In an interview with Tonino Greco, Head of Cloud Infrastructure & Operations, River Island, he delves into the strategies employed to keep client experience at the forefront of decision-making, the challenges encountered during cloud implementation, cross-departmental collaboration, and the significance of continuous training and experimentation. He also shares insights gained from implementing new processes and technologies that enhance client experiences within cloud infrastructure and operations.
Could you elaborate on your role within the company and on your day-to-day responsibilities as a Head of Cloud and Infrastructure?
As Head of Cloud, Infrastructure and Operations, I am responsible for the RI Tech foundational services and operations. As we are in AWS for all our services, my remit involves overseeing teams that manage the AWS environments for AWS, as well as all Tech Operations teams (from End User Support to Cloud Operations) that support the e-commerce website. I am also responsible for the network.
How do you ensure that client experience remains at the forefront of your decision-making process when it comes to cloud infrastructure and operations?
We work closely with all internal product teams, as well as the Customer Support Centre – which provides us with visibility of new product development and deployments, as well as any issues customers are experiencing so we can influence the delivery of services to customers. We are involved in the design and final solutions ensuring we have coverage from an operability perspective, which helps us maintain a great level of service to customers. Each team member is aware of all aspects of the end-to-end journey from ideation to delivery.
What are the primary challenges that you face while implementing cloud and related infrastructure?
The primary challenges are always knowledgeable resources – finding the right technical and operability experience in candidates is a constant challenge. To combat this, we have an extensive training programme to help up-skill new joiners as well as existing colleagues who want to grow and develop. Another challenging part is making the network simple and extensible so that new services can be added quickly and effectively - I make use of SDWAN technologies coupled to AWS Transit Gateway and linked with Next-Gen Firewalls to enable this, all of which is automated using IaC and is accessible to all teams within RI Tech.
How do you collaborate with other departments such as marketing and sales to ensure a seamless client experience from end-to-end?
We have Product Owners within the delivery teams who help manage and align business requirements with Tech delivery teams. We also use Service Delivery Managers who manage multiple business portfolios and help bridge the gap between Tech and Business with regards to operability.
Can you discuss a time when you implemented a new process or technology to improve client experience in cloud infrastructure and operations?
We recently upgraded our Basket and Checkout experience on the e-commerce website - this was a massive project for us and without our inbuilt Cloud Platform (a CI/CD Platform) the delivery teams would have struggled to get the products deployed to all environments in a consistent and standard way. The Cloud Platform takes care of a lot of the operability aspects as well as security – it means we can move quickly and the delivery teams need not worry about deploying into AWS.
“We are involved in the design and final solutions ensuring we have coverage from an operability perspective, which helps us maintain a great level of service to customers.”
How do you train and educate your team members on the importance of client experience and ensure that it remains a top priority for the entire organisation?
We have an in-house RI Tech academy type system that allows colleagues to “rank up” by doing training and development in specific technologies. This allows self-motivated individuals to enhance skills and build their knowledge on technologies that they would not ordinarily be exposed to in their day-to-day roles. It also means they can work on incidents and projects relating to that technology without having to be in a specific role.
On an ending note, what is your advice for other business leaders and emerging entrepreneurs attempting to navigate through cloud and infrastructure?
Ensure you (and the team) know the basics of cloud and infrastructure – especially those using it adjacent to their primary roles. You really need to know how a network works and how systems speak to one another over various networks. It’s important to understand how cloud providers deliver services to end users and to know which shared security models are inherent in cloud systems. My key piece of advice is to be curious, adventurous and daring. Cloud offers a low-cost way to experiment and grow your knowledge without the massive outlay of an On-Prem infrastructure. Learn from others who have used cloud services, drill into their knowledge and above all – experiment!
