Logicalis driving global strategy with Microsoft and Cisco

Logicalis is looking to lean on global strategic partnerships it has struck with Microsoft and Cisco to work with the vendors to bring solutions to market that tap into the digital transformation needs of customers.

The firm has been under the leadership of CEO Bob Bailkoski for the best part of the last year, and in that time has made a number of moves to strengthen its executive team and shape a strategy that is global in outlook.

One of the hires has been Mick McNeil, who had been working at Microsoft and forming the relationship with Logicalis before being tempted to bring that vendor knowledge across to the channel five months ago to the role of group vice-president for business development.

“Bob and the leadership team met with me and said, ‘Mick, since you’ve helped us paint the picture on where we’re going with Microsoft, it would be great if you could come across to Logicalis and help us deliver on that vision’,” he recalled.

A few years ago Logicalis recognised that hybrid cloud was emerging as the dominant technology and it needed to shift its focus onto that market and extend on its more than 20 years of knowledge of the datacentre and on-premise world.

“We didn’t follow the market we’re actually leading for our customers, we’re doubling down on these investments into digital transformation cloud solutions and services, so we can continue to lead our customers to where they need to be and ultimately make them be successful,” he said.

“We are positioning ourselves as a digital transformation enabler and a cloud solution provider. In support of that, we focused on entering strategic partnerships with  Microsoft and Cisco, and this allows us to focus our efforts, globally and in regions, as we jointly develop lifecycle solutions,” he added.

McNeil said that the scope for growth was significant, and the feeling across the business was it had some way yet to go: “We already have this extremely advantageous position in the market and we consider ourselves to be in first gear, so the opportunity ahead is huge.”

Some of that sense of being at the start of something significant also relates to the potential market that is out there with the channel player’s existing customer base.

“Out of our 10,000 customers, approximately 1% of those have already addressed these modern cloud solutions. And so, before we start looking externally to capture more customers we can deliver value jointly with, we still have 99% of our [customers to target] who we can we can ultimately help be more successful as they journey into the cloud,” he added.

Logicalis has developed its relationship with Microsoft and has gained status as an Azure expert managed service provider (MSP) and has links in with the vendor’s senior managers across the globe.

The focus for the next couple of years is going to be around those two main vendors at a global partnership level, with Logicalis close to bringing on board someone at McNeil’s level to handle things on the Cisco side.

“With Cisco and Microsoft, the customer is looking at the three of us, and that unique proposition for customers makes them feel comfortable in a safe pair of hands with all three technology companies in the room,” he said.

McNeil is optimistic about the year ahead and has seen an increasing number of customers embark on moves to increase their involvement with the cloud, with the coronavirus pandemic accelerating the speed of movement.

“We’ve helped our customers deliver secure, modern cloud infrastructures, and that experience removed a lot of the fear in the mindset of leaders of our customers and clients, so they’re now thinking bigger and bolder in terms of the transformation that they can achieve,” he said.

“Research around the globe shows that companies that are embracing digital at the core of their organisations are ultimately more successful. Our customers know that our clients know that,” he added.