IDC has worked with Microsoft and its partners on understanding profitability and success in the cloud. Insight from this IDC research report reveals the proven potential of leading with the cloud, and provides helpful advice from topperforming partners. Highlights of the report include:

Cloud Partners Outperform Their Peers

The survey and interviews conducted for this study continue to confirm the fact that cloud-oriented partners significantly outperform their peers, achieving higher gross profit, higher growth, and a higher new customer acquisition rate.

Invest Now, Think Long Term
The cloud market is growing fast and you can’t afford to be on the tail end of the trend. There is still an opportunity to catch up, but time is running short. You need to think clearly about where your business will be in one, three and five years time, and prepare for that future reality. Go out and get some cloud deals now if you haven’t already. There may be some short term pain as you transition to a recurring revenue model. But if you have a clear vision for your long term cloud future, it can be a profitable one. Recurring revenue can bring you predictable cash flow, higher gross margins, and even a higher valuation of
your business.

Which activities are helping IT solution providers build profitable cloud practices? Find out in this full ebook that provides a look at the actionable steps partners can take based on real partner success stories.