Accenture appoints lead for advancing cloud technology in Canada

To help Canadian organizations accelerate their digital transformations and rapidly become ‘cloud-first’ organizations, Accenture has appointed Jennifer Jackson as Cloud First Lead for Canada.

“Jennifer plays a vital role as head of our technology practice in Canada,” Jeffrey Russell, president of Accenture in Canada, said of Jackson’s appointment. “With a track record in leading transformational change, she is a respected voice on the promise of technology and human ingenuity. Jennifer will continue to guide Canadian clients in rapidly becoming ‘cloud first’ organizations in order to achieve the speed and agility that is critical to meeting new challenges and seizing new opportunities.”

Jackson has more than 20 years of experience at Accenture, leading innovative and complex projects in many industries through all phases of software development and operations. Outside of her technology portfolio, Jackson is a passionate advocate for mental health and is the executive sponsor for Accenture’s Mental Health Employee Resource Group in Canada.

Jackson’s appointment is part of the company’s global launch of Accenture Cloud First, which was announced in September alongside a $3 billion investment in new capabilities, solutions, partnerships, and client engagements over three years.

Accenture Cloud First is a new multi-service group of 70,000 cloud professionals. Essentially, the group will be building partnerships with businesses to help advance, among other things, industry roadmaps, data models, cloud AI data and architectures, and research and development in edge computing and related cloud technologies. Edge computing brings computation and data storage closer to the location where it is needed, improving response times and saving bandwidth.

Fast-tracked by the pandemic, Accenture says, cloud computing has increasingly been recognized as the foundation for business resilience, structural cost reduction, and new experiences and products that address ongoing and ever-changing needs around health, society and the economy.

“Our clients are looking to the cloud to achieve maximum speed, predictable outcomes, and holistic business value, making the urgency to innovate a top C-Suite agenda item,” said Jackson. “I am excited to help lead the charge in Canada and ensure businesses are equipped with the right expertise to take advantage of the depth and breadth of services offered by the cloud.”