Above and beyond: a 2023 success story
- Marcus Ollenbuttel
- Articles, Company News
In a rapidly changing sector like ours, each step in business and technological innovation presents a new adventure. This year, the disruptive Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution has truly taken our industry by storm, turning technology on its head and opening up a world of new possibilities.
As we approach the end of 2023, let’s take a look back at this year and chart where our business has been heading. There have been some remarkable developments, events and trends that have made waves in the MSP and SaaS business world. From persistent cybersecurity challenges to the soaring adoption of cloud technology and, of course, the transformative impact of AI – our sector’s boat certainly has been rocked!
While these events often presented challenges, we’ve made it our goal to be a consistent, reliable source of support for our partners. That’s why we prioritised training and expert support and focused on our relationships with you – and we’ve been so excited to hear the many success stories that have come back.
Read on to see this year’s highlights, partner stories and our 2023 milestones. And get in touch if you have a story of your own to tell – we’d love to hear from you.
Flying high at CloudFest
In October, we launched an aviation-themed extravaganza at the sensational Aerospace Bristol; CloudFest. This high-flying celebration of excellence, service quality and expertise was sponsored by a multitude of vendors, including Microsoft, Acronis, Exclaimer and Barracuda, and brought together our most successful MSPs and vendors under the legendary wings of Concorde.
It was truly an event to remember – filled with inspiration, learning, idea-sharing and camaraderie. Featuring captivating keynote speakers who shared their invaluable insights, followed by a delicious dinner and entertainment from award-winning comedian Russell Kane.
The highlight of the show was the awards ceremony, where we put our partners front and centre to celebrate their successes.
Here’s some of the partner feedback from the day:
“CloudFest was great from start to finish! All of the intY staff were brilliant, we had some good chats with other companies like our own & we look forward to building on our already great partnership in the future.” – AJT Managed IT Services
“An outstanding event! It was well planned and set against a spectacular backdrop. The show had just the right number of exhibitors—enough to engage meaningfully without feeling overwhelmed. Exceptional job!” – Bristol Computer Support
“Great content, very much educational rather than sales (a refreshing change)! A great venue and very well organised. Thank you for the invite.” – Neuways
Partner Success Stories
This year, we’ve shared more partner success stories than ever before in a series of new case studies to continue the theme of shining a light on partners building thriving businesses.
These stories inspire MSPs to see what’s possible with their businesses. Not only do they reveal impressive growth and development for our partners, but exactly how they got there – so others can learn from their strategies and approaches and emulate their success.
Rob Quickenden, Chief Technology Officer at Cisilion, explains how the partnership with intY has facilitated growth and how much they have benefited from intY’s value-added services.
“We have a really fast growing, sustainable business model now, and intY has been a massive part of that success journey.”
“They’re good at anticipating our needs, and that’s such a powerful part of any partnership.”
“Business as a whole has grown more than 50% every year, so it’s been phenomenal. 6 years ago, Microsoft was 5-6% of our overall business – it’s now 50%.”
See the full case study here.
Daniel Webb, CEO of Open Cloud, describes his journey from a one-man operation to building a thriving team.
“Having intY there, just to be able to say “help”, relieves an awful lot of stress, so when I go out to larger clients… I know that I can lean back on their knowledge.”
“If I had my time again, I would choose intY from the start, just because it provides me with the power and the support of a large company, but I still maintain that unique small relational capacity with our clients.”
See the full case study here.
Azure Ascend Base Camp: Navigating the Azure Landscape
We know how important practical training is to our partners, so we’ve continued to design and deliver a range of exclusive MSP training events. In November, we ran our Azure Ascend Base Camp, held at Microsoft HQ in Reading, which was a resounding success.
Hosted by intY’s Azure experts and featuring representatives from Microsoft, the event covered how to migrate to Microsoft Azure, the commercial opportunities, and cost calculations using the Azure Pricing Calculator. Partners could access the specific knowledge and advice they needed, working directly with industry experts.
If you want to learn more about Azure Ascend, hear from ITERTECH about their successes with utilising this program here
Illuminate learning: Shining a light on MSP training
Due to a high level of partner demand, we began to offer in-depth, structured training courses on specific areas of expertise. Working in collaboration with Illuminate Learning, a specialised MSP training and enablement provider, intY can give partners access to bespoke training courses, tailored around your needs.
Following our successful launch earlier this year, we’re excited to help more partners than ever develop and grow in 2024, through these in-depth learning opportunities. Whether you want to upskill your sales team or hone specific technical expertise, Illuminate Learning’s specialised Microsoft product and solution training is designed just for you.
Bitdefender roundtable: An inspirational event at an inspirational venue
Our popular Bitdefender roundtable event took place in September this year, at The Swan in London, an amazing venue adjacent to Shakespeare’s Globe theatre. Partners heard from Bitdefender’s cybersecurity experts while dining in style.
Attendees found the event informative and highly enjoyable, as they learned best practices for protecting customers, how to upsell cybersecurity solutions, and gained insight into the latest cybersecurity tools such as Bitdefender Managed Detection and Response (MDR).
These popular expert roundtables are always well-attended, and we look forward to offering more in 2024.
intY in the community: An opportunity to give back
Community has always been one of intY’s core values – but it’s not just about our internal team, we also aim to help the local Bristol community by giving back whenever we can.
In November, the intY team visited the North Bristol & South Glos food bank for a day of practical volunteering. We got stuck into sorting stock to provide essential food parcels to nine food bank outlets. It was a thoroughly rewarding experience that gave us all a lift.
A well-deserved Summer celebration
In August, the whole intY team came together for an awesome summer party on the River Avon in Bristol, cruising on the water with incredible views of the historic harbour. Sailing past the iconic SS Great Britain and enjoying delicious fish & chips and summer cocktails as the sun went down – it was the perfect reward for everyone’s hard work.
Social events like this are an essential part of the intY calendar – we believe it’s important to celebrate our shared successes to spur each other on. As a supportive team who enjoy having fun together, events like this really highlight the close relationships that make intY a special place to work.
A forecast for 2024
So that’s a wrap for 2023. It’s been a busy and rewarding year for our team and we’re excited for all the things the future has in store. We want to thank all our partners for your continued support – we couldn’t have done it without you.
We can’t wait to hear more of your success stories. Our goal is to help more partners than ever grow and thrive in the new year, so please keep sharing your needs and ideas with us. Check out our partner announcements page for forthcoming updates as we bring new product developments, business opportunities and professional development opportunities in 2024.
It’s set to be another year to remember!
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