Endava December 2020

ENDAVA

REIMAGINING THE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

DIGITAL REPORT 2020

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REIMAGINING THE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE www.e nda v a . com

ENDAVA

CIO HELENA NIMMO DISCUSSES ENDAVA’S BLEND OF CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY, AND HOW THAT HAS SERVED IT WELL IN ITS RESPONSE TO COVID-19

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elena Nimmo joined global software company Endava as CIO a year and half ago, having been in the technology industry

for 20 years. A native of Finland, she started her career at Finnish technology giant Nokia in the logistics division, before joining Symbian Software 04

and moving to London in 1999. “From there I worked at Fujitsu, then spent a good six or seven years in publishing through both Euromonitor and Thomson Reuters. Working in those different sectors has given me a breadth of understanding that I think has been truly beneficial as I’ve taken on more senior leadership roles.”

Endava has operations across the globe, including the Americas, Europe and Asia. Nimmo says the company occupies a specific niche in the industry.

“We’re in a sweet spot between your traditional IT providers, the SIs, the digital agencies, which are obviously much smaller and much more nimble, and also the business and technology consultancies.

We sit in amongst the nexus of all three of those, so we help businesses define, design, develop, run, and evolve their technology and their products.

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www.e nda v a . com

ENDAVA

“ CLOUD-FIRST SHOULDN’T BE INTERPRETED AS A PUBLIC CLOUD-ONLY APPROACH” — Helena Nimmo, CIO, Endava

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As an organisation, Endava wants to

a pivot in cybersecurity as we moved

reimagine the interface between people

to home working.” With much of the

and technology and make the digital

estate being software-as-a-service

experience something really positive.”

solutions, that pivot has been made

Nimmo considers herself fortunate

easier, but it brings its own set of chal-

to have inherited an IT estate that

lenges around the digital experience.

was already fairly digital, which greatly

“The challenge is making sure that the

helped the organisation pivot to remote

data connections are there,” she says.

working within 48 hours globally due

“So you’ve got that flow of data between

to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

the various different systems. That will, for

“Making sure that we have got the right

instance, help you if you were to start

types of collaboration tools in place

a new role in an environment where

has been absolutely critical, as well as

you don’t actually get to meet your

EX EC UTIV E PROFILE:

Helena Nimmo Title: Chief Information Officer Company: Endava Industry: Information Technology & Services Location: London

colleagues, making onboarding much easier and much slicker.”

The company operates on a hybrid of private and public cloud, but Nimmo is clear that the cloud mustn’t be considered a fix-all. “Cloud-first shouldn’t be interpreted as a cloud-only approach.

There will always be certain systems and data in any organisation, depending on what your industry or unique selling point or critical dependency is, that you

Helena joined Endava in May 2019 and has global responsibility for Internal Tech across the Group. Helena has over 20 years of experience in change and organisational design through product development, data management and technology transformation. Prior to joining Endava, Helena has worked in multiple sectors and variety of organisations including Thomson Reuters, Cancer Research UK, Fujitsu and Symbian. She started her technology career with Nokia.

might want to keep on premise. So public cloud-first is an aspiration, but it’s not www.e nda v a . com

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ENDAVA

C OM P A N Y F A C T S

15.5%

Year on year growth

£95mn+ Revenue in GB pounds

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“ OUR PRODUCTIVITY HAS NOT ONLY STAYED STABLE, BUT IT’S ACTUALLY IMPROVED” — Helena Nimmo, CIO, Endava

our blanket approach.” When it comes to making the most of data, “patience” is her watchword. “Data tends to be one of those really knotty problems that you start thinking about and end up putting in the too-hard-to-dealwith-today box. I think it takes a lot of patience to unpick data, because data is what makes technology relevant.

If the data isn’t right, the system is not going to matter.”

Enabling Endava’s transformation has involved a number of key technology partners. Microsoft’s Azure serves as the cloud provider for the Endava IT estate, with their relationship stretching back around 10 years and encompassing a number of Gold and Silver partnerships in various areas. “When working with Azure, we employ the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework, and the Azure Well-Architected Framework. We also www.e nda v a . com

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ENDAVA

have partnerships with Google and AWS. Our goal is always to create the most secure, high performing, resilient and efficient cloud infrastructures and applications for our users and for our customers.” says Nimmo.

The company also works with the likes of Datadog and Terraform, with Nimmo stressing that “taking the leap into next generation technology with all our partners is something that we pride ourselves on as a business.”

Another of her inheritances was a 12

culture of openness, creativity and trust, which Nimmo has sought to nurture and protect. “Technology and transformation, technology

“ WE PROVIDE OUR CUSTOMERS WITH DIGITAL SOLUTIONS, SO I HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR TECHNOLOGY STACK REMAINS RELEVANT” — Helena Nimmo, CIO, Endava

and change, clearly go hand in hand.

If you’re introducing new technology, you are changing the way people behave or interact with the system or the data. The way I look at technology and Endava is that we have a good, strong organisational culture and value system. I’m looking at how to use technology to preserve it, rather than change it.”

That strong culture has been especially important through the pandemic.

2000

Year founded

7,199 Number of employees

“If I look at my own leadership style,

remote working technology. “Working

it’s collaborative and open. I’ve always

from home, working in isolation suits

been of the view that you need to be

some better than others, so it’s impor-

able to challenge me. So I give my team

tant to be better listeners. If you think

members the space to do that if they

about remote collaboration before the

don’t agree with what I’m saying.

pandemic, if you dialled into a meeting

That does prompt a better level of

while others were physically present

conversation, better collaboration

in a meeting room, you were always

and much better results.” The pandemic

a bit of a hanger on. That’s definitely

has created the need for a higher level of

changed. Now, people are given the

sympathy and empathy, which has been

opportunity to talk and encouraged to

necessary to best take advantage of

voice their thoughts and opinions.” www.e nda v a . com

ENDAVA

“ WE HELP BUSINESSES DEFINE, DESIGN, DEVELOP, RUN, AND EVOLVE THEIR TECHNOLOGY AND THEIR PRODUCTS” — Helena Nimmo, CIO, Endava

While she sees benefits stemming from the pandemic in terms of drawing people away from cities and leaving space for local innovation and startups, Nimmo emphasises that the downsides must also be recognised. “If I was just starting in my career, I would struggle to only work from home. You learn so much by observing others, collaborating and even stopping to have a drink after work. Those are really key paths to becoming a corporate citizen.”

Nevertheless, she reports that the

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organisation recorded an improvement in productivity since the transition to fully working from home. “I think the key thing that we’re seeing right now is that home working is clearly possible at a scale that nobody believed it would be.

More and more organisations are coming out and saying that. We’ve already seen that our productivity has not only stayed stable, but actually improved, which is fantastic. That’s where we’re really reaping the rewards of remote working, by providing the flexibility to blend work and personal lives.”

While the pandemic has certainly had an upending effect, Nimmo believes that the traditional stresses on CIOs

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15 are not going away. “Any IT leader will

reputation as a digital organisation.

tell you that we always face the pres-

“We provide our customers with digital

sure to be really creative, innovative

solutions, so I have to make sure that

and cutting edge, while at the same

our technology stack remains relevant.

time, not costing too much money.

Clearly one way of doing that is ensuring

As a business, we have a ‘pass it on’

that we have a seamless user experi-

culture and so I am often asked

ence, whether you’re working from

to share tips and insights. As we all

home or from the office.” That dove-

start to focus on their plans for 2021,

tails with her belief that “technology

I am conscious of the need to be

needs to be a platform for efficiencies,

focused on Digital Necessity over big,

not a platform for complexities.

old-fashioned and expensive transfor-

Because with efficiencies ultimately

mation projects.”

comes savings in cost and time.”

Nimmo is focused on ensuring the solutions in place live up to Endava’s www.e nda v a . com

ENDAVA 125 OLD BROAD STREET LONDON UNITED KINGDOM EC2N 1AR E CONTACTUS@ENDAVA.COM T +44 20 7367 1000

www.endava.com

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