Opinion

Driving business growth with Microsoft Azure

Oliver Harvey-Jones, public cloud director for Arrow's enterprise computing solutions business in the UK and Ireland, explains why his organisation’s resources and support are the perfect partner for Microsoft Azure’s powerful capabilities.

Cloud computing has become synonymous with driving scalability, efficiency, and innovation in the era of digital transformation. Having emerged as a leading cloud platform, Microsoft Azure provides a broad spectrum of cloud solutions, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). These offerings empower channel partners to develop, deploy, and manage applications seamlessly. Supporting multiple programming languages, frameworks, and operating systems, to deliver flexibility and scalability to businesses of all sizes.

One of Azure’s most compelling features is its ability to scale resources dynamically, ensuring businesses can adjust their cloud usage based on demand. This flexibility allows end-customers to optimise cloud spend by only paying for what they use, making it particularly beneficial for businesses experiencing fluctuating workloads such as seasonal spikes.

Partnering for future-ready success

Arrow’s partner-centric strategy is a key driver of success for resellers – by understanding individual business needs, Arrow helps its channel partners to develop tailored roadmaps that fuel growth and expand sales pipelines. This commitment ensures that partners gain access to expert knowledge, specialised training, and a comprehensive range of services that enhance every stage of the cloud lifecycle.

Resellers benefit from Arrow’s extensive support framework which includes sales enablement, technical assistance, and go-to-market strategies. Central to this support is ArrowSphere Cloud, Arrow’s cloud management platform. Our platform streamlines operations by offering features such as ordering, provisioning, and billing across a substantial vendor linecard, combined with AI-powered business analytics. This allows partners to manage their cloud offerings and provide a seamless multicloud marketplace for their customers.

To empower our channel partners further, we introduced a set of dashboards within ArrowSphere Cloud, focussing on the three key areas of cost optimisation (FinOps), security (SecOps), and sustainability (GreenOps).

Rather than simply providing a service, these dashboards act as strategic enablers. For example, the FinOps dashboard helps channel partners enhance profit margins and streamline operational costs through comprehensive cost assessments. By leveraging these insights, businesses can transform their financial operations into a catalyst for efficiency and growth.

Our AI ArrowSphere Assistant enhances this dashboard functionality further by providing actionable intelligence. This allows channel partners to identify new revenue streams, improve efficiencies, and optimise their cloud services, all within a single, intuitive platform.

By leveraging Arrow’s resources and support and Microsoft Azure’s powerful capabilities, channel partners can stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market. This strategic alignment not only enhances profitability, but also empowers businesses to innovate and thrive in the ever-evolving cloud landscape.

For more information, visit https://www.arrow.com/globalecs/uk/products/microsoft/.