Cloud on the horizon as week focuses on raising awareness and jobs growth

National Cloud Week kicks off today, with the aim of raising awareness of the benefits of the cloud and encouraging organisations to deploy cloud solutions to facilitate growth and drive efficiencies.

Hosted by Microsoft Ireland, the week will see a number of events in the area of cloud computing, including a cloud roadshow and a business leaders’ summit with keynote speakers Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, international innovation strategy adviser Charles Leadbeater, social entrepreneur Mark Little and senior Microsoft executives Cathriona Hallahan and Sherif Seddick.

On Friday, Microsoft in collaboration with DCU’s Irish Centre for Cloud Computing and Commerce, will be announcing details of a National Cloud Computing Accelerator programme to speed up cloud business in Ireland.

Also taking place this week is the MD Leadership Forum, run by author and business coach Shane Cradock.

Running a business is challenging, especially in these volatile times, with company directors often finding that no one relates to or understands the issues they have to deal with. And if anyone knows what this is like it is Cradock. While in his 20s, at a time when things seemed good and he had a great job at a multinational company, no one could have guessed he had made the decision to end his own life. However, fate intervened to make sure he never carried out his plan.

The forum provides a confidential peer learning network, where groups of eight to 12 business owners and managing directors from various industries, meet every two months to bounce ideas off each other, share knowledge and experiences, all with the goal of creating growth.

“There is a lot of pressure on someone who runs or owns a business. But the reality is that someone out there has probably gone through or faced some of the problems you may now have. And when you can tap the experience of smart men and women in a room, on your behalf, the results can be phenomenal,” Cradock says.

The event is taking place this Thursday at the Clarion Hotel, IFSC.