Background:
ITQ, a leading VMware partner, is renowned for its expertise in leveraging the power of IT to help businesses achieve their goals. As an innovative technology consultancy, ITQ aims to extend its leadership position by strengthening its identity as a cloud-native specialist. While ITQ's partnership with VMware has proven highly successful, the company's current positioning is narrowly defined, potentially limiting opportunities for broader engagement in the rapidly evolving cloud-native ecosystem.
Challenge:
Despite ITQ's established reputation, the lack of a consistent definition and understanding of “cloud-native” in the market poses
a significant hurdle. Without a shared language or cohesive narrative, it becomes challenging to communicate ITQ's value proposition effectively to employees, potential hires, customers and partners.
a significant hurdle. Without a shared language or cohesive narrative, it becomes challenging to communicate ITQ's value proposition effectively to employees, potential hires, customers and partners.
ITQ faced the challenge of:
• Aligning its cloud-native story with its existing brand identity.
• Clarifying its internal and external positioning in the cloud-native market.
• Bridging the knowledge gaps across various departments to ensure unified messaging and engagement.
Approach:
To tackle these challenges, ITQ partnered with Human.Nature to run a collaborative workshop focused on uncovering its cloud-native story and value proposition and blockers they might face when taking it to market. Designed intentionally from the inside out, the 2-day workshop began by fostering a deep understanding of the company and its people before shifting focus to its customers. Insights were gathered from every department—not just sales and engineering—ensuring ongoing input and alignment across all functions.
The approach included:
• Preparation: Setting clear objectives, designing the workshop and gathering insights from across the company through surveys and interviews.
• Workshop: Exploring ITQ's current market position, identifying knowledge gaps and aligning on a cohesive narrative through activities focused on shared language and value articulation.
• Synthesis: Analysing findings and creating a roadmap outlining cross-departmental roles and responsibilities to operationalise the story.
Impact:
The workshop delivered a transformative foundation for ITQ’s cloud-native positioning:
Unified narrative:
A clear and cohesive cloud-native story and value proposition.
Unified narrative:
A clear and cohesive cloud-native story and value proposition.
Target clarity:
Defined buyer personas and the beginning of ideal customer profiles (ICPs).
Defined buyer personas and the beginning of ideal customer profiles (ICPs).
Shared language:
A common vocabulary enabling alignment across departments.
A common vocabulary enabling alignment across departments.
Team roles:
Clear departmental responsibilities, ensuring commitment to the story and profitability of it:
• C-suite: Invest in cloud-native initiatives
• HR: Recruit aligned talent
• Sales & Marketing: Articulate and sell the value proposition
• Engineers: Deliver solutions aligned with the narrative
• Actionable Roadmap: A pragmatic plan to bring the story to life organisation-wide, driving alignment with market needs
Clear departmental responsibilities, ensuring commitment to the story and profitability of it:
• C-suite: Invest in cloud-native initiatives
• HR: Recruit aligned talent
• Sales & Marketing: Articulate and sell the value proposition
• Engineers: Deliver solutions aligned with the narrative
• Actionable Roadmap: A pragmatic plan to bring the story to life organisation-wide, driving alignment with market needs
By bridging the gap between technical and business teams, ITQ is well-positioned to enhance platform adoption and deliver solutions aligned with customer objectives, securing its role as a cloud-native leader.
