Change is usually as difficult as it is inevitable, so effective leaders need to combine science with intuition to prepare their organization and its people to succeed in an age of disruption. Essential techniques to create a change-embracing culture include identifying “intrapreneurship,” encouraging curiosity and rewarding innovation. Identify “intrapreneurs” – an “intrapreneur” is an employee who behaves like an entrepreneur while working within an organization.

Cloud adoption globally is growing rapidly, held back only by a lack of knowledge and security concerns. A 2016 Intel Security survey of 2000 security professionals globally found that more than 90% stated that their organization was using some type of cloud service. “Cloud First for many companies is progressing and remains the objective,” the report noted with the caveat. “It is evident from our survey that the lack of cybersecurity skills is having an impact on cloud adoption for organizations of all sizes.”

John F. Kennedy once said: ‘Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future’. This statement is true from both a personal and professional perspective, especially given the increasing rate of change we are currently facing. Much of this rapid change can be attributed to the proliferation of technology and its obvious impact on culture and markets.