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About Us
Your tech partner
9th September 2024
We understand that the pace and complexity of digital transformation in the modern workplace can often be filled with overwhelming choices and considerations. At BCN, we suggest that setting a goal to find a Microsoft Partner should be the first thing on your list for several reasons.
The areas of knowledge, experience and trust should always be essential in your assessment when looking through any Microsoft partner list.
Let’s go back to basics…
The Microsoft Partner program is an initiative that has been at work for over 30 years to support IT service providers that implement and build Microsoft products in their solutions. It’s a global network of 400,000 organisations that make up one of the biggest tech partner ecosystems in the world. These partnerships serve 7 million business customers with a remit to helping their client organisations evolve, grow and prosper in the landscape of modern business.
Initially, the program concentrated on certification and training to allow service providers to simply demonstrate their credentials in the emerging industries of IT consultancy & support. However, the boom of big data, cloud based technology, AI considerations and continually developing Microsoft business applications led to Microsoft Partner status recently being renamed as the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. This was to better reflect the comprehensive, holistic approach that all partners must now adhere to in their application and support of Microsoft technologies for clients.
Microsoft Partners can now look to achieve accreditation in six key designations to highlight their capability and knowledge in different solution areas. This process involves successfully meeting rigorous criteria through advanced technical certification, customer engagement and the demonstration of expertise in the field.
These six designations are created to cater for every organisation, industry, space, workflow, process, role and task that a modern workplace may require to succeed in the 21st Century. Here’s a very brief overview of how they work.
Offering CRM, ERP and automation support & solutions through Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.
Offering insights and value through analytics, AI and Machine Learning.
Creating, building, managing and running cloud-native modern apps for business processes.
To build, manage and secure cloud-based infrastructure for IT environments, to include cloud migration and hybrid solutions.
Offering security for identity, data and device protection through compliance, threat detection and tailored cyber security solutions.
Deploying, managing and supporting effective productivity and work tools through SharePoint, Teams and Microsoft business applications
Currently, there are around 30,000 Microsoft AI Cloud Partners operating in the UK with varying levels of status across these areas. BCN is one of the very few in the country that can confidently claim to have earned accreditation across all six designations of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. We’ve found that being able to both show and tell our knowledge and experience across the board to prospective clients is always a great way to put them at ease and begin to build long-lasting relationships.
The value of a Microsoft partner to any business can be seen right across the organisation from foundational infrastructure, through to the futureproofing of your solutions and on to the personal skills development of your team members. The relationship between you and your Microsoft partner, and the insights you uncover together, will have a major impact on the direction that your business takes and the technology it uses. It represents the most informed, measured, and best-practice approach for implementing the world-leading and best in class tools that Microsoft creates.
It gives you a direct line to the specialist experience needed for the continually improving and developing suite of Microsoft Business products.
There is infinite scope for the development and tailoring of the Microsoft systems that run your business. A Microsoft partner makes this journey much quicker and simpler.
Managed services from a Microsoft partner provide ongoing support after any implementation. This can effectively monitor, always troubleshoot and respond to any issue with a proactive outlook.
The rapidly evolving cyber threats from bad actors require dedicated security measures that are monitored with threat detection and automated responses. A Microsoft partner can take on a large part of this responsibility for you.
Your people are the most important resource for your organisation. Qualified, experienced and engaging training options from a Microsoft Partner can enhance their understanding of the tools they use every day.
Getting the most from your investment in the software and business applications that run your company means knowing how to use them correctly. A Microsoft partner will assess, maintain and develop the perfect tools for the job, which ultimately can save you time and money.
There is no escaping the age-old fact in business that the best way to find a partner or service provider is through a referral. Even in the 21st century, stats show that this accounts for almost 65% of new client relationships being formed. For small businesses this rises further to an incredible 82%. At BCN, we are always happy to start conversations and get to know associates of our existing clients in this way.
However, as with everything else concerned with new relationships in the modern world, there are digital locations that can help you find a Microsoft partner. The Directory of Microsoft Partners is a great way to begin your search with an intelligent filter for searching on capability required and location.
Additional tools such as The Azure Marketplace and Microsoft App Source are also available when you need consultation or services on more specific project knowhow and expertise.
There is always a lot to be said from using local business networks too. These can open up local Microsoft Partners that may be connected to your existing customers, other service providers and connections.
Finding a Microsoft partner means doing the right research to know what to look out for and having the right questions to ask. Establishing the Microsoft designations and certifications they hold is a simple enough process that doesn’t take too long. It’s the deeper dive into their values and what kind of fit they will be for your company that presents more of a subtle challenge. With that in mind, we think that it’s always best to go back to where we started in this blog and look to establish the knowledge, experience and trust of a potential partner.
The relationship between a managed service provider and any client involves a sharing of knowledge that travels in both directions. It’s incredibly important that a Microsoft partner quickly learns the way your organisation works and the processes that run the show. They can then fully appreciate how technology; your IT environment and Microsoft business applications & software can be properly utilised to support it.
Find a Microsoft Partner that has been there and done that, with all the case studies to prove it. This might sound simple, but so much of the practice of supporting and consulting on business technology is built from the hard yards of actually doing it. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about your sector, space and industry to look for examples of similar customers or projects they have worked on.
Working as a Microsoft partner to any business is a huge responsibility. Trust is an integral part of that responsibility that informs every piece of communication and correspondence between partners and clients. It’s this trust that gives you the confidence to invest time and resources into the solutions they create and grow your business alongside them. And the perfect marker of this trust is shown through customer retention. Our 98% client retention figure at BCN is definitely one aspect of our business that we’re most proud of.
When it does come down to making the choice, you will have undoubtedly had the opportunity to speak with their account managers and key stakeholders. This gives an important insight into the way they will work throughout the life of the partnership, and helps you identify how well you can work together. Approach is key. You know your business and therefore you will know what methods, personalities and processes from a service provider will work in the most successful way if they are to become a key part of it.
Our approach at BCN was created to show from the outset what can be expected from us and how we tackle every project, partnership and solution we do. We define and discover to establish the scope of the work required. Then we can build and deliver to ensure your organisation gets the maximum value from what we propose. Finally, we evolve those solutions together to ensure that your IT environment remains as flexible and scalable as your company needs to.
The BCN Microsoft partner team is always ready to talk and happy to help. We can elaborate on any of the details above and go through how the partnerships are created together. Contact our team now to get started.
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