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Digital transformation: The long-term revenue opportunity

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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At the start of the pandemic many people would have been mistaken for thinking that work-from-home and stay at home orders were going to be short-lived. After the Prime Minister introduced these initial instructions to the nation, many IT teams rushed like mad to maintain business continuity and productivity for their organisations. Since then, society’s behaviour has changed; and so has the way in which people work, seeing the rise of remote working. 

During that time cloud application usage skyrocketed too. Digital transformation initiatives sped up almost overnight. And, while the initial scramble focused on business continuity and technology upgrades; across the board, the cloud evolution has not ceased and neither will digital transformation. Especially since the UK is encouraging investments in connectivity and digitising Britain. Rob Hancock, Head of Platform, Giacom reflects on the last year and provides the channel with an outlook on where the opportunity to generate revenue lies through the rest of 2021.

Changing the shape of organisations 

Initially, during the pandemic, homeworking was considered temporary. But, through 2020 many organisations came to accept the longevity of the situation and changed their working policies. Today, we see more firms opt for continued remote working and / or hybrid working policies, offering a blend of office-based and remote working options to employees.

But, where does the opportunity to sell ‘remote working’ truly lie for the channel in this scenario? Research shows that in 2020 there were 6.0 million SMEs in the UK; which was over 99% of all businesses. Clearly, there is vast revenue potential available here.

Another driver of organisational change across enterprise and SMB markets is cloud adoption. Research points out that 88 per cent of organisations expect the adoption of cloud services to increase in the next 12 months. This underpins the importance of cloud within wider future technology strategies; which will, no doubt, improve organisational operations too.

Business-grade and secure

Through the pandemic we’ve seen many people work from their kitchen tables, for instance. Often employees have used their personal broadband and, in some cases, own mobile devices and laptops. While this workforce’s diligence is worth applauding, the use of their own personal technology is often not business grade or secure. At first, these temporary solutions may have been sufficient; but they are not sustainable long-term.

This is where the ongoing opportunity lies for the channel. As organisations make committed strides towards remote or hybrid-working, they will require the right blend of technology and equipment to enable employees to be productive. This means, kitting out employees with fast, efficient, robust and secure internet and voice connectivity that is suitable for their jobs. Moreover, they need to offer staff access to feature-rich communication applications, like Microsoft Teams, for unified communications and collaboration (UC&C), so that productivity can be maintained.

At a practical and physical level, organisations need to supply employees with reliable equipment to do their jobs. We’ve talked about business grade laptops and phones. But what about support with setting up ergonomic home working stations for staff, as they provide people with voice, data and cloud applications to enable them to work.

Collaboration and brainstorming applications

Before the pandemic, Microsoft Teams wasn’t used effectively by many firms. However, since last March, Microsoft Teams usage for video calls increased by 1000%. And, it is also reasonable to say that many firms have become adept at driving productivity with UC&C technology; and that they derive substantial return on investment from these applications.

The need for UC&C is not going to go away anytime soon. Meaning the revenue opportunity will remain available for a long time yet – especially in the SMB market. What will change over time is the need for richer features that enable people to do aspects of their job better, since they no longer meet as often in person. This might, for example, mean employees seek out features from technologies that enable them to brainstorm more effectively, such as digital whiteboarding – or, more accurate meeting transcription services. Therefore, CSPs and MSPs will need to work more closely to match client needs against partner technologies.

The data security opportunity

And, while remote and hybrid-working will likely remain standard for many organisations in the future, it does raise security concerns for IT teams. As various pandemic lockdowns ease over time, many people will likely be eager to change their work scenery and work in different locations. Some might want to take a week away and work remotely. Some might want to work in a local coffee shop. Regardless of their choice, organisations will have to assess if their IT security strategies are robust enough to accommodate these sorts of situations.

In these kinds of scenarios, are MSPs then equipped to help organisations with these new data security needs? Do they offer multi-factor (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO) security? What about the on-boarding of new employees at the SMB level when new staff join? Has cyber security awareness training been offered to employees – is training ongoing in order to protect data?

Line of business moves to the cloud

Aside from offering voice, data, UC&C and security technologies, many organisations are shifting entire business applications into the cloud. This was a large focus for many organisations in 2020 and will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. This presents further opportunity for MSPs as they consult with clients. They may already be speaking with customers about these aforementioned technologies – but, since they have their clients’ ears, there is opportunity to become more deeply embedded within client organisations by supporting wider initiatives to move business applications into the cloud.  It then also means MSPs will be able to offer a great deal of value-add off the back of existing contracts and generate incremental revenue.

Conclusion

During the pandemic the channel demonstrated how adaptable it is to step up and meet customer needs fast. Strong relationships between CSPs and MSPs were at the heart of this success. But, it can’t stop there. Digital transformation is a long-term destination and the use of the cloud to support organisations is here to stay: be it for collaboration; data security; or to enable business applications to shift to the cloud. The opportunity is almost endless.

To capitalise further, though, means MSPs need to align with CSPs that can provide the strong foundations they need to support their customers with their cloud journeys. Can their preferred CSP offer collaborative consultancy and work with them to solve any technology challenges? Do they support with training and marketing? Can they bring value to the MSP’s proposition by offering a breadth of technologies that enables them to expand their portfolio of products that they offer to customers? What is their long-term technology roadmap? The right CSP partner will have all these bases covered.

What is more, the future is promising in 2021 for the channel – especially when you consider the revenue generation opportunity across that 6-million strong UK SMB market. It just begs the question about whether the channel has the right partnerships in place to succeed.

Cybersecurity is not a one-stop-shop

 960 640 Guest Post
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By Steve Law, CTO, Giacom and Kelvin Murray, Threat Researcher, Webroot

Boris Johnson announced the Government’s roadmap to lift Coronavirus restrictions for both businesses and the general public earlier in February, and since then, this has provided a glimmer of hope for many across the country. However, since the start of the pandemic, the way business is conducted has changed permanently, with many workforces wanting to continue to work remotely as lockdowns and restrictions ease over time.

So, as companies relax and rules are eased, life is expected to return to a form of ‘new normal.’ But, the issues around cybersecurity are here to stay, and the gas pedal must not be eased – especially with the increased risks associated with continued remote working. 

If anything, security should be more reinforced now than ever before to ensure all aspects of a business are secure. But this isn’t the case. Steve Law, CTO, Giacom and Kelvin Murray, Threat Researcher, Webroot, detail the importance of embedding a trilogy security approach into organisations, and this is where a strong CSP/MSP relationship can be invaluable. 

The Risk Grows

Despite lockdown restrictions easing, cybersecurity risks remain and are likely to grow as COVID-19 changes the working landscape. As indoor spaces begin to open in the next few months, employees will want to venture out to new spaces to work, such as coffee shops and internet cafes – but working on open networks and personal devices creates unlocked gateways for cyberattacks to take place. Since this hybrid and remote way of working looks like it’s here to stay, businesses must ensure they have the right infrastructure in place to combat any cyber threats. 

For instance, research by the National Cyber Security Centre shows that there has been a rise in COVID-19 related cyber attacks over the past year, with more than one in four UK hacks being related to the pandemic. This trend is not likely to ease up any time soon either. And, going forward, hackers could take advantage of excited travellers waiting to book their next holiday once the travel ban is lifted, deploying fake travel websites, for example. 

Aside from the bad actors in this wider scenario, part of the problem here is that many IT teams are not making use of a holistic and layered approach to security and data recovery; which can lead to damaging consequences as data is stolen from organisations. Such issues continue to resonate strongly across businesses of all sizes, who will, therefore, turn to their MSPs for a solution. 

The Importance of a Layered Approach 

Cybersecurity is not a one-stop-shop. A full trilogy of solutions is required to ensure maximum effect. This includes a layered combination of DNS networking, secure endpoint connections, and an educated and empowered human workforce. 

The need for DNS security cannot be ignored, especially with the rise of remote workforces, in order to monitor and manage internet access policies, as well as reduce malware. DNS is frequently targeted by

bad actors, and so DNS-layer protection is now increasingly regarded as an essential security control – providing an added layer of protection between a user and the internet by blocking malicious websites and filtering out unwanted material. 

Similarly, endpoint protection solutions prevent file-based malware, detect and block malicious internal and external activity, and respond to security alerts in real-time. Webroot® Business Endpoint Protection, for example, harnesses the power of cloud computing and real-time machine learning to monitor and adapt individual endpoint defences to the unique threats that users face.

However, these innovative tools and solutions cannot be implemented without educating users and embedding a cyber security-aware culture throughout the workforce. Humans are often the weakest link in cybersecurity, with 90% of data breaches occurring due to human error. So, by offering the right training and resources, businesses can help their employees increase their cyber resilience and position themselves strongly on the front line of defence. This combination is crucial to ensure the right digital solutions are in place – as well as increasing workforces’ understanding of the critical role they play in keeping the organisation safe. In turn, these security needs provide various monetisation opportunities for the channel as more businesses require the right blend of technology and education to enable employees to be secure.

The Channel’s Role 

Businesses, particularly SMBs, will look to MSPs to protect their businesses and help them achieve cyber resilience. This creates a unique and valuable opportunity for MSPs to guide customers through their cybersecurity journeys, providing them with the right tools and data protection solutions to get the most out of their employees’ home working environments in the most secure ways. Just as importantly, MSPs need to take responsibility for educating their own teams and clients. This includes delivering additional training modules around online safety through ongoing security awareness training, as well as endpoint protection and anything else that is required to enhance cyber resilience.

Moreover, cyber resilience solutions and packages can be custom-built and personalised to fit the needs of the customer, including endpoint protection, ongoing end-user training, threat intelligence, and backup and recovery. With the right tools in place to grow and automate various services – complemented by technical, organisational and personal support – channel partners will then have the keys to success to develop new revenue streams too.

Conclusion 

Hackers are more innovative than ever before, and in order to combat increasing threats, businesses need to stay one step ahead. Companies must continue to account for the new realities of remote work and distracted workforces, and they must reinforce to employees that cyber resilience isn’t just the job of IT teams – it’s a responsibility that everyone shares. By taking a multi-layered approach to cybersecurity, businesses can develop a holistic view of their defence strategy, accounting for the multitude of vectors by which modern malware and threats are delivered. Within this evolving cybersecurity landscape, it’s essential for SMBs to find an MSP partner that offers a varied portfolio of security offerings and training, as well as the knowledge and support, to keep their business data, workforces and network secure.

GUEST BLOG: Future proof with a cloud solution before it’s too late

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
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Agile business models have never been more important – and for most MSPs the on-premises business is rapidly turning from predictable income stream to concerning business constraint. When it comes to cloud-based versus on-premises, the writing is on the wall – from the opex versus capex argument to better disaster recovery (DR) and enhanced security, most client businesses are heading into the cloud. So just how much longer can your business hold out, asks Mike Wardell, CEO, Giacom..

Cloud is Mainstream

When the majority of new software investment is Software as a Service (SaaS) based, any company still tethered to an on-premises only business model is radically limiting its market. And yes, while the existing client portfolio may still have a few years left to run with on-prem contracts, this is an inevitably dwindling revenue stream.

The fact is that most MSPs are coming under increasing pressure from clients for a cloud-based offering – and for good reason. SME CEOs and CFOs are increasingly aware that traditional on-prem solutions represent not only a financial compromise but also a significant business risk.

In the current uncertain economic situation, financial flexibility is essential. Given the lack of business confidence, capex is rarely an option; yet companies can also not afford to avoid investment essential to maximise new business opportunities. The opex SaaS model is compelling. Rather than the ‘just in case’ investment in storage or capacity or software licenses, the pay as you use cloud model enables SMEs to avoid wasted expenditure while providing the chance to rapidly scale up should business growth demand.

Business Protection

In addition to safeguarding company finances, many SMEs are also looking to the cloud to safeguard business operations. One in five small firms experienced a cyber-attack in the two years up to 2019 – that’s 10,000 attacks every day. From phishing to malware and ransomware, the speed with which the cyber-attack community evolves new threats is astonishing. SMEs simply do not have the resources in people, money or time, to adequately secure the business; nor can individual MSPs, however expert, safeguard clients’ on-prem business infrastructure.

The only way to combat this threat is to leverage the pooled knowledge of thousands of securityexperts operating collaboratively. From the use of artificial intelligence to identify unusual behaviour to email security products that can automatically remediate an identified threat by instantly removing it from every mailbox globally, cloud-based security solutions are leveraging the combined expertise of world leaders in a way that simply cannot be achieved with individual on-prem deployments.

The estimated £4.5 billion cost of these security attacks has also intensified SME awareness of the need for better Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR). Typically such strategies have focused on the difficult issue of data backup and restore, and the time it can take to provide employees with access to vital information required to service customers.

Cloud completely changes the focus: cloud-based backup solutions enable vast data resources to be backed up in seconds and restored immediately. Organisations can instead begin to focus on the relocation of the workforce and the way dispersed teams could work together in the event of a disaster. Indeed, the adoption of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools not only enable a far more flexible BCDR plan, they will also deliver significant day to day benefits, including flexible working policies.

Business Expansion

For MSPs, the growing SME awareness of the benefits of cloud computing is changing the business outlook. When new services and solutions can be provisioned within hours, organisations are less and less willing to incur the cost and upheaval associated with months of on-premises deployment. Add in the importance of flexible financial models and better business protection and the writing is on the wall: most clients will want some, if not all, services to be provisioned through the cloud.

Of course, for MSPs, the change is significant: from commercial models to technical and sales skills, moving to a recurring revenue based model requires both investment and a shift in thinking. But it’s essential for MSPs to recognise the cloud as an opportunity, not a threat. Yes, there is a very real risk that customers will be lost if an MSP cannot offer a cloud solution. But this is not just about meeting a client’s immediate cloud needs.

Working with the right CSP will also enable an MSP to add valuable options to the portfolio, like adding cloud security to existing security audit services, enhancing BCDR solutions or adding collaboration tools. The cloud offers a chance not only to retain existing customers but also significant opportunities to extend the business model, adding much needed new revenue streams.