Quadra Systems

IT Provider Boosts Services Revenue 60 Percent with Cloud-based PC Management.

Business Needs:

Quadra Systems has been recognized by Microsoft with the Worldwide Partner of the Year Award for Technology Innovation every year from 2004 to 2012. It was the first VAR partner in India to be Gold-certified by Microsoft and among the first to acquire multiple Gold competencies. Quadra is successful because it helps customers realize the full potential of their technology investments by clearly aligning business needs and IT solutions.

Since its inception in 2000, Quadra focused on the needs of large customers―its IT staff worked on server infrastructure and complex deployments. The company wanted to increase its managed services revenue and to expand into the small-to-midsize business market in India. “Large businesses in India are not inclined to contract partners for services, so we wanted to find a way to increase ongoing service revenues within that sector,” says Prashanth S., Chief Executive Officer at Quadra Systems.

Windows Intune has doubled the productivity of employees doing PC management. We can do twice the business with the same amount of staff.

– Prashanth S.
Chief Executive Officer, Quadra Systems.

Quadra could see that smaller businesses with minimal IT staff struggle with desktop management and remote support for employees. The company thought PC management would be a good way to make inroads into this large but untapped market in India. “At first, we tried working with a local services provider who had an on-premises desktop management tool that’s only available in India, but it was cumbersome, says Prashanth S. “We lacked the tools to go after this market in a concerted fashion.”

Solution:

Then Microsoft released Windows Intune, a cloud-based service that delivers PC management, software distribution and updates, remote assistance, hardware and software tracking capabilities, and endpoint protection. Windows Intune has a web-based Administration console that Quadra IT staff can use to view data about its customers’ managed computers and to execute PC management tasks. All that is required is a standard Internet connection using a browser that runs Microsoft Silverlight. Also, Windows Intune comes with the rights to upgrade to future versions of the Windows operating system.

“Windows Intune gave us a perfect opportunity to go to market with a service that appeals to smaller businesses, as well as solidify our managed-service offerings for enterprises,” says Prashanth S. “With Windows Intune, we can manage multiple customers in real time, which is efficient. As a cloud-based service that requires no physical infrastructure and has a flexible pay-as-you-go subscription model, Windows Intune is competitively priced.”

Quadra sees potential to increase its business with Windows Intune because it answers a variety of needs. “For smaller customers that want to stay standard on the latest desktop operating system, Windows Intune makes sense,” says Prashanth S. “For larger businesses, with challenges supporting mobile workers and their PCs, the management features and antimalware component are important. We sell Windows Intune by focusing on what’s relevant to each customer.”

Quadra plans to offer Windows Intune in conjunction with Microsoft Office 365, a collection of cloud-based email, calendaring, collaboration, conferencing, and productivity solutions. “Bundled desktop management and business productivity tools make a compelling holistic experience for customers,” says Prashanth S. “That’s where we see Windows Intune taking off.”

Benefits:

Since Quadra Systems began selling Windows Intune, it has achieved the following benefits:

• Improved IT productivity by 50 percent. Working with the intuitive Administration console to serve many customers remotely, Quadra IT staff required little training to manage multiple PCs remotely. “Windows Intune has doubled the productivity of employees doing PC management,” says Prashanth S. “We can do twice the business with the same amount of staff.”
• Increased revenue by 20 percent. Today, Quadra is seeing 20 percent more revenue per managed PC. “We are able to manage more PCs overall and use fewer IT resources, so we are expecting an overall impact of 50 to 60 percent on our bottom line,” says Prashanth S. Quadra is also using Windows Intune to generate ongoing support revenue from large businesses that like the flexibility of just buying Windows Intune licenses for those employees who pose remote support challenges.
• Reduced sales cycle by 25 percent. Thanks to easy online product demonstrations and no upfront financial investment required with Windows Intune, Quadra reduced sales cycles by 25 percent. The company sold 300 seats of Windows Intune to one of its customers, QMEN IT Solutions, in just two weeks from start to finish.
• Acquired new markets. Quadra is making inroads with small businesses that need help managing their PCs but don’t have the resources to install and maintain infrastructure. “We expect increased demand for Windows Intune with the release of the Windows 8 operating system,” says Prashanth S. “For many small business customers, this will be the most cost-effective way to upgrade, and a new source of business for us.”
• Increased competitive advantage. Quadra worked closely with Microsoft during the Windows Intune launch in India, gaining valuable traction in the marketplace and cementing its reputation for aligning with the latest technologies. “We were among the first to gain customers’ attention with this cloud-based service,” says Prashanth S. “As a result, we signed the largest Windows Intune subscription in India to date with QMEN IT Solutions.”
• Improved customer relationships. Quadra believes that the fast release cycle Microsoft has demonstrated with Windows Intune will contribute to customer satisfaction over the long term. “Customers like to see that they are buying something that delivers more value every few months, like the latest version’s mobile device management,” says Prashanth S. “Happy customers are why we are in business.”

Source:

Microsoft Case Study: Quadra Systems