010. He speaks here exclusively about how Amido is rocking the IT consultancy boat.
Q. So, Mr Walsh, how would you describe Amido to ‘the person on the street’?
A. We are a privately owned, vendor-agnostic technical consultancy that specialises in implementing cloud-first solutions to deliver business value, fast.
We help our clients build flexibility for the future and differentiation of customer experience. And, we do this while minimising business-risk and build-cost.
Q So, please tell my readers more about the market you’re in
A. We believe companies are tired of paying large sums to global consultancies such as IBM and Cap Gemini and waiting years for innovative projects and new functionality to be delivered to the business.
Q So you’re trying to disrupt this dated model?
A Yes. It currently takes too long for IT behemoths to deliver business value and we are disrupting the old model by going straight to the cloud
and doing things faster, in a more agile way and on a more personal level.
Q. In the sector right now, what is hot apart from disruption?
A. Well, there’s the obvious rise in cloud technology adoption, there is a skills shortage in this area that needs to be addressed and we know there is an increased demand for solid engineering expertise in agile software development to enable digital transformation.
Q. What is the problem that Amido is solving?
A. We believe CIOs are asking: “How do I spend my IT budget on something that innovates and delivers real business value to the business and our customers, quickly?”.
That, effectively is us.
We are assembling and integrating proven cloud technologies, often building solutions around an existing core while enabling clients to prioritise their investment between commodity services and those that deliver competitive advantage.
Q. So which companies are you currently working with?
A. We think we’re gathering an impressive client list, past and present. This includes ASOS, CBRE, Coats, Channel 4, Faithful+Gould (part of Atkins Global), Global Radio, London City Airport, the RSA and a couple of major high street banks and public sector bodies we can’t name… as much as we’d love to.
Q. Why do you think you’re a cut above your competitors?
A. A lot of our competitors are technically biased or aligned to particular vendors. We don’t operate like that.
Our choices for our clients are not based on kickbacks from enormous IT vendors. We make pragmatic choices.
Amido was set up because we felt that enterprises and digital agencies were trying to re-invent the wheel every time a new project came along.
We think the real magic is hiring the best engineers, understanding what our clients need, knowing the technology that is available in the marketplace and aligning these technologies together in the most effective way.
Finally, tell us about the culture of the company
A. The company founders have all worked with each other in previous lives – software companies, digital agencies, client-side technical teams.
We set up Amido as we were frustrated with how technology was being delivered in organisations and agencies/consultancies.
Consequently we only hire the best and we like to think he have a sense of humour in an industry that is generally considered dry and a little stolid. I think the video that you plan to run with this Q&A shows that pretty well.
Q. Thanks for coming in, Alan, enjoyed the conversation, I think our readers will do as well
A. My pleasure, thanks for having me.
