Transforming a consulting business into a cloud apps business

Cloud

January 24, 2017

Today markets are becoming product centric and not service centric. What does it mean? It means enterprises are looking upto solutions which run in a plug-n-play mode. This paradigm shift has already begun and hence solution providers have either shifted to a product based model from a consulting service based model, or they are thinking in these lines.

Today, most of the global companies having businesses in multiple locations and having worldwide team working for them, are looking for cloud based solutions for three main reasons

1. Easy deployment

2. Accessible from any part of the world

3. Scalablility

 

Hence, it has become inevitable for solution providers to transition from delivering on-premise solutions to cloud based solutions. However, this transition can be a pain if the right pre-requisites are not taken into considerations.

Firstly, the companies need to set up an exceptional team of experts who will be working not only just from an implementation point of view, but from an overall product road-map perspective.

Next important thing is lot of hard work. Be ready to spend hours and hours in ideating, conceptualizing, structuring your solution.

Lastly, have a super cool technology platform on which this entire solution will sit and weave its magic.

 

But, all these three pre-requisites can take a backseat, if you are not able to answer this question clearly – “Do you want to undergo this transition?” For example, here at Sodales Solutions, we decided to embrace this transition because we did not see an enterprise value in the consulting model. So, if one is able to see this value, from a futuristic point of view then one should embark upon this journey. Once the plan is put in place, then some key decisions need to be taken to ensure that as a solution provider, one is delivering the value to enterprises; value not just from a product sense, but with the services around it.

1. One needs to set up a dedicated product lab having the expert team

2. Convert all the experience gained in the consulting model into products

3. Have focus on emerging markets

 

Once a decision has been made to undergo this transformation from a consulting business to a cloud apps business, companies need to make changes in their team structure. A typical consulting business model will have the team structure as depicted in the illustration below.

 

The major disadvantage of this model is that it creates a distance between the sales and deliver team as both are working silos. The structure also limits the access of information to certain individuals and also limits the abilities to do new things.

For a company getting into the cloud apps business model, they need to set up a team structure based on”Bezos Two Pizza Rule”. Here one should create small teams who not only possess technology skills, but also skills in other areas such as arts, writing, etc. allowing them to flex their idea muscles constantly, as shown in the illustration below.

 

Contrary to the earlier model, here you can see that small teams with varied skill sets are created as one small unit and several such units are created. This allows every individual(s) to work in a collaborative model and information sharing is very easy with access to everyone.

Once the team structure is defined and put in place, the next step is to define the right go-to-market approach. At Sodales, we work with affiliates, who are retirees but have strong local connections in their network. We leverage these networks, who create opportunities for us to enter new industries in emerging markets.

The other aspect for a cloud app business is to invest strategically in marketing activities, be it conducting workshops, roadshows or participating in events at a global scale. This is again a process of constant improvisation looking at your overall business model and the target market segment.

Sodales has been actively participating in various global events and leveraging the footfall at these events like, SAPPHIRE NOW, ASUG Chapter Meetings, TechEd and many more. We also conduct workshops, roadshows and webinars to educate customers on how to leverage cloud based systems. Yes, the journey is challenging but it is worth the effort, because at the end what the company get is – a referenceable customer, which is good enough to start the chain.

Sodales Solutions is an award-winning SAP Cloud Platform solution extension partner.Sodales was founded as a consulting company. Over the past one year, Sodales has evolved into a successful application development company focused on developing and selling apps built on Hana Cloud Platform. Sodales has referenceable customers across industries and geographies for SCP apps. Sodales has expertise in SCP DBAAS, WebIDE plug-ins, S/4 HANA extensions, SAP SuccessFactors extensions and SAP Smart Business Apps, and is now expanding rapidly into the Ariba extension space.

Sodales Solutions is conducting a webinar on this subject. Our Founder & CEO – Ms. Sana Salam will be give useful insights for organization who would like to embark upon this transition process. You can Register Here for the webinar.

To know more about our products and solutions write to us at sana.salam@sodalessolutions.com or call us at +1.647.824.4286

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