Print.IT Reseller - issue 71

01732 759725 48 Q&A View from the channel Q: How’s business; better or worse than 12 months ago? And how confident are you about the future? A: Always better! We had a great start to the year and if all goes well, we should be £20million+ having grown recurring revenue by 30%+, and winning some large deals like Cardiff University. With a new CEO in place we are far more streamlined than we were just 12 months ago. Q: In what areas are you experiencing strongest demand? A: I believe you create your demand, so we've been focussing on growing recurring revenue in mid-market and enterprise. It’s coming along well, as well as some good enterprise projects, and we’re seeing strong demand all round! Q: How have you changed/are you changing business operations to exploit new opportunities? A: We've focused more on cloud, being a Tier 1 Cloud solution provider with Microsoft and partnering with AWS. We have appointed a cloud architect to exploit this area better, have gathered more traction with Microsoft, and are seeing some great wins both with new names and existing clients. Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing channel businesses today? A: Keeping up with it all. The cloud is daunting and new tech businesses are booking around business intelligence, so companies like us (MSPs) will need to keep on top of this. New companies are engaging in a new way around outcomes and are offering a different approach. Roger Harry, Director, Circle IT We must make sure we work out what the vendors and distributors are pushing and align our offerings with that Q: Could vendors and distributors do more to help you overcome them? And if so, what? A: Not really. It’s evolve or die in this game. We must make sure we work out what the vendors and distributors are pushing and align our offerings with that. Failing to do so will result in no traction. Q: If you could change one aspect of your job what would it be and why? A: Add beds to the train from London to Cardiff so I can sleep all the way home when I catch the last train out of London under the influence! www.circleit.co.uk