
Success as a service provider means having the right skills
To continue growing in today’s competitive market, it is essential for managed service providers (MSPs) and cloud service providers (CSPs) to explore the myriad new service opportunities presented by cloud services – but simply hosting line-of-business applications isn’t enough.
Maintaining that crucial end-user relationship requires a commitment to both software excellence and a proven track record in building the skills that today’s complex application space requires.
rhipe meets that commitment with a range of programs designed to help partners expand their own skills or, where relevant, draw on rhipe’s own skills to complement their own customer service offerings.
A recent rhipe partner survey, Digital Transformation: The pulse of Australian MSPs, surveyed 102 attendees at the national rhipeFest roadshow and found that 42 percent had shifted to a business model based primarily on recurring and subscription revenues.
Much of this is delivered thanks to rhipe’s flexible licensing offerings, but simply delivering software isn’t enough on its own. Given a complex regulatory environment – think about Australia’s notifiable data breach (NDB) scheme, the EU general data protection regulation (GDPR), the upcoming Consumer Data Right (CDR) and other regulatory demands – rhipe can offer even more value by helping partners build the skills to help their own customers to stay abreast of their obligations.
Just 15 percent of respondents said they engage with clients by aligning to the needs of industry verticals – an approach that requires industry-specific skills including compliance and governance.
Yet only 51 percent of rhipe partners said they are actively working with their clients to address their compliance obligations under NDB, with 35 percent saying they were still evaluating their approach to address this market.
This represents a significant opportunity for MSPs to grow their business by bolstering their skills – and becoming a next-generation cloud service provider (CSP) partner that is focused more on delivering business outcomes than simply delivering cloud-based applications.
Building the skills to be a next-generation partner requires a commitment by both rhipe and our MSP and CSP partners, who need to commit time and resources to technical and business R&D.
They take time to trial new business solutions, and to work with their customers (and with rhipe) to adapt expanding solutions in the Microsoft Dynamics, Office 365, and Azure ecosystem as well as those from rhipe licensees including Citrix, DataCore, Intel Security, Red Hat, Trend Micro, Veeam, VMware, and Zimbra.
rhipe’s marketing resources and regular technical enablement sessions ensure that partners gain the skills to be fully certified in the solutions they deliver, allowing them to deliver extensive, vertically integrated solutions that deliver real business value for their customers.
Working together, rhipe and our MSP and CSP partners can build the skills to stand out in a fiercely competitive market. Our mutual customers will benefit, enjoying a new level of business solution from next-generation partners who can provide the right skills, at the right time.
Connect with rhipe’s cloud and licensing experts at Microsoft Ignite, 13 & 14 February at the ICC Sydney. https://rhi.pe/s9