A story of start-up success with Azure Ascend

Startup IT firm, ITERTECH, is taking full advantage of intY’s Azure Ascend to help them start selling Microsoft Azure.

Find out how you can too!

The MSP world has become more competitive than ever before. And with Microsoft increasingly churning out more and more advanced technologies, it is important that tech businesses maintain a competitive edge.

And IT business, ITERTECH is doing exactly that – selling Microsoft Azure thanks to intY’s Azure Ascend programme.

Founded by a team with over 50 years of cumulative experience in the IT sector, the Berkshire-based MSP specialises in cloud services, offering clients the scalability they need to expand their business, while keeping needs like flexible working and security at the forefront.

However, even with their years of experience, ITERTECH recognised that there were areas of knowledge and expertise that could be improved – especially if they were to help customers grow their businesses. And so ITERTECH signed up to the Azure Ascend programme to accelerate their knowledge, expertise and, most importantly, revenue for Microsoft-based cloud solutions.

“This programme has been transformative.
Azure Ascend took us from a 4-5 in confidence in Azure and propelled us all the way up to a 9 out of 10. What we once grasped only on paper has now become a day-to-day reality.”

Where it all began for ITERTECH…

James and Dan started their business after branching out of a previous IT business that specialised in on-premises solutions. They knew that they wanted to move to offering cloud solutions due to the subscription-based business model and the ability to create increasingly flexible solutions for their customers.

With a combination of an AZ-104 certification and some semi hands-on knowledge in Azure, they knew that they had a long way to go.

“There were quite a few things we didn’t know solutions-wise for tech, like Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), that we knew in theory but hadn’t had any live practice with.
And the exposure to filling in those gaps was what we needed most.”

Why Microsoft Azure?

Many organisations are rapidly transitioning to cloud-based services. For MSPs, this offers great business potential to create margin-rich solutions and support your customers, helping them to grow and scale on demand.

Microsoft’s Azure platform has over 200 products and cloud services that can help you to create those solutions. It offers you the flexibility to build, manage, and deploy your applications anywhere, with the frameworks and infrastructure of your choice.

But for many, the breadth of possibilities Microsoft Azure poses can seem daunting. For an MSP it can be hard to know where to start, what to focus on and how to ensure it’s a commercial success for your business by creating the right services to support your customers.

And that’s why intY’s Azure Ascend programme was created – to help you learn, build specialised services, and grow your business both technically and commercially.

Finding their way

ITERTECH works with customers in all sectors but specialises in the SMB and charity space. They knew from the formation of the business that they wanted to offer cloud-based services and that Microsoft Azure would be a cornerstone of their offering.

James and Dan like the subscription-based business model of the cloud – creating ongoing revenues for them as an MSP. They also appreciate the reduced technical requirements of the cloud and the support on offer to them:

“It removes a layer of engineering that’s needed with regard to host levels and Virtual Machine (VM) upkeep, and anything from the virtual network down… and there’s always somebody, whether it’s intY or Microsoft, at the end of the phone to answer questions.”

Increasing knowledge with Azure Ascend

Built around partner growth and powered by intY’s established Microsoft Azure experts, Azure Ascend aims to accelerate partner knowledge through interactive sessions, allowing you to unlock your full Azure potential.

James goes on to explain his experience with Azure Ascend:

“We covered a bit of knowledge that we already knew, but the learning concepts and building blocks were very different.
It was a different way of looking at the architecture within Azure, and that was the kind of architecture we wanted to build.
We had a good deal of experience on the commercial side, but it was really having people there to say: “This is the way you should do it.
It gave us the direction to continue working and refine our sales strategy.”

But it’s not just about knowledge. When you start any new career venture, having an idea of what you’re talking about is important, but can you put that knowledge into practice and actually make your sales?

Taking partner knowledge one step further

Back in 2022, we debuted intY’s first-ever Azure Ascend Base Camp to delve into Azure solutions even further. The highly interactive workshop sessions look at commercial opportunities and how to price Azure solutions in the Azure Pricing Calculator, followed by live demonstrations of building them into your own Azure environment.

ITERTECH were no stranger to investing time in our events on their Azure Ascend journey:

“It was great to be in a room with other people in the industry. We were able to gauge our knowledge against the market and see the solutions we want to be deployed in practice.
Hearing some of the questions from other MSPs was super helpful because it confirmed that our knowledge was growing because we knew some of the answers.
And the answers we didn’t know were thoroughly covered by the intY team’s lab demonstration for setting up an AVD environment.”

intY’s established Azure Practice developed Azure Ascend and our partner exclusive events to help MSPs learn more about the benefits of each cloud solution, confidently go–to–market with an expansive tech stack and gain recognised accreditations that make a cloud business really stand out.

Reaching the Summit: Sales

Taking your solution to market for the first time is one of the most exciting and fulfilling parts of any job. It makes all that hard work behind the scenes worth it. But there’s always a chance that sales don’t go as planned if you haven’t done enough research and consolidated your knowledge.

But thanks to Azure Ascend, that’s not the case for ITERTECH, as James explains:

“All the solutions we have put into Azure have been very well received.
Once our customers get their heads around the pricing of the different cost models, there’s more than enough wiggle room to make a healthy profit margin. And we haven’t had a bad word said about the solutions when they are deployed.”

Why intY as your Azure partner?

At intY, we prioritise equipping our partners for success. That’s why we work with MSPs, such as ITERTECH, through our Azure Ascend programme. By doing so, we ensure that their investment in the cloud translates into tangible benefits for their business.

For ITERTECH the success is clear – their Azure consumption has increased 10-fold since October 2022.

Our mission is simple – to give you the knowledge, resources, and support you need to truly reap the benefits of the cloud. But if you still need more convincing, we’ll hand it back over to James to highlight some of the reasons why you should choose intY as your Cloud Solutions Provider:

“First of all, you guys are always at the end of the phone.
As a solutions partner, you’ve got all the skills and experience needed to answer those little annoying questions that I’m certainly going to keep asking you.
It sounds very old school, but you have a great human element that has been lost since the pandemic with many companies. And it’s something that I hope you guys don’t lose because it’s much easier to deal with people. Even if the people don’t know the answer, they go away and get the answer.
It makes life a lot easier.
To us, the Azure Practice and Account Managers, are our intY.”

Looking to see what Azure Ascend can do for your cloud business?