In the blockbuster movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), an ancient grail knight protects the Holy Grail (a cup) in a secret cave. Indi and his crew are trying to stop the baddies from getting hold of the mystical vessel.
In the movie, you may remember hundreds of cups, all shapes and sizes surrounding the knight.
The knight says, “you must choose but choose wisely”. If you choose the wrong cup, it is fatal! Gulp!
I don’t want to spoil the movie, but Indiana Jones made the right choice!
Of course, we don’t all have to make choices about the holy grail, but we still have to make decisions which affect us. These decisions can have massive implications. We’re surrounded by fast-moving information (not golden cups).
We can be tempted to rush decisions.
We make hundreds of decisions each day, thankfully not all are life and death. Most of our mental processing is unconscious. It runs automatically based on our previous experience.
When we have too many choices we can suffer from paralysis of analysis.
Like me when choosing a sandwich to go with my meal deal! It’s cognitive overload.
When we are faced with an avalanche of information, we can avoid deciding at all. In today’s society, we mistake information for knowledge. They’re two very different things.
This can cloud our judgement and it makes decision-making more complicated.
This movie popped into my head when I was thinking about the choices we make in business. We can be dazzled by the amount of choice.
This year has seen big changes in our marketplace. We saw the demise of UK Cloud among many others in our sector.
This was an enormous shock to many people.
Like an earthquake, the aftershocks are still being felt.
UK Cloud clients saw the compulsory liquidation of UK Cloud happen at great speed. They were very disappointed and fearful. On the 25th of October 2022, the house of cards came crashing down. A business that began in 2011 was over in a flash.
I spoke with many people who needed reassurance and a new IT Managed Service/Cloud partner.
HDUK has been growing for over ten years, it has never been reckless growth at any cost. We never chase unprofitable business, it’s not our style.
We know your sector well. Our clients want a stable, forward-thinking partner, who’s going to be with you in a long-term relationship.
We empower you through technological advantage to drive real efficiencies and increased productivity.
In reality, looking at monthly costs in isolation is a false economy.
The real value is gained by winning new clients and retaining established ones.
Cloud UK’s problems were magnified because they tried to be all things to all people. They were across many sectors.
It looked like a classic land grab at great speed. The problem is when you’re hurtling down the motorway at warp speed.
You need to ensure your engine, tyres and brakes are all fit for purpose.
UK Cloud wasn’t the only one running along with no MOT. 2023 could be very challenging for some vendors and IT providers. I hope I’m wrong.
So how can we help you navigate your way through this minefield if you don’t know which way to turn? It can be simple. Take a moment to visit our website and look at our case studies (businesses and people I’m sure you will know).
This doesn’t mean you have to be slow in making decisions, just well-informed.
Try making your decisions for your business around your goals. What is your aspiration? Where do you see your business in the short-medium term? Ask yourself what kind of support you need and what IT partner will make these things happen for you.
Talk to us. We’re not interested in selling you something you don’t need. We want to solve your business IT headaches so you can move forward.
HDUK is a well-run thoughtful business that is the heart of your sector. We are the UK’s de facto private cloud specialists for legal and financial firms.
What does that mean, it means lots of people like you have placed their trust in us.
When it’s time for you to pick an IT partner, remember you must choose but choose wisely.
Behind the technology and security that customers have come to know and trust with HDUK, it's our people that make the real difference. We take great pride in offering dedicated IT support for our customers by investing in specialists, that are experts in the tools you use every day. Our team are very important to us and we know that you feel the same way about your employees. It's why we put people at the heart of our business.
We are dedicated to providing reliable, secure, industry-leading IT solutions to elevate your business and maximise your potential. Working remotely has never been so important, so join the 15,000 users who already trust HDUK with their hosted services.
