January 21, 2025 • 34 mins
Empowering the Microsoft Partner Ecosystem: A Conversation with Shoaib Kudsi
In this episode of IAMCP Profiles in Partnership, hosts Anthony Carrano and Rudy Rodriguez sit down with Shoaib Kudsi, founder and CEO of Alif Consulting. Shoaib shares his company’s mission to empower the Microsoft Partner Ecosystem through innovative services, strategic collaboration, and a focus on delivering real value to partners and customers alike.
Throughout this insightful conversation, Anthony, Rudy, and Shoaib dive into:
- Empowering Partners to Achieve More: Shoaib explains how Alif Consulting helps partners not only with technical expertise but also with strategic value-add services. Learn how Alif Consulting plays a crucial role in guiding partners through the complex Microsoft ecosystem, from achieving certifications to generating new business opportunities.
- Success Stories in Data and AI: Shoaib highlights the company’s success in tackling complex data and AI challenges for global partners. Hear about a key project where Alif Consulting helped a major channel partner overcome data silos, streamline operations, and gain actionable insights through the integration of Power BI dashboards and Azure Synapse.
- Navigating Challenges in the Partner Journey: Shoaib reflects on the challenges faced during a project, from managing high partner expectations to ensuring seamless communication across multiple departments. Discover how Alif Consulting worked through these hurdles to deliver solutions that met and exceeded expectations.
- Building Strong Relationships for Long-term Growth: Learn about the importance of fostering strong, ongoing relationships with partners and clients. Shoaib shares how Alif Consulting’s commitment to quality and dedicated project managers helps ensure customer satisfaction and drives mutual success.
- Educating and Empowering Partners Through Content: Alif Consulting goes beyond delivering services by offering educational resources through its YouTube channel. Shoaib explains how their platform empowers Microsoft partners by providing free, valuable insights from experts across various specializations, helping partners stay competitive and informed.
- Practical Advice for Microsoft Partners: Shoaib offers actionable advice for other partners looking to grow in the Microsoft ecosystem. From focusing on value-added services to prioritizing clear communication and mutual benefits, his tips are essential for any partner looking to enhance their partner journey.
This episode offers a comprehensive look at how Alif Consulting is shaping the future of the Microsoft Partner Ecosystem. Shoaib’s passion for empowering partners and his deep understanding of the Microsoft landscape provide valuable insights for anyone looking to thrive in today’s competitive tech environment. Whether you're a partner or a customer, Shoaib’s expertise and vision will inspire you to embrace collaboration and innovation for greater success.
Listener Links / Resources
Shoaib Kudsi LinkedIn: Shoaib Kudsi LinkedIn
Company LinkedIn: Alif Consulting LinkedIn
Company Website: Website
Show Hosts:
Anthony Carrano LinkedIn, Managing Partner at Dunamis Marketing
Rudy Rodriguez LinkedIn, Managing Partner at Dunamis Marketing
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Anthony Carrano (00:05):
Welcome to the IAMCP Profiles and Partnership.
The podcast that showcase howMicrosoft Partners and IAMCP
members boost their business bycollaborating with other members
and partners. I'm your co-host,Anthony Carrano. And in each
episode, I'll be talking to someof the most innovative and
successful partners in theMicrosoft ecosystem. The
International Association ofMicrosoft Channel Partners,
(00:27):
otherwise known as IAMCP, is acommunity of Microsoft partners
who help each other grow andthrive.
Members can find and connectwith other partners locally and
globally and access exclusiveresources and opportunities.
Whether you're looking for newcustomers, new new markets, or
new solutions, IAMCP can helpyou achieve your goals. We'll
(00:47):
hear their stories, learn fromtheir experiences, and discover
the best practices andstrategies they use to increase
customer loyalty and growrevenues. Whether you're a new
partner or an established one,you'll find valuable insights
and inspiration in this podcast.We hope you enjoy this podcast
and find it useful andinspiring.
If you do, please subscribe,rate, and review us on your
(01:08):
favorite podcast platform. Anddon't forget to follow us on
social media and connect with uson our website,
www.profilesinpartnership.com,where you can find information,
resources, and opportunities topartner for success. Thank you
for listening. Now let's getstarted with today's episode.
But before we dive into ourinterview, let me ask you, as a
(01:31):
Microsoft partner and member ofthe IAMCP, how do you find and
develop partner relationshipsthat'll help you grow your
business?
Finding the right partner can bechallenging, but can also be
rewarding. In fact, according toa channel profitability study,
Microsoft partners derivemargins 19% higher than the next
closest competitor. That's ahuge difference, and it shows
(01:55):
the power of partnering. So howdo you leverage the Microsoft
Partner Network and IAMCP tosupport your partnerships? And
how do you ensure success foryour customer?
These are some of the questionswe'll explore in this podcast
with the help of our guest, arecent P2P award nominee and
APAC finalist who is also anexpert in partnering. He'll
(02:15):
share stories, challenges, andsuccesses, and give you
practical tips and advice on howto partner for success. Are you
ready to join us on thisjourney? Then stay tuned because
we have a great show for youtoday. Our guest is Shoaib Kudsi
the CEO at Alif Consulting, aleading Microsoft partner that
has empowered over 50 ITpartners to keep them well
(02:37):
informed and equipped with thelatest advancements in
technology.
Let's hear what he has to say.Welcome, Shoaib, to the podcast
today. Thank you for joining us.
Shoaib Kudsi (02:48):
Yeah. Thanks, Anthony. Thanks, Rudy.
Anthony Carrano (02:50):
Excellent. Well, let's start off and tell
us a little bit about yourselfand your role in the company.
Shoaib Kudsi (02:56):
Absolutely. So hey. Hi. My name is Shoaib Kudsi
and I'm the founder and the CEOat Alif Consulting. So I lead
our efforts, you know, toempower Microsoft partner
ecosystem.
We are very passionate, and weare very enthusiastic to empower
the partner ecosystem to take toto lift up the efforts that, you
know, we all put in to toempower customers on the
Microsoft ecosystem space.
Anthony Carrano (03:17):
Now you guys do a lot of really unique things,
you know, for, the partnercommunity. Maybe, the, you know,
to start off, Shoaib, just maybetell us a little bit about, you
know, some of those things. And,what I'm really interested in,
you know, especially, you know,as you share about those things
is how did you come up with thisidea?
Shoaib Kudsi (03:36):
So, Anthony, now this is it's an interesting
story. So I was working with oneof the biggest distributor in
Middle East and Africa, and,those were the days where the
Azure data center was gettinglaunched. So Microsoft and
distributor used to pushpartners at cell Azure, cell
Dynamics, cell Power Platform.But most of the time,
(03:56):
specifically into the SMB space,the partner used to come up
their trip.
These are gone where, you know,we sell products like like
Active Directory or SQL on onrelationship. Now whenever we go
to customer to sell any of thesetechnologies, they ask a
question, what challenge does itsolve? And to to answer all of
(04:18):
these questions, we needtechnical expertise like a
solution architect or a presalesengineer. But we cannot afford
to have, like, these people onbench because they are very
difficult to find and they arevery expensive. And this was a
common reason across the partnerecosystem.
So this is this what helps us,you know, to to ignite an idea
(04:39):
that why don't we startsomething which really change
the way we look at the partnerecosystem? We being back in
India where, you know, there arebig support system for
Microsoft, and we are verytalented engineer. Why don't we
only be the technical arm forthe partners? Because, see,
like, partners in the US, in theEurope, in Africa, or across the
(05:02):
globe, they know the language.They have relationship with the
customer.
They they know the law as well.But the only thing that they
lack is technical capabilities,and that's where we come into
play, and we be their technicalextended arm.
Anthony Carrano (05:15):
Maybe, if you could share a little bit, you
know, because I really wannahear about, like, the company's
area of specialization, areaswhere you fit, and how, like,
you saw that as, you know, like,you know, addressing some of the
gaps that you saw in thatecosystem for partners.
Shoaib Kudsi (05:31):
Absolutely. So now, Anthony, see now where we
fit, we fit everywhere in theentire ecosystem. Now if you see
the way market is changing, likelike, we the technology is
growing very fast right now. Wehave we had cloud. Now we have
AI, and AI is moving very fast.
So where we fit, we fit allacross the partner ecosystem
(05:52):
because Microsoft is changing.Microsoft is putting a lot of
pressure to the to the partners,to the distributor to make sure
that they add value to theircustomers. So how we come into
play that, you know, we don'tonly tell customer or partner
that you use our extendedtechnical arm once you get the
business because getting thebusiness is a second stage. But
(06:14):
the first stage is the partnerneed to go and talk to the
customer and tell him whatsolutions they offer. So we help
partner right from presales.
So imagine if a partner comesand say that, "Hey, we have
something on Copilot or we havesomething on Dynamics or maybe
Azure." Our qualified presalesgo on a call with the customer
(06:36):
as a white label services from apartner side. They take the
requirement. They give solutionto the customer.
We help partner responding tothe RFP RFQ. We create solution
document. We create demos forthe customer on behalf of the
partner as a white labelservices. So the chances of
partner getting those dealsbecomes very high because a
(06:59):
really qualified engineer isgoing and partner is not
spending anything. And then oncewe get the deal, we work hand in
hand with the partners in orderto deliver services in terms of
implementation or in terms ofmanaged services.
So what we say, ensure that weask partner, your duty is just
(07:19):
to go ahead and get thecustomers where from presales
till implementation and managedservices we do end to end.
Anthony Carrano (07:29):
Really appreciate you sharing that,
Shoaib, because I know just evenin, looking at, like, the the
partner story, I mean, you guysprovide some really unique
offerings. And so I appreciateyou sharing that background.
And, I know we really wanna getinto the story of.. Rudy.
Rudy Rodriguez (07:45):
Yeah. So, you did turn in a story to the IAMCP
for the P2P Awards. I noticedthat that, you worked with a a
variety of partners. I think Isaw something like 25 different
partners. So can you share withus a little bit about some of
the deals that you worked on?
You don't have to give uscustomer names or anything, but
some of the partners that youmay have worked with, the
(08:06):
industries you've worked with,the challenges, and the
technologies that you wereimplementing. And that will give
us a a pretty good idea of ofthe scope of your business. We'd
appreciate that story.
Shoaib Kudsi (08:17):
Sure, Rudy. So, Rudy, now, yes, last year, we
work with close to 25 partnersand 2 distributors across the
globe. This year's the numberis, like, 50 partner now. So
yeah. And that was the firsttime we we competed in IAMCP,
and I'm very happy that we wereone of the finalists.
There were a lot of incidents.You know? Like, we worked right
(08:38):
from a migration from onpremises to Azure, then the 365
Azure Virtual Desktop, BusinessCentral, SharePoint, and Power
Platform. But I'll tell you, Imean, I can give you a couple of
unique stories. One was with thedistributor.
So there's one distributor inSouth Africa where they have two
(08:59):
line of business. 1 was thelicensing part, and one was the
services part. And both used towork, you know, in in isolated
with each other. So Microsoftintroduced us, and the whole
intention of Microsoft was topromote or to push customer from
business premium to E3 or to E5.Now the distribution channel was
facing a lot of dependent a lotof difficulty, and there was a
(09:22):
lot of dependency becausethere's a huge gap I mean, cost
difference between businesspremium E3 and E5.
We come into play. We offeredfree security assessment for the
partner's customer. So we did,like, 500 plus security
assessment. And with thisassessment, we generated a
report where we showed customertheir adoption, what all
(09:45):
services they have, but they arenot using their security score.
So in this way, we used to givea detailed report to the
customer that you guys are usingthird party services where you
have Intune, where you haveDefender, where your security
score is not good.
So why you guys are investing inother things whereas in you have
inbuilt tools from Microsoft?And we then explain solution
(10:08):
like, Azure ADP 2, which is likeAndroid ID now. We we gave them
a solution like Purview, likehow they can achieve their HIPAA
or ISO compliance. In that way,out of 500 assessment, we were
able to upscale 200 customers onE3 and E5. In this way, the
distributor, they got licensingupgrade and then they got
(10:31):
services upgrade as well.
So it's a win win situation forall. And then second incident
was, you know, the SureStepprogram Microsoft used to run
that, you know, there arepartners who are selling Azure
and M, but they don't sellDynamics and vice versa. So in
this way, we we took a batch of,like, 50 partners and we ran a
(10:53):
campaign that we will help themto sell from M365 and Azure to
Dynamics. And now we startedthis campaign where we trained,
like, the 50 partners. What isDynamics?
Because they don't know anythingabout Dynamics except the name
on Business Central site. Thenwe train them to get
certification. Their team wascertified. Then we started
(11:15):
hunting their customers. We usedto do webinars and 1-on-1
session to their customers thathow what is Dynamics and how
that will add value.
Unfortunately, you know, we gota lot of deals from there where,
of course, the distribution andMicrosoft got the the numbers
for licensing, and the partnerswere very happy because now they
have added a one uniquecapability, which is of business
(11:37):
center under their belt.
Rudy Rodriguez (11:38):
You've got a very a very unique service for
partners and and a very muchneeded service. Do you ever find
yourself in a competitivesituation where you might have,
multiple partners going afterthe same type of business? Or
how do you handle some of thosesome of those issues?
Shoaib Kudsi (11:54):
I mean, yes. Competitive in the sense, see
now, the the quality that weoffer. So we never got into a
situation where your multiplepartners are because in the
space of Microsoft, there is somuch to achieve. Like, for
example and and I'm very glad tosee that now Microsoft is is
leading the Gartner Quadrant allacross. You talk about Dynamics.
(12:17):
You talk about Sentinel. Youtalk about M365. So, I mean, we
never found a stage where, youknow, we have a competitive
situation from any other partneror our or there are multiple
partners in our customer space.We all I mean, for us, one of
the most difficult thing was,you know, providing unique I
(12:38):
mean, our partners, they alwayscome in a hurry that, you know,
sure, we need we need Azuresolution architect. Maybe, like,
tomorrow is a call or same goeswith Dynamics or same goes with
M365 that we have a customercall tomorrow and we do a
solution architect.
I mean, that's that ischallenging for us sometime.
But, again, due to the uniqueoffering that we have, we are
(12:59):
able to manage it somehow andand and, yes, we we've been
there with the customer, withthe partner.
Rudy Rodriguez (13:04):
Do you specialize in any particular
industry segment, SMB, midmarket, or enterprise? Where
where do you see your companyreally fitting in the best?
Shoaib Kudsi (13:13):
See, for now, Rudy, of course, SMB and mid SMB
is an area because those are theplaces where, you know, the
partners face a lot ofchallenges in technical skills.
Having said that, we also havecouple of partners who work on
the enterprise segment, butmostly as SMB and mid SMB is an
area where we cater to.
Rudy Rodriguez (13:32):
Now that's that's definitely a very a very
growth area for Microsoft is theSMB space. And so any particular
industry that you that you findyour team really specializing
in? Manufacturing, distribution,energy, any particular one?
Shoaib Kudsi (13:49):
So surprisingly, Rudy, we almost work in all the
industry because our partnerscomes from all the segments.
Some of them are specialized inhealth care. Some of them are
specialized in manufacturing,hospitalities and other area.
And and the unique thing aboutthe SMB space, you know, I mean,
Microsoft have something calledas the unmanaged partners, and
(14:10):
there is a huge chunk in thatunmanaged partner space. So we
manage those unmanaged partner,and and, fortunately, you know,
they are across the segmentexcept Dynamics where it becomes
segment specific solution likeAzure and M365 and Power
Platform and SharePoint. They goacross across the segment.
Rudy Rodriguez (14:30):
Very good. Anthony, I know you have some
more questions.
Anthony Carrano (14:33):
Yeah. I think if I got this number correctly,
Shoaib, you mentioned, like,last year, he was working with
about 30 partners. Now it'sabout 50. Is that about did did
I hear that correctly?
Shoaib Kudsi (14:44):
Yes.
Anthony Carrano (14:45):
What do you attribute that increase to?
Shoaib Kudsi (14:47):
Fortunately, we are getting a lot of reference
from our partner ecosystem.Although that is very surprising
to us because we thought thatour partner will always be, you
know, very candid with theservices arm that they're using.
But, you know, more than 50% ofour partners, they are added via
reference. And in fact, a lot oftime, Microsoft in distributor
(15:10):
introduce us, to other partnerspace. Because as I told you, we
are working with 2 distributor,1 in in Africa and 1 in Middle
East, and they refer us to lotof partners.
And, again, once we get into thesystem, I think we really add
value in that that that wasmotivating.
Anthony Carrano (15:28):
Do you have, like, a criteria, and what is it
for, like, agreeing to, forge apartnership with, company?
Shoaib Kudsi (15:36):
See, our only criteria can, Anthony, is, you
know, the partner should be veryhungry for business. I mean, you
know, we know that, you know,the the market is huge,
specifically in the US space.More than 50% of the entire
Microsoft ecosystem business isdriven by the US. So the the the
region is very fascinating. Thearea and, again, the SMB space,
(15:59):
as I told you, Microsoft isputting a lot of focus, and
there's a lot of penetrationthat needs to be done.
So for us, the only criteria isa partner should be very hungry
for business, and and it shouldtake this partnership very
seriously.
Anthony Carrano (16:11):
Well, let me ask then this because you're
sharing a lot of really greatthings about the company. What
about, like, you personally asa, you know, CEO? Are there
certain type of, projects that,you know, as we like to say here
in Texas, get your chili hot,you know, get you excited, and,
that you like things that youreally enjoy because you guys do
so many you cover so manydifferent areas. Is there some
(16:33):
particular things that you like,either, you know, types of,
either technology or certaintype of problem solved or
certain industries that youreally that, you know, get you
personally, you know, excited?
Shoaib Kudsi (16:48):
Again, yes, Anthony. Definitely. So so data,
is something that I'm veryexcited about. Again, AI AI will
come in place, but data, Ithink, it's very important
because in lot of segment, inlot of company, we have seen
that data is is segregated allacross the space. Companies are
(17:08):
using various data sources,different databases, and they
are not getting the rightanalytics, what they're
expecting.
So we are following a practicenow where we are going to
company. We are taking theirdata, integrating with Azure
Synapse, and then with the helpof Power Platform and Power BI,
we are really making value ofthat data, which can really help
(17:30):
the decision maker, you know, toto to define the strategies. So
that's an area which I'm reallyexcited about.
Anthony Carrano (17:36):
Mhmm. Can you share with us, like, you know,
it doesn't have, you know, youknow, maybe a not necessarily
the client name. You don't haveto share the partner name, but
an example of, where you andanother partner collaborated,
you know, addressing a a data,you know, concern?
Shoaib Kudsi (17:52):
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So there are there's
a one big channel, and they theythey work across the globe. And
they had data from differentsources, you know, because, they
they they operate in differentcountries, different set of
customers. You know?
So data was really a bigchallenge for them because they
(18:13):
were not able to understandthat, you know, what are their
peak season, of peak season,what customers like, what they
don't like, how much business weare getting from from room stay,
how much business we are gettingfrom the restaurants, how much
business we are getting fromevents, what are the area of
opportunities, what are theareas that they need to invest.
And and there were a lot ofchallenges, you know, and the
(18:35):
business owner, they used tospend days in in looking into
data and taking correctdecisions. So what we did was
again, it was it was a 9 monthsproject for us to collaborate
with them. But once we get intothe system, we took the entire
data from different datasources.
It was SQL. It was Mongo. It wasMySQL. There were different
databases, different datasources that we took. We
(18:57):
collected the entire data.
We processed that data in AzureSynapse. And with that Synapse,
we integrated power platform,and we created amazing Power BI
dashboard. And we, in fact,added all the filters that they
needed in order for us to givethem the correct trends as per
customers. And and this wasreally valuable because, see,
(19:19):
for for a business for abusiness owner or or, you know,
for decision makers, I mean,it's very important for them to
make key decisions because it'sall about the investments and
the forecasting that they'regonna do. So this was one of the
unique example, and and thisgave us a lot of strength in
terms of, you know, our ourcapabilities in data and AI.
Anthony Carrano (19:39):
Now that's fascinating. Now what about on
the flip side? Like, when you'rewith this, data and AI, you
know, project that you'reworking on with a partner, did
you guys have any challenges,during the engagement? And if
so, what were they, and how'dyou guys work together to
overcome it?
Shoaib Kudsi (19:57):
Yeah. So there were a lot of challenges.
Absolutely. I mean, you know,with every project, there are
unique set of challenges, andthis was a new project. So one
of the one of the big challengeswas that the owners and the
decision makers were having hugehigh expectations from us
because they were expecting thatonce we get this, this is what
(20:18):
we needed in order to plan.
So we did all we always wereunder pressure that we need to
prove ourselves in order to getthem what they're looking out
for. And second challenge was,you know, we had to communicate
with multiple departments. Youknow? We used to we had to talk
with finance, the HR, therestaurant staff, the hotel
(20:40):
staff, and so many differentteams who are engaged. So
getting the availability for allof them, getting the required
access, And this is something,you know I mean and there was no
preset solution for this.
Correct? Because, I mean, thisis not a solution like, like,
you know, create an M365solution or an Azure solution.
(21:00):
It was like we need to visualizeeverything that what they are
expecting and then create thosedashboards as per their
expectation. I mean, we need totake I mean, we we we need to
adapt it in such a way that itwas fascinating and challenging
at the same time, but there wasimmense amount of learning. And
the outcome, it was it wasamazing.
Anthony Carrano (21:21):
That's fantastic. That's fantastic. I
just got, like, one morequestion. I wanna, like,
piggyback on the on thechallenges, and and this is more
of like a step back because youguys do work with so many
partners. How would be someadvice that you would have for
others who are looking to kindabuild out their, you know,
partner channel?
Like, just some practical tips,recommendations that when you
(21:45):
encounter a challenge in a in aproject, like, working together,
what are some things that youwould recommend, to over to work
through those challenges?
Shoaib Kudsi (21:55):
So, Anthony, for me, I think I will not recommend
I will not give any suggestionon project challenges because
that will vary case to case. Butfor someone who's who's looking
out or who's who's wanna enterthe same space that we are, I
really would advise them to tryto give value add to the partner
because only providing technicalresources or act as a technical
(22:17):
back end arm, that will not setus apart from the others. But I
think partner nowadays, theyneed value. Like, for us, we
give we help partners achievesolution, partner designation,
advanced specialization. Becausetechnical, I think there is a
there are a lot in the marketwho are ready to do that, but
(22:37):
partners, they really need valuein terms of how they can get new
customers, how they can get newbatches.
I think those were the reallykey things that that that
someone should focus on.
Rudy Rodriguez (22:48):
So, Shoaib, I'm I'm gonna dive deep into the
partnering experience because,I've had a lot of experience
partnering with with people allover all over the globe. And I
know that can be challenging attime because communication is
very important in working withthe partner. And then you have
the customers on top of that. Sothere's you just there's layers
of communication need to takeplace. So in any engagement,
(23:11):
what what does your company doto help the partner drive
customer satisfaction?
I know you mentioned, you know,partners need to be hungry for
revenue. So we we understandthat revenue growth is always
important. But how do you worktogether with partners to ensure
that that the customer's goalsare being met, that you that you
(23:31):
provide the value add, and thatthe overall customer
satisfaction is there? And thenhow do you document that as
well?
Shoaib Kudsi (23:38):
Very important question, Rudy. I think this
will really I mean, this is veryimportant in the entire entire
partner ecosystem journey.Because although if there is any
company who's providing goodtechnical services, who's very
strong in technology and theyare cost effective as well, but
eventually the customer is nothappy, partner will not like
(23:59):
that that that kind ofpartnership. So what we do,
RUDC, on one side, as I toldyou, we help partner in get
getting the business in terms ofpresales documentation. On the
other side, we give partner adedicated project manager or an
account manager, and then wehave at the back end, we have
the technical team. I mean, howwhat is the value that we add or
(24:22):
how we make sure that thecustomer is happy?
With 2 things. 1 is the qualityof technical engineers that we
give. All of our technicalengineers, if you're talking
about level 3 and above,everyone will be solution
architect level certified in thetechnology they are working. It
can be Azure. It can be AI.
It will be Dynamics. It can beSharePoint. We make sure that we
(24:47):
give quality and premium qualityengineers to our customer, and
this is how the customer arehappy. And on the other side, we
give them a dedicated projectmanager. So, I mean, daily I
mean, I think communication isvery important because in every
project, issues can happen interms of delay, in terms of
(25:08):
technical delivery.
But I think if the communicationis on time, I think customers
understand that. So on one side,we mitigated by giving quality
technical engineer. But on theother side, we we have our
qualified project managers whomake sure that there are
seamless communication andcustomer. You know? Either they
(25:31):
get what they are expecting oreither they get an answer that,
you know, when they'll get it oror when when things will happen.
Rudy Rodriguez (25:39):
No. Communication is is so important
in dealing with with bothlevels, and that's part of the
maturity of your business aswell. So I'm glad to see that
you do all those things. It'svery important. So, you know, in
kind of closing, you know, we'vewe've asked you a lot of
questions.
What advice do you givecompanies, some are like gonna
(25:59):
be like yours or let yourpartners that you work with,
that would help them grow theirexperience in partnering and
make them better partners?
Shoaib Kudsi (26:08):
I mean, you know, for me, as I told you, like,
giving value ads, is reallyimportant. I mean, in
specifically in the partnerecosystem of Microsoft, partners
are expecting a lot more thantechnical hand. If you talk
about that if I'll just go tothe market and say that, hey. I
will be your technical extendedarm. Partners will not entertain
(26:30):
that.
But I think giving value add topartners in terms of, you know,
helping them in achieving theirsolution partner designation or,
you know, helping them achievingat one specialization as your
expert MSP. I mean, empoweringpartners to achieve more and to
cover more is something thatwill play a key as a
(26:51):
differentiator, you know, tostand apart. And I think that's
what helped us in getting thefinalist in the IAMCP space. And
that is what helped us ingetting so many satisfied
partners, you know, because wedeliver a lot more value other
than, you know, providingtechnical technical services.
Rudy Rodriguez (27:08):
How long have you been a member of IAMCP?
Shoaib Kudsi (27:11):
Oh, wow. So we started in 2021. I mean, when we
started in the ecosystem, wewere not aware. But later on, we
thought that, you know, and wecame to know that IAMCP is the
biggest, you know, platformwhere a lot of Microsoft partner
meets, and that's what excitedus to join to join the IAMCP.
Rudy Rodriguez (27:31):
Glad to see it. I've been a member for almost 30
years now. That's why I had toask that question. It's a...
dear people, you need to catchup really, but I'm I'm very glad
to see because I worked with alot of partners in India to get
India part of, becoming membersof IAMCP many years ago. So it's
exciting to see the growth ofthat community and and the the
(27:54):
participation, especially.
So thank you very much for beinga member. Yeah. Anthony?
Anthony Carrano (28:00):
Yeah. No. And, you know, you mentioned
something about right there atthe end about empowering
partners, and you've been kindaholding out on us here, this
this this podcast, this episode.So, you've got quite an
extensive channel about oneducational empowerment, on a on
YouTube. Why don't you tell us alittle bit about that?
Shoaib Kudsi (28:20):
Yeah. So, Anthony, see now, we we believe in
empowering partners. And and infact, not us. Microsoft, I mean,
you know, believes becauseMicrosoft has more than 400,000
partners across the globe. And Ithink more than 90% of Microsoft
revenues partner Devon.
And Microsoft spends a lot inempowering partner, and, you
(28:44):
know, we add our piece to it.So, I mean, we don't only
empower partners by providingthem technical training on
certification, but we alsoempower them that on a YouTube,
you'll see that we have morethan 250 plus video.
Rudy Rodriguez (28:59):
Mhmm.
Shoaib Kudsi (29:00):
So we call people we call Microsoft experts from
different space. It can be fromthe Microsoft company. It can be
from distributor, or it can bethe MVPs. You know, we call MVPs
from different specialization,like from Copilot, from AI, from
data. And they share, like, whatare their key insights?
(29:20):
Because, you know, imagine if aMicrosoft partner is coming on a
YouTube channel, we we make surethat, you know, once you see a
series of videos, there is a lotof value that he gets out of it.
And and, you know, they I mean,they can set their vision that,
you know, which direction theyshould head towards.
Anthony Carrano (29:38):
And the name of the channel?
Shoaib Kudsi (29:40):
Yeah. I mean, it's it's with our name, Alif
Consulting. They can just go toYouTube and type Alif Consulting
Anthony Carrano (29:46):
Mhmm.
Shoaib Kudsi (29:46):
And and they'll get all the videos out there.
Anthony Carrano (29:48):
Yep. And we will have that link in the show
notes. And on that note, whatare some other ways, for you
know, that people can find outabout about you and Alif
Consulting, and how can theyconnect with you?
Shoaib Kudsi (30:01):
So, I think apart from channel, you know, we have
recently launched a new,LinkedIn page, which is the part
Alif's Microsoft PartnerAccelerator. It has just been
launched, but I think there is alot of exciting news. So, I
mean, partner do not have to goanywhere for latest Microsoft
(30:24):
news. They can just visit ourthey can just follow our
LinkedIn page, and they will beable to get all the updates
what's happening in theMicrosoft partner ecosystem.
Anthony Carrano (30:36):
Excellent. And we will have, we'll have that
link, in the show notes, youknow, for, for our guest. Well,
Shoaib, this this was great.This was really insightful.
Appreciate all your, you know,you and your team's
contributions to the Microsoftcommunity and for being a guest,
with us today.
Once again, thank you, and enjoythe rest of your day.
Shoaib Kudsi (30:57):
Thank you, Anthony. Thanks, Rudy. It was a
pleasure talking to you guys,and I'm I'm really I really
would like to thank you that,you know, you guys are taking an
opportunity giving your time andgetting people like us on on on
the show. And, you know, thisreally helps us, you know, to to
to be together.
Rudy Rodriguez (31:12):
Thank you so much. You have a great day.
Shoaib Kudsi (31:15):
Thank you, guys.
Anthony Carrano (31:18):
Wow. That was a great episode. I really
appreciate, you know, Shoaib forcoming on and, just sharing a
lot of the just the insightsfrom his experiences, especially
with their fairly unique uniquemodel and their contributions to
the Microsoft ecosystem, youknow, at large. There were
several things I took away.Rudy, how about yourself?
Rudy Rodriguez (31:38):
Well, you know, I I agree with you that it was a
a very enlightening interviewwith with Shoaib and very
insightful. And one of thethings that I took away from him
was, not only does his companyprovide technical resources,
certified technical resources tothe SMB and mid market space and
(32:00):
some to the enterprise space aswell. But the business processes
that he's put put in place todeliver value ads to guarantee
customer satisfaction andimprove communications, for
their partners. So the fact thatthey provide dedicated project
managers, to to the projectsthemselves helps increase
(32:22):
customer satisfaction becauseproject managers are are there
to communicate with withcustomers on all the milestones
that are being achieved, helpingaddress any challenges that take
place. And that really is asignificant value add to those
partners who don't have thoseresources available.
Anthony Carrano (32:41):
On that theme, just about the empowering
partners to do more. So, like,in addition to services, one of
the things that really stood outto me as well was just, you
know, when he was talking aboutand I've seen, like, on his
YouTube channel, that just withall the tailored educational
programs and the fact that theybring a lot of really cutting
edge insights from differentMicrosoft MVPs, like, on his
(33:05):
YouTube channel. I think hementioned he has, like, 240
videos or something like that.So what a great way for, you
know, partners to be able toenhance their competitiveness as
well as gain the knowledge andthe insights to help position
themselves, you know, as astechnology leaders. And so I
find just giving away all thoseeducational resources and
insights to just be yet anothergreat value add, to help empower
(33:29):
partners to do more.
Rudy Rodriguez (33:31):
He definitely has his finger on the pulse on
the depth and breadth of theMicrosoft channel. In closing, I
wanna thank everyone for joiningus on this episode of IAMCP
Profiles in Partnership poweredby Dunamis Marketing. We hope
you enjoyed this podcast andfind it useful and inspiring. If
you did, please subscribe, rate,and review us on your favorite
(33:52):
podcast platform. One of thebest ways to partner for success
is to join IAMCP, a community ofMicrosoft partners who help each
other grow and thrive.
IAMCP members can find andconnect with other partners
locally and globally and accessexclusive resources and
opportunities. Whether you'relooking for new customers, new
(34:12):
markets, or new solutions, IAMCPcan help you achieve your goals.
To learn more, visit the websiteat www.iamcp.org.
Welcome to the IAMCP Profiles and Partnership.
The podcast that showcase howMicrosoft Partners and IAMCP
members boost their business bycollaborating with other members
and partners. I'm your co-host,Anthony Carrano. And in each
episode, I'll be talking to someof the most innovative and
successful partners in theMicrosoft ecosystem. The
International Association ofMicrosoft Channel Partners,
(00:27):
otherwise known as IAMCP, is acommunity of Microsoft partners
who help each other grow andthrive.
Members can find and connectwith other partners locally and
globally and access exclusiveresources and opportunities.
Whether you're looking for newcustomers, new new markets, or
new solutions, IAMCP can helpyou achieve your goals. We'll
(00:47):
hear their stories, learn fromtheir experiences, and discover
the best practices andstrategies they use to increase
customer loyalty and growrevenues. Whether you're a new
partner or an established one,you'll find valuable insights
and inspiration in this podcast.We hope you enjoy this podcast
and find it useful andinspiring.
If you do, please subscribe,rate, and review us on your
(01:08):
favorite podcast platform. Anddon't forget to follow us on
social media and connect with uson our website,
www.profilesinpartnership.com,where you can find information,
resources, and opportunities topartner for success. Thank you
for listening. Now let's getstarted with today's episode.
But before we dive into ourinterview, let me ask you, as a
(01:31):
Microsoft partner and member ofthe IAMCP, how do you find and
develop partner relationshipsthat'll help you grow your
business?
Finding the right partner can bechallenging, but can also be
rewarding. In fact, according toa channel profitability study,
Microsoft partners derivemargins 19% higher than the next
closest competitor. That's ahuge difference, and it shows
(01:55):
the power of partnering. So howdo you leverage the Microsoft
Partner Network and IAMCP tosupport your partnerships? And
how do you ensure success foryour customer?
These are some of the questionswe'll explore in this podcast
with the help of our guest, arecent P2P award nominee and
APAC finalist who is also anexpert in partnering. He'll
(02:15):
share stories, challenges, andsuccesses, and give you
practical tips and advice on howto partner for success. Are you
ready to join us on thisjourney? Then stay tuned because
we have a great show for youtoday. Our guest is Shoaib Kudsi
the CEO at Alif Consulting, aleading Microsoft partner that
has empowered over 50 ITpartners to keep them well
(02:37):
informed and equipped with thelatest advancements in
technology.
Let's hear what he has to say.Welcome, Shoaib, to the podcast
today. Thank you for joining us.
Shoaib Kudsi (02:48):
Yeah. Thanks, Anthony. Thanks, Rudy.
Anthony Carrano (02:50):
Excellent. Well, let's start off and tell
us a little bit about yourselfand your role in the company.
Shoaib Kudsi (02:56):
Absolutely. So hey. Hi. My name is Shoaib Kudsi
and I'm the founder and the CEOat Alif Consulting. So I lead
our efforts, you know, toempower Microsoft partner
ecosystem.
We are very passionate, and weare very enthusiastic to empower
the partner ecosystem to take toto lift up the efforts that, you
know, we all put in to toempower customers on the
Microsoft ecosystem space.
Anthony Carrano (03:17):
Now you guys do a lot of really unique things,
you know, for, the partnercommunity. Maybe, the, you know,
to start off, Shoaib, just maybetell us a little bit about, you
know, some of those things. And,what I'm really interested in,
you know, especially, you know,as you share about those things
is how did you come up with thisidea?
Shoaib Kudsi (03:36):
So, Anthony, now this is it's an interesting
story. So I was working with oneof the biggest distributor in
Middle East and Africa, and,those were the days where the
Azure data center was gettinglaunched. So Microsoft and
distributor used to pushpartners at cell Azure, cell
Dynamics, cell Power Platform.But most of the time,
(03:56):
specifically into the SMB space,the partner used to come up
their trip.
These are gone where, you know,we sell products like like
Active Directory or SQL on onrelationship. Now whenever we go
to customer to sell any of thesetechnologies, they ask a
question, what challenge does itsolve? And to to answer all of
(04:18):
these questions, we needtechnical expertise like a
solution architect or a presalesengineer. But we cannot afford
to have, like, these people onbench because they are very
difficult to find and they arevery expensive. And this was a
common reason across the partnerecosystem.
So this is this what helps us,you know, to to ignite an idea
(04:39):
that why don't we startsomething which really change
the way we look at the partnerecosystem? We being back in
India where, you know, there arebig support system for
Microsoft, and we are verytalented engineer. Why don't we
only be the technical arm forthe partners? Because, see,
like, partners in the US, in theEurope, in Africa, or across the
(05:02):
globe, they know the language.They have relationship with the
customer.
They they know the law as well.But the only thing that they
lack is technical capabilities,and that's where we come into
play, and we be their technicalextended arm.
Anthony Carrano (05:15):
Maybe, if you could share a little bit, you
know, because I really wannahear about, like, the company's
area of specialization, areaswhere you fit, and how, like,
you saw that as, you know, like,you know, addressing some of the
gaps that you saw in thatecosystem for partners.
Shoaib Kudsi (05:31):
Absolutely. So now, Anthony, see now where we
fit, we fit everywhere in theentire ecosystem. Now if you see
the way market is changing, likelike, we the technology is
growing very fast right now. Wehave we had cloud. Now we have
AI, and AI is moving very fast.
So where we fit, we fit allacross the partner ecosystem
(05:52):
because Microsoft is changing.Microsoft is putting a lot of
pressure to the to the partners,to the distributor to make sure
that they add value to theircustomers. So how we come into
play that, you know, we don'tonly tell customer or partner
that you use our extendedtechnical arm once you get the
business because getting thebusiness is a second stage. But
(06:14):
the first stage is the partnerneed to go and talk to the
customer and tell him whatsolutions they offer. So we help
partner right from presales.
So imagine if a partner comesand say that, "Hey, we have
something on Copilot or we havesomething on Dynamics or maybe
Azure." Our qualified presalesgo on a call with the customer
(06:36):
as a white label services from apartner side. They take the
requirement. They give solutionto the customer.
We help partner responding tothe RFP RFQ. We create solution
document. We create demos forthe customer on behalf of the
partner as a white labelservices. So the chances of
partner getting those dealsbecomes very high because a
(06:59):
really qualified engineer isgoing and partner is not
spending anything. And then oncewe get the deal, we work hand in
hand with the partners in orderto deliver services in terms of
implementation or in terms ofmanaged services.
So what we say, ensure that weask partner, your duty is just
(07:19):
to go ahead and get thecustomers where from presales
till implementation and managedservices we do end to end.
Anthony Carrano (07:29):
Really appreciate you sharing that,
Shoaib, because I know just evenin, looking at, like, the the
partner story, I mean, you guysprovide some really unique
offerings. And so I appreciateyou sharing that background.
And, I know we really wanna getinto the story of.. Rudy.
Rudy Rodriguez (07:45):
Yeah. So, you did turn in a story to the IAMCP
for the P2P Awards. I noticedthat that, you worked with a a
variety of partners. I think Isaw something like 25 different
partners. So can you share withus a little bit about some of
the deals that you worked on?
You don't have to give uscustomer names or anything, but
some of the partners that youmay have worked with, the
(08:06):
industries you've worked with,the challenges, and the
technologies that you wereimplementing. And that will give
us a a pretty good idea of ofthe scope of your business. We'd
appreciate that story.
Shoaib Kudsi (08:17):
Sure, Rudy. So, Rudy, now, yes, last year, we
work with close to 25 partnersand 2 distributors across the
globe. This year's the numberis, like, 50 partner now. So
yeah. And that was the firsttime we we competed in IAMCP,
and I'm very happy that we wereone of the finalists.
There were a lot of incidents.You know? Like, we worked right
(08:38):
from a migration from onpremises to Azure, then the 365
Azure Virtual Desktop, BusinessCentral, SharePoint, and Power
Platform. But I'll tell you, Imean, I can give you a couple of
unique stories. One was with thedistributor.
So there's one distributor inSouth Africa where they have two
(08:59):
line of business. 1 was thelicensing part, and one was the
services part. And both used towork, you know, in in isolated
with each other. So Microsoftintroduced us, and the whole
intention of Microsoft was topromote or to push customer from
business premium to E3 or to E5.Now the distribution channel was
facing a lot of dependent a lotof difficulty, and there was a
(09:22):
lot of dependency becausethere's a huge gap I mean, cost
difference between businesspremium E3 and E5.
We come into play. We offeredfree security assessment for the
partner's customer. So we did,like, 500 plus security
assessment. And with thisassessment, we generated a
report where we showed customertheir adoption, what all
(09:45):
services they have, but they arenot using their security score.
So in this way, we used to givea detailed report to the
customer that you guys are usingthird party services where you
have Intune, where you haveDefender, where your security
score is not good.
So why you guys are investing inother things whereas in you have
inbuilt tools from Microsoft?And we then explain solution
(10:08):
like, Azure ADP 2, which is likeAndroid ID now. We we gave them
a solution like Purview, likehow they can achieve their HIPAA
or ISO compliance. In that way,out of 500 assessment, we were
able to upscale 200 customers onE3 and E5. In this way, the
distributor, they got licensingupgrade and then they got
(10:31):
services upgrade as well.
So it's a win win situation forall. And then second incident
was, you know, the SureStepprogram Microsoft used to run
that, you know, there arepartners who are selling Azure
and M, but they don't sellDynamics and vice versa. So in
this way, we we took a batch of,like, 50 partners and we ran a
(10:53):
campaign that we will help themto sell from M365 and Azure to
Dynamics. And now we startedthis campaign where we trained,
like, the 50 partners. What isDynamics?
Because they don't know anythingabout Dynamics except the name
on Business Central site. Thenwe train them to get
certification. Their team wascertified. Then we started
(11:15):
hunting their customers. We usedto do webinars and 1-on-1
session to their customers thathow what is Dynamics and how
that will add value.
Unfortunately, you know, we gota lot of deals from there where,
of course, the distribution andMicrosoft got the the numbers
for licensing, and the partnerswere very happy because now they
have added a one uniquecapability, which is of business
(11:37):
center under their belt.
Rudy Rodriguez (11:38):
You've got a very a very unique service for
partners and and a very muchneeded service. Do you ever find
yourself in a competitivesituation where you might have,
multiple partners going afterthe same type of business? Or
how do you handle some of thosesome of those issues?
Shoaib Kudsi (11:54):
I mean, yes. Competitive in the sense, see
now, the the quality that weoffer. So we never got into a
situation where your multiplepartners are because in the
space of Microsoft, there is somuch to achieve. Like, for
example and and I'm very glad tosee that now Microsoft is is
leading the Gartner Quadrant allacross. You talk about Dynamics.
(12:17):
You talk about Sentinel. Youtalk about M365. So, I mean, we
never found a stage where, youknow, we have a competitive
situation from any other partneror our or there are multiple
partners in our customer space.We all I mean, for us, one of
the most difficult thing was,you know, providing unique I
(12:38):
mean, our partners, they alwayscome in a hurry that, you know,
sure, we need we need Azuresolution architect. Maybe, like,
tomorrow is a call or same goeswith Dynamics or same goes with
M365 that we have a customercall tomorrow and we do a
solution architect.
I mean, that's that ischallenging for us sometime.
But, again, due to the uniqueoffering that we have, we are
(12:59):
able to manage it somehow andand and, yes, we we've been
there with the customer, withthe partner.
Rudy Rodriguez (13:04):
Do you specialize in any particular
industry segment, SMB, midmarket, or enterprise? Where
where do you see your companyreally fitting in the best?
Shoaib Kudsi (13:13):
See, for now, Rudy, of course, SMB and mid SMB
is an area because those are theplaces where, you know, the
partners face a lot ofchallenges in technical skills.
Having said that, we also havecouple of partners who work on
the enterprise segment, butmostly as SMB and mid SMB is an
area where we cater to.
Rudy Rodriguez (13:32):
Now that's that's definitely a very a very
growth area for Microsoft is theSMB space. And so any particular
industry that you that you findyour team really specializing
in? Manufacturing, distribution,energy, any particular one?
Shoaib Kudsi (13:49):
So surprisingly, Rudy, we almost work in all the
industry because our partnerscomes from all the segments.
Some of them are specialized inhealth care. Some of them are
specialized in manufacturing,hospitalities and other area.
And and the unique thing aboutthe SMB space, you know, I mean,
Microsoft have something calledas the unmanaged partners, and
(14:10):
there is a huge chunk in thatunmanaged partner space. So we
manage those unmanaged partner,and and, fortunately, you know,
they are across the segmentexcept Dynamics where it becomes
segment specific solution likeAzure and M365 and Power
Platform and SharePoint. They goacross across the segment.
Rudy Rodriguez (14:30):
Very good. Anthony, I know you have some
more questions.
Anthony Carrano (14:33):
Yeah. I think if I got this number correctly,
Shoaib, you mentioned, like,last year, he was working with
about 30 partners. Now it'sabout 50. Is that about did did
I hear that correctly?
Shoaib Kudsi (14:44):
Yes.
Anthony Carrano (14:45):
What do you attribute that increase to?
Shoaib Kudsi (14:47):
Fortunately, we are getting a lot of reference
from our partner ecosystem.Although that is very surprising
to us because we thought thatour partner will always be, you
know, very candid with theservices arm that they're using.
But, you know, more than 50% ofour partners, they are added via
reference. And in fact, a lot oftime, Microsoft in distributor
(15:10):
introduce us, to other partnerspace. Because as I told you, we
are working with 2 distributor,1 in in Africa and 1 in Middle
East, and they refer us to lotof partners.
And, again, once we get into thesystem, I think we really add
value in that that that wasmotivating.
Anthony Carrano (15:28):
Do you have, like, a criteria, and what is it
for, like, agreeing to, forge apartnership with, company?
Shoaib Kudsi (15:36):
See, our only criteria can, Anthony, is, you
know, the partner should be veryhungry for business. I mean, you
know, we know that, you know,the the market is huge,
specifically in the US space.More than 50% of the entire
Microsoft ecosystem business isdriven by the US. So the the the
region is very fascinating. Thearea and, again, the SMB space,
(15:59):
as I told you, Microsoft isputting a lot of focus, and
there's a lot of penetrationthat needs to be done.
So for us, the only criteria isa partner should be very hungry
for business, and and it shouldtake this partnership very
seriously.
Anthony Carrano (16:11):
Well, let me ask then this because you're
sharing a lot of really greatthings about the company. What
about, like, you personally asa, you know, CEO? Are there
certain type of, projects that,you know, as we like to say here
in Texas, get your chili hot,you know, get you excited, and,
that you like things that youreally enjoy because you guys do
so many you cover so manydifferent areas. Is there some
(16:33):
particular things that you like,either, you know, types of,
either technology or certaintype of problem solved or
certain industries that youreally that, you know, get you
personally, you know, excited?
Shoaib Kudsi (16:48):
Again, yes, Anthony. Definitely. So so data,
is something that I'm veryexcited about. Again, AI AI will
come in place, but data, Ithink, it's very important
because in lot of segment, inlot of company, we have seen
that data is is segregated allacross the space. Companies are
(17:08):
using various data sources,different databases, and they
are not getting the rightanalytics, what they're
expecting.
So we are following a practicenow where we are going to
company. We are taking theirdata, integrating with Azure
Synapse, and then with the helpof Power Platform and Power BI,
we are really making value ofthat data, which can really help
(17:30):
the decision maker, you know, toto to define the strategies. So
that's an area which I'm reallyexcited about.
Anthony Carrano (17:36):
Mhmm. Can you share with us, like, you know,
it doesn't have, you know, youknow, maybe a not necessarily
the client name. You don't haveto share the partner name, but
an example of, where you andanother partner collaborated,
you know, addressing a a data,you know, concern?
Shoaib Kudsi (17:52):
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So there are there's
a one big channel, and they theythey work across the globe. And
they had data from differentsources, you know, because, they
they they operate in differentcountries, different set of
customers. You know?
So data was really a bigchallenge for them because they
(18:13):
were not able to understandthat, you know, what are their
peak season, of peak season,what customers like, what they
don't like, how much business weare getting from from room stay,
how much business we are gettingfrom the restaurants, how much
business we are getting fromevents, what are the area of
opportunities, what are theareas that they need to invest.
And and there were a lot ofchallenges, you know, and the
(18:35):
business owner, they used tospend days in in looking into
data and taking correctdecisions. So what we did was
again, it was it was a 9 monthsproject for us to collaborate
with them. But once we get intothe system, we took the entire
data from different datasources.
It was SQL. It was Mongo. It wasMySQL. There were different
databases, different datasources that we took. We
(18:57):
collected the entire data.
We processed that data in AzureSynapse. And with that Synapse,
we integrated power platform,and we created amazing Power BI
dashboard. And we, in fact,added all the filters that they
needed in order for us to givethem the correct trends as per
customers. And and this wasreally valuable because, see,
(19:19):
for for a business for abusiness owner or or, you know,
for decision makers, I mean,it's very important for them to
make key decisions because it'sall about the investments and
the forecasting that they'regonna do. So this was one of the
unique example, and and thisgave us a lot of strength in
terms of, you know, our ourcapabilities in data and AI.
Anthony Carrano (19:39):
Now that's fascinating. Now what about on
the flip side? Like, when you'rewith this, data and AI, you
know, project that you'reworking on with a partner, did
you guys have any challenges,during the engagement? And if
so, what were they, and how'dyou guys work together to
overcome it?
Shoaib Kudsi (19:57):
Yeah. So there were a lot of challenges.
Absolutely. I mean, you know,with every project, there are
unique set of challenges, andthis was a new project. So one
of the one of the big challengeswas that the owners and the
decision makers were having hugehigh expectations from us
because they were expecting thatonce we get this, this is what
(20:18):
we needed in order to plan.
So we did all we always wereunder pressure that we need to
prove ourselves in order to getthem what they're looking out
for. And second challenge was,you know, we had to communicate
with multiple departments. Youknow? We used to we had to talk
with finance, the HR, therestaurant staff, the hotel
(20:40):
staff, and so many differentteams who are engaged. So
getting the availability for allof them, getting the required
access, And this is something,you know I mean and there was no
preset solution for this.
Correct? Because, I mean, thisis not a solution like, like,
you know, create an M365solution or an Azure solution.
(21:00):
It was like we need to visualizeeverything that what they are
expecting and then create thosedashboards as per their
expectation. I mean, we need totake I mean, we we we need to
adapt it in such a way that itwas fascinating and challenging
at the same time, but there wasimmense amount of learning. And
the outcome, it was it wasamazing.
Anthony Carrano (21:21):
That's fantastic. That's fantastic. I
just got, like, one morequestion. I wanna, like,
piggyback on the on thechallenges, and and this is more
of like a step back because youguys do work with so many
partners. How would be someadvice that you would have for
others who are looking to kindabuild out their, you know,
partner channel?
Like, just some practical tips,recommendations that when you
(21:45):
encounter a challenge in a in aproject, like, working together,
what are some things that youwould recommend, to over to work
through those challenges?
Shoaib Kudsi (21:55):
So, Anthony, for me, I think I will not recommend
I will not give any suggestionon project challenges because
that will vary case to case. Butfor someone who's who's looking
out or who's who's wanna enterthe same space that we are, I
really would advise them to tryto give value add to the partner
because only providing technicalresources or act as a technical
(22:17):
back end arm, that will not setus apart from the others. But I
think partner nowadays, theyneed value. Like, for us, we
give we help partners achievesolution, partner designation,
advanced specialization. Becausetechnical, I think there is a
there are a lot in the marketwho are ready to do that, but
(22:37):
partners, they really need valuein terms of how they can get new
customers, how they can get newbatches.
I think those were the reallykey things that that that
someone should focus on.
Rudy Rodriguez (22:48):
So, Shoaib, I'm I'm gonna dive deep into the
partnering experience because,I've had a lot of experience
partnering with with people allover all over the globe. And I
know that can be challenging attime because communication is
very important in working withthe partner. And then you have
the customers on top of that. Sothere's you just there's layers
of communication need to takeplace. So in any engagement,
(23:11):
what what does your company doto help the partner drive
customer satisfaction?
I know you mentioned, you know,partners need to be hungry for
revenue. So we we understandthat revenue growth is always
important. But how do you worktogether with partners to ensure
that that the customer's goalsare being met, that you that you
(23:31):
provide the value add, and thatthe overall customer
satisfaction is there? And thenhow do you document that as
well?
Shoaib Kudsi (23:38):
Very important question, Rudy. I think this
will really I mean, this is veryimportant in the entire entire
partner ecosystem journey.Because although if there is any
company who's providing goodtechnical services, who's very
strong in technology and theyare cost effective as well, but
eventually the customer is nothappy, partner will not like
(23:59):
that that that kind ofpartnership. So what we do,
RUDC, on one side, as I toldyou, we help partner in get
getting the business in terms ofpresales documentation. On the
other side, we give partner adedicated project manager or an
account manager, and then wehave at the back end, we have
the technical team. I mean, howwhat is the value that we add or
(24:22):
how we make sure that thecustomer is happy?
With 2 things. 1 is the qualityof technical engineers that we
give. All of our technicalengineers, if you're talking
about level 3 and above,everyone will be solution
architect level certified in thetechnology they are working. It
can be Azure. It can be AI.
It will be Dynamics. It can beSharePoint. We make sure that we
(24:47):
give quality and premium qualityengineers to our customer, and
this is how the customer arehappy. And on the other side, we
give them a dedicated projectmanager. So, I mean, daily I
mean, I think communication isvery important because in every
project, issues can happen interms of delay, in terms of
(25:08):
technical delivery.
But I think if the communicationis on time, I think customers
understand that. So on one side,we mitigated by giving quality
technical engineer. But on theother side, we we have our
qualified project managers whomake sure that there are
seamless communication andcustomer. You know? Either they
(25:31):
get what they are expecting oreither they get an answer that,
you know, when they'll get it oror when when things will happen.
Rudy Rodriguez (25:39):
No. Communication is is so important
in dealing with with bothlevels, and that's part of the
maturity of your business aswell. So I'm glad to see that
you do all those things. It'svery important. So, you know, in
kind of closing, you know, we'vewe've asked you a lot of
questions.
What advice do you givecompanies, some are like gonna
(25:59):
be like yours or let yourpartners that you work with,
that would help them grow theirexperience in partnering and
make them better partners?
Shoaib Kudsi (26:08):
I mean, you know, for me, as I told you, like,
giving value ads, is reallyimportant. I mean, in
specifically in the partnerecosystem of Microsoft, partners
are expecting a lot more thantechnical hand. If you talk
about that if I'll just go tothe market and say that, hey. I
will be your technical extendedarm. Partners will not entertain
(26:30):
that.
But I think giving value add topartners in terms of, you know,
helping them in achieving theirsolution partner designation or,
you know, helping them achievingat one specialization as your
expert MSP. I mean, empoweringpartners to achieve more and to
cover more is something thatwill play a key as a
(26:51):
differentiator, you know, tostand apart. And I think that's
what helped us in getting thefinalist in the IAMCP space. And
that is what helped us ingetting so many satisfied
partners, you know, because wedeliver a lot more value other
than, you know, providingtechnical technical services.
Rudy Rodriguez (27:08):
How long have you been a member of IAMCP?
Shoaib Kudsi (27:11):
Oh, wow. So we started in 2021. I mean, when we
started in the ecosystem, wewere not aware. But later on, we
thought that, you know, and wecame to know that IAMCP is the
biggest, you know, platformwhere a lot of Microsoft partner
meets, and that's what excitedus to join to join the IAMCP.
Rudy Rodriguez (27:31):
Glad to see it. I've been a member for almost 30
years now. That's why I had toask that question. It's a...
dear people, you need to catchup really, but I'm I'm very glad
to see because I worked with alot of partners in India to get
India part of, becoming membersof IAMCP many years ago. So it's
exciting to see the growth ofthat community and and the the
(27:54):
participation, especially.
So thank you very much for beinga member. Yeah. Anthony?
Anthony Carrano (28:00):
Yeah. No. And, you know, you mentioned
something about right there atthe end about empowering
partners, and you've been kindaholding out on us here, this
this this podcast, this episode.So, you've got quite an
extensive channel about oneducational empowerment, on a on
YouTube. Why don't you tell us alittle bit about that?
Shoaib Kudsi (28:20):
Yeah. So, Anthony, see now, we we believe in
empowering partners. And and infact, not us. Microsoft, I mean,
you know, believes becauseMicrosoft has more than 400,000
partners across the globe. And Ithink more than 90% of Microsoft
revenues partner Devon.
And Microsoft spends a lot inempowering partner, and, you
(28:44):
know, we add our piece to it.So, I mean, we don't only
empower partners by providingthem technical training on
certification, but we alsoempower them that on a YouTube,
you'll see that we have morethan 250 plus video.
Rudy Rodriguez (28:59):
Mhmm.
Shoaib Kudsi (29:00):
So we call people we call Microsoft experts from
different space. It can be fromthe Microsoft company. It can be
from distributor, or it can bethe MVPs. You know, we call MVPs
from different specialization,like from Copilot, from AI, from
data. And they share, like, whatare their key insights?
(29:20):
Because, you know, imagine if aMicrosoft partner is coming on a
YouTube channel, we we make surethat, you know, once you see a
series of videos, there is a lotof value that he gets out of it.
And and, you know, they I mean,they can set their vision that,
you know, which direction theyshould head towards.
Anthony Carrano (29:38):
And the name of the channel?
Shoaib Kudsi (29:40):
Yeah. I mean, it's it's with our name, Alif
Consulting. They can just go toYouTube and type Alif Consulting
Anthony Carrano (29:46):
Mhmm.
Shoaib Kudsi (29:46):
And and they'll get all the videos out there.
Anthony Carrano (29:48):
Yep. And we will have that link in the show
notes. And on that note, whatare some other ways, for you
know, that people can find outabout about you and Alif
Consulting, and how can theyconnect with you?
Shoaib Kudsi (30:01):
So, I think apart from channel, you know, we have
recently launched a new,LinkedIn page, which is the part
Alif's Microsoft PartnerAccelerator. It has just been
launched, but I think there is alot of exciting news. So, I
mean, partner do not have to goanywhere for latest Microsoft
(30:24):
news. They can just visit ourthey can just follow our
LinkedIn page, and they will beable to get all the updates
what's happening in theMicrosoft partner ecosystem.
Anthony Carrano (30:36):
Excellent. And we will have, we'll have that
link, in the show notes, youknow, for, for our guest. Well,
Shoaib, this this was great.This was really insightful.
Appreciate all your, you know,you and your team's
contributions to the Microsoftcommunity and for being a guest,
with us today.
Once again, thank you, and enjoythe rest of your day.
Shoaib Kudsi (30:57):
Thank you, Anthony. Thanks, Rudy. It was a
pleasure talking to you guys,and I'm I'm really I really
would like to thank you that,you know, you guys are taking an
opportunity giving your time andgetting people like us on on on
the show. And, you know, thisreally helps us, you know, to to
to be together.
Rudy Rodriguez (31:12):
Thank you so much. You have a great day.
Shoaib Kudsi (31:15):
Thank you, guys.
Anthony Carrano (31:18):
Wow. That was a great episode. I really
appreciate, you know, Shoaib forcoming on and, just sharing a
lot of the just the insightsfrom his experiences, especially
with their fairly unique uniquemodel and their contributions to
the Microsoft ecosystem, youknow, at large. There were
several things I took away.Rudy, how about yourself?
Rudy Rodriguez (31:38):
Well, you know, I I agree with you that it was a
a very enlightening interviewwith with Shoaib and very
insightful. And one of thethings that I took away from him
was, not only does his companyprovide technical resources,
certified technical resources tothe SMB and mid market space and
(32:00):
some to the enterprise space aswell. But the business processes
that he's put put in place todeliver value ads to guarantee
customer satisfaction andimprove communications, for
their partners. So the fact thatthey provide dedicated project
managers, to to the projectsthemselves helps increase
(32:22):
customer satisfaction becauseproject managers are are there
to communicate with withcustomers on all the milestones
that are being achieved, helpingaddress any challenges that take
place. And that really is asignificant value add to those
partners who don't have thoseresources available.
Anthony Carrano (32:41):
On that theme, just about the empowering
partners to do more. So, like,in addition to services, one of
the things that really stood outto me as well was just, you
know, when he was talking aboutand I've seen, like, on his
YouTube channel, that just withall the tailored educational
programs and the fact that theybring a lot of really cutting
edge insights from differentMicrosoft MVPs, like, on his
(33:05):
YouTube channel. I think hementioned he has, like, 240
videos or something like that.So what a great way for, you
know, partners to be able toenhance their competitiveness as
well as gain the knowledge andthe insights to help position
themselves, you know, as astechnology leaders. And so I
find just giving away all thoseeducational resources and
insights to just be yet anothergreat value add, to help empower
(33:29):
partners to do more.
Rudy Rodriguez (33:31):
He definitely has his finger on the pulse on
the depth and breadth of theMicrosoft channel. In closing, I
wanna thank everyone for joiningus on this episode of IAMCP
Profiles in Partnership poweredby Dunamis Marketing. We hope
you enjoyed this podcast andfind it useful and inspiring. If
you did, please subscribe, rate,and review us on your favorite
(33:52):
podcast platform. One of thebest ways to partner for success
is to join IAMCP, a community ofMicrosoft partners who help each
other grow and thrive.
IAMCP members can find andconnect with other partners
locally and globally and accessexclusive resources and
opportunities. Whether you'relooking for new customers, new
(34:12):
markets, or new solutions, IAMCPcan help you achieve your goals.
To learn more, visit the websiteat www.iamcp.org.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.