Building your path to the Cloud
We know from IDC that Partners that are driving adoption of cloud services with their customers are increasing their recurring revenue, generating more profit and accelerating the rate of acquiring new customers. However, we also understand there’s a journey to get there. The cloud is opening up new business models and ways for you to grow your profitability. IDC research shows that cloud-oriented partners have 1.5 time’s higher profit and 1.6 times the recurring revenue as a portion of total revenue than other partners
There are some consistent themes that emerge in what our successful cloud Partners are doing differently. They are:
Building recurring revenue streams through managed services and annuity contracts.
Focusing on “ARPU” – average revenue per user, driving up-sell and cross-sell of value add services at a user level.
Creating a high volume sales engine.
Increasing focus on digital marketing and social to attract a high volume of self-educated prospects, resulting in higher qualified leads and shortening the sales process.
Delivering cloud solutions at a rapid pace to demonstrate the value and benefits to the customer quickly so you become the trusted advisor early on.
On behalf of Microsoft in Canada, it’s my and our broader Partner team’s responsibility to continue to demonstrate that partnering with Microsoft is one of the best business decisions you can make – today and for the future. We remain committed, now more than ever, to equip you with the skills, resources and content that will enable you and your organization to accelerate your transition to the cloud, and build a profitable, sustainable business model
If you’re not sure what cloud could mean for your business or not sure where to start, below are some key resources to help you as you plan your transition:
Learn about cloud profitability, with information on business models, examples of success, research and insights, and resources like the IDC Successful Cloud Partners 2.0 eBook.
Listen to the Cloud Profitability Video series, a weekly video series providing an easy way to learn about a wide range of topics related to the cloud. Sessions include short videos and live Q&A with subject matter experts.
Download the Cloud Partner Profitability Playbook - which helps partners increase profitability through IP (Intellectual Property) Services, Managed Services, and Project Services business models
Read through some of Partner Success Stories – Learn what other partners are doing, and have done to build successful Cloud practices
We hope this helps starts to create a guidepost for you, and your organization, to chart your path forward – whether you’re determining how to get started in the Cloud, and what it will require, or if you’re looking for “what’s next”, whether that is accelerating what you’re already doing, or expanding to add new capabilities/offerings.
The one thing that is constant, is change – but with that comes new, exciting opportunities for the future. Join us every two weeks (at minimum), for the latest post. We hope you find these resources useful – and we are always interested in your feedback on what is working, where we can help so please feel free to each to us.
@jbrommet