Leading Cloud services provider Giacom is committed to helping IT companies across the UK overcome major changes affecting them and their customers – no more so than over the past year.
Giacom’s expert team helps make a complex industry easy, ensuring its customers have all the software and tools they need to succeed and thrive.
Just over a year ago, Microsoft announced it was expanding its New Commerce Experience (NCE) platform to include services including Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Windows 365 and Power Platform.
The announcement brought significant changes to the way businesses pay for, and manage, their Microsoft subscriptions and licenses.
It has been described by one IT consultancy as “the biggest change” the company had ever faced.
However, with Giacom’s help, the transition to the new NCE platform was made hassle-free.
Luke Watts, Managing Director at Nottingham-based IT service provider RoundWorks IT, said: “Our initial thoughts on NCE were ‘this is going to be a nightmare’.
“We had concerns over how we were going to implement NCE and communicate it to our customers in a way that was simple and hassle-free. It’s a lot to understand.
“As a technical person, I understood, but trying to explain it in layman’s terms to customers was a challenge. NCE was probably the biggest change RoundWorks IT has ever had.”
Microsoft NCE changes the way licences within an existing subscription are managed. It means customers are committed to a one-year subscription and cannot reduce the number of licences during that period.
Microsoft NCE does give customers an option of a month-to-month commitment with certain licenses, but at a greater cost. All licences are now also auto-renewed for a further 12 months at the end of the contract.
With the help of Giacom’s Account Manager Anthony Heptonstall, RoundWorks IT was able to help its customers with the switch to NCE.
Giacom’s Cloud Market portal helps businesses understand the cost implications of moving to the NCE platform, enables them to move existing subscriptions to the new model, and provides an expert team to assist with any issues or challenges.
Over 500,000 active Microsoft Office 365 licenses are currently managed through Cloud Market, which helps over 3,000 companies that resell Microsoft packages.
Luke said: “Giacom supported us very well with our conversion to NCE. They have helped us with so much, from product discovery, keeping our costs down, marketing new products to our customers and more.
“They save us a lot of time and make sure we’re kept up to date. They’ve been so supportive in every way.”
Giacom has also created an NCE Customer Impact tool, which allows businesses to easily view their subscription dates and estimate price impacts from the transition.
It also offers a free migration tool, making the transition to NCE smooth and simple.
Another business Giacom has helped is Camb IT. Based in Cambridge, the IT support business employs less than 50 people and has been a Giacom partner since 2015.
Rob Corder, Managing Director of Camb IT, said: “We had considerable concerns (about the Microsoft MCE changes). No business likes to spring price increases on their customers. Also, the structure of the price increase was relatively complex, and it took time for us to understand the changes, then relay this to customers and adjust our billing systems.
“Luckily, we had great support from Giacom in the build-up to NCE and beyond. They alerted us to the initial NCE announcement and kept us up to date when Microsoft released further information.
“Giacom are pretty much the perfect Cloud Service Provider. They have a deep understanding of the market and tailor their products and support to businesses accordingly.”
Chris Bell, Head of Marketing at Giacom, said: “For businesses busy dealing with their essential, day-to-day tasks, transitioning to a new Microsoft contract and payment method is a significant and complex challenge
“At Giacom, we’re ideally positioned to take the hassle out of the situation and make the transition quick and easy.
“Our Cloud Market platform offers a variety of tools and support for businesses of all sizes. Our friendly, expert team is also on hand to explain what the changes mean to you and help you overcome obstacles along the way.”
Giacom’s online Q&A guide on the Microsoft NCE transition provides more information on the changes. You can read it at www.cloudmarket.com/about/new-commerce-experience/.
- To find out more about Giacom, and how it can help businesses thrive, visit cloudmarket.com.
About Giacom
- Giacom is a leading provider of cloud services to IT companies which support thousands of businesses across the UK. These solutions enable small and medium-sized businesses to grow by being more organised, mobile and productive.
- Giacom provides access to world-class software from the likes of Microsoft, Sophos, Acronis and many more.
- Giacom is a Microsoft Gold Partner, comprising Gold Enterprise Resource Planning, Gold Cloud Platform, Gold Cloud Productivity and Gold Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions.
- It is also an Acronis Platinum Partner, setting the standard for cyber protection through its innovative back-up, anti-ransomware, disaster recovery, storage and enterprise file sync and share solutions.
- Giacom is a values-driven organisation, committed to investing in its people and supporting local communities, including through sponsorship of numerous grassroots football teams in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire.
- With over 20 years’ experience, Giacom has built up an excellent understanding of its customers’ needs, driven by its staff, who are the foundation of the business.
- Giacom was named by Insider Media as Yorkshire’s fastest-growing company in its Growth 100 list in 2020.
- It has claimed numerous local, national and IT industry awards including:
- Winner, Cloud Services Distributor of the Year, Technology Reseller Awards 2022
- Winner, Sophos Marketing Campaign of the Year 2022
- Winner, People & Diversity Initiative of the Year, IT Europa Channel Awards
- Winner, Best ICT Distributor, Comms National Awards 2021.
- Winner, The Workplace Award, Comms Business Channel Awards 2021.
- Winner, Distributor of the Year, Exclaimer Partner Awards 2021.
- Winner, Acronis Cloud Distributor of the Year, #CyberFit Partners Awards 2021.
- Winner, Large Technology Company of the Year, Prolific North Tech Awards 2021.
- Winner, Cloud Technology Provider of the Year, Prolific North Tech Awards 2021.
- In 2020, Giacom, DWS and Union Street became part of the same group, bringing together Cloud software, Cloud billing and telecoms solutions.
- For more information about Giacom, visit cloudmarket.com
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