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“It wasn’t until we found the SP Marketplace solutions that we knew that was the right solution to work with.” - Lance Gauld, CEO |
Cloud Cover IT Increases Revenue on Office 365 and SharePoint by Partnering with SP Marketplace
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Cloud Cover IT, based in the United Kingdom, is a Microsoft Gold Partner that started business by providing IT infrastructure services and evolved to providing services in the cloud on Office 365. To expand the business beyond basic IT work to higher value business solutions, Cloud Cover began offering bespoke development work to its clients, but needed a business partner familiar with SharePoint.
The business objective in partnering with SP Marketplace was to work with a company that was familiar with SharePoint; but, perhaps more importantly, could transform SharePoint from a platform into a business solution that was easy and attractive to sell. “SP Marketplace allowed us to do that,” said Cloud Cover CEO Lance Gauld about SP Marketplace business applications and modules. “The team at SP Marketplace was able to show us a lot of information and it was very exciting. We saw that actually we could bring our existing staff up to speed quite quickly to offer our customers higher value solutions. They really allowed us to extend our business model quickly.” |
Cloud Cover IT found the products and solutions provided by SP Marketplace intuitive and straight-forward. Since implementing the products and solutions, Cloud Cover has discovered new business opportunities. |
The Objective
“We needed a quick and easy way to get into the SharePoint marketplace,” said Gauld.
Cloud Cover began searching for a partner that could help them break into the market by asking for referrals among its existing IT contacts. The company looked at a couple different products, none of which fit Cloud Cover’s needs.
In order to meet their needs, it was necessary for the solutions provided by the business partner to connect with Cloud Cover’s existing products and services. The products or solutions also needed to be simple enough for employees to learn quickly. It was also important for the business partner to provide ongoing support to Cloud Cover until they were technologically self-sufficient.
“To that end we worked with SP Marketplace to get our team up to speed on demos of the products and learn the basic infrastructure and configuration of the products,” said Gauld.
To further educate the company on SP Marketplace products, an engineer from Cloud Cover visited SP Marketplace at its headquarters in Northern California from Scotland.
“That was great; they were able to sit there in the SP Marketplace facilities and get trained on how to apply and support SP software.”
In order to meet their needs, it was necessary for the solutions provided by the business partner to connect with Cloud Cover’s existing products and services. The products or solutions also needed to be simple enough for employees to learn quickly. It was also important for the business partner to provide ongoing support to Cloud Cover until they were technologically self-sufficient.
“To that end we worked with SP Marketplace to get our team up to speed on demos of the products and learn the basic infrastructure and configuration of the products,” said Gauld.
To further educate the company on SP Marketplace products, an engineer from Cloud Cover visited SP Marketplace at its headquarters in Northern California from Scotland.
“That was great; they were able to sit there in the SP Marketplace facilities and get trained on how to apply and support SP software.”
The Solution
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“It wasn’t until we found the SP Marketplace solutions that we knew that was the right solution to work with,” Gauld said.
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Cloud Cover found the products and solutions provided by SP Marketplace intuitive and straight-forward, which allowed the company and staff to accomplish its goal of getting up and running quickly. And since implementing the products and solutions, Cloud Cover has discovered new business opportunities.
“It’s not a product that we have to sell just to our local market; it’s very much a multinational product,” explained Gauld.
One major advantage to partnering with SP Marketplace is Cloud Cover’s ability to maintain steady, ongoing revenue. As a result, Cloud Cover has expanded its SharePoint team from one employee to three.
Because of the increase in inquiries and amount of interest, the business discovered it didn’t have the time necessary to conduct as many demonstrations, so they hired an additional salesperson to act alongside its business development manager.
“We’ve never had that experience before,” said Gauld. “So, we’re having to grow our sales team just to demonstrate it and show the product.
“It’s not a product that we have to sell just to our local market; it’s very much a multinational product,” explained Gauld.
One major advantage to partnering with SP Marketplace is Cloud Cover’s ability to maintain steady, ongoing revenue. As a result, Cloud Cover has expanded its SharePoint team from one employee to three.
Because of the increase in inquiries and amount of interest, the business discovered it didn’t have the time necessary to conduct as many demonstrations, so they hired an additional salesperson to act alongside its business development manager.
“We’ve never had that experience before,” said Gauld. “So, we’re having to grow our sales team just to demonstrate it and show the product.
Advice for Future Partners
For companies that are experiencing similar situations, Cloud Cover suggests looking at what is available, but ultimately calling SP Marketplace because of how easy and affordable it is for businesses.
“Your clients are happy, you can make very good revenue, and there’s potential for making a lot of ongoing revenue out of it,” said Gauld. “Our existing clients who have bought SP are coming back and asking for more.”
“Your clients are happy, you can make very good revenue, and there’s potential for making a lot of ongoing revenue out of it,” said Gauld. “Our existing clients who have bought SP are coming back and asking for more.”
To learn more about SP Marketplace and how you can become a business partner, visit us online or contact us to get started.
To learn more about Cloud Cover IT, visit them online.
