The TD SYNNEX cloud team is expecting to see a flurry of partner-to-partner collaboration after receiving a highly positive response to recent presentations of Ultima Labs’ IA-Cloud migration solution and subsequent discussions with a number of customers.
►Strong signs that a positive approach to partnering is developing in the channel
After seeing a demonstration and hearing about the stringent assessment and testing TD SYNNEX carried out on the solution, which has already helped Ultima’s reseller business to drive rapid growth in Microsoft cloud sales, a number of partners were eager to learn more and discuss the potential for active partnerships.
Simon Bennett, director enterprise software and cloud, TD SYNNEX, UK and Ireland, thinks this could be a sign that channel businesses are becoming more willing to make use of their complementary skills and enter into formal partnerships. ‘We had a tremendous response to the IA-Cloud demos at our recent partner events and I believe there are a couple of good reasons for that. First of all, our partners have tremendous trust in TD SYNNEX. We have put a lot of time and resource into performing due diligence on IA-Cloud. Not only to make sure the solution itself works, but also that the commercial arrangements work for partners. That’s really important.
‘Also, while IA-Cloud has been a key factor in the success of Ultima in the Microsoft cloud space over the last two years, the fact that it has been developed and is being marketed and sold by Ultima Labs, which operates as a separate and independent entity – is hugely significant.
‘Additionally, I think we are now seeing a recognition amongst MSP and reseller partners that they cannot do it all. They need to find ways to automate intelligently, and they need to draw on the expertise of other partners and of TD SYNNEX to meet all their customers’ needs.’
He believes this could presage a new attitude and approach to partnering. “With the accelerated shift to cloud and hybrid, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to maintain all the skills and capabilities, tools, and processes you need within a partner business. I do think we are witnessing a sea-change in the way partners approach relationships. I think we will see many more businesses working with each other to deliver everything the customer needs – from expert consultancy and advice, through to provisioning, migration, management, and billing.”
TD SYNNEX has already put frameworks in place to enable partner-to-partner interaction through various initiatives, including its Select scheme, the Velocity programme for Microsoft CSP partners, and its unique Industry Ecosystems, which bring together innovators and established partners in key verticals.
Activity in this area will intensify in 2022, said Simon Bennett. ‘We believe there is a real desire and hunger for us to become the vehicle through which partners can discover new potential and possibilities, and forge alliances that will lead to genuine innovation and growth. TD SYNNEX sits at the hub of the wheel in the channel. We have extensive skills, tools, relationships and resources, so we’re ideally-placed to bring all that together and support partners as they develop new innovations and ideas and take them to market.’
Ultima Labs’ IA-Cloud is a scalable, low-cost migration and management platform that also improves quality of service delivery and customer satisfaction for partners delivering Microsoft cloud solutions. It uses RPA (robotic process automation) techniques to blend software, automation, and skills to increase scale, reduce cost, and deliver higher quality of service. It thus enables partners to automate their customer migrations and spend more time focused on business development.
IA-Cloud has been developed by Ultima Labs, which is part of the well-known and successful UK-based MSP, Ultima. TD SYNNEX is actively working in partnership with Ultima Labs to recruit and enable managed services partners who can use IA-Cloud to scale-up their migration and management capabilities.
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