5 Factors Service ProvidersShould Consider When Transitioning

to a Cloud Services Model

Define Your Core Business Objectives or the “Why”Charting your course for success requires that you first define your core business objectives. For example, determine whether you are adding cloud services to your existing product portfolio to increase top line revenue, improve customer retention or move into new markets.

Identify Ways to Achieve Your ObjectivesYou will need to determine if your organization has the right skills, talent and knowledge within the existing team. Having a sales team that knows how to sell your new services offering, a marketing professional to market your services, and having the right technical skills will ensure you reach your core objectives.

Develop a Motivating Sales Compensation PlanCompensating your sales team and ensuring the compensation plan fosters the desired behaviour to meet your objectives should be a top priority for all service providers transitioning to the cloud. Without the right compensation plan – achieving adoption of your services will be doomed if your sales team has no interest in promoting your cloud services.

Hire a Full-time Inbound Marketing ProfessionalYou should have a full-time marketing professional driving brand awareness and lead generation initiatives for your service. Having someone that will manage social media, content development and syndication, email, webinars, website optimization, and sales enablement is vital to successfully meeting or exceeding your core objectives.

Find the Right Technology PartnerDiscovering technology for your cloud services is only half of the equation. You also need to ensure that the technology partner can provide you with the business support to launch and grow your cloud services.