Being empowered to lead 

At EY, we believe in nurturing our people by giving them the confidence and skills to lead. Alannah, Senior Manager of Cloud Adoption, shares her story of how supportive leadership is key in creating opportunities for growth.

I work with financial services clients to adopt and/or extend their cloud capability in their business – from cloud strategy creation, application and infrastructure migration planning and execution, cloud and IT operating model development and cloud controls implementation and testing. I also advise clients on regulatory processes for using cloud and gaining non-objection for the use of cloud for outsourced services. I am occasionally also involved in other tech/cloud-related projects or pitches, for example, DevOps, Product Op Model/Agile implementation, Technology Assessments, etc.

Why EY?

Clients turn to us for trusted advice, guidance, and support. In a highly regulated environment like financial services, it’s important we deliver technical excellence to ensure we achieve the most stable and secure IT environment that meets our customer and business needs. I’m proud to work in a team and for a company that provides this for our clients and to also be surrounded by curious, driven people. In our team, we have a range of backgrounds, from doctors, industry professionals, government, fintech’s, to regulatory environments –all applying their specialisms to our clients to deliver value. There are not many other places where you get this intersect of great people working in this way!

Shaping my future with confidence

I joined EY from a large UK bank, where I gained fantastic hands-on experience. EY taught me how to leverage this and apply it to a broader basis of contexts using tools such as frameworks, playbooks, and storytelling roadmaps. The main skills I have learned at EY have centred around communication – being an excellent communicator and storyteller is essential to any consulting role.

Developing in my role

I joined EY as a Manager and within a year was promoted to a Senior Manager – one thing about EY is that if you are eager and ready to progress, there are fantastic support mechanisms in place to get you there. From day one, I have felt constantly supported and encouraged to take opportunities to step up and lead. Sometimes this means venturing into new (and sometimes scary) territory, but every new experience I am presented with, I know I have a supportive team of leaders who are behind me.

My proudest moment

One of my favourite projects was an operating model design piece of work we conducted with an insurance client. This client was pivoting to a multi-supplier ecosystem and needed to enhance their service management and supplier management capabilities. We applied design thinking principles and crafted an operating model directly in partnership with the client. It was a great example of different parts of EY coming together, with the team consisting of people from our Technology, Business and People consulting practices - we also sought expert advice from many corners of EY, even reaching across time zones.

If Alannah’s story has inspired you and you’re interested in joining our Technology Consulting team, explore our current opportunities or join our online community to hear more stories and to get all the latest news.