01732 759725
34
VOX POP
PART 2:
THE RESELLERS’ PERSPECTIVE
Do you see cloud managed services
as an opportunity to secure a
new recurring revenue stream
and increase your stickiness with
customers?
Terry Storrar,
IT Services Director,
Annodata
:
“Cloud is a big focus for
Annodata and is a core part of our
corporate strategy. While cloud does
increase stickiness with customers, for us
it’s more about enabling our customers to
consume IT in the ways they want.
“Across our whole industry we are seeing
demand for IT-as-a-Service increasing
rapidly, and that will only continue. At
the same time, many customers are still
looking for more traditional options. It’s
critical that we can offer both.
“Today’s world is about providing
customers with the best fit for their
business and offering solutions that
allow them to maximise their potential.
Technology is an enabler and the potential
benefits for customers are endless with the
best-fit solutions.”
Mark Smyth,
Operations Director,
Vision
:
“Vision is driving solutions sales
as part of its managed printing and
document solutions, combining additional
services and platforms that are strong
value adds. These are typically workflow
and capture solutions and mobile printing.
It is a significant shift and change to start
to capture recurring revenues from cloud
applications. We are starting to see cloud
hosting become more readily accepted and
the whole SaaS model and adoption levels
increase.”
Colin Griffin,
Managing Director,
Blackbox Solutions
:
“We see the
adoption of cloud managed services
as critical to the continued growth and
success of our business. Our IT division
is a recent initiative and the new
capabilities have significantly improved
the range of services we can offer to
customers, opening up many new business
opportunities.
“Nearly 40% of Blackbox Solutions’
existing document solutions client base
has gone on to purchase IT support
services, which has strengthened our
relationship with these customers, while
providing an additional source of revenue.
Thanks to our new data centre we’re
well placed to provide clients with cloud
storage and disaster recovery support.
“Alongside our existing document
solutions services, the opportunity to offer
cloud managed services means we can
provide customers with a comprehensive
one-stop-shop for all their print, copy, IT
and telecoms, which means they can get
all the support they need from one trusted
supplier.”
Have you upskilled your team so
you have the necessary in-house
expertise to support your clients’
cloud migration plans and manage
their IT infrastructure? If not, do you
intend to do so in the future?
Terry Storrar:
“We inherited a great deal
of cloud knowledge and expertise when
we acquired Keltec back in 2014 and since
that time have invested heavily in our
staff to ensure they have the skills to sell
cloud services and support them. Cloud
has been around for a long time now and
the principles of what we are providing
haven’t changed, but the diverse ways in
which we now provide them have.”
Mark Smyth:
“In June 2015, Vision
formed its enterprise services team, which
combines a number of services including
audit discovery and design and pre- and
post-sales support of Vision’s solutions
offering.
“That is now helping to shape client
solutions and provides consultancy,
implementation and support. This has
resulted in a number of new additions
to the team and the requirement to
continuously train and develop new skills
and increase product knowledge.
“What’s essential is having a training
plan and then driving the team to embark
on and play an active part in training. It’s a
big commitment for everyone!”
Colin Griffin:
“Our new IT division has
required a considerable investment in
additional staff. So far we’ve taken on five
staff, including a specialist IT Manager
who heads up the new division. Given the
high demand for cloud services, we expect
to create at least four further jobs in the IT
division over the coming months.”
Have you considered, or would you
consider, outsourcing to a specialist
IT support partner?
Terry Storrar:
“We recognise that as a
company we don’t always have all the
answers to our clients’ problems and from
time to time need to bring in specialist
third parties. Fortunately, as a vendor-
agnostic reseller, we are free to work with
whomever we like. During our 28-year
history we have built up a wide network of
trusted partners we can turn to so that we
can better support our clients. Choosing
the right partners that fit, not just from
a technical standpoint but also from a
cultural standpoint, is very important to
us.”
Mark Smyth:
“Outsourcing always
remains a consideration. Many of our
vendor partners provide support that is
very helpful in the early stages, especially
when launching a new solution. However,
there are major benefits in being self-
sufficient and that’s our constant aim
and objective. Yet it comes at a cost and
requires significant investment.”
Colin Griffin:
“A key driver influencing
our decision to establish an in-house
IT division was that we were regularly
working with third-party companies when
it came to providing IT hardware and
support for our clients. The whole purpose
of setting up the new department was to
bring the provision of these services in-
house and secure a piece of the ‘IT pie’.
“We generally work for SMEs across
London and the South East. At present
we try to deliver IT services using our own
team, but it’s possible we’d consider using
specialist partners for large-scale projects.
This would be judged on a case by case
basis.”
...continued
Colin Griffin,
Managing Director,
Blackbox Solutions
Mark Smyth,
Operations Director,
Vision
continued...
We are
starting to
see cloud
hosting
become
more readily
accepted and
the whole
SaaS model
and adoption
levels
increase
