In this interview, Amit Ghosh, the ‘Orchestra Leader’ for sa.global’s Managed Services talks about adapting to manage cloud solutions and helping clients embrace these changes.
Most Managed Service Providers (MSPs) who leverage talented resources, a mature operation, and good customer service survive well in the competitive yet me-too managed services community. For more ambitious MSPs, the question becomes how do you go from good to great? At sa.global, we orchestrate.
Q: Amit, please talk about your role and how you come to be a Managed Services Director at sa.global?
A: My professional journey started in the dotcom days with early exposure to ERPs and customer back office systems starting with implementations and support operations. Over the years, I worked across leadership roles enabling organizations focusing on continuous value improvements through the lifecycle of ownership. sa.global’s vision for enabling our client’s journey and not just limiting ourselves to the adoption/implementation phases with a razor focus on continuous value improvements, spurred me to take this global role.
Q: sa.global has been in business for 30+ years. We have built a strong traditional Managed Services infrastructure. How quickly did we adapt to manage different cloud solutions?
A: Yes, we did build our infrastructure quite rapidly and seamlessly. In fact, our strong experience with the Microsoft business application platform from the very early days has been a catalyst in enabling this natural transition. As more and more clients adopt Microsoft cloud-based applications – be it finance, supply chain, or customer engagement, we have evolved our processes and aligned to changing needs. Our focus has moved away from traditional infrastructure-based support (though we do have those) to more of end-to-end application front-end engagements.
Q: As we move Managed Services clients into the cloud, how do we help them embrace new technology necessary for cloud migration and cloud cost optimization?
A: Microsoft’s Azure platform is quite versatile and robust. It is no wonder we see the traction with clients across the board. Whether it is migration from old releases of Microsoft business applications like NAV, GP, or AX or regular updates on the latest Dynamics 365 applications, we have the right set of expertise, tools, and processes to ensure success.
Q: Various research shows that user behavior has changed with more tech-savvy clients. Moving to the cloud often causes analysis paralysis. How do we help clients make the decision to move to the cloud?
A: This is a very important question. A cloud adoption is by itself a journey and our clients certainly need the right advice. A multitude of options, pathways, and vendor methodologies do tend to muddle the path. This is where we take the value identification and realization approach driven by our advisory services that helps our clients avoid those ‘analysis-paralysis’ situations.
Q: How are we not a me-too Managed Services organization? How are we different in expertise capabilities?
A: We fundamentally want our clients to not only experience operational stability which is more or less an industry standard as the world moves towards the cloud but more importantly, experience a high value realization through continuous improvements, new features, and advisory interventions that continue to address the changing needs of our dynamic ecosystems.
Q: Success in the cloud requires strong interoperability? How do we address this?
A: Usually through a focus on simplification especially in the integration. A multi-cloud environment is a reality we cannot get away from – to some extent a corollary to the old days of best-of-breed ERPs that often caused havoc while integrating. The idea is to simplify the landscape, adopt standard platforms as well as processes to monitor, manage, and maintain.
Q: How do we seek to understand our client’s needs as they move from traditional/ on-prem to the cloud?
A: As part of the cloud advisory workshops, a structured process of discovery leads us to our client’s needs, answer questions, identify gaps, as well as assess their readiness.
Q: What are the must-haves and value adds of our service?
A: We offer a set of services: a must-have would be for our clients to engage in our foundational service engagement that ensures stability and continuity and helps our clients to stay ahead of the curve.
Q: Advisory services are more important than ever. Can the Microsoft Dynamics market think of us as a cloud orchestration conduit for all things cloud?
A: Yes, and with a very specialized focus on Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications where we have helped a lot of clients move away from a traditional landscape to the cloud.
Q: sa.global has always been good. How did we become great?
A: Our clients have always come first for us. They have been our best teachers. Transparency and trust are key to our relationship with our clients – and that’s what sets us apart.
Hope you enjoyed reading through this interview. If this has got you interested to learn more about Managed Services and how your business can benefit, visit us.
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