With McLaren through every corner of every race
As 2020 marks ten years of our thrilling ride as McLaren’s technology services partner, join us for an intimate look behind the scenes of motor racing, filmed at the McLaren Technology Centre and trackside at Formula 1.
Hear the personal reflections of Peter Sweetbaum, the dynamic CEO of Content+Cloud. Peter is the driving force behind our group’s growth, having led the acquisition of Content and Code, Perspective Risk, Mirus IT and sol-tec in under four years.
And listen to Dan Keyworth’s insights. Dan holds possibly one of the fastest-changing roles in tech as the McLaren Group’s Head of Business Technology.
They’re joined by Lando Norris, the 2020 McLaren Formula 1 Driver, who has enjoyed a phenomenal rise in the world of motor racing. Aged 11, Lando was behind the wheel of a racing cart, and at 20, he’s the youngest ever British Formula 1 Driver, having swapped his cart for the McLaren MCL35.
Watch the video or read the transcript to learn this ambitious trio’s thoughts. These include dealing with lockdown, which Microsoft technology is bringing the most value, what to do when you encounter a roadblock, and why timing is everything.
So, buckle up and let’s go.
McLaren Video Transcript
Lando Norris: I think, dealing with everything in lockdown, I think a positive mental attitude is the key to everything. You know, it’s a tough time for a lot of people.
Peter Sweetbaum: COVID is a battle to win. We all have different challenges; it has different lenses for each individual.
Dan Keyworth: We’re immensely proud of what the team has managed to achieve during this time. They’ve been put under immense pressure to respond to something that was almost unexpected.
Lando Norris: Content+Cloud are the team behind the team.
Peter Sweetbaum: There is probably no better example of a client that understands the power of technology and how to leverage it to drive performance.
Dan Keyworth: COVID-19 is having a massive impact on the way that we’re working. I think it really gets us questioning what does the new normal for us look like.
Peter Sweetbaum: Content+Cloud, as a name, suits exactly what we do. It reflects exactly what we do every day for our clients. We help our clients leverage their content, whatever that is – whether it’s their data, their systems, their processes, their information – and operate most effectively in the cloud.
Dan Keyworth: I think that where the technology’s concerned, I find myself being a better advocate of the technology that I should have already been an advocate for. And really looking at how we stretch the possibilities and the capabilities of those Microsoft solutions because we are in a time where that is certainly most needed.
Peter Sweetbaum: Every single client is going through a completely different context, depending on their industry, depending on their business. In terms of helping them optimise the way they work and doing the practical things they need to do now – particularly around the Microsoft stack and the Microsoft solution set, of course we’re there and doing that.
But I think there’s another higher level, which is actually getting under the skin of the realities of what’s going on within those organisations and those people, and really drilling down to understand their pain points and their challenges now, and their opportunities, and identifying where we can connect to both of those and make a difference.
Lando Norris: I think the reliability of Content+Cloud is one of the most valuable things, it’s why we’re partners with them. We’re looking at those tenths and hundredths of a second in Formula 1, and that’s not just within the car, it can be with the communication, it can be with all computers, it can be with everything. That’s why we’re on board with them, that’s why we’re working with them because we believe they’re the best at doing their job and they’re the guys which can help us perform at our best.
Peter Sweetbaum: McLaren is a client that pushes us, definitely; without a question of a doubt.
Lando Norris: Technology is involved pretty much with everything I do as a Formula 1 driver.
Dan Keyworth: The standards are incredibly high, especially within racing.
Lando Norris: You talk about hundredths of a second and thousandths of a second being important to us.
Peter Sweetbaum: I like to think we touch pretty much everybody in the McLaren organisation, whether it’s in the back office in finance using their desktops every day, or in production, at the production lines, in terms of helping with their Power App which runs the McLaren production line for the automotive part of the business. And even on track.
Lando Norris: So, within lockdown obviously there’s very limited things we’re able to do, but my ways to stay sharp have been driving on my simulator, reviewing data and working with my engineers from my simulator data. I’m just gonna know personally that I’ve done everything I can to make sure return to the top level.
Dan Keyworth: A partner like Content+Cloud is very much at the forefront of our thinking around disrupting some of our technology, and they’ve been pivotal in the development in tools like our new group intranet, our rollout of Teams. Probably more importantly the governance wrapper that we put around Teams.
Peter Sweetbaum: We are about transformation, we are about evolution; we’re about taking capability and skills in different Microsoft technologies and toolsets and applying them to client needs and challenges and actually making things different and better and transformed, rather than just fixing stuff, because time has moved on.
Dan Keyworth: The tool that has been high value for us during this time specifically has been Microsoft Teams. It’s allowed us to collaborate as a workforce as a whole better; it’s allowed our senior leaders to contact and communicate with our employees.
Lando Norris: At the end of the day everyone gets together, we have the meetings, we discuss where we can improve the car, where can we improve the driving, what we think of the other teams. And we’re obviously able to look at data; we’re able to look at overlays of me against Carlos, look at overlays of us against other teams.
Dan Keyworth: I think the McLaren culture has helped us significantly navigate through these quite testing times. Success and competitiveness run through the DNA of this organisation, so we see a roadblock, and we want to drive through it.
Peter Sweetbaum: The benefit of us working with McLaren as an organisation is it frankly keeps us on our toes. We know we have to be the best at what we do, we have to understand the technology really well, because they understand the technology really well, they understand what they want out of it, and they know what makes a difference to them. And as a result, that’s keeping us at the forefront of our own knowledge, our own capability, at making sure our processes, our controls, our governance is all there, and frankly if we can do it for McLaren, we like to believe we can do it for pretty much anybody.
Let Content+Cloud Be Your Team
We hope you enjoyed the journey with Peter, Dan and Lando. And as Peter says, what we do for McLaren, we can do for you. You can:
- Visit our COVID-19 Support Hub for all the latest tech, people and change-management insights.
- Check out our Microsoft Teams Fast Start packages. After all, McLaren and 75 million daily active users can’t be wrong. Whether you’re new to Teams, or want to get more out of it, we have the package for you.
- Connect with one of the team behind the team and get a complimentary consultancy session to address your biggest challenge. Meet our team here and request your free session.
Thanks for reading and remember, when you see a roadblock, drive straight through it.
